I had not yet learned the importance of comfort food when my Lola was busy in the kitchen making home cooked meals. The smell of runny fried eggs, garlic rice, and vienna sausages filled my morning of my elementary years. This was my first introduction to Filipino food which cultivated my need for rice at every meal. As I grew up, new foods have brought about new memories—a simple meal of potatoes and chicken that my sister and I ate repeatedly that makes us now cringe at the sight of a crock pot, or the crispy tacos that my mom fancifully arranged with of course, her taco tray, and the yummy yet hard s’mores heated up in the microwave due to a lack of a fire pit. I find that food brings a connection to memories I may have otherwise forgotten, tethering me to my family by our shared familiar meals. I had taken for granted the food I once complained about, because I didn’t quite understand that it would become a source of comfort to me in college.
Being too far from home to share a meal at dinner causes me to reminisce on the foods I once had regularly. (I even miss the otherwise bland chicken and potatoes because of the inside jokes my sister and I held). Whenever I had the chance to return to my hometown, not only did meals at home bring me back in time, so did the local restaurants. I appreciated the continuity that the food gave me because the old noodle place still tastes the same as when my grandma used to take my family and I. It reminds me of how we were squished because of our large group, taking two tables at a time. When I return now, my order remains the same and I am brought back to a familial moment that I do not have the luxury of replicating. But I do have the ability to cultivate new memories, bringing new friends and visiting family members to ‘my places,’ and giving them the rundown of my recommendations.
Food has given me a source of comfort that I did not realize before I left for college. I get a sense of nostalgia, and core memories rush back to me with a simple meal. When I feel down because I miss my home or I do badly on a test, I turn to food as a pick me up. Even in my dorm now, I create new memories with the handy Buldak ramen packets and easy microwavable Trader Joe’s dumplings. Food is a simple fondness, and it provides not only yummy taste, but the best memories.