In many respects, cooking and the traditions we have surrounding food shape our culture, our daily lives, certainly our health, and even how we see our personal identities. I read it in this month’s issue of Saveur highlighting the time-consuming challah and kibbeh made in celebration of the Jewish festival of Sukkot in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. I heard about it from my Vietnamese waiter as he explained how the me vit tiem I was enjoying, a soup of egg noodles, roast duck and shiitake mushrooms, was in his culture less an everyday food and more of a special occasion dish for birthdays or other celebrations. These foods were cultural expressions, part of a historical link that meant something more than sustenance to the people who spent time preparing and enjoying them.
So was my German Chocolate Cake a cultural expression in the same vein? Perhaps not. But, in a way, this German Chocolate Cake was my celebration dish. Two hours in, I was telling myself to think of it as a learning experience so I wasn’t putting that much time into making “just a cake.” I was thinking of my grandmother diligently whipping egg whites into stiff peaks or painstakingly stirring the very same sugary icing as it slowly thickened over the stove. This cake was not made by Betty Crocker, it was made by me. I committed to it, and I learned from it. It was my first cake made from scratch, my first attempt at icing that required cooking and my first three-layered cake to date. Was it worth it, and did it taste delicious? Yes and yes. Did I, a child of boxed cakes and brownies, feel a sense of pride at making a time-consuming from-scratch cake the exact way my grandmother made it? Definitely, yes. But will I be reserving this recipe as a special occasion dish from now on? You can bet on it.
Daily Omnivore 