Ahn and Nicholson

P2: Read the two pieces by Ahn and Nicholson. What cultural and personal significance do the authors attach to food? Compare how they do so? Did reading these pieces remind you of your own connection to food, and if so how?

 

Both authors, Ahn and Nicholson, utilize a fair amount of cultural and personal significance in their pieces of work.  For both authors, the type of food discussed reminds them of their past and their native lands to some extent.  They also discuss how their deceased parents influenced (or attempted) what they ate growing up.  For Ahn, the Korean food he talks about is primarily to retain his roots in his native culture, while growing up in the U.S., and doing the same for his son.  He explains how it helped him grow towards his Korean roots when he was growing farther apart from his native culture.  Ahn also says that one way he wishes to instill his Korean heritage on his son is through Korean cuisine.

                Nicholson on the other hand discusses how “white food” (literally food that is white) reminds him of his mother and that he eats a standard meal that he and his mother would eat every now and then to remember her.  He is a British man living in L.A., but he grew up in England.  Even though America is known for certain “white food” products like Wonder Bread, everything he mentions is British-made and tastes very different than the American counterpart.  In this sense, he connects “white food” to England, but he mainly connects it to his mother.  She would only eat white, plain meals.  He had many theories as to why this was, but he does not know if any are close to being correct.

                As previously stated, both authors discuss cultural and personal significance to a certain food, however they each took a different approach.  Ahn related food more to culture, his Korean culture, with quite a bit of emphasis on his past and family.  Nicholson discussed more about his family and past with a little bit of focus on his culture. 

                These pieces reminded me a lot of my connection to food, Ahn more so than Nicholson.  When I was in the fourth grade my family moved to Krakow, Poland.   At the time no one really knew English and the only American food we could find was at McDonald’s or at a military base in Germany.  We all loved Polish food, it really is good.  Even though as Americans we see our food as pretty simple to make (like burgers, hotdogs, etc..) Europeans are really not good at making it themselves.  So when we would either go to the base or return home, we would cherish every bite of real American cuisine, be it fast-food or a plain steak.  Even now we remember what it was like then and appreciate the food we have here more than we ever did before.