Have you ever cooked with your grandma or someone who learned to cook at a really young age? It’s a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a dash of this and dash of that. I inherited my grandma’s cookbooks and I am shocked to see what little instructions are given in the recipe.
There are measures in the ingredient listing but a home cook really had to know what to do when they made bread, cookies, cakes and savory dishes. There were no videos; no one was Googling a technique or watching the food network.
I love to cook. I find it is more forgiving for a pinch of this and dash of that, but baking is a different story. Ernie Sirski, a canola farmer from Dauphin, tells the story about his mom. The best baker ever. No one compared to her. I can understand and relate. She cooked and baked with her hands. She knew how the dough was to feel; how the batter to look. She could add a dash or a pinch or a little bit and Ernie describes in Ukraine, the little of this, is “djzmanu”. No one could ever duplicate her dishes. Her experience and practice made her great.
For me it was my Amma’s. She could bake the best vienterra, her special dark chocolate cake with hard icing and cookies. She was a great home baker and cook. I’ve baked with her but I can’t make it the same way as Amma did.
If we are lucky, we are blessed to have someone in our lives that capture that essence of the home cook and have created many wonderful memories. I am trying to do that for my family. I am able to pass down dishes from my grandma and baba but I need to learn more about our Ethiopian heritage. I need an Ethiopian grandma (Set Ayatt) to teach me. So I joined a cooking class and met Yalem. She is the instructor, mother, grandmother and “uniter” for culture and family.
Yalem cooks as Ernie’s mom and my grandma did. She cooks with her hands and has the techniques of a pinch of this, a djzmanu or in Amharic “tinish” a tiny bit. It was fun to watch and learn and try to duplicate. As soon as the class started, I immediately felt a connection to her. She is a grandma who loves to teach. Those are the best kind. Yalem measures with her hands, tastes everything to ensure the right amount of spice, salt and consistency of her dishes. She knows how it is to feel and look.
You can learn from Yelam at the upcoming cooking class at Ethio-Canadian Dancers Group Inc. at http://www.eccai.ca/
I will be sharing a few of her recipes on the blog. But if you can’t wait for the recipes, check out the many Ethiopian restaurants in Winnipeg.
Be Well…Ellen
