Food and Culture

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.