Cooking? ........ just a family thing
Love and passion for food have always been part of my family culture and I am happy that my daughter has fully embraced this passion and discovered already the fun that food can offer.
To me, eating Nonna Elvira's food was always fun and a good lesson at the same time, but I also used to spend lots of time "playing" in the kitchen with her and my mom, and loved every minute of it.
When I told my granddad that I had great grades in school, his reply was usually: "Hai fatto il tuo dovere (It was your duty)." ....And that was it. But when I first cooked a whole meal for him, at the age of 11-12, I saw a big smile and he could not stop praising me. Even when I experimented with strange stuff like agnolotti, cream and curry powder, he would say it was fantastic ;)! He was happy to see their passion had been passed on.
Now my little Sofia, at the age of 3, has fun in the kitchen with me and, especially, Nonna Carla, who is passing on her love for food, her knowledge and traditional cooking techniques. She loves making dough and today she had fun making tagliatelle and vasteddi fritti.
I think that this is the best way to maintain traditions but also to introduce your children to a balanced food culture without stress about calories and diets. Fresh food and good ingredients become simply a normal part of everyday life, part of their personal food culture.
Will Sofia take on the cooking school one day? I do not know, what I do know is that she will always have fond memories of these moments in the kitchen with nonna and mamma, and will be "fussy" about food, that to me means simply food aware.