Food Identity

No matter who you are, or what background you come from, food becomes your identity whether you like it or not. Taste is one of the five senses that allows us to travel time; to a place or memory that is instilled within us. Though I never would have expected it, this is exactly what happened to me while in the Middle East last summer. Just the taste of cinnamon, cardamom, cucumbers and tomatoes, and the combination of lemon with a hint of mint allows me to travel once again overseas into the rich, hospitable Arab culture. This is similar to Geoff Nicholson’s writing, Eating White, in that Nicholson intentionally eats specific foods that he knows will awake cherished memories. Though he searches for the authenticity of white, English Cheshire cheese, he is unable to match his mother’s cooking. In the same way, since returning to the states it has been impossible to replicate the vibrate flavors that I experienced while abroad. Every once in a while I will make a sandwich containing only hummus, cucumbers and tomatoes to take me back to the countries that impacted my life more than I could’ve imagined; but no ingredients could contain the richness that the true, local produce did.

I also found the allusion to purity throughout Nicholson’s work intriguing. I agree that his mother’s experience of WWII probably had a great impact on how she viewed these provisions. Not only would they illustrate wealth, they would also serve as a metaphor to simplicity. If she could, every aspect of the meal down to the salt was white. In addition I believe her Catholic viewed contributed to the desire of pure food, especially after a death, as a way to cleanse and purify herself.

Another article, titled Home Run: My Journey Back to Korean Food written by Roy Ahn, focuses on the importance of food as a person’s heritage. Though Ahn tried for many years to escape is Korean ancestry, there was no way out. During his teenage years it seemed easy to dismiss the native cuisine and exchange it for Americanized food; however after his parents’ deaths it was this very aspect of his identity he began to cling to. Somehow, the tastes and smells of such cuisine made him feel close to those whom he lost.

All in all I think it is fair to say that food connects both memories and experiences together in a unique way. There is nothing quite like it and it is unable to be accomplished with the same intensity by any other sense. No matter what, the food we grew up with, or experience throughout our walks of life, determine who we are and the flavors become irreplaceable.