Roy Ahn and Geoff Nicholson both attach personal and
cultural significance to food in their pieces, “Home Run: My Journey Back to
Korean Food”, and “Eating White”.
In Roy Ahn’s piece, he discusses the role that Korean food
has played throughout his life, establishing his identity as a Korean-American
over the course of many years. Using food as a representation of culture, Ahn
describes how he rejected his Korean heritage during his youth and assimilated
to American culture. He writes about how he would eat all the same things as
his American friends and found the Korean food his family ate embarrassing. He describes how he now wishes to embrace his
Korean roots and pass the culture of his ancestors on to his son. He plans to
do this specifically through food.
Geoff Nicholson writes about his mother’s cooking while he
was growing up, using the food he ate to represent his personal experience in
his family. He discusses how his mother cooked the way his father wanted to
eat, which was bland, overcooked, large amounts of meat and potatoes. He also
describes his mother’s obsession with white food and the significance that had
in his life. He associates the food he ate growing up with memories of his
family life in England.
Both authors write about food not as something they simply
eat, but as a part of who they are; a reason for why they are who they are.
Food represents something that has shaped their lives, whether it be culturally
or personally. Ahn uses food to describe how his Korean culture has been
present in his life, while Nicholson uses it to represent memories of his
childhood and how his family life impacted him personally.
I found both Ahn’s and Nicholson’s pieces very interesting
and was amazed at how food could be so central to their identities. It made me
think about my own experience with food and how it has shaped me as a person
and as an American. My mother cooked a lot growing up, influencing how I like
to think about food. It was not the particular type of food she cooked that was
memorable, but that she spent time cooking a meal for the family and we all gathered
to share in it together. When I think about my family and about the bond I have
with them, I think about sitting around the kitchen table enjoying each other’s
company and delicious, home cooked food.
