Food Memories

Food memories are the truest comfort food; an aroma that brings us back to a particular time, and the dish we crave when we need to feel love from the inside out.  

If we don t change the way we eat as a society, the earliest food memories of this generation will include microwaveable dinners and Happy Meals.

We're collecting early food memories to help inspire eaters both young and old.  Share yours in the comments section.  We reached out to a couple of Screaming Avocado friends.  Please enjoy.

"I have a very fond memory of my mom making us "mush" when i was growing up as a little kid in london (england). don't get me wrong, my mother is a tremendous cook and i've always LOVED her persian food dishes (she makes the finest "ghormeh sabzi" ever). but when i was little she would take a bunch of leftovers - usually, potatoes, peas, carrots and maybe any leftover meat - and mash them together and then heat them. it was the kind of thing a kid loves. and i loved it. maybe the least labour-intensive of all that she made...but delicious in my mind."  Jian Gomeshi

"A fond memory for me growing up was always planting, weeding, and eating our own food. Every May and June, my brother and I would have to join my dad with the hand seeder and go make straight rows to plant the seeds. Our favourites were always the potatoes because you could use your feet to stomp the seed into the ground! As kids, who didn’t love a little stomping? As weeks went by, it was our duty to get the hoe out and hoe away the weeds. A little tough love, and some kicks in the pants to do it, the pay out was more than rewarding. Digging up your first potato that you yourself planted, boiling it, with a little butter on top, will always be the most delicious potato you eat that year."  Laura Hazen

"To this day I remember the taste of a carrot in my grandmothers garden, I can taste a true organic flavourful carrot and it immediately transports back in time to summers pulling carrots, wiping off the dirt and crunching away. I remember gorging myself on not-yet-ripe apples in the orchards surrounding our house and waiting patiently as the flavour gradually improved through til harvest season!"         Chef Michael Smith

 

"My earliest food memory is cooking an egg when my parents were sleeping in... I turned on the electric griddle and fried it sunny side up. Probably about 6 years old. I guess it's time to start teaching my 5 year old! "  Steve Stacey

 

"My Food Memories are of my Grannies house walking in the door and the smell of food was always there Mince and Tatties, Soda Bread, Soups, Stews, Jams. The Taste was to die for.  I always wanted to put my finger in the pot to taste but did not dare.
This food was simple, not expensive just fresh and cooked with care.  A respect for the product; it took time but the results awesome.

Today I still carry those memories and principles with me because that’s my measurement of good food. A simple boiled potato with butter and salt good food is not expensive.

Many years after my Grannies asked me what was the food you cooked for the Queen like? Just like yours with more expensive meats but the same principles. "Simple is better."    Chef John Higgins

"I have two early food memories. My dad left early for work, and always made sure that oatmeal was made for us. One of us would come downstairs in the morning and find the pot in the pot (double-boiler ghetto style), ready and waiting.

The other is the smell and sound of bacon cooking at my grandparents'.

Two things that resonate for me for sure."   The 40 Year Old Father