There are many of us who grew up watching the women in our families cook - without recipes, with just 1 or 2 ingredients, making the little they had stretch to feed the entire household but at the same time, never compromising on taste. Their ingenuity, creativity and resourcefulness made them the excellent cooks they were and continue to be.
Born out of that, we grew up eating certain things and certain dishes prepared a certain way and, as adults, these are the only ways, or our favourite ways, to have those foods or dishes. And that my friends, is the subject of this week's column - I Like It Like That - it refers to the way, I like to eat certain things because that's the way I grew up eating them. Click here to read the column.
In our home when I was growing up, chowmein was always served with steamed rice.
And whenever my mom was looking for a fast-food dish that was filling and satisfying, she turned to curried eggs.
Various recipes for Egg Curry can be found here, here, here, here, here and here. If you'd like mine, email me.
What are some of the foods/dishes you prepare today the same way you liked them while growing up?
100 comments:
Cynthia, this is wonderful! I love curry eggs although I didn't grow up with one. Surely yummy!
Cynthia, I would love to try your Curried Eggs... and I'm sure my family would love that too!
I visited page with the article, it is sooo true! I came from totally different part of the globe but I like many things with potatoes too, especially dishes with lots of gravy.
And my Michael loves to put potato wedges or noodles to chicken stews.
Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Margot
Will read your article later but what struck me was how those noodles look just like the stuff we get in Chinese restaurants here, and the egg curry too, looks like it could have come from any Indian home!
Cool cynthia. I was looking for a noodles recipes, and here we got one. My 3 year old son likes noodles so much. Time to make this for him. Th egg gravy makes water come in mouth. How come the eggs are so big. Are they turkey eggs? When I saw the picture I thought they were potatoes. Looks yummy.
I have a Egg curry post too Cynthia, your's looks fabulous. Got to make it again.
Noodles is mouthwatering,so simple and delicious!:))
http://foodieshope.blogspot.com/2006/09/masala-eggs-with-cumin-green-peas-rice_24.html
Those noodles look delicious....just the way I like them too! ;)
hugs,
trupti
For me, it's always been red spaghetti sauce (yeah, we didn't call it "pasta" back then). Every family has their own take, even the slightest tweak in a recipe is discernible to me - no less yummy, mind you. : )
Love the eggs, Cynthia. I want more eggs/less meat in my diet, and this creamy, golden recipe encourages me.
I always loved my mom's enchiladas growing up. There not rolled like most, but stacked, and I crave them often! Also, no one can make a chili relleno like my mom!
I always ate tons of meat and dairy when I was a kid. Then I went to CHina and it all suddenly stopped tasting. i became nuts about spicy veggie dishes. BUT!!!
Being back home such a long time and served traditional food everywhere, I still havent said complete goodbye to our cuisine. My most favorite that I still make are potato flatbreads (something like Indian chapati, but with mashed potatoes) and sourkraut... My pickled me cannot stop wanting more ;-)
Love curried eggs. Another of the quick things my mother prepared was 'shine rice'. Most Guyanese moms have some version of this recipe. I still make it sometimes, but I use brown Basmati rice. Corned beef is another oldtime fave. It's a quickie I still prepare today and I diversify it by opening a tin of sweet corn or green peas in it and serve it with steamed rice. Yum.
Cynthia, your chowmein looks so good! Better than the versions served in restaurants:-)
Your egg curry pic reminded me of my egg curry post that has been languishing in my drafts for a long time now. Yours looks so thick & creamy- just the way I like it.
I am off to read your column now:-)
The noodles look so yum! I too salute my mom and my aunts, sometimes making tasty food out of nothing. We got egg curry too! Looked exactly like yours!
rice on chow mein? that's new to me. i love curried eggs, but i carefully pick out all the yolks and give them to whoever wants them.
i can't think of a single thing that is 'how i like it'. wait, i can. my aunt's potato curry -- with turmeric, green chillies and mustard.
The article rings so true....love the chow mein pic.
Hi cynthia!!!!
That's a wonderful post! I can think of many dishes my mom used to do in certain ways!! beans curry known as usili... btw the egg curry is mouth watering!!!!!
