My "Food" Inspiration

Martin K. Czeiszperger

Family is very important in my life.  Throughout the years I have lost three of my four grandparents.  My Grandpa Czeiszperger and I were quite close.  He is my food inspiration! Grandpa did most of the cooking in their household and my Nana did the baking.  I don't remember when Grandpa starting showing me how to cook, but I will never forget what he has taught me.

I never liked venison, steak, lobster, roasted cauliflower and etc, but because of him I have took on the life motto of " Try something once, if you don't like it, than at least you can say that you tried it".  He would eat Kimchi (fermented cabbage and what not) and I would smell it and walk away. One day I decided that I would make him happy and give it a shot.  I don't think that I would eat it again, but I can say that I have tried it.

  My grandpa taught me how to make and use a Mirepoix.  This is a mixture of chopped Celery, Onions and Carrots.  Every time he cooked something that required a mirepoix - he wanted me to help him chop the vegetables and put the meal together! I MISS THIS!  I would give anything to have one more conversation, cooking lesson, or just even hear his amazing laugh.


He used to make this spaghetti Carbonara with bacon and my sister and I would lick the plates clean.  He would always try and convince Nana to eat the spaghetti like Lady and the Tramp!   My grandpa was Hungarian. Nana and Grandpa would make Töltött Káposzta or as most people know it Stuffed Cabbage.  When I was younger the only part that I would eat would be the meat balls, I would push all the cooked cabbage off to the side of my plate and let one of my family members eat it.  Finally, I got brave, remembering what Grandpa had always told me, and I ate everything on my plate.  When I found out that I was allergic to beef, I tried making stuffed cabbage with ground turkey as the base of the meatballs and they were amazing!

A year after Grandpa passed away I went for a jog. I was crying and thinking about how much I miss him. As I was doing this, I tripped over a rock about the size of a lemon.   I picked it up and now it sits on the self above my oven.  When I am home alone I talk to it... trying to look for a sign from Grandpa on how to make some thing taste amazing.  Other times... I ask for advice and as creepy as it sounds, I always feel better when I talk out loud about what I need.

  Most of you know that I have gone gluten free, not by choice, but for health reasons. So I went grocery shopping earlier this month and I got Thai Rice Noodles. They have the Gluten Free stamp of approval on the box.   I did some looking online, but none of them sound that good.  I guess that I will keep looking until I find something that inspires me.

So if you have any recipes... let me know!

Stay strong, Love one another, and keep cooking