This was fantastic Ishita, I really enjoyed it - reading ‘andaj’ in a sentence without a gloss, too. Funnily enough after teaching me to cook andaj, Mum now weighs & measures things far more often than I do!
Alba proudly tells people she’s Indian and English, but if I suggest Italian or Indian seasoning for meatballs it’s ’I don’t like herbs. OR spices.’ (Obv I put both in on the sly.)
Thank you so much, Ishita, for interviewing my children and me for this beautiful, thoughtful piece!
They (and I) were delighted to talk with you and, almost more importantly, they wholeheartedly agree with your daughter’s sentiment of less pasta, more rice! (which, as you said to me, perhaps means we’re doing an ok job of Asian parenting 🤣)
Beautiful piece, raising mixed kids has so many different elements to it and food is probably one of the biggest. My eldest has just started to want to eat rice with her hands, something I don't even do(!) so I feel like I'm winning a little bit among the beige western food ❤️
It really is. So many different elements. Annoyed with myself for not teaching her Bengali when she was younger. Trying to rectify that now. Food seems to be a good anchor.
Love that your eldest is exploring eating with her hands!
This was so beautiful to read Ishita! I'll be sharing this on Mixed Messages, my newsletter about mixed identity, which you might find interesting! Food is such a gateway to culture and identity without the vulnerability of other elements like language, loved reading this – https://mixedmessages.substack.com/
I'm white with two white parents but after living in Leicester and London I must say I was surprised by living in Germany - you really do have to go to special stores for meagre foreign ingredients, and whilst that's normal in my other cities it was absolutely not the done thing in Germany. I got really excited to find chapati in my store one day, then I got it home and it was 100% a pack of Mexican tortillas (and not good ones...) I was literally ordering from a British-Asian grocery store because I didn't want the only flavours in my food to be caraway and mustard seed (though I do love those traditional German flavours!)
My friend parents a mixed-race child in Germany and Sharmaine is so right - you have to be very intentional about everything, from helping them feel good in their skin to enjoying the food of their 'second' culture. Germany is fantastic at holidaying at home, and connecting with nature and hobbies in the holidays (much better than the UK) but the resulting relative lack of international travel changes the relationship to non-white communities.
It was really interesting to hear about that. I know there are many parts of the UK that aren’t so diverse, but most cities have communities from all over the world and I certainly take it for granted the impact on food culture and accessibility to produce and ingredients.
This was fantastic Ishita, I really enjoyed it - reading ‘andaj’ in a sentence without a gloss, too. Funnily enough after teaching me to cook andaj, Mum now weighs & measures things far more often than I do!
Alba proudly tells people she’s Indian and English, but if I suggest Italian or Indian seasoning for meatballs it’s ’I don’t like herbs. OR spices.’ (Obv I put both in on the sly.)
Thank you so much. I used to moan about cooking andaj and now I cook in that way often -which makes it very tricky to record recipes!
Loved your pieces too. A wants to make some cheddar and rosemary stars this week.
Thank you so much, Ishita, for interviewing my children and me for this beautiful, thoughtful piece!
They (and I) were delighted to talk with you and, almost more importantly, they wholeheartedly agree with your daughter’s sentiment of less pasta, more rice! (which, as you said to me, perhaps means we’re doing an ok job of Asian parenting 🤣)
It was a real joy chatting with you and your family. Wish I could’ve included even more of our conversation.
Beautiful piece, raising mixed kids has so many different elements to it and food is probably one of the biggest. My eldest has just started to want to eat rice with her hands, something I don't even do(!) so I feel like I'm winning a little bit among the beige western food ❤️
It really is. So many different elements. Annoyed with myself for not teaching her Bengali when she was younger. Trying to rectify that now. Food seems to be a good anchor.
Love that your eldest is exploring eating with her hands!
This was so beautiful to read Ishita! I'll be sharing this on Mixed Messages, my newsletter about mixed identity, which you might find interesting! Food is such a gateway to culture and identity without the vulnerability of other elements like language, loved reading this – https://mixedmessages.substack.com/
Thank you so much. Glad the piece resonated. I’ll certainly go check your Substack out.
I'm white with two white parents but after living in Leicester and London I must say I was surprised by living in Germany - you really do have to go to special stores for meagre foreign ingredients, and whilst that's normal in my other cities it was absolutely not the done thing in Germany. I got really excited to find chapati in my store one day, then I got it home and it was 100% a pack of Mexican tortillas (and not good ones...) I was literally ordering from a British-Asian grocery store because I didn't want the only flavours in my food to be caraway and mustard seed (though I do love those traditional German flavours!)
My friend parents a mixed-race child in Germany and Sharmaine is so right - you have to be very intentional about everything, from helping them feel good in their skin to enjoying the food of their 'second' culture. Germany is fantastic at holidaying at home, and connecting with nature and hobbies in the holidays (much better than the UK) but the resulting relative lack of international travel changes the relationship to non-white communities.
It was really interesting to hear about that. I know there are many parts of the UK that aren’t so diverse, but most cities have communities from all over the world and I certainly take it for granted the impact on food culture and accessibility to produce and ingredients.