Food: Do you taste it on the tongue or in mind?

One evening in our kitchen, I picked up a spoonful of ghee and ate it slowly, savoring every bit. My daughter noticed and asked why I was eating plain ghee. I told her that whenever I eat ghee sent by my mom, it feels like I’m at her place. She laughed and said, “You always say that—just so you can have the tasty ghee for yourself!”

After talking to her, I reflected on it. Since I couldn’t visit my parents, I was seeking comfort in that spoon of ghee my mother had sent. What gives me this sense of home? Is it the taste, the aroma, the 120 calories, or the fat content?

No—it’s the memories. It reminds me of home, where I was born and raised, of happy childhood days, of my parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents. It brings back images of our cattle shed, my father’s care for the cows, the fresh grass he fed them from our fields, and the nutritious food he chose for them. I recall my mother milking the cows while we were asked to stay quiet, the sound of tiny bells on the calf’s neck, and the boiling milk rising to the brim as my mother asked me to watch and turn off the stove.

That spoon of ghee takes me back to the taste of thick curd with cream on top, to mornings when my mother ladled out butter from curd while breakfast was being prepared. I can almost smell the aroma of butter transforming into golden ghee, spreading from the kitchen to the entire house and even reaching the backyard where we played. It reminds me of sweets and dishes she made with ghee, and other meals where I added ghee just to relish them.

Oops! Isn’t it a big chain of thoughts and happy memories flooding my mind with pleasantness? That single spoon opens a treasure chest of sweet memories and good feelings. I think those calories nourish my mind and soul far more than they add fat to my body.

What do you think about taste? Is it just the taste buds sending signals to the brain? Or do you have a special food that unlocks hidden treasures from your memory? Or do you believe food is only meant to satisfy the body’s needs and please the tongue?

—Anitha KC

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