Today is day 6 of my Italian adventure. After a day of running around like a crazy person, I stopped for a bite to eat at Bar "La Crota." I still don't speak the language but I know my food vocabulary (of course!) so I ordered pasta fromaggio (cheese pasta) con bistecca pollo e potata (chicken steak with potatoes), thinking it would all end up in one dish. As it turns out, I got two. Silly American.
I have to say that it was nothing spectacular with the exception of them damn potatoes that reminded me of my grandmother's fried potatoes. It literally gave me a visceral reaction, one which I did not expect. I'm 6000 miles away from any friends or family, sitting on the cobble stone streets of Italy, but a half plate of fried potatoes took me right to her, right to the kitchen of the house on Etiwanda Street. It took me a moment to realize again that I'm in a foreign country with no comfort of the people and things I love, which gave me such a greater appreciation of my memories and what it took for me to get here.
We know it's comforting, but really, we benchmark our lives with food; it's why we remember the excitement of the first time we tried sushi, the nourishment of chicken soup when we're sick, and all of those childhood memories in grandma's best dish. There are so many things I love about food but this is what I love the most; its abilitly to transport us through space and time and make us feel good to our core.
To see more photos of my time in Bra, Italy, check out the "Just Photos!" tab.
We know it's comforting, but really, we benchmark our lives with food; it's why we remember the excitement of the first time we tried sushi, the nourishment of chicken soup when we're sick, and all of those childhood memories in grandma's best dish. There are so many things I love about food but this is what I love the most; its abilitly to transport us through space and time and make us feel good to our core.
To see more photos of my time in Bra, Italy, check out the "Just Photos!" tab.
I couldn't agree with you more about the interaction that foods has in our lives and how it can take you right back to a moment in time with little effort.
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