Family: Heritage at the kitchen table

A kitchen table is much more than just a piece of furniture.

My grandmother always told me to make sure to have a table in the kitchen. “Sit down while you’re doing all that prep work for holidays and family get-togethers,” she admonished. Good advice for saving one’s back and legs! But the table was and is more than a workspace for ethnic specialties.

To tell the truth, I don’t remember what the actual table looked like, as it was always covered with a tablecloth – a nice one for meals or plastic for preparing the amazing things that came out of her oven or those huge pots on the stove.

The kitchen table is where women (and, increasingly, men) historically gathered – and still do, in some cultures - to share the cutting, mincing, chopping, dicing, rolling and more. Together, they shared the tasks while they talked, told jokes, sang songs and, yes, shared family history.

It is – and was - a space for sharing, collaborating and holding heritage close to our hearts.

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