There are some dishes that I got to know only after we moved to the United States. Mac & cheese is one of them. For me, this dish is so American that it even feels weird to translate its name to my native tongue. While in Hebrew the name is not really appetizing, the words Mac & cheese, on the other hand, immediately make my taste buds run.
"What should we make for the graduation party?”I asked my better half when we sat in the backyard in one of June’s warm evenings. “There’s still a long time until he finish school” she answered, “not really, it’s June already” “well, maybe he should stay another year in high school…”
I spent many fun-filled days at my childhood-friend Dan’s house. One of the times, his mom offered us something to eat and asked if I like casserole. “Very much” I answered. Moroccan casserole was one of my favorite dishes.
"Try it, at least one time, and if you don’t like it, I’ll make you something else” mom would try to convince me, but I stubbornly refused to even taste. “ I put only things you love: potatoes, carrots…” she said,
In my childhood home we ate couscous only in one way. Hand made and steamed over a pot of soup. It was almost impossible to enter our small kitchen when mom would make couscous. In one bowl there was the semolina that mom would wet slowly while stirring so that no clumps would form.
"What’s for dinner?” asks my teenager as he throws his bag at the corner of the kitchen and opens the refrigerator. “I don’t know yet” I answer. “I’m starving” he adds. As a family, one of the traditions that we try to keep is to eat dinner together every night, which means cooking daily. I have a few basic rules for day to day cooking.