One of my clearest memories
is sitting in the kitchen, my bare feet swinging from my chair. I have red bobbles
in my pigtails and its Sunday evening. It’s warm and my sisters and I are feasting on our
very favourite thing, Marie’s and milk.
My mum made this very wonderful
treat for us. A simple bowl of Marie biscuits and warm milk with a sprinkling
of brown sugar. The Marie’s go all soft and the sweet warm milk was just so
comforting. I remember being so happy.
Food memory and
nostalgia mystifies and excites top chefs and foodies alike. It is inside us
all in unique ways and we all experience it differently and at different times.
Heston Blumenthal is enthralled by it and I have seen him talk about it, it’s
electrifying. He wants to be able to imitate it, but what he says is true – it’s
almost impossible.
We all have our own
memories, the scent of jasmine in Spring time mixed with boerewors on the braai
triggers the memory of when I fell and broke my wrist on the jungle gym. The
taste of a Zoo Biscuit flashes back to the memory of playing Sardine’s at my
best friend’s house and being forgotten in my hiding place.
It’s all so personal
and wonderfully special.
There are also the
more general of memories that bring a lot of us into the same happy place. Like
milk tart and Malva pudding, bredies and braais that we all experienced growing
up as South Africans. I can see it, plain as day on food24, the most searched
and visited recipes are exactly those ones, the one’s everyone loves.
What are your food
memories? I’d love to hear all about them, so please drop me a mail and share.
With love and Lemon Creams,