This post is true...my mom has had to make so much out of so little before. She would tell me stories of her mother making dinners for her and her 14 brothers and sisters when there was virtually no food in the house. These stories always amazed me, and my grandma was the best cook! I wish sometimes I was able to cook so freely with so much ingenuity. Great post, Cynthia :)
Wow, delicious looking chowmein Cyn... With steamed rice, :) Thats new... I know what you mean about getting used to a taste and sticking to it... I have to think of one for me though, my taste is ever evolving... :)
very tempting pics, loved both of them. I am a crazy noodles fan. you have presented so beautifully.
I always thought it was either chowmein or it was rice. Both together..umm, that's unusual!
Everything my mom cooks - I like it like that :)
Cynthia, curried eggs are my favorite too, when I am at a loss for what to cook Egg Curry never fails to disappoint and it does not hurt that every member of the household loves it too.
Those curried eggs look good! I've never had anything like that, but I'd like to try it.
I guess that when I make eggs in a frame, I do it just the way my mom did (cut a hole out of the bread with a shot glass, fry the egg in there with butter, etc.). And of course, her whole influence with pasta sauce, meatballs, etc. And just steaming an artichoke and eating it with lemon butter . . .
Cynthia, your chow mein with the rice sounds really good, and the photo is so enticing, very nicely done, as always. You always discuss such interesting things in your posts. :-) My grandmother always made a simple potato, onion and garlic dish, that we would have with steamed rice and spicy mango pickle, and its still my very favorite way to eat potatoes, and always reminds me of my dear grandmother.
Cynthia,
Your blog this week brings so many sweet memory of my beloved late mom. My favourite dishes are so many, but Lumpia Semarang (Fresh eggroll a la Semarang) was definitely her signature dish... made with julienned bamboo shoots, carrots, pork and shrimp... served on freshly made eggroll skins. I haven't attempted to make them yet. Perhaps, this is a good time for me to try. I will let you know how it turns out.
Curried eggs sounds soo good right now! And the noodles too. Why can't you be MY neighbour?
i love egg curry too. its actually the first post in my blog :)
Looks so lovely and so inviting... when shall I drop by?
Yay! Chow mein :). But I dint know you were to serve 'em with rice.
I would hate to change any of my mom's recipes. As a cook, I always try to imitate my mom's cooking. Don't we all do that?
Loved the curried eggs..... they look so inviting....I would love to have a large helping :)
Things that I just to have a certain way? My mums bakes - I have learnt since moving back to the Caribbean that my mums bakes are actually "wrong" - they're too hard. But you know what I LOVE EM. They're not wrong to me, hard bakes with sardines - perfection!
Cynthia, I have such a weak spot for Chowmein. I will definitely try this someday. Thanks for sharing.
Hello, Cynthia! Here I of seeing your good plates.
Congratulations.
Yeah my mom also make things with few ingridiens.
The combination of rice and chowmien is new to bee , but it looks delicious.
And the egg curry is beautifull. I could just eat them with simple roti.While writting this i am getting hungry.
Looka amzing Cynthia....The egg curry simply looks yummmmmm :-)
Neat,nice presentation dear :-)
Hi Cynthia, great post. Your chowmein looks yummy! We'd love the recipe for your egg curry please. I was only thinking last week that I'd like to make an egg curry as I've not done it before. Love making curry and thought it would make a change. Hope you're having a great weekend.
Oh Cynthia: I LOVE your mom's kitchen wisdom.
"Not me. I ain't buying any tomatoes this week, not at that price. The doctor did not order me to buy tomatoes so if I don't eat any this week, I'm not going to die."
I got such a kick out of that...
Emmm...curried eggs. I had forgotten about that dish until I saw your post. Too bad, I can't eat yolks anymore! :-( It looks sooooooo good.
ooh, the egg curry makes me reach for it NOW!! Looks sooo good!!
That looks delicious, Cynthia! The egg dish is very interesting. Yum.
Almost everything I make has it's roots in the family way of cooking.
My mum could some how take 1 roast chicken and feed 7 people with it, and still have enough left over for sandwiches the next day and use the bones for soup. To this day I can't figure out how she managed it!
Curried eggs were a fave for us too, and I know more recipes using minced meat than I care to remember! But I have such fond memories of those dishes; Ming which was a sort of mince, cabbage and rice dish made with classic curry powder.
