Changing traditional recipes for the era of tiny households

Thanks to HelloFresh for sponsoring this video! Use code ADAMRAGUSEA14 for up to 14 FREE MEALS across your first 5 HelloFresh boxes plus free shipping at: bit.ly/3haTDal
2017 United Nations study showing declining household sizes globally: www.un.org/en/development/des...
2019 Pew study showing U.S. household size shrinking steadily (with a slight reversal in recent years): www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...
2020 Pew study showing more young adults living with their parents:
www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...

[@alexpage4355]

I'm reminded of the old joke about a woman who used to cut the ends off of her roasts. When asked why, she simply said that's how her mother always did it! So, someone asked the mother, and she gave the same answer: That's how _her_ mother always did it! Ditto for the grandmother. Then, you get to the great-grandmother and she replies, "That's the only way it would fit in my pan!"

[@Zekana0]

reminds me of a friend of mine's family. his mother insisted on putting carrots whole into whatever they were cooking that needed em, like roasts, stew, soup. "thats how my mom did it" she said. same from her mother. turns out the great grandmother was just lazy and didn't want to cut em up. she'd just rinse em and plop em in.

[@haha-lj5sq]

What

[@jacksonsmith2955]

@@haha-lj5sq A grandmother was forced to do something suboptimal because of her circumstances. Years pass and her descendants are still doing it because that's what they saw her do, even though the circumstances that made her do that are long since passed. Laugh now.

[@Eclipsed_Archon]

@@jacksonsmith2955 what

[@jacksonsmith2955]

@@Eclipsed_Archon Old person did something not good, had no choice. Young people copy old person even though they have choice

[@Shilobotomized]

I find it weird that people would say that “these recipes have been being refined for generations” and then actively denounce you when you try to practice that exact thing.

[@FabbrizioPlays]

Yeah there's this weirdly insidious belief that the present day is the finished product of what came before, rather than yet another work in progress like everything else has been. Maybe has something to do with fear of confronting mortality and a discomfort with a world where we no longer exist, idk I'm not a psychology.

[@WhichDoctor1]

There's something to do with our brain development that tends us towards finding the things we experienced in our teens and early 20s seem like the way things "should" be. Some people obviously feel this much more strongly than others, like the people who are super fashion conscious and up to date with music as teenagers but then don't change the way they dress or the music they listen to at all from the age of 23 till they die. So for those people if they grew up eating big meatballs the idea someone is telling them to make small meatballs is like someone telling them they should stop slicking their hair back and give up Frank Sinatra and they should get a nose piercing and listening to Kpop instead

[@austinadams6810]

What an original comment 10/10

[@saitodosan9377]

Same exact train of thought when people clamor for "authenticity" without realizing that people in the countries those "authentic" recipes come from put their own spin on things and change things all the time, as well as things like regional variations etc. When like 90% of the time the people saying it have never even been to those countries to begin with and they certainly don't speak the language to use that country's side of the internet to check recipes anyway. I'd wager it's the same thing here: People who probably can't even cook a pop tart just trying to shove their opinions on how things "should" be down peoples' throats.

[@InvadeNormandy]

@@FabbrizioPlays Sometimes it feels like history died and stopped being counted in the 60s.

[@miketacos9034]

“I know exactly what you mean, Adam,” I say, as I pour myself a traditional-Italian-extended-family’s-worth of cereal.

[@cormacmckinstry2195]

I think another reason for all the low heat, slow cooking dishes may have been what they were cooking on. If it was anything like my grandparents, they would have been cooking on the stove on the fire that was also heating the house (or at least the main room). Nowadays cooking for several hours would make me nervous about electricity or gas costs, but that fire was going to be burning anyways for heating, they might as well use it for cooking as well.

[@TheShepard96]

The impending sense of doom I feel when the sponsor sneaks up on me is priceless.

[@rafael123loek]

gets me every time

[@paperbackwriter1111]

It quite literally is not, it‘s what covers Adam‘s bills.

[@BassVincent]

@@paperbackwriter1111 You can support a creator while still making jokes about sponsors to cope with the ever increasing Neoliberalisation of society and the normalisation of "being paid is all that matters". Things are complex. People are complex. You don't have to stand behind one individual's partial way of making money completely, and guess what, you can still like that person and the content he puts out as well. Who knew.

[@NaeMuckle]

Theres plenty of you tubers that don't have sponsors to protect the content. They're incredibly intrusive.

[@TheSlavChef]

you never know when it will strike, you just know it will happen!

[@ElijsDima]

Also an important thing you mentioned is "the recipes evolved" - yeah, damn right, the recipes evolved over time. So why should they have stopped evolving at the "grandparent era"? Good recipes continue to evolve, and *will* continue to evolve.

[@EGOCOGITOSUM]

Yes, recipes evolve, but in order for something to evolve successfully it needs to have very strong fundamentals, like beings, needs complete DNA to do so successfully, so it's important to distinguish between someone who has a good knowledge of traditions and inventiveness to evolve, and some(most) noob with a very superficial knowledge just throwing shit in or giving bogus scientific explanations to compensate for their lack of proficiency

[@user-hp6od8jw4k]

@Elijs Dima Not disagreeing with you here, but one thing to keep in mind is that grandma would have made her food mostly like great-grandma did. As Adam noted, the speed of societal and technological change has shot up since then, so naturally we cook very differently from either of them. It's like there used to be a smooth evolution, and then suddenly there was a huge revolution. I think that's mostly a good thing, but can see why some might disagree.

[@williamkelley1971]

The problem arises when the evolution ends and the tradition sets in. That’s when pigheaded people start to believe that things must only be done in the way that was taught to them, instead of (like in 16th-19th century Italy) continuing to change and alter recipes based on what is convenient for them. Tradition is a pretty serious hinderance when it comes to evolution, with almost no way around it if you were raised in that tradition.

