Love Letter to Food by Tanya Trivedi

Koulourakia

2024-09-09 13:55:56 UTC

Tamales

2024-09-09 13:56:49 UTC

This food is something I always used to associate with my family in Mexico, specifically my grandma on my dads side. I always picture either huge caterings arriving to our houses, much to my families ecstatic ecstaticness, or my grandma sitting in front of a steaming pot, and opening it to reveal it filled with steaming corn husks, packed with golden yellow dough, a vibrantly colored salsa, and any meat filling of choice - it's steamy pungent smell filling the air, leading to great excitement and anticipation all around. It was something we could all sit around the table and bond over, on top of it being simply delicious - as the years have gone by, it's always been my go-to comfort food, tying me closer to my family even when I can't directly share it with them. - SG

Pierogi

2024-09-09 13:58:02 UTC

This food holds me emotional weight because it is my go to food when i'm hungry. Polish people always have a at least 1 pack kept hidden away in the freezer and if they want something quick and good they heat up the water and put these on the stove.

I associate this with my grandma from my dads side. Throughout the years she has become a professional at making these. From making the dough to the potatoy insides she has mastered it all. My memories date back to when I was 10 or 11 and would go to her house over the summer and we would make a lot of them with my grandma, sisters, and cousins.

J.S

Grapes

2024-09-09 13:58:22 UTC

Grapes hold significance to me because I like the juiciness and the texture. The combination of sour and sweet is phenomenal.

Pierogi

2024-09-09 13:58:49 UTC

This food is something that I eat every holiday. It is a Polish delicacy that comes in many different types. My grandparents spend the whole day before making hundreds of them for me and my family to feast on.

-D.T

chocolate chip cookies

2024-09-09 13:59:33 UTC

Chocolate chip cookies hold a special place in my heart. Both of my parents are good cooks, but they cannot bake for the life of them. Dinner would be finished and cravings for sweets would set in, with no ability for them to be settled. I took it upon myself to learn how to bake. Chocolate chip cookies were the first recipe I ever perfected. After weeks of different adaptations, I learned how to mix the dough the perfect amount in order for it to bake thoroughly , but not too overbaked that they're hard. I learned the specific amount of chocolate chips to add to get a piece of chocolate in every bite. I learned how to brown butter to give the cookies a warmth that you wouldn't be able to achieve with just softened butter. Now they bring my family and friends comfort when the world around them seems uncertain. And I can always be certain of the measurements that go into my chocolate chip cookies. - Bella

Watermelon Salad

2024-09-09 13:59:35 UTC

My mom makes a watermelon salad for every holiday in the summer. Every time we go to the beach, go to parties, or have get-togethers, she is always in charge of making her famous watermelon salad. Each time she cuts the watermelon, I can smell it throughout the house and immediately know what she is about to make. The basil, feta, and onions are something you'd never expect to be paired with sweet watermelon but are surprisingly good all together.

Korean short ribs

2024-09-09 14:00:01 UTC

To me, Short Ribs is a connection to an old friend. In elementary school, my best friend would always bring homemade Korean food as his lunch. Every day I would always ask for a bight. One day he brought in some short rib leftovers. When I tried it the sweet juicy meat rushed to my taste buds making an explosion of rich savouriness. I asked him what to food was and he told me it was a Korean-style rib. I was amazed and hypnotized by the unique flavor and texture of the meat. Over the years I had been to his house trying all sorts of Korean dishes. Some traditional some Americanized but out of all the food, the Korean ribs are my favorite. ML

Lasagna

2024-09-09 14:00:02 UTC

I really enjoy lasagna. Every year I ask for it on my birthday and every year it's extremely delicious. The way the sauce, the meat, the cheese, and the pasta mix together in taste and texture is absolutely sublime. Every time I enjoy myself a plate of lasagna it brings me close to my dad and his love for cooking.

Every night except Fridays and some rare exceptions for the last 17 years, my dad has cooked a dinner every night for my family. Through trials and triumph there was still a meal there, every night, and I believe that lasagna was the embodiment of all of the meals. When it was lasagna day, it felt like a celebration. P.B.

Corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes

2024-09-09 14:00:48 UTC

Cabbage, potatoes, and corned beef holds a special place in my heart. I associate this food with my grandmother, she used to make this dinner all the time, and since she passed, I make my dad cook it. Every time she would make it everything would be perfect, the perfectly cooked, buttery potatoes, the soft carrots, the savory cabbage, and tender corned beef. We would go over every once in a while for a "boiled dinner", and this is what we would eat.

