The Memory of Food

Food, food, food, if there is one thing cruises are known for, it is food; and, we ate a lot of it.

When eating, conversation tend to veer to food.  Favorite foods, not so favorite, what we, as children, ate, and so forth ... lots of food talk. 

One night, while on the cruise, one of the appetizer selections was pate.  Pate, with a funny line above the "e", except I don't know how to do those funny characters on my keyboard ... or any other keyboard for that matter.

Sorry, I digress.

One of our table mates ordered the pate, because she had never had it, and asked if we had.  "Yes", I reply, my mother used to make it.

Didn't every one's mother make pate?  It was her "thing" for parties.  Most mothers make pigs in a blanket or jello salad, my mother makes pate.

It is at this point I usually volunteer that my favorite cheese, as a child, was brie.

As if my childhood didn't already sound weird, I need to add to my culinary oddness.  Most kids eat American Cheese, the presliced, individually wrapped cheese, or Velveeta.  No, my favorite cheese was brie.  I'm not even sure how I became exposed to the cheese.  When I admit that piece of information I try to explain it with a shrug of my shoulders, and stating that we used to live in England.  Not that my locality at the time has anything to do with it.

Salt and Vinegar crisps were my favorite brand of potato chips.  Yes, "crisps", because I lived in England for 5 years, and until recently, that is the only place I've seen Salt and Vinegar.  My locality, for that experience, did have something to do with my taste in "crisps".

Then there is French onion soup.  I remember the first time I tried it.  Our family was traveling Europe, we were in France, not sure if we had just arrived, or leaving the next day; but, I do remember staying up late and eating French onion soup.   I fell in love, and ever since have been looking for a French onion soup to equal that first bowl.  Of course, I won't find it.  It is impossible to find anything to equal that first taste of a favorite dish, especially when the environment and experience is so much apart of that dish. 

Spam was also a normal part of my childhood.  Then again, I think it was a part of every one's childhood, at least for those who grew up in the 70's and 80'

What was your favorite food as a child?