A life story: My mother
When my mother, Anne White, died in 1994, I wrote a eulogy for her funeral service. Not a standard eulogy, to be sure, but one that was still heartfelt and that captured her 74 years of life.
I praised my mother for the gifts she gave to me, and mentioned some peevish flaws to put balance, and real feeling, into her life story.
And even though I can’t put my hands on the speech I gave that day, I will never forget my concluding words, not even now, 16 years later:
“But the thing about my mother, which I will miss the most, is her brisket, which she always served with buttery rich ‘smashed’ potatoes.”
My mother’s brisket, or pot roast, which wasn’t fancy and which wasn’t epicurean, was just plain old-fashioned, flavorful, second-helping, good.
Even now, as I write this, I salivate, thinking about a plate of her thinly sliced brisket. Damn it was fine!
In honor of Mother’s Day this month, I am sharing my mom’s tried-and-true Brisket Recipe. Raise a glass of any red you like (I’m partial to 10-year-old Chateauneuf-du-Pape) – here’s to moms and brisket, both of which make life a better place to visit.
Jim White
Jim White lives in Napa Valley, California, where he makes wine, and writes about food and wine for his own site napaman.com. Jim is also a co-founder and active partner in one of North America’s most successful commercial bakeries, FGF Brands, in Toronto, Ontario. Over a span of 30 years, as one of North America’s leading food and beverage product developers, Jim successfully brought to market more than 10,000 products. Jim attributes his product development success to the journalistic approach he brings to each food assignment; he has an innate curiosity to know how things work, or why they taste the way they do. It makes sense that Jim propels his food career with journalistic principles as he has had a parallel career in journalism for all the years he created food products. In the 1970s, Jim was a foreign correspondent in Africa, covering wars and famines, writing for the largest newspapers in North America, for UPI and the Associated Press. In the 1980s, Jim became food editor and restaurant critic of The Toronto Star, one of the largest newspapers in North America. Although twice named “Best Food Writer in North America,” Jim has also always been passionate about the visual element; he is an accomplished photographer, and over the years has sold images to Life, Time and Newsweek magazines.