Alabama NewsCenter — Alabama cooks share favorite ‘grand’ recipes from the family tree

By Lenore Vickrey
Alabama Living

I’ve always regretted that my grandparents left this world before I was born, because I’m sure I would have loved to have known them. I would have especially liked being around my grandmothers, one from Pennsylvania and the other from Alabama, who were wonderful cooks (or so I’m told). They passed their love of cooking down to their children, and certain dishes that they made live on in family recipe files.

My father’s mother (she was called Mumsie by her grands, owing to our family’s British heritage) had a recipe for mustard pickle, or piccalilli, that my mother would make for my father and us. This relish used chopped gherkins, green tomatoes, cauliflower, green and yellow peppers and other vegetables, all covered in a sweet, tangy sauce made with vinegar, sugar and mustard, among other spices. It was a great side dish for any meat, especially for big Sunday dinners. I also have the original recipe my aunt (like a grandmother to me) used for a cooked sweet-sour mustard sauce, another good addition for meats and sandwiches, especially ham. Many of our recipes came from our neighbors and friends in Pennsylvania whose ancestors emigrated from Europe, including stuffed cabbage rolls (called holubkies in Slovakia), and sauerkraut and pork (from Germany and brought to the states by the Pennsylvania Dutch).

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