Unforgettable Flavours

image courtesy of Pixabay.

At some point in our adulthood we all start yearning for the comforts of our childhood. Sometimes those comforts are old playlists or movies and shows. Sometimes they are familiar places. But then there are the foods. Whether they are meals your parents or grandparents used to make, or just foods from the store that send you right back to moments of your younger self as soon as you taste them again.

This audio essay is an exploration of those childhood foods, our memories of them as we grow older, and an attempt to relive them.

Transcript

Devin (host): There’s this joke I see about podcasts sometimes that pokes fun at the trope that shows or episodes like to reveal something really serious or game changing about whatever topic they’re discussing. And what I like about this joke is that it makes me feel like it’s actually okay to not take every episode so seriously. Because for this one, I want to share some food for thought… literally I just want to talk about food. And more specifically, food and nostalgia. 

At some point in our adulthood we all start yearning for the comforts of our childhood. Sometimes these comforts are old playlists or movies and shows. Sometimes they are familiar places. But then there are the foods.

Whether they are meals your parents or grandparents used to make, or just foods from the store that send you right back to moments of your younger self as soon as you taste them again.

Kat: Food is a big part of people’s lives and culture…

Devin: That’s my friend Kat. She and I equally love talking about food, eating food, and sharing stories about food.

Kat: But often times, the best foods are the foods that have stories behind them. Like ‘oh, I ate this growing up and my mom made this for me or my dad made this for me or whatever it was. And that’s often the food that we credit with being the best foods in our lives. Not necessarily because they’re the best foods we’ve ever eaten, but because they have those sentimental stories attached to them or those really memorable moments attached to them.

Devin: Those sentimental stories, those moments- I love that connection. And the foods that we define as the best are all so unique because they’re rooted in those connections.

If I ask my siblings or parents what foods they remember from their childhood, they’re all going to have different answers. So I did. I asked them. And when I asked my parents

When I asked my parents, my Dad had a very sweet answer. The kind you’d expect when thinking about a nostalgic food. It was something his mom used to make.

Devin’s Dad: I’d have to say the tarallis or ginettes that my mom used to make. Taralli is a sweet bread that’s made at Easter and it’s kinda shaped like a bagel, only braided. They weren’t done all year round. They were only done at that part of the year.

Devin: I don’t know if you can tell, but when I asked him and when I listened back, I can hear this softness in my Dad’s voice when he answers. I think that’s because his Mom recently passed away. And so, even talking about those foods and the memories of those foods still holds a very powerful connection for him.

My mom, on the other hand, recalls some very classic child-like favourites, which are interesting for other reasons.

Devin’s Mom: Peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch every day with pink milk. (laughs) And Alphabets for breakfast.

Devin: So the mom I know today and the Mom I grew up with would never serve those foods to us. When I asked her what she thought we might remember from our childhood, she conveniently couldn’t recall any foods.

Devin’s Mom: I have no idea. I don’t remember what I cooked… I don’t know. I don’t know what you guys liked. (laughs)

Devin: When I said I was surprised by what my Mom ate in her childhood, it’s because it’s such a stark contrast from what my siblings and I remember from our childhood, even if mom forgets.

Devin’s brother: We didn’t get treats. It was healthy or not. I mean, the treats were…

Devin’s sister: Every birthday we got to choose where we wanted our special lunch at school and Mom would go out to the restaurants and sometimes it was McDonald’s… 

Devin’s brother: You got a Happy Meal… 

Devin’s sister: And she’d bring back that Happy Meal or whatever. We’d meet her there. I think I have memories of being at school and my peers asking ‘what is it? Is it a special occasion?’

Devin’s brother: And then you also got a good breakfast cereal and then you know for the next couple days after your birthday it would last.

Devin’s sister: It was such a treat because back then Mom barely treated us to junk food.

Devin: And then she did eventually admit to erasing those “treats” from her memory. 

Devin’s Mom: Yeah, see all the stuff I was just trying to erase from my memory! (laughs)

Devin: Because when we were kids, what was your thought on giving us any kind of junk food or sugary food?

Devin’s Mom: Oh, no way. We couldn’t do that. My kids aren’t eating that stuff. McDonald’s? Nope, not going near it… 

Devin: I can’t speak for my siblings here, but fast forward to adulthood and I am still hungry for those treats! Things like fast food, pop, sugary cereal – all of those things. I want to indulge in them. I still don’t indulge regularly, but probably more often than my mom would’ve allowed.

Now, before I get into the specifics of my nostalgic foods, let’s just throw in a little curveball. For the past 3 years, I’ve been eating only plant-based foods. Aka I’m vegan. Thankfully there are still vegan junk food options, shout out to sweet chili heat Doritos and Oreos. But, it means that some of those nostalgic foods from my childhood are even further from my grasp. This time by my own choosing. I can recognize that. Evidently, that hasn’t slowed me down in pursuing them. Those foods still have a strong grasp on me. Especially one…

Devin (asking Mom): Do you know what mine is?

Devin’s Mom: Your favourite food or what you remember? Nope, I have no idea. 