Chicken Casserole

2024-09-09 14:00:51 UTC

My mom's chicken casserole holds emotional weight because she uses my Nana's recipe to make it. She makes it on my birthday every year, and I always recall looking forward to my birthday for that reason (among other reasons too). It includes chicken, stuffing, sauce, and a little swiss cheese.

My nana passed away when I was in first grade, so the recipes my mom makes are a way that I can connect with my nana and keep her memory alive. I was very close with her and miss her dearly.

Steak

2024-09-09 14:00:51 UTC

My favorite food is steak because it reminds me of special events. I usually have steak on my birthday or other important events. Steak also reminds me of my dad because he taught me how to grill a steak when I was younger. -ZP

pasta with marinara sauce

2024-09-09 14:00:58 UTC

My mom's homemade pasta sauce is the first thing that comes to mind because it reminds me of my grandma. My mom always makes her mom's family recipe around Christmastime as a way to honor her mother and that side of the family. My grandma passed away before I was born, so I never got to know her and have a relationship with her. During these bigger family events, having my grandma's recipe present is a way for her to be a part of the celebrations. -Lauren Johnson

Sugar Cookies

2024-09-09 14:02:02 UTC

Sugar Cookies because this is one time during the holidays that my family all comes together to make something. My grandma makes at least 5 dozen every Christmas for us to frost. The cousins all have a competition of who can make the prettiest cookie. The prettiest cookies are the ones my little cousins get to leave out for Santa.

We always frost them on Christmas Eve and bring some to my grandparents church that night for the Christmas Eve service. This tradition started with my great grandma and we have kept it going even though she has passed. (GK)

Seven Layer Cookies

2024-09-09 14:02:08 UTC

Every year around Christmas I go with my mom and sisters to bake Cookies with my aunt. It's been a tradition we do every year. My mom, sisters, cousins, and aunts are all in one place. We never invite the guys which is always really nice. We often bake a variety of cookies but my favorite has to be the seven layers. I look forward to these cookies all year so much so that even though I could I never bake them on my own. These are seasonal treats for me. I would consider these comfort cookies. I love to share them with my friends and when I was younger we'd leave them out for Santa. My favorite parts are the butterscotch chips in the seven layers as well as the coconut. I'm so excited the holidays are coming because I've been waiting for these all year. -D.P

Sweet Potato Pie

2024-09-09 14:02:13 UTC

A food that holds emotion for me is a Sweet Potato Pie. I associate it with my Grandmother because she is the only person in my family to bake it. During Thanksgiving and Christmas she'll stay up the night before and bake about 10 pies so that they are fresh for the holiday and everyone can get their own. She is the only person in my family that makes them because when others try to make it it just doesn't taste like hers. - K.M

Kolaczki

2024-09-09 14:02:50 UTC

This food holds emotional weight to me because my family makes them every year for Thanksgiving. My grandma made them every year and then passed down the recipe to my mom. This was my favorite thing to help my mom make.

Spaghetti

2024-09-09 14:03:39 UTC

(metro!)

Look its spaghetti

I really love spaghetti

I love the tomato sauce (skrrrt)

that foods the boss

You've never had spaghetti? your loss (21)

My grandma made it every day (on God)

But then she passed away (unfortunately a bar)

Now my mom makes it at the family function

Sometimes I'll eat spaghetti uncooked cus I like the crunchin (what!)

Spaghetti brings back memories (on God)

Of my lovely grandma

And every time I eat spaghetti (skrrrt)

I feel she is with me (Taylor made another one)

I.T

Fish & Chips

2024-09-09 14:03:55 UTC

When I go to Ireland to visit my family I eat a lot of fish & chips. It reminds me of my family there and it holds emotional weight for me because I don't get to see them very often. So every once in a while when I have fish & chips here it brings back good memories I have with my family there.

It specifically reminds me of my cousins who are my age that live in Ireland. Over the summer me and my family visited them and I got to spend a lot of time building a relationship with them since we didn't get the chance to when we were younger. LB

Chicken and dumplings

igainey — 2024-09-09 14:04:22 UTC

Chicken and dumplings with fried okra reminds me of my grandparents. This is because almost every time I'd visit them I'd eat this meal. My immediate family would meet my grandparents on my dads side on the way to Michigan at a cracker barrel. This savory meal takes me back to my fond childhood memories of staying with my grandparents. I treasure these memories even more now after their passing. When recounting these memories I can vividly remember wandering through the restaurant store and then eating and spending time with my family, passing plates around to share. This dish connects back to my grandparents southern roots as they were from North Carolina.

