What's cooking in Marie et Marcelle's kitchen - February 2025
- Food as an heritage -
This month in Marie et Marcelle's kitchen, I am working on my grandmother "Gateau de Famille" or perhaps I shall call it "When Marcelle revisits the Tiramisu"?
Along with all of this cooking taking place, I have had some discussions and reflections about what does one inherit from a parent or a grand-parent?
A few days after the passing of my grandmother I found myself alone on the family farm for a few hours of peace and quiet. Most of the family had by then left the farm returning, with a heavy heart, to their daily life. A handful of us had decided to stay a few more days and enjoy the simple beauty of the place.
On this afternoon I found myself rummaging through the kitchen on the look of my grand mother recipe book. I had a clear recollection of a printed book worn down by age that contained countless additional pieces of paper on which she had written some of her own recipes. I found this book on the kitchen cabinet above the sink and it contained, as I could remember, a number of notes that I recognised as my grandmother's handwriting. I had a seat by the fireplace and started flipping through these pages hoping to find a record of all of her recipes, as a narrative of her time spent cooking for her loved ones, using the beautiful produce she would have grown. I could only find a few of her recipes, far less than I was hoping for. I instantly regretted not having taken more time with her, recording these recipes, talking about her life and asking all these questions I would no longer be able to ask her.
As I later returned to my life, I realised that in many ways we, as a family, keep her memory alive. She is part of us in many aspects, including our softness, the way we have compassion and treat people with kindness. We inherited from her a way to make family with the people we care about and love (being friends, extended or direct family). She passed down to us her strong love for growing and cooking food, hosting the ones we love and care for and breaking bread with them.
When it comes to her recipes, whilst we don't have as many of them in a handwritten form, I have since realised that my grandmother never cooked by the book. Her way of cooking was way more intuitive, based on flavour. I learned cooking by watching her in the kitchen and I realise that we, as a family, cook in a very similar way as she did. The recipe in the picture is the recipe of one of her desserts that my mother really love. My aunt and mother were recently talking about the way she used to prepare this "gateau de famille" and guess what - her way of preparing it is actually different from what is written on this piece of paper. I can only assume that her way of preparing this dessert evolved over the years with regular improvements made to the recipe.
She was a truly talented cook and everyone who had the privilege of being invited to her table would talk about how delicious her food was. Her produce was a key component of this success. She probably also had an impeccable palate. Whilst all of her work was unfortunately not recorded in a written form, we as a family have been passed down all her secrets and skills.
With Marie et Marcelle, I contribute to keeping her memory alive, sharing some of her recipes with my guests and clients. I offer them some delicious food inspired from my French heritage. It is not just only about French food, it is also about a French grandmother way of cooking simple food with delicious produce and lot of love.
Since starting Marie et Marcelle I had to learn to put some of these recipes in writing so I can delegate work to the people working with me. However on so many occasions I find myself reverting back to a more "intuitive" mode of cooking. My team of chefs knows that all of my recipes start with oil, thyme and onions and/or garlic. When asked for quantities I will often answer "enough so it tastes good".
Behind the scene, I am making a conscious effort in documenting some of these recipes, not only in order for my dear chefs to better support me but also to ensure that there is a written record of these many recipes that we could pass down to the next generation.