The Global Gourmand

Greetings to my myriad of followers!

I guess we’ll start with the obvious introduction. I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada and grew up in a pretty multicultural neighborhood. My folks are 2nd and 3rd generation Canadians of European Jewish descent, but I had a secular, typically Canadian childhood.

Most of my friends growing up were either 1st or 2nd generation immigrants from just about anywhere. Having good friends of wide backgrounds exposed me to new cultures, customs, and most notably, cuisines. Being a food lover, I’ve always had strong attachments to my family's brand of 'soul food' - a strange medley of classic Jewish and North American food. While there were several dishes from my childhood that I’ll always love, too often ketchup, hot sauce, and salt and pepper were used in our kitchen as spices.

That being said, sharing meals with my Chinese, Japanese, Jamaican, Indian, and Greek friends (just a sample there), quickly showed me that soul food isn’t necessarily defined by a certain recipe for tuna casserole (one of my family keepers), but the feelings and memories that go along with this food. When we think of home cooking we think of home. It’s warm, comfortable, and familiar; even if the beef doesn’t have much flavor and the pasta is slightly overcooked. I’m currently living in Paris and a few thousand miles away from home and my mom’s meatloaf. Even though French food is just about as good as it gets, you still can’t help but miss home from time to time.

These thoughts inspired me to start this thing. My mission is to collect and attempt real, tried and true family recipes from all over the globe and document them all here for you to try. I’m looking for any input I can get here people, so if you’ve got a good family recipe that you want to share, send it to me here along with the stories that go along with it!

GG