[@hailtothevic]

I'm just glad Jell-O everything isn't a thing anymore 😕

[@EGOCOGITOSUM]

@@williamkelley1971 I don’t agree , having being raised in traditions does not hinder anything, only one’s character and education does, there are plenty of Italian chefs pushing the boundaries of Italian cuisines and traditions, and there always a have been this can be said for any country people who brag too much on either keeping or forcefully changing everything usually are lousy cooks and they compensate their armor of mindless conservation or innovation

[@karlackerman2821]

I think there's a related reason there have been changes in cooking methods over the last century: in the past, not only were families bigger, but they were more likely to be multi-generational. More families had multiple people who might be involved in the cooking process. Perhaps for at least some dishes, there were two or three cooks going at the same time. The traditional American Thanksgiving meal is nearly impossible to pull off as a solo cook, but very possible when 3 people are going at the same time.

[@arandomidea9010]

I grew up extremely close to my dad's extended family, we would get together about once a month (grandma and grandpa had 7 kids, so there were approximately a million people, more if it was any sort of holiday). Something I don't think most notice is how much work is normally done by those that aren't the cooks-cubing potatoes, peeling carrots, shucking corn, etc. were pretty much always handled by people not doing the main cooking. Desert was never done by one of the main cooks either- but rather by someone (or, most often, several people) made it earlier.

[@juangazol4997]

exactly! My mom's side of the family is huuuge! Back when we all still lived in the same country, weekend meals at grandma's house were massive affairs, and holiday meals? dont even get me started! Last big family gathering we had, there were just over a hundred uncles, aunts cousins, nephews, nieces, grandkids, spouses, etc, etc. I was one of the cooks, working prep. We cooked something like 25 chickens in the massive wood fired oven and the stove oven. There were 4 or 5 of us working for hours on the meal. And "from scratch" doesn't begin to describe it. The 25 chickens were from grandma's own coop. We had to catch, kill, scald, de-feather, gut, clean, season and cook the lot of them in one morning. So yeah, recipes have to change, they have to evolve. In my tiny home kitchen I barely have room to cook single chicken.

[@mikemurphy80]

As the solo cook I can attest to this! I plan out Thanksgiving weeks in advance and take a couple days to make it seamless so my kids experience my childhood Thanksgiving

[@legoqueen2445]

As an Australian I really hope I get to experience a home cooked traditional thanksgiving meal one day. It looks delicious and I love how everyone contributes in some way.

[@OffRampTourist]

@I yes but that's the modern tradition. Farm family holidays where I came from involved fried chicken, a pot of chicken and dumplings, a sliced ham, probably 2 pans of different dressing, 2 kinds a gravy too, home canned green beans with bacon, creamed corn, some kind of cabbage dish, stewed okra and tomatoes, baked potatoes and sweet potatoes several homemade pickles, a couple of truly awful jello molds, one or two sheet cakes, one or two kinds of pie and maybe a blackberry cobbler. Biscuits, cornbread, and dinner rolls. Gallons of 3 kinds of iced tea. Probably more than half was brought by aunts. With thirty or more eating, tables were set up in the two kitchens, the front room, on the porch and under the shade tree. There was no casserole. No store bought canned or frozen or pickled food. I always filled up on the chicken and dumplings and as many pickled peaches as I could snag. They were a rare treasure only seen at holidays. Always about 5 cooks and as many real helpers. I was so proud to eventually be deemed useful enough to stay in the kitchen during prep, and eat at the table there with the cooks.

[@nisnast]

When I first saw those giant meatballs I thought "oh, Adam filmed while he was on vacation", but then later I realized you were just re-creating them for this video, and honestly, that makes me really happy, don't ever take time off your vacation or days off for work, Adam, enjoy these breaks with your family.

[@lonestarr1490]

I realized that as well and then thought, "Damn, they must have had spaghetti with meatballs like three to four days in a row!"

[@coryman125]

@@lonestarr1490 I wish food transportation hit a point where we could instantly send food like we do pictures or videos, so he could have a raffle to send all these leftovers to viewers :(

[@heyreeen]

2020 : Big meatballs are for Instagram. 2021 : Big meatballs are for *family.* Adam for Fast 10 confirmed.

[@hi12235]

Viewer: Sorry Adam, I don’t like meatballs. Adam: sad , I cooked them for my family Dom: *Family* you say?

[@zafarparkar98]

@@hi12235 kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3S9opqrn7iMi9U

[@G1ennbeckismyher0]

You never turn your back on family

[@unlucky_2nd897]

@@G1ennbeckismyher0 So that's why Alabamans don't do reverse cowgirl

[@G1ennbeckismyher0]

@@unlucky_2nd897 you saw the meme too eh?

[@curlygurly2112]

I hate hate HATE when people get self-righteous about these "traditional" recipes. you think the people who made and developed these recipes had canned tomatoes? a gas stove? get over yourselves. thanks for validating my frustrations Adam lol

[@TheGreektrojan]

The funny thing is that when you look at recipes historically, there are very few traditional recipes that have endured over the centuries. Food has always been subject to trade, crop yields, economic conditions, preservation etc... When people talk about traditional recipes, its always to a specific time and place and tinted by nostalgia. Its only in modern first world counties with year around ingredient access that people could really obsess about authenticity.

[@klinky]

@@TheGreektrojan Yeah if you watch channels like Tasting History or Townsends, you'll find many of the old recipes were both vague with quantities and direction and also would be considered terrible and bland to the modern palate.

[@victorquesada7530]

@@klinky I love Townsends! The vagueness of the recipes also comes from the fact that nearly everything had to be done by feel, taste, etc. You had to build a fire to cook, it was an embodied skill rather than something that could be read.

[@HAbarneyWK]

@@TheGreektrojan if you look at todays Italian cuisine you see that even in conditions like this the same recipe varies a lot between families villages etc. My biggest problem with the authenticy "outrage" is that most of the time it feels like its more about gatekeeping than preserving trafition.

[@arjunthemadlad]

Freaking even then the traditional recipes were modified from the Originals so basically how are they one to talk?

[@greatdslayarr]

My ancestry is from the Caucasus, where making large dishes to feed the whole family is the norm, and this is how I learned how to cook too. However, I am now a student, and feed between 1 and 3 people with every dish, but cooking very large portions has still come in handy because anything that is left over I can refrigerate and save for another day, and it's pretty economical to do this on a student's budget.

[@LoremasterLiberaster]

ayo what country you from

[@greatdslayarr]

@@LoremasterLiberaster Dagestan

[@LoremasterLiberaster]

@@greatdslayarr wait based. Referring to Degestan instead of russia

[@greatdslayarr]

@@LoremasterLiberaster I grew up in the West, so my identity lies with the culture of my parents, rather than the state they belong to. Where are you from?

