www.marissa.co Food as a Connector

Recipes as a Connector

Recipe giving is an act of kindness, people that take the time to share and pass on the recipes they have enjoyed can imprint your heart for years to come. Having lived in the UK for 28 years I have connected with friends and family via recipes. I can taste what they have enjoyed, even if they are on a different continent. We in turn can chat and share the recipe on our side with our friends and the recipe was always from the person that passed it onto you say, your mum, cousin, a school friend. And so the ripple of kindness disseminates and the connection across the seas is forged.

Most of my recipes are something I have created with the ingredients I have in my house, tasted somewhere, or a recipe given to me by friends and family. I am a middle child so rarely do I make the recipe as it was intended (unless it is a cake) I always add my spin or something else to make it my own.

If I chat with anyone I always ask what they are making for dinner or what you had for lunch, this gives me ideas and to feel connected.  It is uncanny that without speaking to friends and family beforehand we have the same something bubbling on the stovetop.

If you are feeling isolated and disconnected from friends and family, share a recipe and bring their world into yours. Cook the same dinner as the person you are missing, share it virtually or alone, it will connect you. The act of eating together even if it is virtually, or if they are no longer with you, is a wonderful connector. And in these difficult times, can be a slice of just what you need to heal your heart and soul.

So take a minute to compose an email, pick up the phone and talk about something you have enjoyed, a new recipe you have tried, a takeaway you have loved or just how fed up you are with creating meals for yourself or your family. This conversation will lead to you finding a new recipe or maybe thinking more creatively.

My late Yiayia withdrew towards the end of her life, her faculties were all there, but her arthritic body failed her. I would call her daily and the only thing that would get her talking as if I asked her to remind me how to make this or that. Her library in her mind of recipes was fantastic, a gene I did not inherit, hence me loading everything onto this site. I loved hearing her reel off the recipe and then she would ask me the following day, how I got on and if I liked the recipe. This helped me connect with my Yiayia whilst we were on different continents. The memories I made with her then, her quips to say ‘don’t you ever stop making things’ has brought a smile to my face years down the line.

Often if you read my recipes you will see I always mention who gave me the recipe and each of those acts of kindness are on the site for everyone’s benefit, even the person who has passed the recipe on. The site is a reference for all. The ripples flow from their home, to mine to yours. Because let’s face it, recipes that you make, taste or have a memory of, always taste that little sweeter.

Have fun, enjoy using food to connect with those you miss, if they are no longer with you, that dish can be the talking point to reminisce and remember them.

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PS If anyone shares delicious recipes with you, please email them to me too at marissa@marissa.co

Thanks in advance, I can’t wait to read what you share.