Growing up between two cultures has been a rollercoaster ride that I have yet to get off of. There are so many different categories I could get into, but alas, we’ll save that for another time. In this article, I’ll focus on the food aspects of being mixed, but before that, I’ll give you a bit of backstory.

I was born to a white dad and a Filipino mom. My mom didn’t grow up in Vancouver; she immigrated to Canada all by herself and built a life for herself before she met my dad. Fast-forward to when they had my sister and me, and between the two of us, we share quite a lot of memories of staple dishes we are used to seeing in our household.

The unpredictability is so fun, and being of two different cultures, you never know if your mom is going to cook up a sinigang with rice on the side or pork chops and mashed potatoes, but you know either one is going to taste incredible. When I would have conversations with my friends who are an entire ethnicity, their dining menus were always so different from one another, and that’s what makes me so giddy that culture creates such different stories and upbringings because no two people are the same. However, you can find similar stories with other mixed kids, and it’s so fun to see that they also had the same experiences as me.

Moreover, the recipes that are passed down to you are also incredibly varied. Personally, I have acquired the skill of making amazing lumpia ( a Filipino spring roll), but I can also cook up some great burgers on the grill. But those skills derive from my parents. There are some things my mom can teach me that my dad can’t, and vice versa. It’s such an incredible experience if you think about it.

Additionally, there are some ups and downs where the household cravings clash; I have noticed that white dads have mixed feelings about seafood. They either love it and are ok with it or are disgusted by it. My dad is on the disgusted side of things. He can’t stand seafood, but when my sister, mom, and I crave seafood, we always have to consider my dad’s preferences when we cook or go out to eat, but we always find common ground.

Overall, growing up mixed is an experience, and this only scratches the surface of the different aspects of being a mixed kid.