In a previous blog post, I discussed and shared a recipe dear to me and my family – Oma’s German Pancakes. While I offered readers the recipe for these crepe-like, delectable pancakes, I did not include the specific amount of each ingredient required. Thus, it is not the particular ingredients that make this family recipe “secret,” but rather the precise amount of each ingredient needed – a skill which only my Oma has mastered. My grandmother has spent years perfecting this recipe and adds all the ingredients into a mixing bowl until the batter appears “just right.” However, I’m sure we can all agree that the amount of butter utilized in a recipe has a significant effect on taste and the more, the merrier.
Again, I was raised vegetarian, and many of our dinner entrees (lunch was always PB & J or Pizza Lunchables) came straight out of a vegetarian cookbook. My mother, an inexperienced vegetarian cook, always sought new recipes that would appeal to my sisters’ and my taste buds (though it was most often an unsuccessful attempt). Thus, none of my mother’s recipes were original or special to our family. Further, even if a recipe was special to my family, it would taste so unappealing to an outsider that no one would want the recipe badly enough for it to be a “secret.”
A lot of families bring their “secret” family recipe to a cookout or potluck. I personally feel this is an attempt to entice those in attendance to the dish, yet tease them in that it is not acceptable to share a “secret” recipe. Looking back on the numerous potlucks I have attended over the course of my lifetime, I try to determine what dish my mother added to the smorgasbord. Alas, one dish comes to mind: a bowl of diced fruit…thanks for being original, Mom.
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