“Each time a good cook dies without passing down recipes, family dishes become suddenly lost forever.” – Unknown. This week on A Taste of the Past, Linda Pelaccio talks with food writer Donna Pierce about preserving the past through cuisine and recipes. Donna Pierce started Skillet Diares, a website dedicated to “remembering, preserving, and passing down the flavors of home.” Tune in to hear Linda and Donna discuss the importance of digital media in preserving recipes, the necessity for oral traditions, and the variations in recipes from region to region. Also, check out Donna’s other site, Black American Cooks, which is all about preserving an African American cultural history through generations of recipes. This episode has been brought to you by Cain Vineyard & Winery.

“When I grew up, I clung to everything about my grandmother and parents’ past, and the creole food that they loved.”

“I really understand the importance of [cookbook style and design]. Sometimes it’s more important than the written description- and that’s a hard thing for a writer to say.”

—Donna Pierce on A Taste of the Past