Post 2

After reading the articles by Ahn and Nicholson, both seem to have a personal and cultural significance that they attach to food. For Ahn, he recalls how food reminds him of his Korean culture, and how he was, when he was younger, ashamed of his culture and the food that his mother would cook in the house, stating that it made the house smell of garlic, and even how the leftovers would make an entry like that of a flatulent guest at a wedding. He also ties food in with remembering his parents, and how his mother was quiet and patient with him expressing his embarrassment of his culture, but his father wanted Ahn to embrace being Korean, along with the American culture and many others. Ahn also recalls having two fridges in the household, the one in the kitchen for American food, and the one in the garage for Korean food. He makes his connections on a more cultural level in his piece, speaking mainly of how he relates food to his culture, and how he will teach his son of the Korean culture through language and food. 

On the other hand, Nicholson has more of a personal significance he attaches to food, recalling his mother and the food she served when he was a boy and the food she served after his father passed away, until the day she died. He recalls her eating mainly white food, especially milk and other creamy liquids. He remembers his father never wanting to eat chicken, rice, or pasta, and his mother cooking it for herself almost immediately after her husband died. Nicholson remembers the food his mother served to be very plain with little to no seasonings, for fear that the seasonings would alter the whiteness of the dish she was preparing. He uses food, especially the cheese sandwich with a glass of whole fat milk that he describes at the beginning of his article, to recall memories of his parents, but more specifically his mother, who he was eating the described meal for in the beginning of his piece. 

These readings somewhat remind me of my own connections to food, in that when I see a certain meal or dish, I tend to refer to my childhood and my family members preparing meals for the family. I can relate to both authors’ significance of food in similar ways as well. I grew up very poor and sometimes paying the bills was more important than putting a spectacular meal on the table, so my mother and I would often have peanut butter sandwiches, or plain pasta with a little bit of butter and cheese on them, and if we were lucky, we had some canned tomatoes and leftover ground beef that we could brown and add to the pasta to kick things up a notch. While my mother didn’t enjoy eating such plain food like Nicholson’s mother, I can relate to eating plain food that brings back memories of my mother. I can also relate to Ahn in a somewhat similar way. My family makes many German and Polish dishes, and the aroma would fill the house with the smell of mainly kraut. However, unlike Ahn, I embraced my German and Polish culture, and was very proud not only of where my family comes from, but also the food they cook. Who doesn’t love pirogues?