Tasty Treats from Around the World
Food is something that we all have in common. From holidays and celebrations to the family dinner, food is the glue that binds us together. It defines our daily life and can bring such joy. It is the tastes, smells and sounds that define who we are.
Many family traditions are passed down through recipes and cooking. For me it was the apple pie my mother made during the holidays. Each year I try to recreate the recipe for my children. I’ve listed some of my favorite books by authors who were inspired by the cooking traditions from their backgrounds. I hope you will savor these stories that celebrate the irresistible power of food.
Summary: One Cherokee child celebrates the family tradition of gathering wild onions for a big community meal, a significant tradition among several southeastern tribes. Includes recipes for corn soup, Cherokee eggs and wild onions, and grape dumplings.
Summary: Making meatballs for Grandpa, who no longer remembers much but loves to help cook, a little girl and her Grandma find cooking together makes more than just a meal as they prepare a savory Italian dinner, in this sensory-rich picture book about food, family and heritage. Includes a recipe for meatballs.
Summary: When Hana's grandparents visit, Hana decides to cook a meal that represents both her Korean and Southern heritages. Includes a recipe for kimchi gumbo.
Summary: Papa has something special planned for tonight's family dinner--and Bobo can't wait! Excited to learn how to make okra stew like his ancestors, Bobo helps Papa pick veggies from the garden, catch shrimp from the creek, rain down rice in the pot, simmer the stew, and even make a tasty side of cornbread. When the stew begins to bubble and pop, Bobo and his family gather around for a mouthwatering feast. Includes recipe for okra stew.
Summary: It's Noor's first time making her Dadijaan's Special Samosa recipe. When she can't get in touch with her Dadijaan because it's nighttime in Pakistan, Noor must improvise to make her family's recipe without all of the correct ingredients. Includes recipe for samosas.
Summary: Magaly enjoys the yummy Cuban food her Abuela has been cooking since arriving from Havana, but when Magaly's sweater goes missing, she discovers that Abuela is making ropa vieja for dinner. Old clothes for dinner? Yuck! Magaly needs to hide the rest of her clothes before her family eats them up. Endnotes feature other imaginative names of food around the world, facts about Cuba, Spanish vocabulary, and two delicious recipes for ropa vieja and arroz con leche.
Summary: This year for Passover, Matilda's grandmother invites her to help make the matzah ball soup! Matilda has always loved watching Bubbe make the soup. Now she wants to try out some of her own ideas. Adding lemon and dill to the matzah balls seems like a great idea. But making one GIANT matzah ball is a giant mistake. Yet Bubbe is encouraging. "The best part of experimenting is you can always try again, " she tells Matilda. And so the grandmother/granddaughter cooking team continues the kitchen experiments, with some unusual (and unusually delicious!) results. Includes recipe for matzah ball soup.
Summary: Bilal and his father invite his friends to help make his favorite dish, daal, then all must wait patiently for it to be done. Includes recipe for chana daal.
Summary: A Ukrainian girl finds a new way to appreciate her home country's national dish after she immigrates to the United States. Includes recipe for borsch.
Summary: Lili loves to cook little dumplings called baos with her grandmother, but when cabbage is needed, Lili races up and down the stairs of her grandmother's apartment building to find the ingredient and help the other grandmothers borrow ingredients for different dumplings, from Jamaican meat patties and Italian ravioli to Lebanese fatayer and more. Includes recipe for baos.
Summary: Lintang is determined to embrace the spice of sambal in order to connect with her Indonesian grandmother and heritage. Includes recipe for sambal mangga.
Summary: Granny teaches her young grandson how to cook the family meal, in this celebration of food, traditions, and gathering together at the table. Includes recipe for baked macaroni and cheese.
Summary: A little girl is determined to make perfect nigiri sushi for her grandmother, but her efforts only lead to frustration, until a surprising discovery helps her understand that cooking with love is more important than cooking perfect food. Includes recipe for sushi.
Summary: Yesenia introduces readers to her favorite food--plátanos--which go with everything, especially love, in this ode to the star of Dominican cuisine. Includes recipe for mangú.
To learn even more about food from around the world, search the AtoZ World Food database. AtoZ World Food contains more than 7,000 traditional recipes from 174 countries, along with thousands of ingredient, food culture, and reference articles, making it the largest food database of its kind. AtoZ World Food was designed for culinary institutes, students, world travelers, cooking clubs, adventurous eaters, and anyone who wants to learn about world cuisine without having to purchase individual country cookbooks.
-Briana, Hopewell Branch
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