[@LoremasterLiberaster]

@@greatdslayarr Grew up in Moscow Russia since 6 y.o. though now i immigrated to the U.S. to study

[@Graci726]

Thank you for saying “not working outside the home” implying that those who are at home aren’t just being lazy but are also workers... just at home. The stay at home spouses/parents of the world salute you!

[@cloudwatcher608]

As a stay-at-home dad/cook, I totally agree.

[@BigSnipp]

Staying at home is infinitely easier than working a job outside he home. Stay at home dad is the dream.

[@KaiserTom]

@@BigSnipp It is a huge quality of life/job improvement. However it's still work and it requires the same amount of focus, effort, and time commitment still for many jobs. You can't expect any stay-at-home parent to do something like watch a child, despite people still doing so. It's easier, more comfortable, and I'm no longer wasting 1-2 hours of my life commuting unpaid. But it's still work. I do frankly wish more jobs that can be done remote, were remote. It would save so much time for those people and free up traffic for people that actually need to physically be elsewhere. People need to keep pushing for that out of companies.

[@BigSnipp]

@@KaiserTom Watching children at home is infinitely easier than working a regular job. Grade school dropouts can watch kids. I work from home and just being at home makes it way better.

[@jgood005]

That terminology is misleading and reveals a sociological bias in my opinion. Working implies working for a wage. If I have Saturday off, I might do some laundry, cooking, and cleaning, but I don't say I'm working.

[@CoalDiamondandhisawesomeness]

I love the logic of "those recipes have evolved over countless generations, you think you're smarter than them?". No. How do you think the recipes evolved in the first place? People adapting them and changing them over time. Why can't I do the same and continue the evolution?

[@celeritas2-810]

One of the best arguments against Jordan Peterson conservatism

[@suedetree970]

@@celeritas2-810 Jordan who?

[@eyesneveropen-meow-5125]

@@celeritas2-810 shoehorned in with the grace of a car crash

[@runakovacs4759]

@@eyesneveropen-meow-5125 It's true though. We should always be examining society, law, policies and everything using the best tools for determining their benefit for humanity, and work to change them. Personally, I subscribe to the filter of the "Original Position"/"Veil of Ignorance" - a philosophy model that judges everything based on the idea of "How likely is this to make me suffer, or live well - if I did not know what role in society I fulfil?" The idea is to take greed and selfishness, and twist it to ensure as many people benefit.

[@preasidium13]

Maybe it’s just a roundabout way of telling people their cooking sucks, and to just stick to the script🤷‍♂️

[@hxx3815]

I have lots of respect for food tubers because of the constant hate and the way that they deal with it. Keep cooking the way you cook Adam, the reason I watch you is because of YOU. Rock on.

[@TheSlavChef]

so sweet.

[@sayidsarchive8639]

Any internet personality is going to recieve hate, for the most part the cooking community is fairly tame.

[@Tensownik]

Could you tell me whats the matter with "food tubers hate"? I dont really know how possibly this can be a hate-viable subject

[@hazel3397]

thank you obama thanos

[@TheSlavChef]

@@hazel3397 bahahahaha

[@XsomeoneXelseX]

i know the bar is low but it makes me happy to see him acknowledge that mom wasnt "not working", she was definitely working a lot between making those huge meals and keeping the house nice!

[@coryman125]

This was way more profound than I expected from the title. Not just "here's how to change portions with math", but "here's how to adapt your entire cooking philosophy to adapt to the availability of workers in the kitchen and the number of people being fed". Very interesting!

[@TheMovieGuyTMG]

I started living alone very recently, honestly I'm not sure it was a very good idea, but on the bright side I can finally buy food I want to buy. God I love cooking.

[@Activition]

Feel you

[@TheWunder]

I love you

[@runakovacs4759]

It's probably an improvement for your mental health if you are neurodiverse and have sensory issues, and family doesn't respect boundaries.

[@HiHelloHi]

@@runakovacs4759 Introverted in extroverted family?

[@TMOR99]

I can't wait to live alone (or with a roommate or two) I have to miss out on so much good food because it's either too expensive to cook for six people, has ingredients people don't like, or is just inefficiant to cook in large quantities.

[@sebastianhabel7312]

"Hey, do you think you're smarter than your grandma?!" - One of the most Italian statements ever XD

[@TheNotoriousJ0B]

Nonna knows best haha

[@MrAranton]

Well, my family passed down a cook book printed in 1901. According to that, you're supposed to boil white asparagus to be served with potatoes and hollondaise sauce for 45 minutes - at which point you're effectively serving potatoes with two kinds of liquids. I don't know what the thinking was, maybe this book was published when teeth were still a newfangled thing most people hadn't adopted yet?

[@clyde7378]

@@MrAranton that's interesting didn't recall asking though...

[@aldenhauser9555]

@@clyde7378 :( that was mean

[@tamerlane9889]

Im not trying to be nonna

[@clorofolle]

Italian here! My grandparents have known the war, and my parents grew up poor as kids. Sure, they eventually lived to see the economic boom that followed, but they still grew up in a context of scarcity, where you had to feed 6-7 kids and several adult relatives with as little money as possible each day. Now I'm a single child, my household is made of 3 people, and we're well off enough that we don't have to worry about there not being enough food on the table. Which is to say... No dad, I'm not gonna eat 80 grams of white pasta with a spoonful of bottled tomato sauce on top every other day. We can afford vegetables to enrich our pasta with, we can afford whole grain pasta, or just whole grains as they are. We have the means to have an healthy diet instead of having to fill our stomaches with white carbs to muster enough energy to work and see tomorrow. This of course doesn't apply to those struggling economically *now*, where you still need to spend very little and get a lot of calories. But popular cooking from the tradition doesn't consider whether you can afford to eat a little bit healthier.

[@ragnkja]

We also have less physically demanding jobs on average, so we don’t need as much pasta to cover our caloric needs, but we still need about the same amount of vitamins and minerals, so the ratio of pasta to sauce has changed to reflect that (and it also tastes better in my opinion).

[@L4wyrup]

Well, they called it cucina povera for a reason.

