Creating memories one meal10/11/2023 Sadly, Americans rarely eat together anymore. Eating together was a small act, and it required very little of us-45 minutes away from our usual, quotidian distractions-and yet it was invariably one of the happiest parts of my day. Our chats about the banal-of baseball and television-often led to discussions of the serious-of politics and death, of memories and loss. ![]() It was therapeutic: an excuse to talk, to reflect on the day, and on recent events. “Your mother would have wanted that.” It wasn’t ideal, of course-the meals we made weren’t particularly amazing and we missed the presence of Mom and my brother-but there was something special about setting aside time to be with my father. “You know, I think we should start eating together even if it’s just you and me,” he said. Then, a few weeks before I was set to leave for university, my father walked downstairs. Some days we rarely saw each other at all. We went out to dinners with our friends, ate sandwiches in front of our computers, delivery pizzas while watching movies. With the holidays coming up, I encourage you to slow down to savor those moments over a meal with family and friends and appreciate the time you are devoting to create new memories! The physical act of enjoying the food itself most likely lasts only minutes, but the memory linked to that food experience can last a lifetime.After my mother passed away and my brother went to study in New Zealand, the first thing that really felt different was the dinner table. It’s the time spent with loved ones, it’s learning new skills, it’s celebrating life’s moments. It has occurred to me the food isn’t the definitive reason I have those memories, it’s the experiences that were created while enjoying the food. ![]() And in the reverse, I can take a bite of something and immediately get transported back to wherever I was when I first tried that flavor. ![]() When I specifically think of travel memories, I typically pull up evoke images of not only gorgeous landscapes, bustling cities, or quaint little villages, but also unhurried, lingering dinners, unforgettable pastries, better-than-anything-I’ve-ever-had-at-home pasta, or unique and playful main courses. For example, I fondly remember making dishes with my mother for family gatherings, Christmas Eve dinner at my grandparent’s house, my grandmother’s scrambled eggs, and sharing meals with good friends. And when you combine smell and taste, it is quite literally what memories are made of.įor food-focused individuals like me, when I reflect on fond memories throughout my life, a lot of them include food in some way or another. ![]() But the sense of taste is certainly a close second, especially when you consider just how much of what you taste is impacted by your sense of smell. Technically, the sense of smell is the sense most closely tied to memory. – The Harvard University Press on John S. Food is an effective trigger of deeper memories of feelings and emotions, internal states of the mind and body.” The taste, smell, and texture of food can be extraordinarily evocative, bringing back memories not just of eating food itself but also of place and setting. “We all have our food memories, some good and some bad.
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