This post was right on dot! I still wonder at how easliy my mother used to make wonderful dishes with v few ingrediants, I realise that now when i have started cooking! beautiful post.
http://culinarybazaar.blogspot.com
Your chow mein and curried eggs look fabulous Cynthia. The way the gravy drapes the eggs... :)
I grew up eating Polish food, which means loads of potato dishes. My mom and grandmother never wrote down a recipe. I just learned to make them by osmosis.
ohh. cynthia, i have no idea why you can't see the pics :( probably it was down at the time you came by. do check again when you have time and let me know.
Pretty noodles Cynthia!
My mom always made a baked mac n' cheese, that I loved, when I was growing up. It was my favorite food. Now that I'm a "gourmet" cook, I realize that dish isn't very gourmet, but I would never fix it any other way.
Great post!
I could have written this post myself! There are so many things I will only eat one way--the way my grandma made them. Your food looks incredible, as always.
I love love love curry eggs. And that's a nice plate of chow mien too. :p
Really, you really eat chowmien and rice together?
That's very true Cynthia. In earlier days and even now also there are many who cook- without recipes with just a few ingredients available at home and yet they taste so nice....and Curry eggs is simply one of my favourites especially the curry with fried eggs. I simply love it...Some very nice mouth-watering shots as usual!
a just back from my short trip to our native place. Your comments pulled me here. How much I would love to send across the tamarind rice to you dear!:))
I agree with you one hundred percent that some of the dishes made with minimum ingredients taste heavenly! I had this experience throughout my trip! And to top all that my aunt cooked a simple lunch of Venn pongal and brinjal gothsu in 10 minutes flat! It was so yummy! I'll share the recipe soon.
BTW, I just loved the picture of noodles with springonions! Sure to make this!
Hiee Cynthia! I've never had chow mein and rice before!Must try it one day. As for me, I love my mom's Spicy tofu @tofu sambal. I'm so fussy when it comes to the dish that i don't even bother trying the dish if someone else makes it cause i know it won't taste as good!
Your noodles look very good and those curried eggs are ever so scrumptious! Yummy!!! I am now hungry...
Cynthia, I simply loved your story on the simple meals we had during our childhood. Loved the egg potato curry and nice looking noodles
I have an curry eggs too to try. I like the pasta at the begging of this post, simple and healthy
Hi Cynthia, your dishes look yummy as usual!!! And another unusual dish for me to try sometime. Never ever had an egg curry.
Those cuuried eggs look WONDERFUL!!!
My Nana's baked beans and her potato salad is best as it was originally!
Ah yes, I know exactly what you mean!!! My mother's and granny's cooking - even when different in technique from what I've since learned professionally, is ultimately delicious and comforting. Sunday roasts, chicken in white wine sauce, chocolate cake. My mouth is watering!
rice & chowmein, new to me. looks good.
one childhood snack that I still love just that way (or as we used to say in school 'like that only') is a mango pickle sandwich. Fresh bread + butter + a lot of mango pickle = hmm :)
cynthia..those noodes look great!..
Egg curry, reminds me of my mom's home cooking. Yours looks egg-ceptional. I love how your blog takes me back to my childhood.
Oooooooooooh those curried eggs are delicious. I am having some for today's dinner
Beautiful pictures as usual. Egg curry looks too good.
Great column Cynthia! I liked it just like that! ; ) And I'm very curious about the curried eggs now...
Those curried eggs look amazing!
Hi Cynthia, interestingly, my mom and grandma eat noodles with rice too. It never caught on with me, I just wanted more noodles :-) The thing that I still eat the same way as I did as a child is an egg fried sunny side up, steamed rice and sweet soy sauce. Simple comfort food that I can have in any country.
I didn't grow up with curried eggs, but at some point I decided that curried egg salad sounded like a splendid idea. Here's to all the women who cook without recipes, but with imagination!
This is wonderful!!!! I like chinese cooking.
I only know chowmein since moved to the States. We certainly have this type of noodles back home, just the concept of preparing and serving it kind of different, either way, it's both excellent!
Your curry eggs sound GREAT! Once I know more spice stores and get enough ingredient, I may like to try it.
Cynthia, it is good to have a memorable dish and able to re-create after we grow up. I have a restriction on getting the original ingredients... but even my parents back home, for some reasons they love being creative, their supposed oldie' dishes ended up just surprised me.
Your curry looks lovely, and those noodles, mmm mmm!
I cook a broth that my Mum used to make, just as she made it, and a couple of 'her' cakes too.
your chowmein looks good...