[@LatinaCreamQueen]

This also might explain why SOME Mexican households will sometimes still continue those very same traditional recipes because their houses are still pretty large and filled with grandparents and grand children, cousins, etc.

[@alexweavers5599]

This is the difference between knowing the "what to do" and knowing the "why to do it". If you know why, you can make adjustmenst for your situation. It's the reason I'd watch you, kenji, and not another cooking show italian guy over anything on food network.

[@learncat8771]

This is also a perfect summary of everything wrong with the education system where I live. For example, in math classes around my grade, we're told what formulas are meant to solve what problems, but not the logic behind the formulas, it's "hard-coded" education. Sorry I went off-topic, but it's a personal frustration of mine.

[@rogervanaman6739]

@@learncat8771 Yeah, that can be a problem. In high school chemistry I was having an issue with an equation (related to stoichiometry), but the teacher did a good job of explaining what we were doing, so I managed to modify it in a way that worked for me (not that I made something completely new, just wasn't the equation taught). I asked him before the test if I could do it my way and he was cool with it. Said it took him an hour to figure out what I was doing, I got a good grade on the test, but it was the only way it would work in my head. Was probably his first or second year teaching, not yet jaded to everything.

[@rafansyed8420]

@@learncat8771 you smart

[@verager2493]

That's why it's always important to question rules in general. They were made by people of the past, with their own biases and priorities. Those things change and evolve all the time, so we need to adapt our structures to account for that. Questioning and innovating. That's what growth is.

[@verager2493]

@daniel perez noguera if that's true, those rules can justify themselves, and people should be able to tell us why. If they can't, and didn't bother to remember, then they didn't respect those rules, and I see no reason to put them on a pedestal. I can explain philosophic principles to why we should have rights, and some to why we shouldn't call mutual respect "rights." My point goes double for anything deemed sacred. It should be easier for that stuff to hold up

[@bralex6669]

Being from an Italian family, I too remember when I was little that _every weekend_ the whole extended family would gather at my grandma's house for lunch. And it just made me a little sad that my kids don't (and won't) have that precisely because I now live a day of travel away from my parents.

[@MohamedAdel-wy6rc]

By plane or car

[@michaeloffner8515]

Man, I would _love_ to only live a day of travel away from my parents. My parents moved to a different country than their parents, and now I've moved to another country again. I haven't seen my American cousins or uncles in nearly a decade now.

[@LancesArmorStriking]

If you think that's bad-- Russian families used to be massive, but (very ironically) after Communism took over, society began to socially modernize rapidly, and so we are left today with families that haven't been "traditional" (extended family meeting for dinner) for 2, sometimes 3 generations. I've literally never known what it's like, nor had my mother, nor has hers. Very sad what was lost for the sake of progress. Yes, you likely have an opinion of the USSR. But it can't be denied that it advanced women's rights hugely in Russia. Though it appears to have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

[@Lorenzo_I.]

I hope that my eventual kids get to experience it. It's a very important aspect of life to me that is disappearing fast.

[@shanewebb3341]

@@LancesArmorStriking If by advancing women's rights by making everyone suffer equally then yes they did a wonderful job.

[@kashmir1225]

This is what i was telling my very traditional italian friend when i tweaked ragu a bit. i said im practically living with only my gf, we cannot eat a big pot of ragu in a few days so i make it in a smaller batch. i know you have to use guanciale for carbonara but i cant find it cheap near me so i use pancetta or even bacon. i got scolded by having pre grated parmesan, but i cant have parmegiano lying around because my gf dont like the smell of cheese in the fridge. i also know that baked mac and cheese is superior than the stovetop one but i only have an electric oven and electricity isnt cheap here. not worth using the oven for a dinner that would cost me a lot more if i use the oven. its not like i dont respect the traditional ways, it just doesnt work with how i live.

[@idek7438]

You know you can freeze ragù right? And that you wrap parmigiano in plastic wrap before putting it away? We don't just have pieces of parmigiano lying around in the fridge

[@fredxu99]

I've noticed the same in my household. Grandpa passed away, and Grandma moved into a senior home. Both of my parents got job promotions and were really short on time, while I shipped off to college. Whenever we got back together, it's now always quick-to-prepare meals that had components already packaged in a grocery store, like pre-marinated meats in vacuum sealed packages, cleaned and de-gutted shrimp and fish, and pre-made sauces in big bottles that we could get at a Korean or Chinese supermarket, etc. We didn't have time anymore to do detailed preparation work, so we just bought the items already prepared. Times have changed.

[@akatsukiawsome13]

The really sad thing about all this is the quality of the ingredients in those pre packaged things is lower, and the ingredient makeup is also just inferior…. Too much sugar in all of those pre made things, shittier meat and vegetables, and often less nutrient dense (increased water content, thickeners added to make up for that, soy protein replacing proper meat). America is fat and diseased due to packaged foods and fast food- which probably is increased due to smaller family size…. If you have 10 kids you’ll cook for 10 kids but one kid is more likely to get takeout, fast food, or restaurant food.

[@TaBunnie]

6:03 I hate this negative awkward connotation about young adults still living with their parents like they're basement dwellers or something. Bro if you're poor and your job sucks, then there's nothing wrong with parents or family members catching your back.

[@TheNotoriousJ0B]

Not wanting to be in the family home seems to be more of a thing in Anglophone countries. I've grown up in the UK, and I have moved a few times. In Italy and other parts of Southern Europe, it's common to only leave when you get married or get buried.

[@philipwebb960]

What does it say about you that you're an adult and still can't even support yourself? What does it say about you that you're an adult and still aren't weaned?

[@Detson404]

@@philipwebb960 Depends on the circumstances, doesn’t it? I figure most people want to be productive and make a life for themselves, so there’s probably a pretty good reason why they can’t or don’t move out. Maybe try not being such an ignorant scold and actually investigate.

[@thelingeringartist]

@@philipwebb960 I think it’s a smart move actually to stay living with family,at least from a financial standpoint. I’m planning on living with my mom until I’m well into my 20s just so I can get my bearings and also support her/my siblings. Why go out of your way to get yourself your own place and rush that,when you can be saving up money for a permanent place once you DO move out when you’re older? I dunno,your logic just seems lacking.

