I wanted to look a little deeper into the notion of inherited recipes. The dishes that are passed down from generation to generation. There is a limitless supply of blogs devoted to recording and exploring recipes that have been handed down through families, but my favorite thing that I discovered was an article from the guardian that was written on the subject. The fantastic language used to depict the Indian food with the wonderfully recognisable sensation described in response to the intense flavors.
The reference to 'a timeline of culinary engagement' is beautiful. It creates so perfectly the image of a woman who has worked and crafted with food for her entire life. The history of one whole aspect of her being can be found within this box, written upon cards from the past 50 years.
The one clear side to the cards is also gloriously poignant, highlighting the gift that is being passed down from mother to child. By carrying on her legacy, building on her existing collection, her child becomes a continuation of her. Despite her years and that she has finally stopped cooking, she has still not come to an end as her recipes are still being made.

We may believe that our generation (whichever that may be) was the first to have discovered global culinary exploration travels, but this is complete nonsense. Looking through Mother's recipes cards under B, I find Beetroot Soup (Armenian) followed by Biscuit Tortoni (frozen), Bent Biscuits, Blackberry Granita followed by, best of all, Bloody Mary which includes a couple of dashes of Angostura bitters. Now, there may be any number of you who add Angostura bitters to their Bloody Marys as a matter of course, but I don't think I was ever aware that this is what my mother did, but as soon as I read it, I knew that it made complete gastronomic sense.

There was a wonderful dinner of Indian dishes that she cooked on return from a holiday in India, the freshly ground spices singing in each mouthful, clear and precise, but European food remained her primary source of inspiration. So there are recipes for fennel à la Greque and hard boiled eggs in soubise sauce, panoche stew that begins in uncompromising style "Mutton cutlets, cut in small pieces" and kidneys Turbigo; pirozhki and tongue with almond and raisin sauce.

They add up to a timeline of culinary engagement. I can tell by her handwriting that some of these recipes must date back 50 years or even further. Some are credited to the house her grandmother kept 80 years ago. She always claims that the food there was among the best she ever ate. One or two must have been added in the last few years. I have just noticed that, with characteristic thrift, at the back of the recipe box are all the cards with recipes she either re-transcribed or discarded, still leaving one side of the card clear and ready to be filled up with fresh inspirations, an open invitation for me to carry on her orderly practice.

My mother wasn't the only one of her generation to collect recipes assiduously. There must be many more out there. What culinary wisdom has come down to you from previous generations?