Memories of Food
No. Not foods that improve your memory, but the food you most fondly remember from the past.
When my husband was still working with his former company we traveled a great deal, Many cities in the US, Europe, Mexico, Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Puerto Rico and points north, south east and west.
We dined in many fine restaurants during our travels. Some of the best in the world.
But when I get nostalgic about food and crave something from the past it is not a dish like pressed duck from Tour d'Argent in Paris, or Caviar and Vodka from the restaurant of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong.
.
Fancy restaurants of France , DC , NYC, ...No ...I want a pipping hot dish of chicken and dumplings made by my mother in law when she was still alive. Banana pudding and sweet potato pie by my Mother. Country vegetables. Pear preserves. Corn sticks. Frances and Virginia Tearoom hot turkey and egg bread
And one of my favorite restaurant memories is of the Frances and Virginia Tearoom in downtown Atlanta during a simplier time in a slower paced city.
"The Frances Virginia Tea Room became a landmark in early Atlanta, and by 1943 they were serving more than 2,000 meals. Diners celebrated the opening of "Gone with the Wind," mourned the death of President Roosevelt, and they watched the Fourth of July Parades from the Peachtree windows. In 1962 the owners toasted their retirement and closed the restaurant's doors. Millie Coleman took her memories and love for the restaurant and created this wonderful cookbook. Her Aunt Agnes, the dietician/home economist who planned the meals for the elegant Atlanta tea room, dusted her old recipe files off and painstakingly converted them to family sizes. While the focus is on the recipes, each chapter begins with a page of history or nostalgic memories.
This excerpt perhaps best describes the elegance of the tea room and the times:
"There were no written rules of behaviour, just years of admonitions from mothers and grandmothers. And for some reason, when you walked into the dining room, you immediately took pleasure in sitting properly, crossing your legs at the ankles, keeping one hand correctly in your lap"
I have the "Frances and Virginia Tearoom Cookbook" which is still in print but I could never duplicate the "yumminess" of the original dishes. Target has the cookbook if you want to check out the Target website and read about it.
What are some of your fondest memories of food?
12 comments:
Chicken and dumplings? I grew up on them; made by my grandmother and then my mom. My kids ate them too, and now they are my grand children's favorite thing for me to cook. I think our food memories from childhood are among the strongest memories we have!
Kenju I agree. Those food memories from long ago seem to encompass all our senses. Sight, taste, smell,touch and sound.
What a wonderful gift is memory.
A nice post, Chancy. My very favorite food memory is the platter of fresh, grilled vegetables that I had as often as possible when I was in Italy. I've never been able to reproduce it here and I think it was because all the veggies were picked that same day.
Beef roast, mashed potatoes, gravy and all the trimmings. But you are right.. it is not so much the food as it is the memories of the time and the people.
Those expensive restaurants all over the world are wonderful experiences when they happen but you are absolutely right about the foods that we remember from childhood.
My mother's freshly made potato pancakes, chicken soup, potatoe pudding, coffee cake and strudel were the best!!
No matter how I tried it never came out like hers.
All of the dishes that I remember fondly were made by family members. The first time I recall "dining" in a restaurant was after I was married, with kids. At that, we probably ate out no more than once or twice per year! Eating out is a rather new fad in our house--since 1990, I would say.
Cop Car
I just read a post from Soul of a Dreamer -link on my sidebar--about banana bread and an interesting analogy of trying to get back in sync with her father. Now I come to yours and the wonderful memories you have with food.My best memory is my mothers freshly baked bread smothered with our 'churned' butter and homemade jam. So scrumptious right after school.
One of my favorite foods (and my whole family, especially the children) is "My Mother's Macaroni and Cheese" or, "Nanny Mac" It was my first blog post, and I re-post it every blogaversary (5 so far).
I guess those old family recipes are truly, "comfort food".
Have a great weekend!
Family reunions where everyone brought a covered dish. I had to rush to get some of my mother's baked beans before they were gone.
Perfect homemade pies for dessert every day.
It's a wonder I'm not fat!
Most of my favorite food memories are of the yummy German dishes and that steaming pot of chicken and dumplings at my mother's table. One of my aunts always brought out her bourbon-soaked fruitcake at Christmas and you could get high just from the smell! As an Atlanta girl, I bet you know of Mrs. Dull, the Constitution's food editor and premier expert on Southern Cooking for many years. I found one of her original cookbooks on Ebay several years ago and love to read about all the dishes I can no longer eat!
Suzz:
Indeed I do know about Mrs Dull and her cookbook My Mother gave us a copy back in 1951 when Sam and I were married . Somehow over the years the cookbook walked away and I missed it. I found an original copy in a used book store and I too enjoy reading about the old time foods and recipes.
Yes, it seem childhood foods provide my most significant sensory memories.
I really liked my mother's braised chicken that just fell off the bone. Two crust pies, especially fruit, were her specialty, with apple at the top of the list; strawberry shortcake.
Fresh corn on the cob is still a favorite vegetable -- most frozen is tasteless.
Her cloverleaf rolls and cornbread were delicious.
Now, I would likely change some of the above, since she's no longer here to prepare them.
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