Multi-Generation Meals: How Passed-Down Family Recipes Have Built Food Legacies

When you talk about family heirlooms, most think of jewelry, antique dinnerware or even a restored piece of furniture that has been handed down in the family for generations. But for many African-Americans, some of the most cherished inheritances are our own family recipes. For many of our ancestors, meals were their commodity; they were the bond that brought extended families together every week; they became creative ways to turn scraps into survival, and those recipes often became the family treasures that have continued to define our legacy. That’s certainly a familiar scenario for Jerry Young, who named his Springfield, Va., restaurant Della J’s Delectables after his mother. According to Young, many of his restaurant’s menu items were inspired by the meals his mother used to make when he was younger. “Helping her cook was an opportunity to spend time with her in the kitchen,” he fondly recalls of his late mother. “One of the things I remember is her turkey stuffing with the oysters. That was one of her deals. I got a request from one of my siblings to make her stuffing since my mom has been gone for almost 20 years. And my oldest brother commented on how much it tasted like mom’s—just the way she made it.” His mother learned her recipes from her own mother, aunts, and cousins. And Young now follows in her footsteps, taking those inherited recipes, often putting his own spin on the flavors to present them to a new generation. And now, blending his new creations with time-honored family specialties like cornbread, collard, and potato salad, he presents the metro D.C.-area with this upscale, modern approach to Southern soul food. “My parents cooked through the Depression. They were tough times,” he says of his family’s Coastal North Carolina roots. “So those recipes are important for us. The things I learned from my mother, I embellished a little bit. Back then, there were not a lot of ingredients that they could afford to get.” Now, with access to global cooking techniques and endless ingredients, he feels he is adding to the culinary family legacy that his mother started. Similarly, TV ONE’s Sister Circle talk show host Quad Webb-Lunceford also lovingly recalls the memories of cooking with her mom. In fact, those memories inspired her forthcoming cookbook, Cooking with Miss Quad (available on May 7), where like Young, she took many of her mom’s most prized recipes and updated them to her expanded palate. “One of the things I remember is how she would alternate. On Friday, we would have fish and then the other [Friday,] we would have corned beef sandwiches. And those corned beef sandwiches were so, so good,” she says. “So, as I grew older, I wanted to add a little pastrami to it and go with Swiss cheese. I used what I learned from her and did a little extra” she concludes about a recipe featured in her new cookbook. But for Young and his wife Lydia Tynes-Young, who operates the restaurant with him, the publication of his family’s cookbook might have to wait for the next generation. Working in the culinary industry for more than 30 years, Young takes meticulous notes on his recipes, yet he guards them like the treasured jewels they are, refusing to release his recipes to anyone (even us—we asked). “It’s something special that you can do for your family. I definitely think it’s important to pass them on,” says Lydia, who foresees a day when their daughters, 17 and 26, will pass on the Young family recipes to their children. “Family recipes are special—the work you put into it and how you make people happy when they taste your food. When people come back and talk about how great your food is, that makes you feel good.” And anyone who has experienced a Black family dinner gathering can attest: being able to continuously win smiles and praises for your contribution to the family potluck is certainly a legacy as valuable as any other heirloom. After begging (because we did), Jerry and his wife Lydia did gift us with one of Jerry’s signature recipes after all. Enjoy! SMOKED CHICKEN SALAD 3 cups of Smoked Chicken (pulled whole chicken) 1 cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoons relish 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon Crystal hot sauce 1 cup chopped celery 1 cup chopped onion 1.5 tablespoons sugar Mix all ingredients and chill before serving. Serve on your favorite bread with lettuce and tomato or enjoy with multi-grain crackers.