Roots

I never had many friends that shared my cultural background, so it was always with trepidation that they stayed over for dinner. My best friend told me recently that almost every time she came over to my house, she had at least one new food she had never tried before – from *mamagliga to chicken paprikash to turogomboc (all food which I very much trying) and of course, garlic in everything.

 (turogomboc)

My father is from Romania and my mother grew up in Israel but was born in what was Transylvania, thus having a very Hungarian upbringing. Although they’ve both been in the United States for a long while, they still have a strong connection to their Eastern European roots.

As I get older, I appreciate these cultural ties more. I think it makes things more interesting, makes my world a little bigger. Sure, I basically burned with mortification when my mom sat down three friends who had come over for dinner in fourth grade and taught them how to twirl their spaghetti on a spoon, and I’ve had more than my fair share of vampire jokes, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Recently married, I suddenly feel thrown into a new culture. My mother-in-law is from Ecuador and now I have new customs, new foods, and a new language to learn. I can’t help but think of the future generations – my kids being Romanian-Hungarian-Transylvanian-Israeli-Ecuadorian. What a melodious mouthful of mixing cultures from all over making things that are so ancient and so traditional uniquely new.

Best,

Merav

 

*Mamliga – a sort of cornmeal pudding made with layers of cheese. Traditionally eaten with sour cream, but I usually used the sour cream to cool the mamaliga so I could eat it quicker rather than for the sake of tradition.

Chicken Paprikash – chicken made with a ton of paprika. Pretty self-explanatory.

Turogomboc – ball shaped cottage cheese dumplings, also eaten with sour cream.