My mom's beef soup, with food -aka- ground provisions, and dumplings. Soup is not soup without dumplings.
I still make my curry chicken the way my mother did, with potatoes and- dumplings again!
We also liked the canned corn beef cooked up with onions and tomatoes and scallions- with some cabbage and white rice, it's a perfect weekday meal.
And lastly- Sunday morning Green Banana, fried plantain, bakes and saltfish. You cannot make those another way than mom's.
It would be sacrilegious!
Great article!
Cynthia,
I thought I were the only person who likes rice with my chowmein
I love egg curry, my kids like it too
My mom did the same thing (with different foods). She could make a meal for 6 people out of thin air it seemed! I now marvel at how she did what she did! BTW my husband and some friends and I are coming to Barbados Sat. for a week. I'm soo excited.
Hi Cynthia , you are right my mother has leard me more, I remberee that i looked at her when she cooked , every little act.
Thanks for your recipes.
Kisses
Wow, how interesting to have chow mein with rice!! We've always had it separately from rice here... And your curried eggs look irresistible!
Those curried eggs look really delicious!...
Very nice blog; saw you in Lechuza's...
I will mail you for the recipe, thank you...
Congratulations for the blog...
gspacDear Cynthia: I was so happy you noticed the steam on the picture! It's a soup made with any sea product you wish to use.
I wan't to try those curried eggs, great idea!
I prepare many dishes as my mother did. One, very simple I love because it's tastes like childhood is Huevos a la Baltimore, wish would be Eggs à la Baltimore: You need canned corn grains, sauce bechamel and eggs. You mix the corn with the bechamel and pour this mixture into individual refractary dishes. You break an egg in the middle of each dish. You cook in the oven 15 minutes,until the eggs are done.
cynthia,
Yummy chowmein and
Mouth watering Egg curry:)
oh.. i forgot. it was so nice to read ur article.
chow mein with rice?? wow thats a 1st for me..curried eggs look fine..wouldnt mind that at all
Cynthia, I love those noodles, and its really...the simplicity is the best in the kitchen.
Hugs
Soraya
WOW.....you make me craze my dear......your post is always delicious. Your egg curry looks perfect!!
we tend to like few dishes they way we ate them from our childhood.
beautiful post as always
Curry eggs ... yup I had that some time ago, although I can't remember when. I can't really recall what I can cook when I was younger... but I definitely know I can't cook anything now, except instant noodle and perhaps boil rice. Hahaha ... so much for being a foodie eh.
Hi there Cynthia,
I love your blog !! I have been visiting you daily now and I have learnt so much from you as your an expert chef, please come and visit my blog as I would love you to visit :-)
Jeena xx
click here for food recipes
its around 12 in the nite n im soo hungry just looking at these...really yumm!!
>> COMMENT LEFT IN ERROR <<
Hello Cynthia,
Sorry I left you a message above in error, I thought you were another blog, I was suppose to leave this comment on a blog who is a proper chef. However I do like yours still as it is very nice :-).. and I am sure one day you too will make a good chef.
Regards Jeena xx
click here for food recipes
Cynthia....yet to read your last week's column...will write to you in detail.....anyway curried eggs looks so rich and tasty :)
Take care
Shn
Noodles dish looks so tasty!
I just like your photography skills, the pictures are so good in all the posts.
The first plate is tempting Cynthia. As usual photos are realistic. Viji
Years ago , I was living in an apartment complex with some co-workers. On weekends I would visit their apartment for potlucks, I would always bring ice cream because I did not know how to cook then. One of my favorite dishes were their egg curries. I can't wait to try this again! Thanks for bringing back the memories!
Hi Cynthia, You r chowmein looks so very good. I feel like eating it straight from the screen. Please mail me your egg curry recipe.
Egg curry looks delicious, Cynthia, and I really enjoyed the column too. I guess my nana's potatoes with green onion sauce would be one of my 'I like it like that' dishes. :)
Anh - they are a real quick and easy dish to which veggies can also be added.
Margot, that's the Caribbean coming out in Michael :D Hope you enjoy the curry.
Sra - well, as I've said before, Guyana and other parts of the Caribbean are made up of many races and ethnic cultures. Chinese and Indian are an integral part of that make-up.
Rina - they are regular chicken eggs. They look plump because I fried them after boiling, before making the curry. It makes the whites more meaty :)
Asha - oh yeah, now that's a drool-worthy egg curry.
