A new regional initiative designed to capture and memorialize the tastes, the people and the foods of Southern Maryland
The Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission (SMADC), a division of the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland, is excited to announce a new regional initiative designed to capture and memorialize the tastes, the people and the foods of Southern Maryland.
At the core of the project, titled ‘Our Grandma’s Hands’, is the traditional heart of the home ‘the kitchen’ where people gather to commune and savor cherished family recipes and food traditions that define their heritage that have been lovingly passed down by the hands of matriarchs and patriarchs to mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and onwards from generation to generation.
“There are few things more evocative of home as kitchen aromas and certain ‘family’ recipes prepared by family members; these recipes are the fabric around which memories are cloaked and the past kept alive,” commented Craig Sewell, SMADC’s Southern Maryland Meats Manager who conceived the project. “Our goal is to not only preserve some of the traditional foods of the region but to share the people and their stories as they prepare these foods. This project is essentially a time capsule that will allow us to capture the heritage of the Southern Maryland cooking traditions before they are gone.”
SMADC is now inviting families throughout Southern Maryland’s diverse geographic and ethnic communities to nominate their recipes for consideration. Through a selection process, up to eight recipes will be chosen that exemplify the project. SMADC will interview the ‘keepers’ of these recipes following them into their home kitchens to film them creating the foods that have sustained their family for generations.
Selected recipes with their associated stories and memories will be published on the SMADC website and featured along with SMADC’s 15-episode ‘In a Cook’s Kitchen’ series developed to encourage and instruct home cooking methods through expanding a recipe repertoire utilizing local Southern Maryland foods. The project will also publish a printed component to be shared with heritage tourism sites and partners around the region.
To nominate a recipe for consideration, please complete ‘Our Grandma’s Hands’ Nomination Form on the ‘News & Events’ page at SMADC.com, or call Craig Sewell at: (410) 271-1469. Recipes may be nominated by the current custodian of the recipe, family members, and others. The consent of the current recipe ‘keeper’ or author is required. Recipe Nominations are due by September 13, 2021.
This project has been financed in part with State Funds from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, an instrumentality of the State of Maryland. However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.
Nominate your recipe HERE
