What makes the food prepared by your bubbie or mother taste so good? It is the love. When you cook with love the food tastes so much better. So what is cooking with love? It is the preparation of foods that nourish the soul as well as the body.
Often cooking with love refers to the preparation of traditional Jewish recipes or other recipes that have been passed down through the generations. These recipes are special because they have history tied to them. This history reflects the struggles and triumphs of a family or a group of people. The flavors that are developed in these special recipes are unique because they have evolved over multiple generations using whatever ingredients were easy to access.
When it comes to cooking food for your children you need to thing about more than just how good the food tastes. You also need to think about how that food impacts their bodies. Many dishes that are developed for children traditionally have higher calorie counts and richer ingredients because children need the extra calories and nutrients to help them grow and develop properly. However, today we also know that foods prepared for children need to be lower in salt and fat, and higher in complex carbohydrates and lean protein.
Sometimes cooking with love for your children means developing a repertoire of recipes that meet their special dietary needs. This could mean developing recipes that taste good, but that do not contain refined sugar, gluten or dairy. On the other hand, it may mean developing a recipe collection that will support your son or daughter’s ability to be a top athlete.
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Next week is Valentine’s Day, and it is the perfect time to show your family or that special someone in your life that you love them by cooking a special meal. While most of the year it is a good idea to cook healthy and to avoid full-fat versions of traditional Jewish Recipes, but on Valentine’s Day it is okay to create an authentic Jewish meal using authentic ingredients. So break out the butter and cream, because it is time to create a fabulous home cooked meal.
Because this is a special night, make a full meal with appetizers, a main course and dessert. When selecting an appetizer look for tastes and textures that your loved ones enjoy. If you are cooking for a variety of people, try to select a couple of appetizers that will appeal to a variety of palettes. For intimate dinners, plate the appetizers and set them in front of your dinner companions and for large dinner parties, create a buffet style table of appetizers that your guests can select the ones that they want.
The main course for a Valentine’s Day dinner also needs to reflect the tastes of the people that you are cooking for. If you are trying for a Kosher Valentine’s Day dinner, remember to avoid mixing dairy and meat during the main course, and make sure you buy meat products from a Kosher butcher. If cooking a vegetarian dish, richen the dishes by using traditional ingredients and spices.
The perfect dessert course for a Valentine’s Day dinner needs to include chocolate. If you are trying for a Kosher Valentine’s Day dinner then replace milk with soy milk and butter/margarine with a non-dairy margarine like Nucoa. These ingredients can be substituted part for part.
Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to experiment with traditional Jewish recipes. If you are trying to cook a Kosher meal remember to select from either rich parve recipes or succulent beef or chicken Jewish recipes.
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