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photo by Styrous®
Today is Mother's Day and I've chosen to focus on this part of my childhood recollections to honor her on this day.
She was not what one would call a fancy or gourmet cook but she made sure we had healthy, filling and delicious meals. As my father was Latin, our food staple was rice and beans usually with cheese of some kind which I discovered when I was in my twenties is a wonderful diet: the grain and legume combination provides several important nutrients and calories. Rice is rich in starch, making it a good source of energy. Rice also has iron and some protein. Beans also contain iron but a greater amount of protein in comparison to rice. Together they make up a complete protein, which provides large quantities of each of the amino acids the body cannot produce by itself. Their amino acid profiles complement each other and when combined with the cheese, take it to the max, meaning that such dishes are acknowledged as an even more complete protein in vegetarian terms.
In Nicaragua, red beans are popular while cooking its national dish, Gallo pinto, made with red beans, oregano, bell peppers, garlic and onions. Genetic analyses of the common bean Phaseolus shows it originated in Mesoamerica, and spread southward, along with maize and squash, traditional companion crops.
Ok, back to mom. She was a wiz at baking though and dearly loved to do it; I remember her pride in the things she baked. As I'm writing this I only just realized, however, I am the same; my everyday cooking is healthy, not fancy but my baking is quite good as witness my roast chicken or beef. About that in another article perhaps.
REALLY back to mom now, she loved to bake, she would bake a round bread on New Year's Day with the year in bas-relief in dough.
photo by Styrous®
She loved to bake Baklava, trigona and Spanakopita, all of them use filo dough, and Kourabiethes an almond shortbread type cookie with powdered sugar, traditionally eaten on Christmas in Greece. I remember her buying the Little Red Riding Hood cookie jar in the early 50's and gently placing the cookies in it, the dough was flaky and delicate and the powdered sugar would get all over the place.
Lexi of Titanic fame is now the proud owner of the cookie jar as I passed it on to her a month or so ago because she loved it and is a phenomenal cookie baker.
Happy Mom's Day to all the Mom's in the world!
Net links:
Antoniou Fillo ~ trigona recipe
Mia Kouppa ~ kourabiedes recipe
Serious Eats ~ gallopinto (Nicaraguan rice and beans recipe)
Youtube links:
Styrous® ~ Sunday, May 10, 2026
