Passing It Down

Sam Burnham, Curator
​@C_SamBurnham

I’ve been pleased to see the varied and well-done versions of the New Year’s meal. Ive seen photos and heard stories from many different people. And there are two types of stories that stand out:
1) “This is the first time I’ve tried this.”
2) “Mama/Granny/etc complimented me on this.” Whether it’s Alan Cornett with his beautiful first Dutch baby or a young lady on Twitter who impressed her mom with some top notch potlikker, it’s good to see people furthering their understanding and their experience with food.

Cultural Traditions Are Passed Down Generationally

There have been other stories, both online and in person, of recipes being passed down, of timeless cookware, of time spent together. This is what it’s really about. As things get passed down, culture continues

There are people making a living now by digging up the old ingredients, the old methods, the old equipment of making traditional food. Somewhere something didn’t get passed down, something was lost. Now it has to be relocated. But the encouraging stories this week are what prevents that from happening. We love, then we watch, then we learn, then we do.

It starts on January 1 with a traditional meal. But that process touches every area of our lives. Learn the ways of your elders. And don’t forget to pass it down.