-IG

Steak

2024-09-09 14:04:27 UTC

Steak...how I love your soft yet chewy texture, the warmth I feel as I bite into your carefully prepared layers of goodness, the steam that you emit as you're placed in front of me that leaves me with an urgent sense of relief. I always look forward to our next encounter, impatiently fantasizing about your beautiful and pleasant aroma, prepared well done or even jerked, the happiness I feel as I see you is immense. I could not imagine a life without you in it, steak. A.M

Egg and Rice

2024-09-09 14:04:43 UTC

This dish was once made by my grandfather every time me and my family came over before he died. I remember my mother and father always fought to get at least a bite off my plate. No one can completely replicate it. So when I crave it, I always create a cheap copy but it gets the job done, but I will always miss his cooking.

Usually, I put seasoning and fish sauce as it create a flavor close to that of the original. Sprinkle some crushed peppers on top of the egg to give it some spice. The steaming rice and the gowie yoke just bring it together just right. This food will always bring me comfort and is easy to make.

I.V

Chilaquiles

2024-09-09 14:04:45 UTC

Chilaquiles is something I used to always have as a child, especially around my grandparents. It's a really good breakfast meal to have, it can be spicy or not. Chilaquiles holds a special place in my heart because it reminds me of my grandparents origin (Mexico). It will always be a favorite meal of mine as you can mix a lot of things with this meal. I will always cherish the spiciness I get out of this meal as I take after my father and grandfather. Usually when I got to Mexico, its like a must have breakfast meal to have. Its just really tasteful and delicious. ~ T.V..

Rosul

2024-09-09 14:05:06 UTC

Rosul brings back memories of my childhood and my trips to Poland to my family serving me this dish every time I would fly in. I eat this minimum once a week and I associate it with being around family and enjoying our presence together.

Cookies

2024-09-09 14:05:42 UTC

One of the most significant foods in my life has got to be cookies. During the holidays, fall, or winter, my Mom would make cookies, usually chocolate chip. They'd always be very warm, salty, sweet, and gooey, and there would always be some leftovers in a container, and even when they were not as soft anymore, they were still really good. Sometimes, she asked for help, and we made the cookies together in the kitchen. I even helped my grandmother make Austrian cookies during Christmas, and we would put them in containers for safekeeping. Sometimes, she'd bring home homemade Italian lemon cookies from a local Italian store during summer vacation. The lemon cookies tend to be dry, so we'd usually have them with milk. She'd also bring Milano cookies from the store too. This is why cookies have played an important role in my life, as they allowed me to spend time with my family, and I felt safe and cared for as they usually made or got these cookies for me and my family.

-A.H.

2024-09-09 14:06:44 UTC

A food that holds emotional weight for me is kluski śląskie. It is a polish potato dumpling usually served with meat. This food is important to me as I connect it to my mom. In our house, they are not made frequently so when it is, it is a special occasion. The potatoes have to be boiled and mashed a day in advance and every dumpling has to be rolled with circular thumbprint indent. I have vivid memories of standing at the counter with my mom as we would work like an assembly line to create these. My mom working to cut and I working to roll each dumpling. GS

Tortilla De Harina

2024-09-09 14:06:51 UTC

In the simplest terms, a tortilla de harina is Guatemala's take on a burrito. It's a big flour tortilla filled with meat, cabbage, beans, and a salty sauce. This food is associated with my best memories in Guatemala, which mostly consist of spending time with the people most important to me. My mom, aunts, and cousins would buy this whenever we hung out at the Pradera, the name of the mall in Guatemala. My cousin and I would share one as we walked around the village and caught up on life. A group of us would gather by the turf field where the village kids would play soccer. We would eat and gossip and laugh. Torillas de harina are not only delicious, but they remind me of the strong bond I've developed with my family and my country. - A.V

ttrivedi2 — 2024-09-09 14:09:36 UTC

I associate pad thai with visiting my brother at Georgia Tech where he went to graduate school. He opened up a whole new world of flavors to me when I went to go celebrate his graduation with him.