Last night my daughter and I attended a program called Beyond Bubbie, An Evening Dedicated to Food, Family, and the Stories That Link Them.
Beyond Bubbie is a program run by Reboot, an organization dedicated to making Jewish identity meaningful.
Beyond Bubbie is a website where photos, stories, and recipes of Bubbies (grandmothers) are collected and shared. An American organization, Beyond Bubbie has held several live events and made its Canadian debut in Toronto.
Recipes from and photos of grandmothers cooking were asked to be sent in. I submitted the above copy of a photo of my great-great grandmother, great grandmother, grandmother and two uncles. The baby is my grandmother. It was taken in 1906, two years before my great-grandparents moved from Lithuania to Toronto.
The evening included speakers, music and of course food. It was hosted by author David Sax who wrote Save the Deli, and now can have a second career as a show host.
There were two non Jewish speakers, one was playwright Sean Dixon, who told bittersweet stories of growing up in rural Quebec with a large family, a grandmother who didn't like him, and a mother who cooked bland food. He told us his story to help us appreciate our own Bubbies.
Denise Booth, is an Anishnawbe (Ojibway) woman who grew up in Toronto. Forced to be adopted due to government Indian policy at the time, raised by an Anglo Canadian family, she now is the Cultural Coordinator at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto. She told a touching story about how a group of female elders taught her how to make the traditional native fry bread, or bannock, helping her connect to her roots.
The Jewish speakers mostly came from Ashkenazi (East European) backgrounds and reminisced about gefilte fish, mandlebread, knishes, and the copious amounts food served by the Bubbies. They spoke with a great sense of humor, often needed for dealing with the recurring theme of the somewhat critical and opinionated Bubbies.
Food writer Sarah Elton spoke of how her Bubbie lived in London, England, during World War II. Her experiences with food shortages led her Bubbie to want to know where food comes from. Sarah has written extensively about local food.
The ever busy author and television personality Rose Reisman dedicates her life to educating people about healthy living. She explained how her grandparents and father died in their fifties due to complications from diabetes and she became interested in not letting that happen to her or others. She spoke with great love about her mother.
Some of the speakers own their own restaurants:
Anthony Rose - Rose and Sons upscale classic (comfort) food with Jewish heart
Judy Perly - Free Times Cafe, Sunday Jewish Brunch with live Klezmer band
Alida Solomon - Tutti Matti, Italian Tuscan food, handmade pasta
Dino Venasio - Ben and Izzy's (kosher Deli with all the meats prepared in house)
Beyond Bubbie would be a great project for any culture or religion to adopt, helping them preserve their heritage.
I've got lots of recipes from my mother and grandmother that need recording, and some of them are on scraps of paper with the writing fading away. This event makes me realize that these recipes are so easily lost, it is time to get working on them.
So talk to your mothers and grandmothers, collect their recipes, have a good laugh, have a good cry, and keep your traditions alive.
