Palatable Memory

Past travel experiences, often contain food related highlights. A warm, freshly baked waffle cone served at the San Diego Zoo, an introduction to whipped cream chocolate mousse at the Hotel Del Coronado, Sally Lund’s Buns in Bath, England, and cotton candy, popcorn, fried-dough, and ice cream creations from theme parks, all serve up an aromatic, delectable, culinary vision of unhealthy sweet memories. Recreating these tasty experiences while occupying an adult body, tasty treats may lose their fanfare, leaving depression, fat, and low self-esteem in their wake. Fantasy-filled memories of food, the aroma, sensation upon the palette, and colorful creation, translate into a perception of perfection that may change over time.

Vacations transform senses, replenish the relaxation drought, reintroduce depleted joy, and expose our day-to-day life to different experiences, sparking and jarring us from our comfort zone. Happiness easily washes away when we stay and color within the lines of life. Crossing into new territory is necessary to recharge deadened, lazy, low-energy batteries. Removing ourselves from our environment, taking a different route from norms, and challenging oneself with new endeavors, foods, and environments help relinquish same-old, same-old, and light fires within our hearts, minds, and souls.

Therefore, vacations promote elements of change, enabling new experiences to awaken the senses. When novel tastes reveal themselves to our palette, they create greater excitement consciously and subconsciously. New foods that sweeten sensations can carry a long-term memory heightened by awareness, illuminating the experience beyond possible repetition. Attempting to recreate that palpable moment may be disappointing. The parameters setting the stage for a specific tasting experience are sometimes unrepeatable, as the people, timing, do-over actions are dissimilar.

Hence, a memory is just a memory, living its life of fortitude, happily within one’s mind and heart. Taste memories, although dauntingly delectable cannot replace the feelings that correlate with the experience, the where and when, the how and who, and are often greater than the what. Attempting to create repeatable food memories may be fruitless and impede the initial memory from original grandeur. Each food experience contains a different palette from which to paint. Accepting this helps form new memories while leaving the past behind and creates a tasting palette of a different color.