[@vendettavain]

It seems like society stigmatises people for still living at home...yet also stigmatises them for moving too far away from home and breaking up this 'extended family' that is forever portrayed as some sort of ideal.

[@elliothopkins3597]

I'm planning on being the grandad that hands down food recipes of my own

[@rBYRsytdsunmyner]

committing arson even when you're dead

[@joecarvalho5576]

@@rBYRsytdsunmyner LMAO

[@bobrenolf1585]

@@rBYRsytdsunmyner Senconded. LMAO

[@sigmascrub]

Write them down. Learned this the hard way. When my grandma passed away, all the cooks in the family (self included) were scrambling to try to recreate the foods she used to make. Grandpa helped save a good amount, but things like her pot roast are lost to history 🙁

[@IdiotBoxProductionsTV]

@@sigmascrub so sad

[@Marpurrsa]

"these recipes evolved over centuries" yes, thats exactly why adam and other food tubers are changing them to fit our time, essentially evolving them to fit to todays standards

[@Zhaxxy]

his parents and grandparents will be proud of him

[@themasstermwahahahah]

Yes as we all know recipes evolve over centuries because no one ever changes them. That's what evolution means, unchanging.

[@SoybeanInTheMilk]

@@themasstermwahahahah you just wrote a contradictory comment

[@Pheminon1]

ehhh yes and no. There are some things that are classics that are perfectly fine and should stay the same. But changing them and creating something new is also fine. It's just a new thing. Like, you wouldn't listen to classical music and edit those to fit "modern times". You can edit them and create remixes, but don't call them the same thing as the original

[@heh2393]

@@SoybeanInTheMilk he was commenting on the irony of those who criticise changing recipes in a sarcastic way.

[@TheCryptoNaturalist]

Those of us who love both your channel and Townsends (18th century cooking), know that these recipes have never been as stagnant/fixed as they might seem.

[@anshulsingh7663]

THIS. This is why I love cooking. It's not just feeding people, it's about the stories you can tell over that food.

[@vardaan5947]

You're the 1st Indian I've spotted on this channel, i really wish this type of content and more reaches to our fellow teens. It's so much more than cooking.

[@gazibizi9504]

@@vardaan5947 really? I'm Indian and I've been watching Adam since his first cooking video. A lot has changed since then for him.

[@vardaan5947]

@@gazibizi9504 my bad, sorry

[@gazibizi9504]

@@vardaan5947 there's nothing to apologise for dude.

[@LancesArmorStriking]

@To Release is To Resolve ? Lol what

[@lukewilsontv]

People try and region lock certain ingredients because “____ isn’t from Italy” or “____ isn’t from Asia” but we live in a time where everything is everywhere so fusion and non traditional dishes are more accessible and sometimes better. For example, plain unsweetened Greek yogurt makes guacamole 10x better however “illegal” of a technique it seems.

[@igorpedro8995]

Also, if people from the past had the access we have today for these ingredients, I guarantee you that they would use them without thinking twice. I'll never understand the people who care more about authenticity than about what tastes good.

[@Novenae_CCG]

It gets even weirder when you realize how many of the ingredients are typical to a certain region didn't even come from there until later. Tomatoes are not originally from Italy, for example.

[@turtlepowersf]

Yup, in addition to smaller households, people of today have access to much better and more diverse ingredients. Recipes of foregone eras were not necessarily "perfected" over the years because they were born out of necessity and/or limited available ingredients. I'm sure if you stuck grandma from the 1930s into a Whole Foods of today, I'd like to think she'd be open to incorporating new/better ingredients into her cooking.

[@runakovacs4759]

Most of our modern "classic/traditional" meals were invented in the 18-20th century, which if you consider in europe at least that most countries go back over 1200 years...

[@yagirlsheila7705]

I was agreeing with you right until the guacamole comment, but right after reading that I started agreeing again. As someone from Mexico, I wouldn't really like that guacamole. But to be honest, I've also committed "atrocities" against traditional italian pizza whenever I want to, so you do you.

[@severoon]

It would be interesting to continue along the "tiny → large household" spectrum and keep going to how recipes are different in commercial kitchens. I feel like a lot of cookbooks are packed full of recipes that were adapted from commercial kitchens, but they end up not being so great in the home for the same reasons you explain here. Perhaps instead of trying to produce the exact same plate of food at home as in the restaurant, it should be standard practice to adapt it by changing it for the different environment, same as how you changed your spaghetti recipe for more people.

[@ronmka8931]

yeah it is always a problem with these high-skill cooks who worked at fancy restaurants telling us how to make food that uses very exotic ingredients and very difficult methods, like Joshua wisman and binging with babish. they are far too complex and hard to replicate a lot of the their recipes

[@Killerkraft975]

The main problem with trying to replicate foods from commercial kitchens is that all the equipment is all ready and there to use. The environment where everything is ready in the event of an order is much different where you have to make from scratch and have to turn everything on.

[@annasolovyeva1013]

It also depends wether it's a restaurant (and they cook individual orders on a menu) or a Soviet style canteen which cooks in big batch at once for hundreds of people.

[@D1nomite1]

i feel this problem in my soul. I learned to cook from my dad in a 6 person household with 3 sons that were bottomless pits. now im in college and even when I can get all my 3 other roomates together for dinner, we eat way less and I end up with tons of leftovers. Adapting has been a challenge

[@jcsturgeon]

"These recipes evolved over generations! You really think they should KEEP evolving? How arrogant! How dare you!"

[@vemto8755]

the same could be said to all of our grandmother who evolve their grandmother recipe

[@markman278]

I still make tons of portions at once when I cook and then have leftovers for days especially for work. I work full time and working on my masters so you better believe I love leftovers.

[@Frag-ile]

I too employ old large family cooking techniques for my single person house hold. Even if I only cook once a week at best.

[@maloviv1232]

I have encountered passionate hatred for leftovers on the internet, actually disgusted at something from yesterday. Sure, fresh food tastes better but who has the time to cook every day.

[@markman278]

@@maloviv1232 sauces, soups, stews all reheat super well. And for some reason Chinese food tastes better reheated.

[@coconutoil1614]

Just make pork or chicken or mix of both adobo. They'll taste even better the longer it stays as a "leftover"

[@fwizzybee42]

Very true. We cook 2x a week and portion everything out. We have figured out what things keep well for that and on occasion cook things that don’t.

