When our grandson began his college career at George Mason University he lived with us as we lived very close to the school. We enjoyed having a young person with us, and once he settled in a routine was created. He was at home quite often when I was cooking. His favorite meal was pasta with meat balls and tomato sauce. One day he decided he wanted to make it himself. He enjoyed cooking and did very well with the tomato sauce
What was supposed to be a one-semester stay with us turned out to be four years. I had to evict him when we moved to Greenspring. At that time he asked me to type out the recipe for the sauce. He and some friends lived in a town house and he practiced his cooking on them.
Between 2002 and 2007 he made several trips to the Mid-East, studying its history, culture, and religions. One day he e-mailed me from Amman, the capital of Jordan, asking me to send the recipe to him. He cooked for over 30 friends while there studying Arabic as part of the Critical Language Scholarship group. On another occasion he cooked for a smaller group and even had them chopping onions and making the meat balls. He bought all the ingredients at a Safeway in Amman! He told me that everyone enjoyed the meals, even those who had traveled in Italy. He said as the sauce cooked, it filled the area with a wonderful smell that drove everyone crazy. His travels included Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
Who could imagine that the sauce that my mother learned to make in a small village in Italy would travel to America and then all the way to the Mid-East. I am sure she would have been amazed!!
The amazing thing is Christopher is Korean by birth, American by adoption, with a lot of Italian thrown in.
