Project Title: Family Cookbook

Essential Question(s): How can I learn about tradition and heritage through cooking.

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of my project is to learn about my Greek heritage through cooking, history, and family stories.

Overview: Describe your topic and project to the committee.

I would like to create a Greek family cookbook compiled of my grandmother (and a few others) recipes accompanied by family stories. These recipes  have been passed down in my family from generation to generation. My Grandmother is getting old and she’s the only one who knows how to make these traditional dishes. By learning these recipes, I will be experiencing a side of Greek culture that I’m unfamiliar with. I will also research the history of certain Greek food using the textbook “A gift from the gods” by Andrew Dalby. The research part of my project is essential because most Greek foods have a history that goes back farther than Greece itself. I will post my findings and recipes on a blog. Eventually, I will compile my blog posts into a well organized cookbook.

Resource List

Gift of the Gods: A History of Food in Greece – Andrew Dalby

Diane Kochilas – Greek food blog

My Little Expat Kitchen – Magdalini Zografou – Greek food blog

Daily Plan & Schedule

I will be cooking three recipes a week with my grandmother via zoom. I am planning on accumulating at least 15 recipes over the course of the trimester. I will cook on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be reserved for research,  interviews, and writing. The research I will do about Greek food history, will be from a textbook and numerous food blogs. My interviews will be from various senior members of my family. I plan on doing two interviews a week. The interviews will feature questions about Greece, food, family history, and family stories. I will write about the cooking process, my research, and my interviews in a food blog. At the end of the project, I will compile the food blog posts into a cookbook.

Monday:

• Meet with Grandmother
  • Discuss recipe, techniques, and recipe origin
• Cooking process
  • Shopping
  • Preparation
  • Cooking
  • Cleanup
• Documentation
  • Pictures
  • Recipe and steps

Tuesday:

• Read textbook + take notes
  • Log what I read and the recipe I covered on the previous day on blog
•  Interview(s)
  • Write reflection after on blog

Wednesday:

• Meet with Grandmother
  • Discuss recipe, techniques, and recipe origin
• Cooking process
  • Shopping
  • Preparation
  • Cooking
  • Cleanup
• Documentation
  • Pictures
  • Recipe and steps

Thursday:

• Read textbook + take notes
  • Log what I read and the recipe I covered on the previous day on blog
•  Interview(s)
  • Write reflection after on blog

Friday:

• Meet with Grandmother
  • Discuss recipe, techniques, and recipe origin
• Cooking process
  • Shopping
  • Preparation
  • Cooking
  • Cleanup
• Documentation
  • Pictures
  • Recipe and steps

Documentation Plan

I will create a blog in which I post the recipes, steps, and my notes. The blog will also feature a written reflection about the interviews I conduct and the information I learn about from my primary sorces.