[@zekenelsons2069]

This was like a tiny food history thesis and I am living for it. More videos comparing how you cook for your tiny modern household vs. how things were made in your grandparents' generation, please? I live for this kind of applied food history. 🥺

[@sentarrr]

"May we all cook for the times that are given to us." - Adam Ragandalfsea

[@TheSlavChef]

The recipe said to put the pot in at 180 degrees Now it’s all over the bottom of the oven

[@aleksanderaleksandrov1016]

hahahahaha

[@someoneontheinternet9462]

Lol

[@BeardGainz]

ded

[@appa609]

That's why you gotta go in F and go 360

[@kiro9291]

took me a second

[@GammaCyber1]

The section on family members becoming distanced from one another through the more decentralized nature of jobs filled me with an existential dread for modern society.

[@Detson404]

It’s not all bad. Those big families could probably also be stressful and oppressive in their own way. We’re more isolated these days, but also more free.

[@testingmysoup5678]

@@Detson404 were nowhere near as free these days

[@user-bx8sj6qm3w]

@Owen الاخ عايش في كوريا الشمالية والا في التعوسية بسم الكون عليك.

[@Detson404]

@@testingmysoup5678 By what metric? By “free” I mean not subject to the social pressures coming from family. We can raise our kids as we choose, make the food we prefer, etc. In return, we lose the closeness and mutual support that comes from living in an extended family. Two sides of the coin.

[@fifthcolumn388]

@@Detson404 why is that good? It’s so narcissistic to think we as individuals are more right than our entire multigenerational families are. If they’re judging and criticizing us, maybe they have a bit more experience behind that- ignoring them just because it makes us feel bad could be much worse than it is good.

[@lizaveta8975]

i just love how adam breaks cooking down to "make what you will genuinely like in the mist time- and labour effective way possible". Ive been a fan of this channel for a great while now, and now i finally honestly understand this. love it!!

[@quinn6016]

Also, it could be argued there's hardly even a true "authentic" way of making anything, considering how radically dishes can vary from village to village, family to family in their respective countries. Sure most people would say broccoli in lasagna is a bit of a stray, but when it comes to specifics...well, there aren't really any. I wish people's ideas of these foods reflected that

[@ownedpilot4324]

This video kindly reminded me of the importance of the historical and social context when discussing food.

[@middlenameawesome]

One of your best videos IMO. It being centered on a pretty novel observation about evolving cooking habits based off of your personal experience and supported by data. Beautiful really!

[@Till374]

yep, totally agree!

[@SNitro]

omg it was beautifully scripted. the last line for some reason made me tear up, thinking about all of the ancestors that came before me and all of the scenarios that forced them to cook, eat, and act the way that they did. it’s sad that some people refuse to respect anything but the methods and meals that *they* deem authentic and i admire adam for dedicating so much time to replying to all of them at once. so many people do the most to try and “cancel him” for breaking his spaghetti in half or making smaller meatballs. he doesn’t judge the way you cook, and deserves the same respect, because these things are so trivial. we all cook and eat different ways for different reasons, no-one is right, no-one is wrong, we are just different.

[@Eclipsed_Archon]

Adam is one of the few people I've seen that really has an understanding of when he should follow tradition or authority versus thinking for himself. It's hard sometimes, balancing that, but I respect him immensely for not just knowing how to balance it but even having the courage to share it with us too!

[@lucass3566]

Thanks for keeping it real. This video is a showcase of the careful thought and thorough research that makes Adam's content so good. So many other cooking channels miss what most people need from a cooking how-to channel, practicality and realistic methodology suited to home cooks.

[@Dustedyoutubecjanel]

Why I season my tiny households NOT my recipes

[@trapbistro]

😂

[@hi12235]

This is old now.

[@TheSlavChef]

was about to say something smarter, but this is too good.

[@evanrayyan8405]

CAN WE STOP WITH THIS JOKE. THAT WAS HIS OPINION HE WAS NOT FORCING OTHER PEOPLE TO DO IT

[@Dustedyoutubecjanel]

@@evanrayyan8405 calm down mate I never said he was forcing people lmao

[@futurealigned]

“Amazing how hello fresh minimises waste” *everything wrapped in plastic*

[@wolfsden6479]

Ironically your food from a grocery store probably has used more plastic by the time you get it and eat it.

[@andersonrobotics5608]

@@wolfsden6479 more than hello fresh? I imagine bulk buying stuff instead of having it wrapped and shipped in small quantities would mean less packaging per amount of product

[@wolfsden6479]

@@andersonrobotics5608 it's weird but it turns out yes, although the papers that looked into this usd direct use comparison, whould a huge costco amount of food have less plastic per amount of food mabey, but for actual groceries stores it uses less plastic. Think of the massive amount of plastic used to wrap around food boxes going to stores, that's the added plastic, all the other plastic is used in both cases.

[@Kandralla]

@@wolfsden6479 I super doubt that Hello Fresh is more environmentally friendly than buying in the grocery store. Hello Fresh is getting their food from the same place the grocery store is and then packaging them in tiny containers (small containers = high surface area to mass ratio = high container to food ratio) and then throwing those containers into thousands of individual shipments sent UPS instead of sending it to a store. Assuming you're not throwing a lot of food away, Energy transporting your food is going to be the killer here and from that standpoint the closer large shipments get to your house the less fuel you're going to use. Packaging (especially plastic film that is way more likely to be recycled by the grocery store than at your home) is going to look like a rounding error in the calculation.

[@ztac_dex]

depends on your country's waste disposal since paper takes a lot of energy manufacturing than plastic

[@Basomic]

These are my favorite type of Monday videos. The more philosophical ones that get you to think, the ones that talk about the purpose and meaning behind cooking. Thanks, Adam!

[@ericepperson8409]

Adam I'm closer to your age than your Dad's, but I had the same experience with my extended family on my Mom's side. It was a Catholic German family, and my Mom was one of 6 kids. On holidays like Christmas, Easter, or Thanksgiving the whole family would gather around 3 tables pushed together in the middle of my Grandparent's farm house. There would be bowls of food down the whole center of those tables. I will always remember the year when my Aunt beaned my cousin in the head with a roll bc one of my other cousins told her to throw it down the way. Everything just stopped for a moment and we all burst out laughing. Gets talked about at every reunion.

