naomi loves: Homemade childhood food memories

This is a new thing. It’s something quite fun and I hope you want to play along. Mr B and I have decided to revisit some of the meals and dishes of our childhoods, and the memories that go with the meals. We are going to cook them up and photograph them and blog about them and share our recipes. The meals we hated and the meals we loved, and the meals our families seemed to eat over and over and over again.

We had a little brainstorm the other night and the list above contains some of our most potent food memories. There’s nothing sophisticated in there, it’s just childhood. Chilli con carne? Oh, how I hated it, served up with sides of coconut and banana and sultanas (why? WHY?). Chocolate eclairs? You should hear Mr B go on about his grandmother’s “famous” eclairs.

Taste is an extraordinarily powerful sense, wouldn’t you agree? Even more so as it is combined with smell. Just one little taste of something can instantly transport you in time and space. There is a cake shop on Rathdowne Street that, until recently, sold cupcakes that tasted a lot – a LOT – like the vanilla cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery in the West Village in New York. I would go there and get a coffee and cake to go, pushing then-baby Madeleine in her pram while she slept. And as I took that first bite Rathdowne Street would melt away and I’d be crossing the road with my dog into a little park just over the way from Magnolia and checking the bench seats for pigeon poo and fishing my notebook out of my bag and writing poetry in the last little pockets of autumn sun before the evening closed in.

What about you? Tell me your most powerful food memories. I’d love you to join in with me, if you want to. There are two ways we can do this:

1. Cook up your own food memories, and use the hashtag #naomilovesfoodmemories around the social media traps so we can all see what you’ve been cooking and what you remember, and share the love

2. Another way you can join in, if you prefer, is to tell ME about a dish that brings back special memories for you. Mr B and I will add your dish to our list and cook it up on your behalf. Now THAT could be fun

Let’s do this!

22 comments

Louise August 28, 2014 7:53AM

SO many memories here Naomi!!!
Oh I detested the chow mein my mum made, with the cabbage and the packet of Continental Chicken soup powder! Is that how you remember it?
And what about apricot chicken? Bleugh.
I would like to add chocolate ripple cake to your list of must makes. We still make it now, and in fact my mum is currently in the UK and made it for her grand-daughter last week. She has requested it for her birthday cake later this year.
You’ve got me thinking now……Louise xx

- Naomi Bulger August 28, 2014 9:56AM
  
  Ugh apricot chicken. I’d forgotten about that! Why was there so much slimy, gelatinous food in the 70s and 80s?! Our parents should be arrested for Crimes Against Cornflour. Your chocolate ripple cake sounds delicious though!
Dee August 28, 2014 10:21AM

I love this Naomi !
My whole family has stories of my Nan’s savoury mince…..and then Christmas is always Ma’s pudding.
As for those cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery !!! I can still taste them.

- Naomi Bulger August 28, 2014 10:27AM
  
  Oh Dee is it time to revisit Nan’s savoury mince? I’d love to hear about that.
Libby Boyle August 28, 2014 4:15PM

Mine is more about a food smell that brings back memories. When I was very young, our later-to-be-lounge room was used to pack tomatoes. When I stand in front of a large stall of beautiful ripe tomatoes, I am transported to that room. Lovely memory.

- Naomi Bulger August 28, 2014 4:23PM
  
  I love that memory Libby. Thanks for sharing!
Jo from Blondie By The Sea August 29, 2014 4:46PM

I love Chili con carne, but I’ve never had it will banana, coconut and sultanas, blerghhh.

My most hated was Lambs Fry. Offal is for dogs. Oh and I will never eat brussel sprouts, I’ve been scarred.

