If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him… the people who give you their food give you their heart.– Cesar Chavez
Each month we will cover a Leasider’s special dish with a hearty side order of narrative. And you will find the recipes online by clicking the Leaside Cooks tab.
Inspiration for Leaside Life’s newest feature, Leaside Cooks, comes from two rich sources: the words of Chavez and the Michelin-star quality dishes emerging from Leasider Laura Tanner’s kitchen. Laura surprises neighbours and friends with a seemingly endless array of culinary delights like goulash and moussaka, each one with a rich back story. But it was her mother’s Lithuanian “pink” salad that brought out a tale of survival, resilience and tradition and it is the dish introduced in this inaugural article.
What Laura calls “Lithuanian pink salad” is also known as Darzoviu Misraine and is served cold and often at formal meals, especially at Christmas time. Variations exist throughout Central, Northern and Eastern Europe.
Aldona Rauktys, Laura’s mom, brought the recipe over in her head, and the ingredients are as adventurous and bittersweet as her own life experiences in Europe before fleeing to Canada after World War II. Born in 1928, Aldona was 16 when her father, a professor at Vilnius University, sent her on a perilous journey out of Lithuania to Switzerland, and safety. He stayed behind to ensure his students were able to graduate. But it was 1944 and she had more than one run-in with drunken and desperate Soviet and German soldiers, narrowly escaping violent abuse. After the war Aldona came to Canada as a refugee with little more than asuitcase and a headful of memories, including her native Lithuanian dishes.
She met Harry, an Austrian refugee, on the Toronto Islands during a summer downpour, both seeking shelter from the rain. They married in 1953 and Aldona did what most young Toronto brides did at the time: cooked and cleaned, getting most joy from cooking. She jumped right into learning how to prepare Austrian dishes as well as refreshing her memories of several Lithuanian specialties.
Laura recalls that as children, she and her sister “didn’t grow up eating like normal families” in suburban Mississauga where her dad was the City’s planning commissioner. Every dinner was an authentic and European gourmet meal. “I remember my father’s hosting Christmas parties with Mayor Hazel McCallion in attendance. She and other guests would compliment my mother on her cooking prowess, which always warmed her heart,” Laura reflects. “Her joy of cooking for those she loved has definitely been handed down to me.”
“Intuitive cook” is how Laura describes her mom, and, by extension, herself. She didn’t so much follow a recipe as she taste-tested her way through meal preparation. “I remember mom sampling with her small spoon and always knowing if it needed a bit more salt or spice. She would tell us, ‘Watch what I am doing,’ which has informed the way I cook to this day.” Laura says, “my passion for cooking is mostly in the genes but is fueled by my priceless memories of just ‘watching.’” Laura is hopeful the tradition will live on with her two university-aged daughters, who are encouraged to “watch what I am doing” whenever Laura prepares a family meal, especially the Christmas dinner.
Do you have a recipe that comes with a story to tell? Reach out and let us know at . We’re interested in featuring the many cultures making up a vibrant Leaside.
See recipe below:
