Family Reunion Cookbook Tips
Fish dishes from Ghana and Norway, the cookbook of the month, and a simple '80s summer treat
Time to Gather
It’s reunion season! Growing up in Utah, most of my friends had large families (one friend had 60 first cousins just on her mom’s side), and summer meant seeing them whisked off to participate in multi-day family reunion extravaganzas. My family is, well, much smaller to say the least (I only have five cousins combined on both sides) and we’re scattered from coast to coast. But whether your family gatherings are small and intimate or huge and complex, you probably have a family member or two who are the cooks and keepers of family recipes. Family reunions are perfect times to gather recipes and put them in one spot, and making a cookbook can be a super fun reunion activity. I’ve put together a guide on my best tips for making a cookbook for your family reunion whether you are hiring out all the work through a Family Cookbook experience (some availability is still open throughout late July and August) or going the DIY route. Check out the post below and have a safe and fun reunion summer!
Ghana’s Lagoon Gods
In Ghana, the Bakatue festival is a rich and complex event observed by the people of the Elmina township, which resides on the edge of a lagoon. The story goes that a man discovered the lagoon and the river that feeds it while searching for drinking water. He erected a hut and prayed in gratitude when the god reperesenting the lagoon, Nana Banya, appeared and kept company with him for eight days. Now, a shrine dedicated to Nana Banya sits on the lagoon’s shores and the Bakatue festival honors him on the second Tuesday in July. But it’s not just the specific date that the festival is held, rituals must be completed six weeks before the actual celebrations, and there is a lot to do. The first week is dedicated to purification, where widows must replace the cap on the shrine and purify themselves. Week 2 sees bonfires made by young men to drive away the troubles of the past year. Women during this week are not allowed to be out on the streets from midday to sunset, and men will rub hot peppers in their faces as punishment (don’t worry, women get retaliation). The next week, a sheep is presented to the gods at the shrine and sacrificed. Men wearing straw hats carry the shrine to the source of the river. Women are now allowed to whip men as punishment for the ills on society. Drumming and dancing are the main activities in weeks 4 and 5, where 77 gods descend during the drumming ceremony and possess the main priest. And in week 6, the Bakatue festival day arrives with a royal procession presenting the area chiefs, who then present a holy food of mashed yams and eggs to the river god.
There’s a lot more that goes into this important practice, but not enough room in this newsletter to go through it all. Fish is an important staple to communities near water in Ghana, so for this video that’ll hit Instagram on Friday, I made fante fante, a spicy fish soup from the cookbook Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen.
Celebrating Scandinavia’s Original Peoples
On the About page of Norway’s Riddu Riddu festival website, the founders state, “Why is being Sami connected to shame?” It’s a powerful question, and one that dives into the hard history shared by many Indigenous communities around the world. The Sami are the Native arctic peoples of Sweden, Norway and Finland, and for centuries they faced intense discrimination and hostility from the general population. The Sami language was banned, and practicing traditional dress or culture was extremely frowned upon. In 1991, a group of Sami youth gathered together to start a cultural festival to share and celebrate the culture their relatives and ancestors had been stripped of and shamed for. The road wasn’t easy—some Sami experienced violence during the early days of the festival and vandalism was common. But they kept on, and 31 years later the Riddu Riddu is considered one of Norway’s most popular hub festivals.
Held each year in mid-July, the festival showcases Sami dance, food, clothing, crafts, and other cultural ways of life, but it also highlights traditions from other Indigenous communities as well. With an art display, film festival, children’s museum, dance and song competitions, and an array of other activities, it’s become one of the most revered Indigenous festivals in Europe.
The Sami subsist off the land, and herbs, berries, fish, and reindeer are staple foods in their diet. I don’t have access to reindeer, so I went with a fish cakes recipe I originally came across on a Facebook page for Sami descendants. The recipe I went with is on a Norwegian website, but Google translate does a pretty good job. Served with potatoes, if you have lingonberries, they’d add a spectacular layer of flavor. The video will go up on Instagram next Friday.
Cookbook of the Month
Lucky Rice
Author Danielle Chang was born in Taiwan and raised in Palo Alto, and like many immigrant children had food ingrained in her being. She went on to found Lucky Rice, a multi-city food festival celebrating Asian cuisines across the continent, and it’s become a nationwide phenomenon. Furthering her dedication to the diverse foods of Asia is Lucky Rice the cookbook, which is packed full of delightful recipes from street food to formal celebratory dishes. The recipes all look like gems, but what I really love about this book are the stories and tidbits revealing Asian connections to dishes around the world, like Peruvian lomo saltado (a stir fry originating with Chinese immigrants). Paired with dynamic, colorful photos, this book is a must for anyone who likes to cook an array of Asian dishes.
Marvelous Frozen Mango Mousse
Another heat wave is coming for us, and staying cool is top priority. Might as well do it with something delicious, and this recipe should hit the spot. From the 1987 Frozen Treats cookbook published by Bon Appetit, give it a try (extra points if you have a goblet) and stay frosty out there.
Ingredients
1 very ripe large mango, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons sugar
Juice of 1 lime
Directions
Arrange mango pieces on a baking sheet without the sides touching. Pour 1 1/4 cups milk into a shallow pan. Freeze both overnight or all day until completely solid.
Just before serving, break frozen milk into chunks. Spoon into a food processor or blender. Add remaining 1/4 cup milk with sugar, lime juice and mango pieces and mix well, stopping machine to scrape down the sides. Mix until mixture resembles smooth sherbet. Spoon mousse into goblets or bowls.