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

One evening in our kitchen. I just went in and picked a spoon full of ghee and was eating slowly, enjoying each grain of it. My daughter watched me and asked me why I am eating plain ghee. I told her that whenever I eat ghee that my mom has sent, it feels like I am at my mom’s place. She said, always you tell me that so that you can have the tasty ghee for yourself.

After speaking to her, I thought about it. As I could not visit my parents, I was seeking comfort in a spoon of ghee that my mother has sent. What is giving me the comfort of home? Is it the taste, the aroma, the 120 calories, or the fat content in it?

It reminds me of home, where I was born and brought up, happy childhood days, where my parents live, my grandparents lived, my great-grandparents were there. It reminds me of our cattle shed and my father’s love and cares about cattle, the fresh grass he feeds them from our field, and the nutritious food he chooses for them. The time and sight of my mother milking the cows, we were supposed to keep quiet, the sound of the tiny bells from the calf’s neck belt, watching the boiling milk coming up till the last minute when mother has asked me to see whether milk is boiling and turn off the stove.

It brings back the taste of the cream above the thick curd. That spoon of ghee makes me revisit the morning time when my mother ladles out butter from the curd while breakfast is getting ready in the kitchen. I can savor the aroma of heated butter transforming into the tasty ghee spreading out from the kitchen, and extending the whole home, and reaching the backyard where we used to play.

It reminisces the memories of the sweets and dishes she makes with ghee and the other delicious dishes for which I used to add ghee to relish. Oops! Isn’t it a big chain of thoughts and happy memories and good feelings drenching my mind with pleasantness? It opens a plethora of sweet memories that trigger good feelings! I think the calories coming with that spoon of ghee will nourish my mind and the soul than merely adding calories.

What do you think of the taste? Do you think it is as simple as the taste buds sensing it and sending messages to our brain about the taste? Do you have any specific food that could open hidden treasure from your mind? Or do you believe in the purpose of food as to satisfy the body’s requirements and provide some taste to our tongue alone?

—Anitha KC

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