The first piece I read by
Geoff Nicholson was an interesting piece that introduced an interesting way to
view food. Nicholson, throughout his piece, talks about his deceased mother and
how he found himself eating a meal that reminded him of her memory. The meal
was a white cheese sandwich on white bread with milk, something that was very
telling of how his mother felt about the color white. Every time Nicholson
thinks about his mother, he remembers that she loved white foods and everything
she made she tried to make it white or put something that could be white on the
plate. The association for him is that white food makes him remember his
mother.
The second piece that I read talked about a man Roy Ahn who
found more about his cultural heritage through the influence of food that his
mother made for him. He was a first generation Asian American and it was hard
for him to figure out who he was between an American and a Korean. One thing he
noticed is that he continues to use the Asian cooking in his cooking today, and
he wants to be able to help his son figure out who he is between an American
and a Korean.
These two readings remind me of some of the cultural Jewish
traditions that I take part in during major Jewish holidays. Passover is coming
up and that is always a time where the best of the food is brought to the
table. Food is a good way to tell a culture of a person.
