The thread in question was titled "Men and Groceries" which stopped me in my tracks. In the thread, the forum males discussed whether they or their spouse do the shopping and cooking.
As I began to think about what to post, I grew more emotional about the topic, not because I do most of the shopping now, or because I do most of the cooking in our household, but because the root of my love for food and wine was ultimately my father and his weekend shopping and cooking rituals that included my brother and I. Here's what I posted on Wineberserkers:
"When I was a kid growing up in Germany, my dad would drag us along to do the grocery shopping every Saturday morning. We would hit up the market (farmer's market) in downtown Mainz and go to his favorite butcher. During those trips, my brother and I would always score treats...the folks at the market stands would hand us stuff to try and we could always count on a piece of Fleischwurst and a Broetchen for breakfast. Those are some of the greatest memories of my childhood...especially now that my father passed a couple of years ago.
It should come as no surprise that my father, being the meticulous shopper for food quality he was, was also a phenomenal cook. I believe that had he not worked in securities, he would have been able to be a chef and I believe he had the talent and skill to be a Michelin starred chef to boot.
By observing my father over the years, I learned a ton, but when I moved to the US in 1996 to attend college, my father really taught me a lot about cooking and gave me some of his watershed cook books such as Jacques Pepin's "Techniques". I have never looked back.
These days I do virtually all the shopping and I cook every meal when I am home (save the 2 days a week I travel for business). My wife hates shopping, especially with the kids, and although she can cook, she's not particularly good at it, nor enthusiastic about it. The arrangement works well for us.
Like my dad, I am a fanatic about the quality of the meats and produce I buy (I don't cook anything frozen, canned, or processed), so if I had my way, I would hit multiple stores to get what satisfies my standards. That said, I do have 2 kids and I do want to see my wife on Saturdays, so I do all my shopping at one store only, which actually works OK most of the time (unless I really crave Mache salad which I can only get at Whole Foods here in Austin).
It goes without saying that I have carried on my father's legacy by taking both my kids on the shopping trip every week. And like my father did, I try to make the trip fun for the kids and a routine they will remember long after I'm gone."
The question now is....do you do most of the shopping/cooking in your household? And what got you started? Are the memories good ones?
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