So for me, it would come back to a food that looks back at my family's Italian heritage, one that was always made for special occasion and what I requested for my birthday from my mother as a young child for years and years; home made lasagna!
Looking back at it, up until 12 I used to be the pickiest eater, refusing to even eat ice cream at one point due to the texture! But with lasagna, it was one of the first things that opened me up to the possibility that food was more than just sustenance; it is a way of exploring new and different experiences, new flavors, and new concepts and ideas. When my mother used to make it for me for my birthday, she always made it by hand, layer after painstaking layer. Growing up we didn't have much, so having this was an absolutely special occasion because of both the time it took her and the cost for all of the ingredients. It also made me feel special because she was making it for me! Whenever I have lasagna, it makes me think of simpler times, and the joy of us sitting around the table catching up with each other on how our days had been, and the laughter.
It has been years since my mother's made that dish, and it's something that I rarely ever have anymore, but it was the first food I loved, legit loved! Many years later, now as I go to different parts of the world, trying new and amazing dishes, eating everything new at any given possible moment, from sushi/sashimi to black pudding to poi, I look back on this dish with amazement and knowing that if my time were near, I would want one more plate of those layers of seasoned beef, ricotta cheese, tomatoes/tomato sauce and noodles before slipping this mortal coil.
Thank you for inspiring me to write this homework @midnightsun @rambo @lyxzen :-)
