I've always been a man in search of a family meal somewhere, and I think that's driven a lot of my curiosity and a lot of my passion in my professional career.
Andrew Zimmern, Broken Palate
I’ve watched every episode of Family Dinner, hosted by
1. In each episode, Andrew visits a family to experience their unique take on family dinner. He brings an unexpected dish to share, and helps prepare the meal— a perfect guest.
I got a table side view of 49 different family dinners—several I consumed twice. They made me hungry, waking up a dormant need for my own family Shabbat meal.
I am not Jewish. I’m also not Mexican, Cuban, or from a family that has a daily cheese and meat snack hour—a taste of a few of the episodes that resonated with me the most.
I wondered, where does this leave me as I create my own family food culture? Where is my Shabbat? Where is my Asado?
I’m a little all over the place when it comes to food…
I once made some vegan enchiladas for some Mexican friends and the wife said, “these are some white people enchiladas.” I appreciated the review and have since donated my large collection of vegan cookbooks.
If you recall, I am a food orphan. It’s melodramatic, but true. See my family food history: Mayonnaise Sandwiches.
I don’t have a distinct food heritage that I’m aware of, or a physical place to tap into for inspiration. There was a time where I thought, oh I’ll just be like Vivian Howard and build my food story from a regional perspective.
I spent two weeks diving into my family history to discover that I am…a hillbilly. My ancestors as far back as the 1800s come from the foothills of the Appalachians. I currently reside in the Appalachian mountains, moving on up?
I’m not sure what I was looking for, a long lost peach pie recipe? I found farmers, pastors and homemakers. I wondered what they made for dinner? Most likely they ate: grits, livermush, corn, country ham, and butter beans. They probably canned their abundance from their kitchen gardens. I'm sure there would be a decent cobbler recipe for when peaches were in season.
While I like a country ham biscuit. In general, southern “struggle” food isn’t what we eat on a daily basis. It is what I’m made of though. I’d enjoy a life with more biscuits, but the gumption leaves my body when I eat the glutinous pillows.
My food culture has been informed by my early 2000s Aunties and Uncles on Food network. TV personalities like Rachel Ray, who taught me that I must grab all the ingredients from the fridge in one go (see: 30 Minute Meals) Food must be: fun, fast, preferably with flames. Think, Guy Fieri.
My food culture stems from a million saved food blogger recipes combined with my searches for, “best (insert food) recipe ever!” Anything we’ve eaten more than once, is a recipe that I've stumbled upon. A nearly lost link in a ‘Note to Self’ on my phone.
Our family food culture is based on: what we like eat, what diet I’m on, or what cookbook I’ve gotten into. There’s no cohesion only a fractured picture of what I think family dinner should be. The food is good but is it something for my children to come back to?
Maybe I’ll start a Substack called: What To Cook When No One Told You What To Do and Your Life is Quickly Passing By.
I’ll double up on my magnesium tonight and see if I can communicate with my ancestors about weeknight dinner ideas.
Without a foundation of traditions, each holiday, I find myself purusing through one of those side item listicles such as, “42 Ways to Consume Sweet Potatoes This Thanksgiving.” Anyone else?
It was a great idea. Someone asked, what makes it a ham party? Um, obviously the ham and accoutrements. The New York Sour punch certainly made for a party.
Ham Party 2022
The Essence of Grandma’s Meatballs
Andrew Zimmern’s homestyle frozen entrées blend generational recipes with the essence of Grandma’s Sunday dinners, offering a fusion of comfort, convenience, and treasured memories in every bite.2
credit: Helena Nichols/Mashed
In 2023, Zimmern, partnered with Walmart to create a line of frozen foods. Disclaimer: I don't know if they are still available for purchase. Walmart, get ready, you may need to restock.
I was initially appalled by this partnership. I learned the news while I was deep in my Family Dinner obsession, still trying to figure out if it was too late to be adopted by a family with rich food traditions.
The most important thing about family dinners isn't what's on the plate; it's spending the time together… if a convenient meal that tastes good and happens to be inexpensive can allow us a little bit of time to convene, I think that's a good thing.
Sure thing, Andrew.
I thought of my favorite frozen meal growing up— turkey and stuffing roll ups with mashed potatoes and gravy. It seems to have been discontinued.
I felt momentarily annoyed by Andrews’s addition to the Walmart freezer section. Do we, food orphans, just get to have the essence? The feeling, the scraps. The taste of what a family dinner could be?!
By this time, I had fully transported myself into the world of Family Dinner, half expecting Andrew to knock on my door at any moment. The show was over. No more episodes. No word of a new season.
I had to leave my Family Dinner Fantasy to continue working on creating my own traditions for my family. In my children’s words, “you are the best cooker Mommy.” As the designated, ‘best cooker’ I want my children to know what home feels like.
Creating a strong culture of: shared recipes, family dinners, and culinary traditions is a great way to do that.
I consider myself a seasoned home chef, although I still feel like a novice. I am a poor baker, so I decided I would start there and remedy this by making everyone’s birthday cakes in 2024. The results— very experimental and overly sweet.
I decided we would have an intentional Sabbath meal, every week, until the end of time. It lasted one week.
I thought we needed to turn our home into a real pizzeria on Fridays. For the kids! Ultimately, I removed the pricey wood fire pizza oven and red checkered tablecloth from my Amazon cart.
I imagine it's easier to keep an established tradition going, than to start one from scratch.
After my failed attempts at making forced memories, I chose to let go.
Instead of focusing on cuisine cohesion, aka I’m going to pretend to be Italian now! I embrace what I like to eat, apply what I’ve learned about food, and I cook meals that align with our current preferences.
If there’s ever a Season 4 of Family Dinner and Andrew came over, here’s a rough draft of what I’d make:
Steak appetizer with chimichurri, or maybe with meatballs.
Greek salad loaded with more toppings than greens, especially raw goat milk feta and olives.
Tallow fried chicken wings. I would implore Andrew to whip up a couple different sauces for tossing the wings.
For the main dish, if it’s nice out we would grill— local grass-fed steaks and marinated chicken thighs. Just add in an ode to my love of Tex-Mex, with guacamole and homemade salsa.
If we're indoors—Samin Nosrat’s buttermilk roasted chicken. I would also invite her.
If we were really ambitious, maybe we’d make double-fried french fries outside.
Dessert: Flourless chocolate cake with whipped cream, and homemade icecream.
These are a few of my favorite things to cook and enjoy…fresh produce, quality meats with salty, tangy, and savory forward flavors.
Food that is simple, but still makes people ask, “how’d you do that?”
Maybe, if we didn’t have this feast, we’d sample all of Andrew’s frozen meals on my couch. I’d decide if they really feel like home.
What would you make for your episode of, Family Dinner?
We’ll end by touching on the heart of family dinner (not the show), which is a sentiment I share with Andrew and likely many of you…
“… family dinner has always been a part of my life and a very important piece of what I do. I think it's because I had them when I was little, little, and then my own family story exploded. Parents divorced. Mother got ill and never recovered. I found myself as a teenager going to my friends’ houses for family meals and experiencing what I wanted in my own life through other people.” — Andrew Zimmern, Broken Palate
Thank you for reading and commenting Patricia. Same here. I need to start my writing down recipes.❤️
Okay, your menu sounds amazing, Amber. I love simple meals made with real, whole foods, generously sprinkled with sea salt.