This past weekend I made chocolate mousse for Diego in lieu of a birthday cake. I was a bit hesitant about making mousse since I had never made it before and because I had this suspicion that it was difficult to make. But after looking at the recipe in the Betty Crocker Big Red Cookbook (p.s. I totally heart the BCBRC; it rocks my socks off), I decided that it didn't look so terribly difficult and decided to give it a try.
It turned out beautifully. Perfect texture and consistency. Perfect fluffiness and creaminess, just as good mousse should be. So I chilled it in little dessert bowls and served each one with a strawberry garnish on top. Delicious. Diego agreed. The conversation went something like this...
D: Mmm... this is amazing.
M: Thanks.
D: Seriously, next time you make this, don't change a thing about what you did. It's perfect.
M: Well, I'm glad you like it.
D: Know what you could do next time? After it's cooled, you could grate a little chocolate into it so that there are chocolate chunks mixed in with the mousse.
M: Is that the way your mom used to make it?
D: Yeah...
So that leads me to the post title... What is it about men wanting things the way their mom made them? I have this theory that men more frequently than women want certain foods to be the way their moms made them. I think this is for several reasons:
1. Women try not to become their mothers and feel more free to experiment with recipes and make them their own.
2. Men like to be taken care of especially in the area of food (just like mom did).
3. If women really want something like mom made it, they can just make it themselves.
4. All men really marry their mothers; just like all women marry their fathers.
5. It's a comfort thing.
I'm sure there are a hundred exceptions to this, but that's why I'm saying it's a theory not a rule ;) And I'm not trying to be sexist here. I know that many men are excellent cooks and that many women are horrible cooks, so this could even be more dependent on who the main cook is in the household. What do you think? Especially you married ladies out there. Do you think that you or your husband is more likely to want things the way mom made it?
7 comments:
Justin is kind of the same way....he has very specific foods that he prefers to be made like his mother...mostly things I do not like scalloped potatoes and ham (basically potatoes in mayo)and chili (made with oatmeal and v8 juice).
Hi Melissa! You're totally on to something here. I think the main factors (in our household, at least) are #2 and #3. My mother-in-law's cooking isn't necessarily healthy though (LOTS of butter, cream, etc.), so both Chuck and I have agreed that it's better if I don't try to imitate her cooking too often!
I'm really fortunate in this regard. My mother-in-law - by her own admission - isn't much of a cook and because she worked while my husband was growing up, he ate a lot of microwave dinners and frozen pizzas. I can make pretty much anything from scratch and he's impressed. On the flip side, my mom is an awesome cook and I am constantly feeling like I can't replicate what she did. Maybe we're the exception?!
The only thing Nate likes the way is mom made it is stuffing - she makes an ultra moist, sweeter stuffing and my family makes a drier oyster stuffing. Beyond that, Nate doesn't want much of what his mom made and prefers my cooking. That being said, my husband is NOT picky at all and will eat everything I put on the table. I'm not sure there's anything he said to not make again.
D's mom was a busy working mom of 5 so she didn't cook a lot either. When she does cook it's pretty good but according to him, it didn't have a lot of variety or spice. So count me in the fortunate column...
But I find myself thinking "this isn't as good as my dad or grandma makes/made it" a lot. I think a lot of it is a comfort thing but then a lot of it is a "This is what I grew up on" thing. I don't know.
I'm totally amused that he said "don't change a thing...but next time do this..." because that is definitely something I'd hear too.
We fit the exception. Dan only has one recipe he has ever wanted me to get from his mom (and it's meatloaf), and a couple of Czech dishes from his paternal grandma that I'm supposed to learn from her (since I have no experience with anything Czech until meeting him). :) Otherwise, he doesn't complain on the rare occasion I cook something I can't whip up in under twenty minutes. :)
UGH... don't get me started...
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