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In the realm of cookery, I think my dad was the equivalent of an ’80s new-wave one-hit (OK, maybe three-hit) wonder. But oh, those hits, they will always be with me. For the most part, my mom was the dependable source of everyday meals for my sisters and me — from spaghetti and meatballs to hot and sour soup — but when my father cooked, he did it with steely focus and uni-directional aplomb. Hunan catfish was his tried-and-true crowd favorite, an aromatic and homey dinner slated for the best of occasions, but he also cranked out perfect fried eggs, tenderly braised napa cabbage, and smoky barbecue chicken on the ancient black Weber. I was always amused by his boyish appetite for American snacks (UTZ potato chips, Hershey’s chocolate minis, Mini Babybel cheeses), and his lifelong affinity for respectably nutritious staples: bananas, roasted peanuts, endless cups of black tea. (After all, he was a scientist.) And best of all, he ordered a hamburger and Sprite in every restaurant, no matter how fancy the menu.
We asked around America’s Test Kitchen for fun stories involving food and dads. Here are a sampling:
Growing up, my mom was always in charge of food, so whenever she was out of town, my dad, my brother and I were always kind of left to our own devices, which usually meant take-out and movie night. One particular weekend in my childhood, though, my dad made a run out to the video store, came back, went down to the basement, dug out an ancient countertop deep-fryer that looked like it hadn’t seen the light of day since the Carter administration, and declared that tonight was not only the night that he was dusting off his old fried chicken recipe from college, but he’d also just bought all three original Star Wars films, and it’s about time we watched them. Needless to say, between dodging hot oil, discovering how excellent home-fried chicken is and experiencing George Lucas’ work for the first time, that weekend with my dad was life-changing.
My very quiet and reserved father invented (and would sing) a special song whenever we were to have manicotti for dinner. It wasn’t a good song, but it still makes me smile: “Man-man-manacotti, man-man-manicotti, I’m making manicotti!”
When I was about 10 years old, my mom went to visit her folks one weekend and for whatever reason, instead of ordering us kids pizza, or microwaving something frozen for every meal (which is what he usually did when Mom was away), he decided to cook… and my father cannot cook. For me, he took one of those vacuum-packed, frozen steaks that you buy in bulk at Sam’s Club out of the refrigerator, put it in a skillet (still frozen solid), looked in the cupboard… found a very, very old bottle of cooking sherry, poured about half the bottle in the skillet, added about a 1/4 bottle of Worcestershire sauce, and then turned up the heat. I struggle to find the words to describe how terrible that steak tasted. I can still sort of taste the sherry right now.
And now for the Silly Question of the Day…
What are your favorite memories involving food and dads?
Leave your silly answer in the comments!
(Photo: OakleyOriginals)
About the Author: Christine Liu
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My dad was similar in the one-off, specialty meals with mucho flair, and in-frequent showings. One particular meals sticks out, where my brother, sister and I were starving and my mom was at work., My dad raided the fridge and pantry, and made us a braised kielbasa sausage with onion, sauerkraut, and potatoes. I think he may have even used some cooking sherry (because why not??) and ho-chu-karu (korean pepper powder) for seasoning because we had that on hand, and served it with white rice and kimchi. He convinced us that he had made it before, but to this day I’m still skeptical.
my dad passed away when i was 8. i fondly remember his specialty bologna sandwich. cheapy white bread, oscar meyer bologna, american cheese, mayo, lettuce, and tomato. back then i would get frustrated when my mom would try and make me a bologna sandwich because it was never as good as my dad’s version! i’m pretty sure the bologna sandwich was the extent of his cooking skills but i sure appreciated it!
Making pizza with my dad and grandfather
My dad had 2 recipes that he got from his dad who had adapted them from what his Japanese cook made when he was growing up in Hawaii. These were – chewed meat- which was ground beef and mushrooms cooked with a lot of soy sauce, ginger and garlic and served over white rice. And fried rice for breakfast made by mixing 4 eggs with leftover rice, scallions, ginger, garlic and soy sauce.
The two foods I will forever associate with my dad are peanut M&M’s and chili con queso (Velveeta with a whole jar of Pace picante sauce) as an evening snack.
My dad didn’t cook a lot, but he was always helping my mom around the kitchen. When she was gone he’d make pasta.
My favorite was always when dad turned on the grill. My request for birthday dinners almost every year was grilled hamburgers. I especially loved how huge they were compared to fast food hamburgers.
I used to be a really picky eater when I was little. About the only thing I would eat with no complaints was my Dad’s Pineapple Chicken. I can’t have pineapple in anything now without thinking about it. As soon as I started cooking that was the first recipe I learned how to make.
