A new way to preserve family recipes began with a grandmother and her dish of couscous.
Brothers Zach Mashaal and Matthew Mashaal, ages 16 and 17 respectively, of Roslyn, New York, loved their family's traditional holiday foods.
But with no idea how to make them – and a large family of about 80 people who always come over for the holidays – they realized there was a need to create a central depository that would retain the recipes and techniques.
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"I decided to record my grandmother cooking her famous couscous that we all love, and I'm going to put it into our group chat," Zach Mashaal told Fox News Digital. (See the video at the top of this article.)
After a positive reaction, the family members asked for additional videos for the chat.
Brothers Matthew Mashaal (left) and Zach Mashaal of New York were inspired to create the app "Make It Like Mama" by their own grandmother. (Fox News Digital)
That group chat evolved into Make It Like Mama, a mobile app that launched officially in December.
The aim of Make It Like Mama, Zach Mashaal said, is to "preserve these cultural recipes for our kids' kids."
The app combines the brothers' love of family culture as well as their entrepreneurial spirit.
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"In school, we take entrepreneurship classes," Matthew Mashaal said. "When there's a problem, we know to conquer that with a solution. We're solution-driven like that."
The brothers realized they could not possibly be the only people who worried their family's recipes risked getting lost. Make It Like Mama, Matthew said, is a product "people love to have and should be in every household."
Said Matthew Mashaal, "We were like, 'Let's take advantage of this and let's make this happen.'"
"Let's take advantage of this and let's make this happen," they said.
The brothers created a visual outline for the app and found someone to make it, said Zach Mashaal. The beta version of Make It Like Mama debuted in 2024.
The app is essentially an expanded version of the original family group chat. It allows users to upload videos of people making traditional dishes.
"Basically, you can upload videos publicly, for everyone to see, and you can also [upload] within a group," Zach Mashaal said.
The first video the brothers put on their new app was of their grandmother, shown above, making couscous. (Courtesy Mashaal family)
Additionally, a video can be segmented into steps, "so it doesn't get too confusing on the longer side," the same brother added.
Users can also comment on other videos.
"It makes a deep connection, which is why we love it," he said.
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The app, Matthew Mashaal said, "really is all rooted in the videos" and works to "bring families together."
He added, "Our family has a whole group on the app and other families can, too. And it helps you remember those that came before you, who either invented the dish or passed down the dish."
It was important that the app's "simplicity [was] equal to its functionality," said Zach Mashaal.
"Everyone can use it – either tech-savvy kids or our older generation."
"Everyone can use it – either tech-savvy kids or our older generation. Everyone can upload these videos and everyone gets the same experience."
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While the two brothers are proud of their Iraqi and Moroccan heritage and culture, their favorite dish on the app is something from another cuisine entirely: spaghetti and meatballs.
"Every Wednesday is spaghetti and meatballs night, and we love it so much," Zach Mashaal said. "It's our favorite meal."
The app allows users to divide videos into sections for easier use. It was important that the app was simple to use, Zach Mashaal told Fox News Digital. (Courtesy Mashaal family)
Their mother, however, recently started graduate school and has classes on Wednesday nights — putting spaghetti and meatballs on the back burner.
So, her son recorded her making the meal and put it on Make It Like Mama.
"Now every Wednesday, we make spaghetti and meatballs using the video and using Make It Like Mama," Zach Mashaal said. "So I can pitch in and play a part."
Make It Like Mama is available for download.
