What's in a Name?

One of my favorite Saturday evening/Sunday morning activities is sifting through my cookbooks to select the recipes I will cook for dinner the coming week. It's almost like a puzzle: piecing together a menu; balancing chicken/beef/pasta dishes throughout the week; making sure each meal suits my family's picky tastes.

Cooking for my family can be quite a challenge (no offense, guys!). I am very adventurous when it comes to trying new flavors and ingredients, but most of my family is pretty cautious when it comes to food experimentation. So how do I satisfy both of our palates, trying new dishes and using familiar flavors? This is a balance I've come to discover over time. I'll take a classic, beloved dish and add a few new ingredients to give it an interesting twist and depth of flavor.

I've also learned to keep my mouth shut. When they ask me "What's for dinner?", I try to keep my answer as general as possible: "chicken and vegetables" or "stir-fry". Words such as "Indian", "Thai", or "fish" would definitely scare them away. I've cooked several meals with Indian or Thai flavors that my family enjoyed. If they had known the regional inspiration behind these dishes, I'm not so sure they would have had the same response. So ignorance is bliss, especially when it comes to trying new foods. (Although now that my secret is out, I don't know that I'll be able to get away with my food trickery anymore...)

So as I pieced together this week's meal plan, my first inspiration was mac and cheese. My mom hates to cook, but one of her best meals is her homemade mac and cheese. It's cheesy and gooey on the inside, and crusty and bubbly on the top. Mhmm! This is hearty, all-American, mom's home-cooking to a tee.

I just recently saw an episode of the Barefoot Contessa in which she made one of her own mother's dishes: noodle kugel. Similar to my mom's mac and cheese, this noodle kugel evoked memories of childhood and comfort for Ina. Also similar in their warm, hearty, creamy goodness, I decided noodle kugel would be a fun alternative to my mom's classic meal.

All of the ingredients are perfectly safe for my family: egg noodles, brown sugar, cinnamon, ricotta cheese, and raisins. These are all things that my family enjoys and consumes all the time. But I am a little nervous that my family will be skeptical once they hear the word "kugel". Like I said, they are not keen on trying new things.

I tried my first kugel last summer from my friend's grandmother, and I loved it! It reminded me of a sweeter version of my grandma's lasagna, minus the tomato sauce. (A Jewish take on Italian lasgna?) I have to admit, I was skeptical at first too. I had never heard of kugel before, and the word itself isn't the most appealing name for a food. But names aside, the kugel was divine, and I've been dying to eat some more ever since.

So does it really matter if a meal is Jewish, Indian, or Thai? Are our palates prejudiced? If someone loves Italian food, will she automatically think a plate of spaghetti tastes great just because it's "Italian", even if it was just made with jarred marinara? Or if someone claims to hate Indian food because it's too spicy and smelly, would they still dislike an Indian meal just because it's called "Indian", even if it was cooked with the finest ingredients by a world class chef? I think not. Taste buds don't lie. If something tastes good, it's good because of what is in it, not because of the label on it. Our tongues are blind to these words; it's our minds that affect preconceived notions of what a certain cuisine will taste like.

So will the kugel be a hit for my family? If they go into the meal with an open mind (or just not knowing what's in front of them), I don't see how it couldn't be!