I am true believer in passing on recipes and know no secret recipes.
I suspect many of us have memories of relatives or occasions due to
some food. A favorite of mine is my grandmother's stuffed mushrooms.
Those seem to secure the oldest memories I have of her (she passed on
when I was very young). I make these mushrooms often and for every
special occasion. Anyone that comes to our house for a holiday meal
knows to expect those mushrooms. And every time I make them it helps
to keep those fragile memories of my grandmother alive.
I freely share the recipe with anyone that asks. Of course I have to
tell them why the mushrooms are special to me and that I hope they'll
think of my grandmother whenever they make them. So not only does her
recipe live on through dozens of people; the memory of her does too.
The same goes for my gandmother's spaghetti pie. I'm an avid runner
and when I'm home the night before a marathon I always make spaghetti
pie. It's my favorite dish to carbo-load with and spaghetti pie has
fueled me for some of my most memorable marathons. I'm sure part of
that is the special memories.
So while I can understand why businesses and some restaurants have to
keep their recipes secret, I may never understand what a person or
even a family has to gain by doing so.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
Mike