Recapturing Summers Past
We all have our own food memories of childhood - those instances where tastes and memories are so intertwined that one bite brings back the sensations, the feelings and most of all the innocent fun.
Alex Witchel of the New York Times brought up a great point in her recent article, “Childhood was just around the corner.” Witchel spent her summers in a self-described “Zionist kosher summer camp” in upstate New York
The connection between foods and memory is undeniable. It’s amazing how one bite of some things can so quickly and easily transport us back in time to when life was simpler and the days were joyous and carefree. But as Witchel points out, these connections are individual to each of us. What might be a blissful return for one is simply an unfortunate meal to another. Such is life.
I had a wonderful childhood, spending summers on a Connecticut beach with my grandmother. I’d spend a week at camp each year - a protestant camp on a lake in upstate New York for years, and later a Girl Scout camp on another lake in Connecticut. I don’t remember much about the food at either … though there was this one time that a squirrel broke in and stole my snacks …. but that is a different story.
While Witchel searches for the perfect tuna salad (found! Artie’s Delicatessen: Broadway at 83rd Street) and this memorable stuffing, my memories are entwined in simpler things like super sweet corn on the cob. My grandmother and I would trek to a farm stand about 15 minutes away and buy a bakers dozen. We’d cook it all and eat it, as a meal, with butter … those were the days.
My grandmother didn’t like cooking in the Summer much though, so another fond food memory arises every time I taste McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets dipped in sweet and sour sauce. That was back when McD’s wasn’t an everyday thing for most families and we would have that as a treat probably once every two weeks or so.
What’s your summertime food/memory?