My dad is someone who pulls skin off chicken before serving it because he thinks there’s too much fat in chicken skin. herefore, he absolutely refuses to make chicken wings on a regular basis (even though he makes pretty darn good garlic wings), because, imagine having to pull the skin off the wings! I’ve recently discovered a way to sort of get him to make them: one time we had dinner at a pizza joint and I kept praising their chicken wings, “OMG, dad, these are even better than yours!” The next day, he brought a dozen of wings from the market and made his famous garlic pan fried wings, they were as good as I remember!
Last year, I bought a wooden moon cake mold to make homemade moon cakes for the Moon Festival. My dad usually shies away from the oven, but when he saw that moon cake mold, it was like inspiration hit! We spent several days working on our moon cakes, each of us using different recipes to compare whose was better. Honestly, we didn’t like either recipes we chose, but the experience itself was what lives on in my memory. We had so much fun searching for ingredients and working together!
I get my love of cooking from my dad! My mom was a very plain cook and always cooked the same good traditional dishes. But my dad would make anything and everything. From his wonderful meat dumplings he grew up with. No written recipe but my sister and I have come close to making them. To his fried pizza’s, egg foo young, and hot cross buns. He was always looking in cookbooks and trying new things. If he was only still here he would have loved all the recipes I have made from your cookbooks. Thanks Dad for the love of cooking!
My dad has never lived on his own & never learned to cook. His idea of a great breakfast to make for himself is Shredded Wheat & Grape Nuts with tepid tap water poured over the top (he is lactose intolerant). Uuuuugh!
On the other hand, my grandfather was king of the grill. Nearly every time we went to his house, he would grill lots of burgers and dogs to perfect doneness. The only time he wouldn’t grill was when it was freezing outside, and then we had to eat grandma’s cooking. Grandma didn’t particularly like cooking & was way too busy with volunteer work, so her food wasn’t nearly as good as Grandpa’s–don’t tell anyone, but Grandpa preferred restaurants to Grandma’s cooking. Ah, memories.
i will always remember the time my mom went out of town when i was about thirteen years old. my dad made homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner–in the microwave. my sister and i loved it and still speak so fondly of that memory and of how fantastic that dish tasted. now that i’m a 30-yr-old, mom of three, i’m still trying to figure out how my dad made a concoction of microwaved noodles, milk, grated cheese and salt and pepper taste so good! i doubt my dad remembers the “secret” to his recipe or even that he made me and my sister dinner on a night we were undoubtedly missing our mom, but my sister and i will always remember it and chuckle at that silly memory. it’s the little things like homemade microwaved mac and cheese that lets you know your dad loves you.
My dad passed away when I was young, but there are a few moments that stick out in my mind. He was definitely the “hey kids, let’s go to McDonald’s” type, but I do remember him making chili and pizza. One time though, I remember him using a Chef Boyardee pizza kit for some reason I can still remember the stink of that pizza. It was gross. One of my fondest memories of him though was at our annual shrimp/crab dinner we had in winter. There would be 9 of us at the table, and as we all peeled and ate or shrimp, my dad would sit and peel all of them first. By the time the rest of us were done eating, he was finally ready to dig in to his huge pile of peeled shrimp. As I have grown, I love hearing how I do things the same way as he did, like eat pancakes (I thought everyone put the butter, cut them up and then drizzled the syrup…guess that isn’t the norm). I could go on and on, but this isn’t a book, it’s a comment. I wouldn’t mind getting the Simple Weeknight Favorites book though
Not my favorite memory, but most memorable was when I was at the Bronx Zoo with my family. We had a great day and were leaving when I decided a great idea would be to jump on a ketchup packet on the ground. It got all over my dad who was the closest to me! He was not happy!!
Whenever mom needed a break, dad would break out the pancakes for dinner. That recipe card lived in the drawer with the potholders, always ready to go in case of emergency!
My dad would say “There’s two kinds of dining — first class and with children”.
If something was really good, he’d say Mmm-ga-ga, which cracked up all the kids.
Dad’s ribs! Still haven’t found a competitor.
Being a true Midwesterner, my dad was the king of “hotdish”. He never failed at being able to pull together a grouping of items into a hotdish. What comes to mind most often is a combo of canned baked beans and ground beef, topped with homemade drop biscuits. Gotta love a hotdish!
Touching. Hilarious. Yummy. Hope all enjoyed a great Father’s Day weekend! Congrats to this week’s random winner, Ed, who had a spectacular experience with kielbasa and kimchi. Everyone, be sure to check out our newest giveaways at http://americastestkitchenfeed.com/topics/giveaway/