[@emberrais7045]

First minute in and I already have to applaud the incredible progress you've made with your camera work! That shot of the meatballs in tomato sauce looked straight up cinematic, amazing!

[@im_a-walking_shitpost_machine]

meaball an saus 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤

[@kendlerkendler2667]

He recently made a video about his new camera/lighting set-up

[@TheTimelyDawn]

"May we all cook for times that are given to us." Adam. I don't know why that line made me cry a little bit.

[@GreatFlamingEyebrows_]

this was one f the first Adam Ragusea videos I ever watched shortly before I became obsessed with this channel, love coming back to it every now and then as I get more experienced with cooking and with life.

[@victor29rc]

man your recipes are just the greatest thing for home cooking. thanks a lot, Adam!

[@scarylion1roar]

my grandma taught me how to make rue based mac n cheese and I put my own spin on it by cooking shallots in the butter

[@ampz1466]

My mom taught m.! Although we had chopped bacon so not super traditional. But it's so good!

[@GrahamRomero]

I know "rue" is a type of food (and I've since looked that up too), but my initial search came up with "bitter regret", and I kind of like the idea of "bitter regret based mac n cheese"

[@kittiekat8920]

Scarylion. It's called roux. I know spell check is a b*tch

[@kenn587]

Rue is when you regret something anyone remember that from a certain show 👀

[@krankarvolund7771]

@@kittiekat8920 That's because it's french, and rue and roux is not the same in french XD The first one is the street, the second one is either ginger or the thickener with flour and butter ^^

[@Enggar-gy1sb]

Adam be explaining not just the natural science of cooking, but also the social science of cooking. God I love this channel

[@thechoorka]

Really appreciate your content, Adam. The way you are incorporating science, data, and culture in your videos is impressive and with this video in particular, is pretty wholesome. It’s a good reminder for why we cook and how it’s essential to the human experience.

[@blue-and-blauw]

The fact that things are done so different reminds me often about how I can just customize the recipes for me. I absolutely hate acidity in my foods, so when I see adam bring it up, I remember 'oh wait, I'm cooking for me, I don't have to follow every single step"

[@glubritz]

I really appreciate how you approach recipes with minimal dishes and the chef's convenience in mind. As an autistic man and the only one in my family who really does any major cooking, its /immensely/ helpful for someone like me who loves cooking, but can get easily stressed out over the more complex dishes. I've learned a lot from your videos and I love learning more.

[@dangerouscolors]

this is super interesting! i live in southeast asia where recipes are basically the same as they were from our grandparents era and its common for several generations to live under one roof. even with households with only parents and children, we still tend to cook giant batches of food then keep the leftovers to eat for the rest of the week LOL

[@christopherwagner7007]

Me and my wife still make about 4 portions of food during the week, even though it is just the two of us. This allows us to enjoy one of the best things to have as a home chef: leftovers. Never under estimate the value of good leftovers for lunch at the office.

[@marcb1890]

May we all cook for the times we live in!!! Love that thought. Thanks for all you do Adam!

[@SuperMustache555]

Really interesting thesis with this one, I never thought about it this way...

[@officialsawzer]

I've known a lot of people that intentionally cook giant meals, specifically so they have leftovers (think meal prep). I'd be very interested to see some videos on good meal prep recipes!

[@a.h.s.3006]

My family has been doing that for ages, a pot of meatballs can stay with us in the fridge for up to 3 days. Even if we went to work, prepping could be done at night before sleeping. I am very surprised he didn't mention that, this is the main reason we are doing it to this day, it is cheaper to make a meal that last for 3 days than making a meal every day

[@X1OProductions]

This is me, I meal prep so i can minimize day to day cooking. Leftovers all weeks is fine if the prepped meals are good and I have some fresh stuff to supplement.

[@SuperSpecies]

Bulk cooking is great. When KZbin videos say meal prep it is usually an instant turn-off as it's often from gym people trying to cut and who don't really enjoy the taste of food or the process or cooking but rather see it as fuel and a hassle.

[@Zhaxxy]

correct me if i am wrong but people usually do this in african and asian cultures (this is just a guess as most people i know who are asian and african including myself, make alot of food at once then put it in fridge for a few days then use lemon or something to freshen it up)

[@lizd.2343]

I love this! It explains so much. I grew up in a household of about 6-7 people, and about two nights a week we would have a family over for dinner in the warmer months. Lots of pasta and lots of veggies. We would make a lot of food. It took me about three months to consistently make a meal after moving out that we wouldn’t have multiple containers of leftovers when there was just two people. You make a roast chicken at my parents house, nothing left. Meanwhile I get a chicken and I am actually having to look up ways to use leftover chicken two days later.

[@electronclouds8280]

I really appreciate how much nuance you bring into your cooking videos. A lot of the cooking side of youtube that I've seen seems to just present recipes as if "oh yeah anyone can do this, don't mind my industrial sized kitchen and the fact that this recipe that serves 4 takes 6 hrs of prep" We really do cook differently than our grandparents and great grandparents did, and thank you for creating recipes with those practical differences in mind

[@JpGunsNRoses]

Love how this channel is much more than a food's recipes channel... but an Anthropology one 😂😂

[@LobsterConQueso]

God bless Grandma Regusea because she inspired my favorite cooking channel

[@flintdfg8011]

It was always a great time when I was in college, me and my friends once a week would have a big table lunch, miss those days, very good memories

[@MoolbniBrie]

Oh my god that midroll add was *seamless*. I didn't even notice until halfway through. Nicely done!

[@MoiselleTheFae]

I only usually have the time and energy to cook once or twice a week, so when I do, I actually still cook old style in big batches- and then eat that one thing for several days.

[@joeqiao1691]

Same here! I spend my Sunday cooking for the week ahead so I make big batches of everything

[@tahamohammad1741]

Adams dad impersonating his Italian/American family made me laugh so hard😂

[@Ta_nuz]

Greatly appreciate your gratitude towards your seniors mate👍 You're not only smart with your intelligent observations but a good human being as well.❤

[@Franky_Sthein]

15 Minutes for spagehtti and meatballs. My math theacher ones told me that everything that is down in under 45 minutes is not cooking, it is re-heating. I guess she never coocked herself.

