A MOTHER’S DAY LEMON TART

Mother’s Day is almost here and there are so many ways to mark this special day. For foodies like me, that means a dish that is meaningful for both my mom and me, and which is also delicious and celebratory. The one that fits the bill is a lemon tart, specifically a tart au citron and not lemon meringue pie, though that is yummy, too.

You almost have to become a mom yourself to appreciate the depths and heights of what your mom did for you, apart from the biological aspect of carrying you for nine months, enduring a painful birth and the subsequent years of caring. Not to mention the (at least for me) sleepless nights when they were babies breastfeeding to when they morphed into young adults out late at night. Much of this does seem to be underappreciated until the second Sunday of May, but that’s okay. It’s a mom’s job, anyway.

As we kids grew older, our relationship with our mom changed, as did my kids with me. It’s like an alien planet when you become adults hailing from different generations. Add to that, we seem to live on a planet that is literally alien to us now, what with abnormal climate patterns, disputed borders, shifting values and a communication free-for-all.

Each generation of mothers will always do things differently because the culture and attitudes change with time. Some of these differences can lead to the relationships between mothers and children being at times sweet, bittersweet and maybe even a bit sour. But in the end the ties between mothers and their children are endearing, enduring and encouraging.

One of my best memories of my mom was when she brought me on my first trip to Paris. We were billeted at a hotel just down from a metro stop and right beside the metro entrance was a patisserie with the most wonderful tart au citron. The pate brisee was flaky, the lemon cream filling was light and tangy, and all it needed was a dollop of cream.

During the pandemic, when we couldn’t celebrate Mother’s Day physically as we can today, I recreated that lemon tart with an Italian meringue topping that I piped on decoratively and torched. And it was just like our relationship: buttery, at times sweet and bittersweet, with a bit of tanginess. We raise our kids with a hope and a prayer and tackle the sweet with the bitter as part of the job — a mom’s job.

At the end of the day, it’s still the best job in the world.