EE1: Making Memories with Food

Making Memories with Food

Ever since we were little we were always told, “You are what you eat”. You might not think that this applies to you, but other people may think of you like a food. Now they probably aren’t thinking of you as something they want to eat (unless they are a cannibal). Rather, they are almost certainly thinking of you by the food that reminds them of you. A certain food may act as a metonym for that person; this means that the food becomes almost a symbol of that person. I know that in my life there are definitely foods that instantly make me think of a person or group of people. In our lives foods can be valuable as a source of memory elicitation especially when it comes to the people that are associated with them.

                As a child of two different households, it is very easy to associate specific foods to each of my parents. The biggest connection between one of my parents and a food has to be my dad and macaroni and cheese. My dad being the typical man that he is did not have very much experience cooking when I was little. He tried his best to make us home cooked meals, but he would usually just end up serving us pre-cooked foods like TV dinners and pizzas. When he finally came across a meal that he could make and that we liked, it soon became a staple in our household. This food was the always delicious macaroni and cheese. As time went on other dishes we added to the meal; the most popular of which was grilled salmon. Even after my dad got better at cooking and got remarried he still cooked us mac and cheese on a regular basis. He has since taught me his recipe, and I have made it myself quite a few times at college. Every time that I make it it never fails to make me think of my dad and all of the great times that we had while eating together.  No matter the restaurant that I have ordered macaroni and cheese I have never found one that can compete with my dad’s version of the classic.

                These links between the food that we eat and the people we associate with them are not just linked to the family that we have known our entire lives; they can also be found with our friends. I can see this when I look at my friend Tyler and burritos. Only a couple years ago we fell in love with a place called Pancheros. Pancheros may be incredibly similar to restaurants like Chipotle, but there was just something about this place that set it apart. Soon Tyler and I began frequenting Pancheros on a regular basis; sometimes as often as three times a week! This created a strong link in my brain between these delicious burritos and my friend Tyler. Even now that I am in college and I rarely see Tyler, I still think of the good times we had at Pancheros whenever I order a burrito.

                In the first reading of this quarter, “Eating White”, Geoff Nicholson makes a very similar connection to his mother. He talks about trying to recreate the meals that his mother used to make for him and the ways that these foods help to bring back memories of his late mother and his time growing up in Northern England. He then goes on to talk about his time growing up in England with his mother and his mother’s fascination with white and very often bland foods. White foods were a kind of comfort food for his mother, and she continued to cook them until she died.  His attempt to reconstruct these bland foods is a way for him to remember his mother as a person.  When describing the meal he says, “If this seems a rather pallid and unexciting meal, then that’s exactly the way my mother would have wanted it.”(Nicholson, 21) Even though these foods are incredibly bland, they still bring back fond memories of his mother.

                These links between people and food are what make up the cultural food differences in this world. The experiences we gain from growing up create who we are as adults, and this includes the foods that we eat. The people that raise us set the groundwork for our future eating habits. This is evident in Roy Ahn’s ,”Home Run: My Journey Back to Korean Food”. Ahn talks about the influence that his Korean heritage has on the way he eats. While growing up his parents fed him traditional Korean cuisine, even though they now lived in America. As Ahn grew to adulthood he lost some of this connection to Korean food, but a stop at a Korean restaurant made him reflect on his family and the foods that they cooked him as a child. He had formed distinct connection between his mother and the Korean food that she used to serve. With a child on the way he decided that his Korean heritage needed to be passed on. This recollection of the important people from his past, therefore, was able to help the continuation of his food culture.

                There are scientific reasons for this connection between memories and the foods that we eat. There is a place in the brain called the hippocampus; the hippocampus is very important for memories, especially long-term, declarative memories. The hippocampus is strongly connected to the parts of the brain that are important for emotion and smell. (Allen) This means that food and memories are closely connected through the hippocampus. In an interview about his novel The Omnivorous Mind, John S. Allen states, “Emotion and novelty tend to make events more memorable, and those tied in some way with food may make for even more powerful memories.”

                Memories form the fabric of who we are as people.  Everyone eats different kinds of foods, but no matter the food there is always some kind of connection to memories. These connections may have different strengths depending on the memories, but I have found that the greatest food-memory connection come from the bonds we make with other people.