Rather than catching up with you again about the past month or so, I would like to share with you a very personal story about my love for food.
I think it has been since the age of 8 that I was able to hold a pan and tried to cook, or bake for that matter. There are some very strong memories left in my 40+ year old brain which I hold very dearly. Like making French toast for my little sister on Saturdays. Or making sate sauce with dad once - an enormous volume of it as we kept adding ingredients because the flavour wasn't right according to us. Baking Dutch apple pie and shortbread cookies on a regular basis. Moving on later to making big pots of Nasi Goreng for the whole family on Friday evenings. And so on...
Both my parents always showed a love for (good) food and both have had a big impact on my love for food as a result.
In the earlier part of my life, it was my mother who was my biggest inspiration I think. She was always at home and she was a very creative cook as I call it. The 'let's open the fridge and see what we can make of some of the food in there' sort of cook. That's the kind of cook I have become too. She is also the one who has brought the food history into my life. Her family were bakers. Her dad, then her brother, and now my cousin have run the Lexmond Bakery in Hillegersberg, Rotterdam. I think that even her grandfather was. Am not sure how far back it actually goes. I am planning to catch up with mum's oldest sister early in the New Year to see what she can tell me about it.
Dad was a business man and started to cook later in life. I call him 'The Surgeon'. He has the patience of a saint and is able to carry out the most precise jobs in the kitchen for hours.. I have huge admiration for that as I am not really like that I have to admit ;-). He is a brilliant cook and has created 'Michelin star quality' food for family and friends many a time. He also knows a lot about wine. When I was in my twenties, I cooked together with him a lot. Started washing up and cleaning vegetables... Then 'worked my way up' as it were. That sounds a bit 'cheffie' perhaps but it has taught me lots of different processes and it also helped me to appreciate the products we cooked with.
Five years ago, 8 years after mum died, dad left the farm that had been our family home for 28 years. The farm was where the high times of cooking, baking, loads of dinner parties, growing organic vegetables, fruit and herbs, etc. took place. When dad left the farm, it probably felt like the end of an era. Lots went into storage as he moved to an apartment in town. Come to think of it, it was probably a turning point for all of us. He is now coming to the three of us for nice food ;-)!! My younger brother and sister love cooking too so he can't go wrong really!
My life was taking place in England for 13 years until we moved to Belgium last year and so with dad's 'stuff' going into storage 5 years ago....a lot of my 'stuff' went in with it.
Last weekend, my husband and I finally rented a van and drove to dad's self storage unit to pick up everything that I was still separated from..
And together with all my children's toys, tennis rackets, vinyl records, teenage books and all sorts of other things from the first 30 years of my life....I brought back with me the biggest treasure there was to find amongst all the furniture and boxes of 'stuff': mum's 'Margriet Kookboek'!!
'Margriet' is a bit like 'Good Housekeeping' in the UK. They published a cookbook (first print 1953) that became the main source in the kitchen for many housewives in Holland. My mum's 14th print version is from 1964. You've got to love the illustrations too :-)!
Here it is......
From this book, I have baked lots of things on many occasions when I was young. Amongst which the French toast for my little sister, as mentioned earlier. This book means the world to me. It resembles my love for food for as long as I can remember. The smell of the book. The pictures. It all brings back so many memories... Absolutely wonderful!
And so by being reunited with the book, I feel reunited with mum again as well. I connect with her regularly at lots of different levels. But this is a very special link.
From the storage also came with me a biscuit tin with cookie cutters in it. When I opened it I found this Christmas cookie cutter:
It wouldn't surprise me if this cutter came from my grandad's bakery. In Holland around Christmas time they sell all butter 'shortbread-like' cookies in this shape with shaved almonds on them. They call them Christmas wreaths ('kerstkransjes'). I will be making these this week for sure!
It has been an interesting year and I have loved setting up my blog and sharing my love for food with you. In 2013 I will keep building on the food history in my family. I am planning to give this more direction and carve out something that I can grow with all the energy and enthusiasm I have in me.
I wish you all a very Happy Christmas. A time to truly connect with family and friends. To take time for each other and relax. To enjoy home made food, to cook and bake together. Or simply, to enjoy what someone else has been cooking for you!
May 2013 bring lots of inspiration for you - in the kitchen, the garden or any other 'place' you feel most happy.
I am leaving you with this Christmassy 'Mother & Child' painting by my late mother, Theresia Maria Kooijmans-Lexmond.
Love,
X Bee