Trupti, Saju, Jayashree, Usha P, Meeso, Sig, Sharmi, Roopa, Indo, Nags, Cinnamon, Pragyan, David, Happy Cook, Sirisha, Dhana, Maryann, Laavanya, Elly, Rosa, Padma, Francesca, Jenn, Amanda, Rajitha, Nirmala, Shilpa, Anali, Kevin, Pom d'api, Kelly-Jane, Valentina, Joe, Soraya, Kajal Nanditha, Timothy, Kumundha, Viji, Veronica & Linda - thank you all for sharing your wonderful memories!
Deborah - that is what I'm talking about - just the way it is presented and cooked makes it different and special.
Zuzana - those potato flat breads sound scrumptuous.
Cheryl - yeah, my mom makes "shine rice" too! :) I must ask her how to make it.
I think all Caribbean people have the corned-beef fixation :)
TBC - why thank you :D
Thanks for reading the column and I'm looking forward to that post you have languishing.
Bee - there is something :D
Lisa - I'll send you the recipe. Look at the many things you make and have "just like that." :)
Belinda - thank you so very much. I'd love to try that potato-onion-garlic dish. Can you email me?
Bee - please try making them and let me know. They sound heavenly.
East Meets West - I guess I can ask you the same question. :)
Synny & sid - you can drop by anytime :)
Suganya - well not that they are to be served with rice :) it's just the way we ate it :)
Yes, we all do!
Anon - there you go! That's exactly what I mean. "I like it like that."
Amanda - will send you the recipe, hon.
Lori Lynn - the things my mom says (lol) sometimes I have to caution her not to say them when we have company :D
Valerie - too bad indeed. Well, you can make the dish and then slice the eggs and take out the yolks. You can even do this after they've been boiled and make the curry with the boiled whites.
Kiriel - I know right?! Gosh these women are amazing. I'd like to try the Ming dish. Will email you.
Dhivya - thanks for stopping by and sharing. Welcome! I do hope you come back and visit.
Urban Vegan - mine too! I learnt from watching them and using my own instincts.
Nags - They're up now.
Emilie - that's the spirit!
Tigerfish - yes I did! and don't knock it till you try it :) Add some hot chilie sauce also.
Kalyan - thanks! I always like it fried before currying. Love the texture of the egg whites then.
Latha - and I so wish I lived nearby to have some and learn so many things from you and Lakshmi.
Culinary Princess - Your mom must be so proud :)
Pat - you have to try it.
The Cooker - bead+butter+a lot of mango pickle?! I, I, I don't know what to say :D
Sandeepa - lucky you!
Nora - Your mom and grandma rock! :D
Toni - here! here!
Gattinga - will send you the recipe for the egg curry. I'd like to know more about how the noddles are prepared in your home.
New Kid - thank you and welcome!
Willow! - I'd love to hear more from you! Are you from the Caribbean? Thre are so many things in your comment that I can relate to!
Anon - no, your're not :D
Half Baked - a very warm welcome. Hope you have a great time visiting BIM. Send me an email if you'd like to chat.
Ady - me too! :)
Delokos - welcome and thank you very much. Will send you the recipe.
Pamela - you know how much I love seafood soups! That baked egg your mom makes sounds rich and creamy.
Prajusha - thanks for taking the time to read the column. I really appreciate it.
Jeena - welcome and thanks for dropping by. Hope to see you around.
Superchef - thank you for your kind comment and a warm welcome! Come back and visit when you can.
Shn - no problem, honey. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Pooja V - thanks and welcome! Recipe on the way.
I grew up on a farm on real homecooked Swedish food and too little variety. (Meat almost every day).
The tradition of serving pea soup every Thursday followed by pancakes with jam and whipped cream, I prepare today the same way as my mother did. However, I don´t serve pea soup and pancakes that often, and it doesn´t has to be on a Thursday.
the pictures look great, cynthia! i love to have your curried eggs...
Cynthia,I never made curry eggs.But I must try I love the both things.
All these photos are making me hungry !
Karin - thanks so much for sharing.
Lissie - thanks!
Sylvia - yes, you must :)
Chef Tom - a very warm welcome. And thanks for your kind comment. Do come back and visit when you can.
Fabulous post...and oh so true! I grew up around women and men like that...and so it is what I have become :o)
Woohoo...what a feast! I love the plantain chips..please divulge!
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