[@ragnkja]

We can easily figure out at least some things she never cooked: pasta, fried fish, fried cuts of meat, anything deep fried, and quite a few vegetables. Any more examples you’d like to add?

[@matthewvo3120]

ON TOP OF THIS !!! the whole idea of perfecting a recipe through generations is for each generation to learn off of previous generations and tweek things if necessary

[@xp_studios7804]

These were some really cool insights. I'm glad you cook in a way that makes it easier for me to learn how to cook for my small household!

[@sharden5709]

I just LOVE how seamlessly you transition into sponsor segments. Seriously, awesome job!

[@bleutitanium6513]

Excellent Video Adam. I feel you explained things very well. I'm much older than you and I do remember the big extended family get togethers several times a month. Today I find it sad that the young adults in the extended family don't even have family meals with their own families. Children eat.... and then later in the evening, the parents eat. I feel grateful for the big family get togethers and also having family meals with the parents and us kids. I feel that's what's missing today... that true feeling of family bonding..... thank you for such a great video !!

[@hasanjebory6629]

Brilliant video. This perfectly sums up why I’d cook rice the traditional way that my ancestors had been doing for ages when I’m cooking for family, even though I just boil and drain rice like pasta or lentils when I’m just cooking for myself.

[@renegade7370]

Your vids are incredibly eye opening. One of the better channels on this platform this day and age.

[@mystruggletobeadecenthuman5121]

The story your dad told made me tear up. I live in the same town as my grandma, and we used to have a feast like that at her place every week. We have it less and less as we grow up and have more and more responsibilities with schools and jobs. And now with covid, I barely get to see her at all. And that story just make me miss her so much 😭

[@dmarsub]

I love your enginuity, this and "alex's" channel are such a welcome breath of fresh air! Thanks

[@potatopassingby1148]

my smile brightened so much when I heard how they regularly got together in a big table and just ate together. sounds so lovely

[@kouseiarima8555]

Adam always makes food videos that are really unique and interesting? I'm unsure of how to quite describe it but I feel like his videos are much more than just a guy telling you how to cook things in general. It's a refreshing change of pace, especially when paired with a glug of white wine

[@whatsername465]

This brought back so many memories of my childhood with my Italian grandparents. I miss them.

[@meepmeep8035]

Great video, love hearing these stories and the history behind cooking trends through the years!

[@thebiglimey]

Screw tradition, I love your interpretation of recipes, I've also adopted many of your recipes for the way I cook as well. My mum has run the kitchens in more than a few high-end UK hotels and restaurants and she always says "cook how and what works for you" Bravo Adam, bravo.

[@Zaronion]

Yeah, I figured as much. I especially feel this because I live alone and (my fellow single-person householders will feel this) even many recipes thought up today are just too large for me. Most portion sizes for ingredients you can buy at grocery stores are also just a bit too large, which can get annoying.

[@jasonreed7522]

And the advice of "just freeze it", as if my freezer was larger than the fridge in the 1 bedroom apartment i rent. Or that i want to eat a frozen lasagna weeks after i cooked it, especially because food needs to be frozen as fast as possible to prevent ice from making it mush. I'm lucky that my grocery store sells eggs by the half dozen but it would be nice if they didn't assume everyone was buying for a family of 4 when selecting product sizes to stock.

[@Em-by9ez]

@@jasonreed7522 at least eggs take forever to go bad, I wish I could buy cabbage for just myself lol

[@johnathankindall2804]

Fantastic journalistic work here Adam. Not everyone can include 3 minutes of graphs in their cooking videos and get away with it but you communicate so well.

[@larisael-netanany488]

Dear Adam, I must tell you that already on your prev. vid. (basil pesto) you have officially taught me more than Cheff John, and he got a year subscr. head start. I esp. love the “you do you” attitude, and the mixture of science and a sharing of a personal perspective. Good job!

[@thelonelyrogue3727]

I've definitely noticed that a lot of your recipes are amazing when I'm cooking for just myself and one or two other people, but don't work nearly as well when I try to scale them up to feed any more than that. The pork chop with pan sauce as an example. It's probably possible with a big enough cooking area, but with a standard sized kitchen it has to be done in more than one batch when feeding four or more people. By the time the second batch is done, the first one is cold, or has already been eaten!

[@1bguyl]

I couldn't understand why I liked your videos so much before this. I love cooking for friends and family and even the recipes you share that don't inspire me to try them I learn something from. But this one helped me to understand how and why I need to look at cooking differently. To get the same quality of food our forebears did, we need to think smaller. That's a genius idea. As an empty nester cooking for two, I can't cook like I did when the kids were home. Change the style, I can still enjoy the same quality food and still enjoy cooking more than once a week and living on leftovers. Thanks, Adam, for this insight.

[@TheSwedishRider]

That is absolutely correct! On Sundays, my German grandma often used to start cooking about 1 hour after breakfast to have lunch ready at 12:00.

[@jeremynicasio3013]

Very sentimental undertone, really appreciate you adam

[@Maximus-rm7jn]

"big meatballs are for family" -adom toretto

[@YunethAlwis]

Nothing is more important than family - torreto

[@OneHarp]

Really good points here, and something I was trying to articulate the other day, but couldn't do in such a succinct and understandable way.

[@ILostMyOreos]

This hit really close to home. This was a really good video, thanks for making it

[@erinhowett3630]

Here's a story I like to tell that relates to the evolution of food: While in our pre-service meeting at an Italian restaurant, a fellow cook brought up shishito peppers being on our menu in the beans. He asked "How can we be italian if we have Japanese peppers in our stuff?" I, without thinking, responded "How can tomatoes and polenta be Italian when they're from the Americas?"

[@alexcivitello3165]

This makes a lot of sense and makes me feel a lot better about how I cook.

[@NickKont]

Watching your videos had a cosy feeling that something remind me, something from the old day where shows where real. And suddenly hit me...You shows remind me the Good Eats with Alton Brown, even you with all your gestures and everything you remind me Alton!

[@Deadlyish]

Great episode. I love the way you wove together the historical aspects with modern demographics and your personal family background to tell an engaging story about the ways you adapt your cooking.

[@danielpirone8028]

Long improvised tables in grandma’s basement are some of my favorite memories