Anishka Week #15 - Power of Memory in Food
Memory plays a very significant role in cooking and food. For many people, the smell of their grandmothers, or their mom’s traditional cultural food things many memories to mind. These people have a very nostalgic sense of happiness associated with certain food or dish. It’s interesting to identify which foods and which smells are particularly memorable for different people because of how a person’s childhood has shaped them.
In order to truly immerse in your cultural food, it is important to trace back the recipes that came from your grandparents and your great grandparents. This often requires people to have great memory and cooking skills because they have to remember exactly how much of each ingredient to use and how to incorporate them. Because there was not as much technology in the past as there is right now, many elders have an excellent memory and are very good at cooking. This is why many people tend to say that they enjoy eating their parents food or their grandparents food.
Memory in the terms of taste and smell is actually a very important part of marketing as well. An article on smell states that “odors bring on strong memories because of the brain regions that process them” (Thomas and Papesh). Many companies have admitted to use consumers’ preferred smells to increase their revenue. When a consumer walks into a store, the person will be more likely to purchase some thing and stay in the store longer if they are familiar with the smell, and like the scent. This marketing technique is so subtle that many people may not acknowledge it or be aware of it, which posters it’s effectiveness. The nostalgia, feelings, and emotions that are associated with smell are commonly used in many industries, even ones that may not seem like it. In order to be aware of marketing techniques and strategies that are being employed, it is important to research these ideas thoroughly.
Thomas, Angela, and Megan Papesh. “Why Are We so Scent-Imental? Studying Odor-Linked Memories.” Frontiers for Young Minds, kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2022.667792#:~:text=Although%20we%20often%20look%20at,and%20memory%20also%20process%20odors. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Hi Anishka! I enjoyed reading your interpretation of the association between an individual’s memories and the food they eat. I agree with that statement; when I visited my hometown in India last summer, I enjoyed a large meal my grandparents prepared. Now, when I taste foods similar to those, I automatically have a craving for them. Your scientific explanation for this tendency is intriguing, and I appreciate your announcement of how these techniques are present within the marketing strategies of several companies. This advice can potentially be instrumental when evaluating the decision of whether to buy a product or not.
ReplyDeleteRealizing how corporations use manipulative marketing can help develop an unbiased stance during product purchases. I like your mention of elders remembering the best combination of ingredients to produce the best-tasting food in the most healthily. It is interesting how you relate the lack of technology to memory. I have never thought of this phenomenon as the one that causes elders to have a better cooking sense, but it does logically sound correct. Your blog helped me make many connections between memory and technology that I had not thought of before.
Hi Anishka, I find your blog to be very interesting and now that I am thinking about it, I am able to notice the slight influences in my mind that food has. I saw a Tik Tok the other day that said Disneyland and other amusement parks would release the smell of popcorn and cotton candy into the amusement park through devices all over the park, which would make one’s mind associate the smell with food and hunger, influencing an individual to buy something from a restaurant or food stall. This is a really creative marketing strategy that seems to work as people are constantly buying food from Disneyland. I have noticed the phenomenon mentioned in your blog through personal experiences as well. My mom makes some foods that I love and some foods that I absolutely despise. Smelling food that I love, I associate it with happy thoughts, and am in a good mood for the rest of the day. For example, if she makes certain foods or desserts from my childhood like fried bananas, I instantly feel a sense of nostalgia, as I automatically connect the food with my early life. However, if she makes foods that I openly hate, like idli and sambar, I associate it with negative things, ultimately ruining my mood. It is fascinating how food can be associated with certain emotions or feelings, and ultimately alter the course of one’s day.
ReplyDeleteHi Anishka, I can relate to your blog very much. I never realized how much significance food had with memories. Since I read your blog, I started to think about foods that holds memories. Ever since I started to think of what foods were important to me, I can't seem to stop thinking about foods. I know some foods off the top of my head. Like my dad's favorite dish, and how now it is one of my favorite dishes. Even as you mentioned the smell, I immediately thought of durian. Lots of people hate durian, mainly because of it's smell, but I personally love it. I always quickly identify the smell, whether it be the actually fruit to a pastry. Once I step into my house, and smell it, I scream with excitement. Since I know after dinner, my family would gather around, put newspaper on the floor and break open the durian.
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