My maternal grandmother and grandfather had sixteen children, which is likely why they were nicknamed Mother and Daddy. Mother and Daddy were both born in Dominica, not to be confused with the Dominican Republic. They moved to Trinidad when they were teenagers. Either just before or after that transition, they married.
I wasn’t close to Mother while she was alive but when she died on September 11, 2006, I felt particularly connected to her, especially as I reflected on our shared culture and identity similarities. Even the ways in which we were different drew me closer to her, difference merely the flip side of the same coin.
One thing that Mother and I (and all human beings) share is food. We all have to eat. Mother didn’t pass along recipes to the next generation, the way some grandmothers do, so in this blog I have created recipes based on what I believe she may have made. Some of the recipes are dishes that I know she made, while others are ones, I believe she may have made – mostly seasonal, somewhat traditional recipes that had to be relatively easy to make using natural-if-possible (not processed) ingredients. With her extra-large family time had to be an issue and food costs less when it’s natural and in season.
I hope that this blog honors Mother and touches readers, helping them connect seemingly unrelated pieces of themselves, using food as the tool through which they can reflect on the definition of culture and the evolution of their individual identities.
