A little introduction to my maternal grandmother who I used to call, “Grams” or “Pip.” She was an amazing cook, extremely cute, occasionally fiery and also a lover of ice-cream …. a love which she certainly passed down to the rest of us. So strong was this inherited trait that, apparently, my first ever fight with her was over a choc-ice! (A story for another time.) Many of my early food memories relate to her. I have fond memories of her baking delicious coconut biscuits, scrumptious cakes (and she would always let me lick the spoon and the bowl afterwards) and deliciously, simple Indian food. Without any doubt, her food was absolutely full of her love because when she cooked for her family, she really cooked from the heart.
As this is just an introduction to her, it makes sense to share the origins of the nickname, “Pip.” Once, when she was staying over for a few days, we had begun to see lots of little similarities between us that we hadn’t noticed before and - cuteness alert - she said, “we’re just like two pips from the same apple.” Immediately the mutual nickname “Pip” was born. And, as with all new things, we used our new monikers with (too) much enthusiasm. After hearing us call each other “Pip” every 5 seconds for a few days, Mama asked what the name meant. When she heard, she happily said , “Well I must be a "Pip" too, if both of you are." Alas, not so. Grams very quickly told Mama that she was more of a “Mirchi” pip (“mirch” being the Hindi word for chilli pepper!) and immediately slapped her thigh and roared with laughter at her own joke. Mama was highly unamused but the two "apple pips" collapsed into giggles. The Pip name became a permanent fixture between us and was used for many , many more years ... and I still call Mama “Mirchi Pip” whenever the mood takes me.
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