food life story

One thing that I loved when interviewing people about their FLS was how, inevitably, at some point while we were talking, they would say something like: “Haven’t thought about this in years…” or “I had forgotten about this, but…” or “Talking about this, as you ask me questions, I can remember xyz…” It was so much fun to be part of their recapturing memories. Sometimes they were sad memories, of course, but they still brought a kind of pleasure, of regaining a scrap of childhood. It’s clear that our memories are colored and very personal. It would be fun to interview siblings… there would likely be disparities in recounting the same events, since we experience everything through our own filters…

But equally interesting are the similarities… interviewee AC spoke about her mother making salad dressing from mayo & catsup in 1940’s New England, the same dressing as MA’s mother made in the south in the 1960’s. My mother got store brand bottles of ‘Italian’ dressing, which never tasted very good. More of those artificial flavor chemicals, I guess. Certainly nothing like a simple vinaigrette of olive oil, vinegar and spices that we enjoy these days. Hmm… makes me crave a salad.