Roots

As daddy goes on business trips, I  need to  get to spend more one-on-one time with Arah at nights and it always seems like a whole lot of can of worms get to be opened up  about how she feels about certain things we do for her and what it means in  her school environment's perspective.  One of the topics she has opened up to me lately is how I pack her 'Persian food' for lunch. She has recently been either returning the food home almost untouched or emptying it out in the trash which later on I determined by her cues and it has been puzzling for me why now.  She has always been used to the cuisine since preschool time when I used to go to work and we always packed her home made lunch.  She always tried to eat it and I of course put a lot effort in cooking healthy and nutritious food which reflected the taste and aroma and even delicacy we grew up with known as Persian cuisine.  But now, suddenly she proceeds to tell me that she 's an 'American girl' and wants to eat like Americans.  Her friends bring lunchables and they don't get why she brings kabob 'kubideh' or polo ghermezi(Gheimeh stew). It was a hard wake up call for me.  I could not believe this conversation would come up so early. I mean she's only 5 for goodness sake!! I couldn't believe myself being in the place of that parent who needs to defend her heritage to her daughter.  But here I was, thrown right in the middle of the judgement rink and perhaps dealing with my own alter-ego!  I had to proceed to tell her that 'my dear Arah it doesn't matter what any one brings to lunch.  Some people have time to make more involved dishes and pack the left overs for lunch and some don't and therefor they bring simpler, more premade, lunches.   If you bring your rice and Ghormeh sabzi you don't have to explain the Persian name of the dish to people if they're not ready to know about it.  Just say it is beef and vegetable stew over rice.  Everyone has had those at some point.  And if they like to know more you can explain to them and even encourage them to learn more about different cuisines around the globe which some Americans may not have ever heard of!  I think today's American cuisine is a complex chain of a myriad of different global cuisines and even many of the subsidiary layers are influenced noticeably by others.  The origin of Baklava, and falafel are still an evening worth of controversy and every country seems to have their own version of 'stuffed cooked bell peppers or 'Dolmeh'.  I told Arah that some times it is these small and subtle differences in tastes and colors and spices that enriches our life experiences and that of our American friends who may never otherwise be introduced to these flavors and ingredients.  Exchanging cultural traditions can greatly open up the hidden doors to other cultures and teach our freinds new things that they had never learned before.  And some countries like India and Iran even share a lot of the same spices and vegetables that are commonly used in the eastern meals which are just recently being recognized and used increasingly by the west as medicinal and therapeutic edible sources.   Cumin and Turmerac are now particularly used more than ever before in many fish, chicken and beef dishes and not only do they have several health benefits for GI track they also greatly enhance the flavor!  I told her she is an American girl who has Persian ancestors and there are thousands of years of history and life experiences behind her Persian heritage.  She as a Persian-American girl should always remember to be 'herself' and never feel embarrased of her roots but be proud and share her knowledge and understanding with her peers. I am not sure how much of my words really resonated in her or made real sense to her but Arah was pretty content at that point and said 'you're right mommy'...  I told her we can even invite your friends to our house with their either mom or dads and we can teach them about some of our favorite dishes! Similar to how 'Giada' teaches Jade's friends who to cook in their home!  Arah was not sure about this idea but didn't completely reject it either. So we'll see I guess.  I on the other hand was relieved to hear that she's pretty convinced and hopefully will be proud of her roots and history even as an American born girl someday.   After all, as they say, once you go black you never go back and once you go Persian, there's no other version!