Chef Brooke Siem shares recipes for sweets from some of the most seasoned hands in the kitchen.
Instead of spending my mealtimes in restaurants as I traveled, I decided to return to the home kitchen.
I missed the warmth of Ellie’s table, and how a simple meal and conversation filled my soul.
Grazia Margelli (left) and author Brooke Siem (right) mixing ingredients for castagnaccio.Photo: Brooke Siem
The Grandmother Project was born.
I met these women through friends of friends, extended family and kind strangers.
Sometimes I needed translators, sometimes I didn’t.
The author (left) learns to make Quadradinhos de Laranja with Isabel (center) and Alice (right) in Lisbon.Brooke Siem
We gathered around stoves and talked about love and loss, hardship and grace.
Each time, I was reminded of the power of preparing food with others.
It is more than a means to nourishment.
Brooke Siem
It’s an expression of love that transcends borders.
Here are some of my favorite memories from that year abroad, and the delicious desserts we prepared together.
“It is because of the Catholicism,” she said in heavily accented but spunky English.
Penny De Los Santos
So they used the yolks and lots of sugar in the sweets."
Though Isabel’s recipe does use egg whites, she wasn’t kidding about the sugar.
Chestnuts, called “castagne” in Italian, reach their peak in October and November.
Sofy (left) and the author (right) making budin de pan.Brooke Siem
They’re harvested en masse, dried, and milled into flour to be used year-round.
Castagnaccio is a staple in Grazia’s house throughout the chestnut season.
The chestnut flour creates a silky yet firm torte that’s rich without being heavy.
Penny De Los Santos
Because, as Liba said, “It is easy to build walls.
But to destroy them is much more difficult.”
After six weeks of empty leads, I turned to Reddit as a last resort.
Ratachanee (left) and the author (right) folding khanom tom.Brooke Siem
We first met at a Starbucks, and any nerves we each had were squashed within moments.
Sofy spoke English, and soon we were chatting and laughing like old friends.
Budin de pan was originally created when food was scarce and leftovers were not to be wasted.
Penny De Los Santos
The custard gets poured over a layer of hard caramel, and bakes in a water bath.
A single road traces the western perimeter, with most of the island’s hullabaloo clinging to its edge.
It is an unhurried life, and one I didn’t learn much about.
Even with a translator, Ratachanee didn’t say a lot.
But right as I was getting set to leave, I turned to thank Ratachanee for her time.
She had tears in her eyes and a slight smile on her face.
I asked my translator if she was OK, worried that something had gone wrong.
After their exchange, the translator turned to me.
“Ratachanee says that she is very shy, and that she was nervous about having you here.
Then she told me that normally, she has three children.
But today, she had four.”
Get the recipe:Khanom Tom (Coconut Balls)