Such an awesome idea. ××

- Naomi Bulger September 2, 2014 11:55AM
  
  Lamb’s fry? Oh no no no. And you’ve reminded me: steak and kidney pie. Ick! Lifetime scars relating to the texture and smell of kidneys…
Karen August 31, 2014 11:19AM

Fab post and great idea Naomi! Mince ugh! Lots of chow mein (made in a pressure cooker!), cherry ripe slice, marshmallow slice, stew (which I still make in winter) and rabbit (shot by my dad on the local golf course – delicious). I’ve got a draft post for a Beer Cake that my mum used to make without fail. I think you’ve given me the motivation to finish and post it. I will link you in and hashtag it up on sm. x

- Naomi Bulger August 31, 2014 7:21PM
  
  Oooh beer cake Karen? I’ve never heard of such a thing! I guess it’s for the yeast?? I can’t wait to read all about it!
Life With The Crew August 31, 2014 11:19AM

Fun idea! Even though I am a vegetarian now, a good food memory is my grandma’s chicken pot pie that we would eat for Sunday dinner. Even then, I would mainly just eat the noodles.

- Naomi Bulger August 31, 2014 7:22PM
  
  Ah, that even SOUNDS like childhood!
Jenny O'Hara August 31, 2014 11:46AM

Naomi – I love it!!! Food memories are so special and can transport you through time.
Mum always made jelly slice – and we all loved it. My sisters and I make it now with a little tear or two, but that raspberry jelly always makes us smile.
What a great idea.

- Naomi Bulger August 31, 2014 7:25PM
  
  Jenny I just read this out to my husband and he yelled “OH YEAH” because jelly slice is one of his happiest food memories.
emily@squiggleandswirl August 31, 2014 3:03PM

What a fun idea. I’m thinking favourites were my Nanna’s prawn curry and Eggplant pickle. Also coconut agar agar jelly and truffles(aka golf balls). Mince being probably the least favourite ( Mum still jokes she had 101 ways to cook mince). I’ll watch our for the hashtags:)

- Naomi Bulger August 31, 2014 7:28PM
  
  Ha ha Emily you’ve reminded me of the famous Season of Choko, during which my mother tried (and failed) to hide choko in every meal. I like the sound of eggplant pickle!
Priscilla August 31, 2014 5:09PM

Our meal times were not nearly as glamorous as yours – Chilli Con Carne, my word, I didn’t know about that until we cooked it in a Home Science class in Year 7! It was lots of chops and veg at our house, and something called ‘flap’ with white sauce (it is some sort of cut of lamb) was always a hit, but I think the dish that instantly comes to mind when I think of my mum is her Tuna Curry – which became Salmon Curry in later years…yumm! My dad loved junket but I could never quite come at it.

- Naomi Bulger August 31, 2014 7:30PM
  
  Ooh I was never a fan of white sauce. Cauliflower in white sauce is another scary food memory for me. Although I would have welcomed some chops and veg
Jane August 31, 2014 8:48PM

Hey what a cool idea. That’s really got me thinking. Corned beef. Sultanas for midnight feasts (not much junk food in our house). Carrot cake. Right, I’m off to make a list.

- Naomi Bulger August 31, 2014 9:16PM
  
  You did have a healthy house! My dad used to put sultanas in everything. It was a bit of a family joke. Like, you’d get to the end of an ice-cream and find sultanas sitting in the bottom of the cone. I must say I was never a fan of corned beef though!
Reannon @shewhorambles August 31, 2014 10:19PM

The other week my friend gave me a biscuit recipe & as soon as I had the dough ready it hit me- a memory but I couldn’t put my finger in it. Still can’t but I smile knowing it’s in there somewhere.
I was the fussiest of fussy eaters as a kid but whenever my mum made spag bol or a roast chook I was happy. The times we came home from school to a mountain of pikelets or a tray of toffees or a container full of weetbix slice ( mum called it nougat ) were always the best days.
I’m looking forward to seeing what you make

- Naomi Bulger September 1, 2014 7:37PM
  
  I wonder what it was in the biscuits! The way you wrote this was almost exactly the way Proust did in his famous “madeleines remembrance” piece. Pikelets… oh yes, you’ve sparked a good memory there…