“Moreover, cultural heritage is not only limited to material objects that we can see and touch. It also consists of immaterial elements: traditions, oral history, performing arts, social practices, traditional craftsmanship, representations, rituals, knowledge, and skills transmitted from generation to generation within a community.”
An important aspect of cultural heritage is its varying implications in the lives who carry it. When that heritage is intangible, it is carried into later generations only through those who continue in its practice. This places a great responsibility of members of that culture to purposefully bring their practices into modern times because, without them, these acts will be forgotten.
An intangible aspect of cultural heritage in my family is the tomato sauce my grandmother makes for our family dinners. The tradition of making this sauce for other members of the family to enjoy comes from my great grandmother, the daughter of an Italian immigrant family. This aspect of our heritage is intangible because the sauce itself is not the heritage but the action of making and sharing it. It is passed down by the cooks in our family, including myself and my grandmother. When I sat with her one day to watch how she makes it, she showed me her process and the tools she uses in creating it, one being a crooked wooden spoon she inherited from her mother, who used it for the same purpose.
When she makes and shares this sauce, it brings our family together. We sit for dinner and talk about or days, share our thoughts, and connect with each other. Without it, our family would be missing an event that connects us, and we would be incomplete without it. As I have grown and taken an interest in cooking myself, my grandmother has shared her recipe with me, and I will continue to make it for others and give my relatives a space to relate to one another. As this skill is passed down, it becomes a part of our heritage.
It is interesting how people are connected by the process of making food and sharing. Similarly to your tomato sauce, my grandma would make zongzi every year for Mid-Autumn Festival, and she shares them with her daughters. My grandma taught my mom how to make them, and now my mom makes them during Mid-Autumn Festival, and she shares them with family members.