Food, memory, and family are inextricably tied to one another. The meals of our childhood can
linger on well into adulthood. When we visit family they often make us our favorite food.
Recipes we learned from our family, friends, and other kinfolk become part of our own cooking
repertoire. We inherit cookbooks and recipe cards, even in this age of the internet and
YouTube.
For this assignment, you should pick a recipe for a dish that has a special place in your life. It
can be a cherished family recipe, a favorite dish one of your relatives, friends, or special person
made for you. It can be a dish of your own that you are proud of and include in your own
catalogue of dishes. It does not have to be fancy or gourmet or ethnic. It can be Kraft Mac
and Cheese out of a box, or fried bologna sandwiches. As long as it has meaning for you.
Once you have your dish, I want you to write a short (minimum 4-5 double-spaced pagesnot
including works cited, 12-point font, 1 margins) research paper on it. Your report should have
the following information in it:
1. Introduction where you introduce the dish, why you chose it, why it is special for you.
2. Describe what the dish consists of and how it is made. This should be more descriptive
and less of a laundry list recipe.
3. What is the history of this particular dish? Is it a recipe that has been in the family for
years? Did your mother invent it? Did it come from a cookbook, a TV show, word of
mouth?
4. If this dish is similar to other dishes, how is it different and give a general history of the
dish and how it varies. For instance, if it is your grandmothers chicken and dumplings
how is it similar and different from other chicken and dumplings? What are some
common variations on chicken and dumplings? Give a short history of chicken and
dumplings.
5. A conclusion which should be a short reflection on what you have learned about this
dish and how it relates to family, memory, ethnicity, and identity and any other topics
we have covered (gender, socio-economic class etc).
6. Works Cited
Sources: You can use online source, just dont use Wikipedia (you can look at Wikipedia to get
ideas of where to look, but do not use it as a source). You can use cookbooks and talks with
your family, friends etc. Please cite all of your work. Use MLA, APA, Chicago, whichever style
you use for your major.
