Bring back home-cooked meals

MANILA, Philippines – What was your favorite meal growing up?

It probably wasn’t eggs Benedict or filet mignon. Most likely, it was sinigang or caldereta, or perhaps it was even the hotdog and marshmallow on-a-stick combo that was always at kiddie birthday parties. Whatever it was, your mom likely made it.

“The funny thing is what we realized, is that even if you’re not an expert cook, or if you are an amateur cook, like I am, you still want to cook. You may not love to cook, but you want to cook,” says Jec Inocencio, senior brand manager for Knorr.

Motherhood changes a woman. Pregnancy prompts mothers to realize that food is vital in their children’s development, not just physically but emotionally. Christine Jacobs, the host of the #LutongNanay campaign last November 20, admitted that she was never interested in cooking, but after having her first child, she started to make an effort.

#LutongNanay

Maybe your mother’s food is delicious – maybe you think that her food is the best. But that isn’t the only thing that makes your mom’s cooking so important.

Mom’s cooking is wonderful and nostalgic because of the effort she’s made for you. Dr. Firestein of the Department of Biological Sciences in Columbia University states insightfully, “What continues to fascinate me is how the brain instinctively knows that certain flavors and foods have the power to mean more to us than just sustenance.” It is the experience of being taken care of by your mom that makes the flavors of childhood more significant.

He continues, “This is called sensory recall and is a phenomenon which demonstrates how the brain is hard-wired to respond in certain ways to different tastes and smells. Even over time and distance, when we taste mom’s cooking, it transports us back to a special place and a unique memory.”

What this means is that familiar flavors hold certain memories. A bite of your mom’s cooking will take you back to your childhood and its memories of joy and being cared for.

Food memories are good memories

And that’s why the best or most memorable gastronomic experiences don’t come from restaurants – years from now you might not even remember the best hotel buffet you’ve ever had. Mom’s cooking is what endures in your memories. Maybe it’s the simple pasta dish she made for your birthday or the sinigang she made for family dinner; these are the things you remember. These are #LutongNanay moments.

Unfortunately, home cooking is at a decline. With the busy schedule that comes with having a serious career, mothers don’t have the time or the energy to cook for their children. Meanwhile, some moms are apprehensive to even start cooking for other reasons.

New research shows that almost 80 percent of young people aged between 23 and 27 admitted that they could not cook. And the top reason for this is ‘lack of confidence’ and ‘inadequate knowledge of recipes.’

Young adults are intimidated by cooking. Even young mothers who want to cook for their children find that they are still struggling in the kitchen because they don’t know where to start. And if this attitude ensues, future generations will be deprived of a valuable experience and a means to emotional growth – they will not know the smells and flavors and meaning behind home cooking. And this is all because their mothers were too intimidated to start. 

For a child, nothing beats mom’s cooking. Even in these modern times, for a mom, cooking is an expression of love. Whether she’s a housewife or a busy career woman, a mom will always make an effort to feed you well, in one form or another. 

Campaigning for homecooking

During the #LutongNanay campaign last November 20, mom-bassadors Carmina Villaroel-Legaspi, Dimples Romana, Pia Guanio, Danica Pingris, and Delamar Arias shared their cooking journeys. All of them have careers. And from expert cooks like Danica Pingris to newbies like Delamar Arias, each of them remarked that cooking took on a whole new meaning when they had children.

In particular, Carmina Villaroel-Legaspi admitted that she too was apprehensive about cooking. After all, she is a busy mother with a hectic schedule, and she feared that her family would not enjoy her food.

But Carmina feared her children growing up without any fond memories of mom-cooked meals more than she feared being a lousy cook. So once she realized this, she was able to begin her cooking journey. And she found that through it, she got to know her family even better.

She found that her daughter’s favorite sinigang is shrimp sinigang, while her son’s is liempo. So when it’s dinner time, she prepares both kinds.

Not only that, Carmina’s daughter finds that cooking doubles as bonding time with mom, so she often comes down and helps Carmina with dinner, and her favorite chore is cutting up the veggies.

Now, Carmina can proudly say that her kids love her food, and she is able to leave a legacy of flavors.

Knorr’s #LutongNanay campaign aims to promote this. “Knorr is here to make sure that it understands the context of moms now. It understands the context of moms now that moms need help,” Jec Inocencio narrates. 

The campaign champions the notion that mothers need not be excellent cooks. Mothers who want to cook for their children should simply do their best and never give up.

Provide for your children the good memories that your mom provided for you. Don’t let busy schedules limit you. Someday, your children will look back and fondly remember your cooking. And if anyone asks, “What was your favorite meal growing up?” they’ll say, “luto ni nanay.”

 So when is the next time you’ll be cooking for your family? –Rappler.com 

Knorr recently launched www.knorr.com.ph to provide aspiring cooks with simple and delicious recipes that any culinary beginner can do. These recipes are tried and tested, and shared by moms who can relate with the struggle of feeding a family. To make the job easier, Knorr provides moms with convenient products to use in their recipes. #LutongNanay hopes that it can persuade mothers to cook for their families, and eventually provide wonderful memories for their children.