leeanna.maharaj@guardian.co.tt
As Ruth Gobin battled breast cancer in her final days, she wrote down her home cooking recipes with the hope that her children could carry on her culinary legacy.
“I had always heard stories that she was a chef and she had her own place, but when all of us started popping out, she had to close down the place. As we got older, we would go out to different restaurants, and she’d say she could make this better and always mentioned that she would open a restaurant again,” her eldest son, Miciah Gobin, reminisced.
Unfortunately, that dream was short-lived, as Ruth passed away in 2012.
“It was honestly a big change in life itself. You don’t really appreciate what you lost until time just continues to progress, and as time passes, it hits you like wow, I really lost this main figure, the backbone in the home. So, it was pretty hard, and it’s always like a fresh wound,” the 27-year-old reflected.
Although Ruth was gone, she left behind her recipes with her husband and children.
“She wrote it down before she passed. My dad gave it to my sister, and she practised the recipes while growing up. I didn’t know she had written down the recipes; I found out after. So, it was like she knew that she was going to pass away and she just had to prepare,” Gobin shared.
Since then, Gobin has felt like he inherited more than her recipes, but also the desire to open the restaurant she had always dreamed of, Ruth’s Restaurant in Warrenville, Cunupia. The hybrid vehicle technician turned content creator and entrepreneur said opening a restaurant was always in his plans, and now his team is working on perfecting those recipes.
“We’re just getting all the recipes down pat and stuff, teaching chefs how to do it this way and not that way, so, we’ll phase out her burger recipes, her pastas, her alfredo, her lobster. She used to make dumplings, wontons, and everything from scratch. So, we’re incorporating all those things slowly,” Gobin explained.
For now, the main item on the list is sushi, to recognise his mother’s love for fish.
“She loved seafood. There was this one particular fish, moonshine, she would cook it two, three times a week, which is crazy. She loved fish. So, sushi made sense, you know,” he said.
To add to her remembrance, this past Mother’s Day, Gobin placed flowers near her name in the restaurant.
“I wish she was still here, just to see how far everyone came. Life is so different without her. I don’t know what is wrong with me. Sometimes, when I go outside, I still expect to see her there making breakfast. But when I walk outside, she’s not there. So, as I always tell people, just appreciate your parents, because, you know, tomorrow might be the last time you might get to see them or talk to them. I would just tell my mom that I miss her, I love her, and I’ll see her soon,” he shared.
