Do you ever feel just “homesick”? Like the food doesn’t taste the same, or just the opposite; as soon as you take a bite of a familiar dish your worries go away and you feel as happy as a kid eating their favorite dessert?
This is common, because our stomach and memories are more connected than you think. We recently conducted a survey and asked people about their preferences in cooking: what makes their cooking experience special? Who is involved in those special moments? And to no surprise, people shared the following:
“I cook for special people in my life. The opportunity to share a moment with them and also to share what I have”. Bismarck
“What I love about cooking is making a recipe that I thought was really hard to achieve, but when I finish, it was not that hard. It makes me feel like I can overcome obstacles that I thought I couldn’t. Another reason is that I love hearing my son saying “this is delicious! You are the best cook”. For me cooking is my way of saying I care about you”. Alondra
“I love to please my family and friends and watch their reaction to the flavors when they taste my food”. Francis
“I started cooking when I was about 12. My parents worked late, so one day I decided to cook dinner to help them out (and because I was hungry!) Lol. I remember feeling very adult and useful. Then it evolved into wanting to learn how to make delicious food, trying out new ingredients and learning about different cultures and our own history. Food is a history lesson. Look up where an ingredient or a recipe comes from, next thing you know you’re in a rabbit hole learning about migration, climates, cultural norms, political environments, society, etc. Cooking is now something I do to show affection to friends and family or challenge myself with a new technique. Cooking unexpectedly became a big aspect of my personality”. Carol
“I was taught how to cook when I was a kid and learned new thigs little by little. Now I really like it since I think it’s one of my love languages. During the pandemic I took that time to learn more and if I cook for someone it means I really appreciate him/her. My husband likes to cook too and there are some dishes only he can make right, and of course, there are some very special dishes that remind me of people who are no longer around”. Ericka
“Sometimes, if I had a bad day, or both my husband and I, had bad days, we cook together to bond, connect and try to get that bad vibe out by cooking something for us”. Megan
“When I cook for my father and brothers, I try to copy my deceased mom recipes as hard as I can, with a pinch of love and 10 teaspoons or memories from my heart”. Kelly
These comments, especially the last one made us remember the famous scene in the Ratatouille movie, when Remy serves Anton a simple ratatouille, which is so brilliant it takes him to his childhood memory of his mother’s cooking.
Another very important fact to take into consideration is that a lot of studies such as “Eat your way to happiness” conducted by the epidemiologist Felice Jacka at the University of Australia and “Healthy food choices are happy food choices” conducted by the University of Konstanz in Germany show that eating makes us happy, especially if it is healthy food.
This May, there are two special dates where people gather together to cook, eat and celebrate. Mother’s Day and Memorial Day are dates we celebrate that unite people for BBQs and pool afternoons.
We want to invite you all to tag us on your Instagram and Facebook May posts (either on Mother’s Day or Memorial Day), sharing a picture of the meal you cooked using your Carico cookware or cutlery, and telling us a bit of the story behind it, since the best recipe is where the best story is. We will hold a special contest and for those post that get the most likes and comment, they will get a Gourmet skillet with lid.
We can’t wait to see those pictures! Until then, we hope you have a blessed Mother’s Day and a warmth Memorial Day!
