America's Heirloom Kitchens
Taste of Home|April - May 2021
A cookbook author collects and shares the recipes of immigrant women that might have been lost forever—including the beloved family dish that inspired it all.
By Shelley Levitt
America's Heirloom Kitchens

For three years, Anna Francese Gass traveled around the country, toting a kitchen scale, measuring cups and measuring spoons. She’d unpack these items in the kitchens of bubbes, nonnas and abuelas, accomplished home cooks who were eager to show off the dishes they’d learned from their own matriarchs.

Anna’s mission: preserve the cherished recipes that are, she says, family heirlooms and in many cases have never been written down.

“I’m going to watch you cook,” Anna would tell the women, “and I don’t want you to put anything into a bowl or a pot before I measure it.”

The result of these cooking lessons is Heirloom Kitchen: Heritage Recipes and Family Stories from the Tables of Immigrant Women. Contained in the lushly photographed cookbook are 100 recipes from 37 women with roots in 30 countries, along with the tales of why they left Ghana, Peru, Lebanon, Haiti or the Philippines to start a new life in the United States.

A graduate of New York’s French Culinary Institute (now the International Culinary Center), Anna spent nearly a decade as a professional recipe tester. But there was one recipe she’d never attempted: her Italian American mother’s beloved meatballs. “I was standing next to my mother one day watching her make the meatballs and it was a lightbulb moment,” Anna recalls. “This is a recipe I’ve been eating my entire life, that my three children love. For all my time documenting the recipes of others in test kitchens, I didn’t have a record of my own family’s heritage dishes.”

This story is from the April - May 2021 edition of Taste of Home.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the April - May 2021 edition of Taste of Home.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM TASTE OF HOMEView All
BERRY NICE!
Taste of Home

BERRY NICE!

It's strawberry season, and we're folding the summertime sweet into every recipe-including the classic English scone

time-read
1 min  |
June - July 2023
Take It Slow
Taste of Home

Take It Slow

It's summertime, and the livin' is easier than ever when you've got these potluck-perfect mains simmering away in the slow cooker

time-read
2 mins  |
June - July 2023
FAMILY KITCHEN
Taste of Home

FAMILY KITCHEN

Summer Newcomers ove over, mac salad! Three fresh pasta dishes deserve a spot in your recipe box and at your picnic table

time-read
2 mins  |
June - July 2023
Sheet SENSATIONS
Taste of Home

Sheet SENSATIONS

Who needs mile-high pies and layered desserts when you can pack plenty of flavor into a single sheet pan?

time-read
4 mins  |
June - July 2023
AMUSE YOURSELF
Taste of Home

AMUSE YOURSELF

Whee! These copycat recipes from theme parks across America bring more thrills than a coaster ever could

time-read
3 mins  |
June - July 2023
Greater on the GRILL
Taste of Home

Greater on the GRILL

Cue up the 'cue for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert! We've got seven all-new recipes for your grates

time-read
5 mins  |
June - July 2023
Tasty 10 - Morning Glory
Taste of Home

Tasty 10 - Morning Glory

Do you know the muffin plan? Start with one brilliant base, add your fave flavors, then pop ’em in the oven to make your breakfast blossom.

time-read
1 min  |
April - May 2023
FRYER POWER
Taste of Home

FRYER POWER

Replicate and crunch all the crisp of your favorite restaurant munchies with the trusty countertop gadget

time-read
2 mins  |
April - May 2023
EAT YOUR GREENS
Taste of Home

EAT YOUR GREENS

Treasure the jewels of spring with four dazzling recipes. Jade-hued veggies and emerald-colored sauces shine with fresh flavor.

time-read
3 mins  |
April - May 2023
KALO PASCHA!
Taste of Home

KALO PASCHA!

Nothing says \"Happy Easter\" like this celebratory spread that marries modern flavors with traditional Greek flair

time-read
7 mins  |
April - May 2023