A Mother’s Culinary Magic: Signature Dish Recipe Contest
Growing up, we all have heard that a mother’s love has no boundaries. It is the purest form of love. A strong emotion that leads to unyielding sacrifices. And we often see the emergence of this love when a child is in the womb. The selfless love starts right then, sacrificing the number of things she is not supposed to do-just for her child. Along with the sacrifices, we also see how a mother would do anything to keep her child safe and protect him/her from any harm that there is. It is a love that will give you a sense of belongingness when the whole world is cold and indifferent. A love that is so true and pure and eternal that no matter how old you become or how independent you are, you will always crave the touch of your mother’s hands, slowly going over your head.
You see, a mother does not need to remind us every day how much she loves us. Her form of love is silent yet expressive. Through her every little action, we can feel her care and warmth- be it cleaning the room for us or cooking our favorite meal, she will somehow know what will comfort us.
I realized all this when I started living away from home. The one thing that we miss the most when we are away is the home-cooked meal that our mothers used to feed us. I remember when I used to fall sick, my mother would make this chicken soup with onion leaves. The soup would instantly make me feel better. Perhaps it was the care that was poured onto it. No matter how much I try to make it, it is never the same! However, the closest I can get to it is by the chicken broth I get online. The consistency is somewhat close to it.
While reminiscing about my mother’s special soup, I realized that there are so many of us who are far away from our mothers, craving the affection that we got which would soothe our troubled hearts. This heartfelt emotion led to the emergence of the Mother’s Signature Dish contest! I thought rather than just being sad and nostalgic, why not share recipes of all our mothers?
The Start of the Contest!
With the nostalgia kicking in and the excitement of more new recipes pouring in of our precious mothers, I could not wait to announce the contest! Honestly, till now, this has to be the most exciting contest of The Wannabe Cook!
We started the contest from the 30th of July and the deadline for the recipe submissions was on the 10th of August.
The rules to enter the contest were:
Stick to the topic:
Share your Mother’s Signature Recipe, accompanied by a short story explaining its significance and the memories it brings back. A short story along with your bio had to be shared in our inbox.
Follow the submission process:
Inbox us ‘submit recipe’ and follow the steps and instructions provided.
Provide a good picture:
Make sure to include a high-quality image of your dish, as it will be a judging criterion.
Like our Facebook page:
Show some love by liking our Facebook page.
Join our Facebook group: Become a member of our Facebook group: https://m.facebook.com/groups/thewannabecook/?ref=share&mibextid=S66gvF
6 Winners will be chosen:
The panel will select 3 winners, and the other 3 will be chosen through the People’s Choice Award, where you can invite friends and family to vote for your recipe and support you.
The contest will end on 10th August, 2023. The winners will be announced on the 30th of August, 2023.
There were exciting gifts for the winners too!
However, as there were many new group members, they were not accustomed to My Alice. So, my team members had to show the submission process again.
Homemade Love
We got some mouthwatering, delectable dishes. All of them were so appetizing that it was really hard for us to decide the winner!
To start off, I would like to try the Chicken Akhni Pulao. I always had a soft corner for warm, soft pulao,
especially if it is cooked with basmati rice. It is a delightful one-pot dish. A combination of succulent marinated chicken pieces with flavorful and fragrant rice. It is a slow-cooked dish and the patience with which our mothers cook this dish, reflects the care with which they do it. Ah, I hope I can try it with that much dedication!
Another dish that I dearly miss is Posto Mutton Curry. Posto or poppy seeds are famous in West Bengal, India. It is usually used in many dishes to add a nutty flavor and texture. I often used to see my mother use it in almost every other dish! The taste of the dish would instantly be enhanced once the posto dana or poppy seeds were added. The flavor of the dishes would make my taste buds dance the moment it entered my mouth! So, you can imagine the taste of the lip-smacking mutton curry! This dish is a traditional dish that has been passed down from my nani to my mother. Posto Mutton Curry has cherished memories that are knitted together. I vividly remember my mother marinating the tender mutton pieces with poppy seed paste, ginger-garlic paste and other ingredients. After some time, I would hear the crackling sound of the oil as she would slowly put in cloves, cardamoms, bay leaves etc. The whole house would be filled with the aromatic smell of the spices and the marinated mutton as they would slowly intertwine. My mother would cook it for every daawat that we had in the house. This dish was a must when we had family gatherings and today, it symbolizes the celebration of the past. Now, whenever I call people over to my house, this dish has to be on the menu!
Steamed Rohu Fish with Pumpkin Leaves is another heartfelt dish. Growing up in Bangladesh, fish was cooked every other day and as kids, we were often told to eat fish on a regular basis. Even though I didn’t quite like to savor fish-this particular dish has a soft corner in my heart!
My heart was literally filled with joy the moment I saw this recipe submission. Even though my mother would prepare it for us, I never actually cooked it myself or even tried it. As a kid, I would eagerly wait for my mother to wrap the fish with the pumpkin leaves and fry it. The whole process of cooking this dish was mesmerizing!
The Sweet-Tooth!
My family and I always crave something sweet after dinner. It is like a ritual at our home to keep something sweet every day! So, desserts have always been the favorite part of our meals!
For any occasion, especially for birthdays, my mother would make the Shahi Firni.
The creamy texture of the soft rice slowly and subtly comforts the taste buds. The infused aroma of saffron adds an exotic touch to the dish. As I love anything sweet, I learned this dish before moving away. Whenever I make it, I make sure to serve it in my Fortessa Archi Glass dessert bowl! The transparent glass makes the dessert look even more appetizing! I also put a few roasted nuts on top of the firni for some décor.
Shahi Tukra is perhaps the most scrumptious decadent 
dessert! It evokes memories of family gatherings during Eid or any other occasion. Each bite of it carries the saffron and spice-infused milk with the bread perfectly soaked in it. The roasted almonds and cashews in ghee add that extra crunch to the making it a soulful experience.
The Winners!
All the dishes reflected the boundless and profound love of mothers. As this contest was very emotionally driven, it was a tough pick for everyone. For this reason, we decided to share a surprise gift for all our participants as a token of appreciation! Also, a lot of our active group members were sick due to the terrible flu that was going on for which they could not participate. And just like the Iconic Dishes of Bangladesh recipe contest, through People’s Choice Awards, the winners were:
Razia Sultana Rozony with 30% of the total votes for her scrumptious Beef Steak.
Habibun Nahar Riva with 26% of the total votes for her delicious Shahi Firni.
Anila with 12% of the total votes for her iconic Mustard Hilsa.
The Wannabe Cook team’s picks were:
>Arshia Talha for her tasty Chicken Akhni Pulao.
>Shanta Mubarak for her unique Steamed Rohu Fish with Pumpkin Leaves.
>Wahida Anjir for her flavorful Posto Khashi.
The Wannabe Cook team thought it would be great if we promoted the food business pages of our winners (the participants who own food businesses). This would be a great way to showcase the variety of cuisines that there are and also encourage our winners to come up with more recipes! Along with this, we gave them aprons and masala jars from the Wannabe Cook team!
Defining Love
There are a million ways to understand the unconditional love that a mother has for her child. But, perhaps, the most nurturing way of expressing her love is through her cooking! Her love is inherently selfless. The special bond that a child shares with her mother transcends beyond distance and time. Think about it, no matter where you stay or how old you become, we always crave the protection and care of our mothers.
We, the Wannabe Cook team, hope and pray that all mothers stay healthy and happy and thank them for introducing our taste buds to such delicious dishes! And we encourage everyone to keep sharing their mother’s special recipes as we are sure that it is not just one dish that transports us back to our childhood!
