Cherished moments with food

Today, I’m going to take you down memory lane by sharing my most cherished moments with food. Over the years, I have discovered that food is often at the heart of my deepest connections with family and friends. 

My first cherished memory with food was one I made with my grandmother. Whenever I visited her in India, she used to make a snack called “sev” (a type of noodle shaped snack made from chickpea flour) for me from scratch. I used to love snacking on it so much that she would make extra for me so that I could take some home too. I still fondly recall the love my grandma poured into her cooking as she cooked on the third floor of my grandparents’ house in India. 

Another cherished memory that I have of food is when my mom created a no-bake cake for my 15th birthday, because I had to stop having baked goods for a certain period of time. So that I could still have the pleasure of cutting a cake on my birthday, my mom created her own cake by making a carrot halwa (from carrots and coconut milk) and cooling it to form a cake. She frosted it using homemade coconut ice cream. Reflecting back on the memory, I still fondly recall the love my mom poured into creating delicious and innovative food I could enjoy with my allergies.

My third cherished memory is one where I got to give back the love I had received through food in the past. After researching grain-free tortilla recipes and traditional samosa recipes, I wanted to create my own vegan and grain-free samosa recipe my parents and I could enjoy. On Christmas morning, I finally got ready to test out my recipe, hoping to recreate the magic of samosas that we had not gotten to experience for the past 5 years due to food allergies. On the first try, my samosas were a success, and as we bit the crispy outer shell and let the warm potato filling melt into our mouth, I felt true fulfillment. Both in that my recipe had worked, and in that I was able to use my skills to give my family what they had given me, love.

You too, can express your love through food, or anything else you enjoy. I hope my memories will help you think fondly about your own, or possibly inspire you to make more with your loved ones.