Tuesday
Oct022012
Claudia Roden on her discovery of Spanish food
Tuesday, October 2, 2012 at 9:17PM "The way people cook in Spain, the ingredients they put together, their little tricks, their turns of hand, are mysteriously familiar. A word, a taste, a smell trigger memories I never knew I had. It is surprising how dishes can appeal directly to the emotions. With food, as with music, you can touch people and make them cry."
Roden, C. 2012. The Food of Spain. Penguin: London.
Reader Comments (2)
I hadnt thought about how food triggers memories like smells and music , but of course it does, even the most mundane things. And then if it disappoints it is heart breaking . Am thinking about Heinz tomato soup , tin of. My favoutite thing for tea as a child. Comfort food. Except that when I bought and ate it recently I was not much comforted and felt a bit sick! One reason I love Christmas pudding is that it reminds me of my Grandpa who used to put sixpences in his mouth and then pretend to choke and then remove them pretending that he'd found them in the pudding. Calamares romana and caramelo ice cream remind me of Spain in the 60s and 70s. I first went with my parents when I was twelve, it was the most exotic place I'd ever experienced. I still love it.
Hi Ma - interestingly, one of the weeks on the MA course was on food and memory. I was just last week reading about the important role food plays for Palestinian refugees (internally displaced, as well as those who have moved elsewhere). Picking fruit and vegetables at the sites of former villages, eating them, preserving them and sharing with family and friends is a really important part of their remembrance. For me it is the smell of burnt rubber and hot air that reminds me of Spain, and the smell of mown grass always reminds me of NZ. :)