In Ghana, my friend’s seven-year-old granddaughter looked up at me and said those words. I have carried them with me ever since.
Friends and family welcomed me into their homes and taught me their family recipes: ceviche and cuy in Peru; groundnut and okra stew in Ghana. They were flattered by how eager I was to learn.
They gave me those recipes to cook and share. The people who taught me belong in the telling, alongside the food.
That continues at home with my wife: bao, noodles, and pork with hot peppers—the first meal she made for me.