The Taste of Home

They say perfume can remind you of someone. Can a dish remind you of somewhere? It certainly can! It is said in a research that food is a "tangible means of capturing the specific nature of a certain region. People purchase food not only to physically savor it, but also to mentally imagine the identity of it" (Lin). Panda Express, Flavor of India, Ca'Dario Santa Barbara, Nikka Ramen, Kimchi Barbecue...(Am I the only one who is drooling right now?) I am constantly in shock that we are able to enjoy delicious food from all over the world in this centered coastal city-Santa Barbara-where my story took place.

On Chinese New Year Eve during my freshman year, my roommate and I went to Dumpling King in Isla Vista to celebrate the festival as dumplings are the most traditional food we eat on Chinese New Year. The moment I put that pork and green onion stuffed dumpling into my mouth and chewed on it, the juice just burst out and left my mouth with the fragrance of the juicy meat, seasoning, and the chewy dumpling skin. I was taken back to my hometown-Beijing on that Chinese New Year Eve. The TV was playing the Spring Festival Gala, my parents were hanging up the antithetical couplet, my grandparents were wrapping the dumplings on a bamboo cutting board, while I couldn’t wait to be the first one to put the fresh-out-of-pot dumpling into my mouth. I could hear the firework from outside; I could smell a full table of good Chinese food; And I could see my family standing right by my side and smiling at me. Everyone seemed so happy. As my roommate asked me for the third time: “Do you want the last dumpling?” I was back in Isla Vista. 

Now let’s all take a moment to appreciate the diversity. Thanks to this diverse environment where all types of food are brought in, we can all be in our hometown for a moment when homesick emotions rush in. Whether this “personal memory tourism involves retracing earlier journeys; revisiting favorite childhood holiday spots or returning to one's former home, school, place of work or any other personal memory site”, this sense of familiarity can sure give us some spiritual comfort when we are alone in this foreign country (Marschall). It seems to me that a taste of home relieves all the pain and assuages all my wounds. I bet not only for international students, but all of us, a taste of home is a taste of bliss. Now, where do you come from and what is your favorite dish?

Works Cited

Lin, Lin, and Pei-Chuan Mao. "Food for memories and culture--a content analysis study of food specialties and souvenirs." Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, vol. 22, Mar. 2015, pp. 19+. Gale OneFile: Contemporary Women's Issues, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A433880340/CWI?u=ucsantabarbara&sid=bookmark-CWI&xid=325d667c. Accessed 14 Oct. 2021.

Marschall, Sabine. "Off-Campus Access: Login." 'Homesick tourism': memory, identity and (be)longing, Taylor & Francis Online, 2 June 2014, www-tandfonline-com.proxy.library.ucsb.edu:9443/doi/full/10.1080/13683500.2014.920773?scroll=top&needAccess=true. Accessed 14 Oct. 2021.