Old commercial: It’s Kellogg’s Froot Loops cereal! The fruity smelly part of this nutritious breakfast

Devin’s Mom: Oh, right! I had Alphabets and you wanted Froot Loops. Okay!

Devin: Yea, for the record, I still want fruit loops. All the time. 

So, regular Froot Loops aren’t vegan and I spent a long time dreaming about getting to eat them. They have vitamin D3 added to them which is derived from animals. I don’t know why. But thankfully, I discovered that the off brand versions of fruit loops don’t really bother to add these unnecessary vitamins to them and so I have found Froot Loops that I can now eat and relive my childhood. And let me tell you, they still bring that level of happiness to my heart that only nostalgic food can.

Old commercial: Just follow your nose for the fruity taste that shows!

Devin: Is there a word for when food gives you butterflies? Because that’s what I’m feeling when I smell this. When I eat this. Just everything about this. It gives me butterflies.

Besides sugar cereal, there’s another iconic food from my childhood that not only did my siblings not mention, but I discovered that a lot of other people have completely forgotten about it too. Except for at least one person…

Will Ferrel: I’m the new face of Little Debbie Snack Cakes.

Devin: That’s Will Ferrel on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon reminding everyone about a special delicacy that at some point completely lost its momentum in the market

Will Ferrel: Can I ask your audience something? Do you like snacks? Do you like cakes? Do you like snack cakes? I thought so!

Devin: And there’s one snack cake in particular that I still think about all the time and other people that I talk to about it seem to have forgotten that it ever existed.

Will Ferrel (tasting cake with blindfold on): Mmm, delicious cake with cream filling, white icing, and fudge trimming. Oh, I know a Little Zebra cake when I taste one. 

Jimmy Fallon: That’s correct! That is a Zebra cake.

Devin: I have such vivid memories of those zebra cakes being the best treats to find at the snack table during special parties in elementary school. Now, obviously those snack cakes aren’t vegan but in yet another search for enjoying foods from my childhood, another popular snack cake got me thinking.

Old commercial: A double blast of chocolatey satisfaction, two moist layers of chocolate cake with a luscious cream filling. All topped with a dark and delicious chocolatey coating.

Devin: Two layers of cake, a filing, and a dark chocolate coating. It really seemed simple enough to recreate.

Old commercial: Everyone’s after that double blast of chocolatey satisfaction. Jos Louis – it’s a blast!

Devin (in kitchen): So, I’m going to make a vegan chocolate cake and then cut it into rounds, put some icing in the middle, cover it in chocolate and then bingo we’ve got a Jos Louis? I think that seems really doable, right? 

It’s called crazy cake, whacky cake, depression cake. Versions of this recipe have been around for decades. As far back as the depression, when ingredients like butter, milk, and eggs were scarce. Over time this cake has transformed from a budget friendly recipe to a dietary and allergen friendly staple since all the ingredients are accidentally vegan. This is pretty cool! You get a little history. Yeah, so no milk, no eggs, no butter, no problem! I can totally handle this!

Devin: For the record, I should say that my baking style and my cooking style… basically my kitchen style  is very much along the lines of Miss Frizzle.

Miss Frizzle quote: Take chances! Make mistakes! Get messy!

Devin (in kitchen): I hope this works out!

Oh my goodness, I need to buy more flour!

Sugar, you come over here. Every time I pick up sugar, I go “Oooo, honey honey!”

Oh god! (sound of cap falling onto the ground)

Why did that just?! The lid just popped right off like I was popping champagne and it’s just canola oil. 

This seems really runny. Is that normal? Not gonna lie, I don’t know. Not gonna lie, I don’t have a frame of reference here. 

Umm, this is a big Jos Louis. Actually, I think it’s kinda perfect. 

This is hilarious! I just cut a hole in the middle of the cake and now it’s just… (laughs)

You know when someone’s baking something and flour goes flying everywhere? That’s what’s going to happen now. Except it won’t be flour, it’ll be icing sugar. I’m scared.

You know, where’s none on me so I’m gonna call that a win. 

Okay, let’s taste this. Mmm! It’s so good! And my watch is telling me to breathe because I’m getting too excited, but this is so fun! Oh my gosh, okay. 

It has been sliced in half. We’re getting there! We are getting there.

It’s gonna look normal, I swear. 

Once that freezes, it’ll look okay right?

Devin: Not exactly the most confident note to end on, but for a first attempt, I actually think they turned out pretty okay! And I do think we should take a moment to appreciate the excitement over a simple chocolate cake, because that’s what this whole thing has been about. A reminder. To myself and to others. That food doesn’t always have to be about the nutritional value. Let it be about the feelings, the stories, and the memories. The connection that comes with food can be so powerful. Sometimes in good ways and sometimes in bad ways. But life’s too short to not make snack cakes or eat big bowls of Froot Loops once in a while. And with that, the Simpsons can sing us out… 

The Simpsons singing: You don’t win friends with salad! You don’t win friends with salad! You Don’t win friends with salad!