What Food Always Reminds You Of Grandma?
It’s incredible the role that our five senses play in our memory recall. The slightest whiff of a scent can transport you back to a time long forgotten; hearing a song you once loved can throw you into the warm, embracing arms of nostalgia. It’s no surprise that certain foods can be some of the most effective sensory triggers for our memory recall process.
For those of us fortunate enough to have had relationships with them, Grandmothers (or Grandmas; Grannies; Nans or Nannies) often hold a special place in our hearts; a place that is filled with their warmth, care and unreserved love. And if I were to ask you, ‘what food reminds you of your Grandma?’ I’m near certain you could give a definitive answer; every member of our Iternal team certainly could!
Paul – Marketing Director and Co-Founder
My grandparents’ house always smelled like baking and whenever we arrived there would always be something delicious for my two brothers and I to fill up on. Typically it would be butterfly cakes which were simple cupcakes with the tops cut off, filled with buttercream and then the top cut in two and placed on top to look like… butterflies.
The other thing that makes me think of my grandma is square sausage. I remember my grandma telling us that dinner was ready and being so confused at the lack of meaty tubes on the plate and refused to believe that these brown coasters we had been served were, in fact, sausages. Eventually we tried them and they were so peppery we all spat them out!
Hannah – Marketing & UX Assistant
Whenever I eat lemon cake I’m constantly reminded of my Grandma. She’s an amazing baker and pretty much the reason I watch ‘The Great British Bake Off’ every year, as well as spending lots of money on weird things like piping nozzles and cake stands.
One memory that stands out in particular is when we were baking lemon cake together and I ate all the leftover cake mixture. I felt so sick and full afterwards that I couldn’t eat dinner – my parents were not impressed by either myself or Grandma for letting me get away with it.
Chris – Lead Developer
My Granny is a classic feeder. Whenever she would serve food, you would have to anticipate the amount she was going to give you or else you would end up a mountain of lasagne.
If you managed to make it through the main course, however, the most delicate and decadent cakes would be brought out.
The one I will always remember will be the pavlova. A perfect meringue, topped with freshly whipped cream, brown sugar granules and a smattering of berries.
Needless to say we would all roll away from the dinner table and slip into a mini food coma watching either tennis or mastermind…
Kai – Brand and Marketing Assistant
If any kind of food reminds me of my Granny it’s chips! But not just any old chips… They were handmade; super, super crispy and coated in so much oil and garlic.
Not only were they delicious but they were special to me too because I could only have them when I visited her in Jersey and my mum would never make them!
Still to this day when I have chips like that, I think of them as ‘granny chips,’ though I don’t think any of them have ever come close to my Granny’s.
Chips was the name of my first dog when I was a kid, so it’s hard to deny that we have a real thing for them in my family!
Remi – Junior Growth Marketer
That’s a hard one… My Grandma (or Oma) is German so alot of the foods that remind me of her are attached to very sentimental memories of childhood summers in Germany.
The smell alone of coffee made in a cafetiere really brings my Oma to mind. Similarly; honey and almond cake, and home-made quince jam send me back to being a kid waiting for the sweeter bits to hit the table.
It’s not really ‘food’ exactly, but we’re certainly partial to liquorice sweets in my family. When I was a kid, I used to visit my Oma and she’d have a little stache pot of liquorice sweets. I was allowed to treat myself to two sweets per visit; I guess to keep me quiet more than anything – but it worked! I was always good as gold.
What about you?
Now that’s some wholesome content if I do say so myself. What about you, though? What food reminds you of Grandma? Maybe it reminds you of certain childhood memory, or a particular time and place? That’s the sort of memory that would look great on your Iternal timeline! Or, let us know anonymously on the Iternal Community timeline; where we display stories submitted by the public.
