Of all the sensory memories that help a person remember the past, taste is one of the most powerful. A food that one associates with a parent, a childhood, or a homeland can evoke vivid memories.And for New York City’s burgeoning immigrant population, food is a deeply evocative reminder of worlds left behind.
In this project, we explore the links between food and memory among members of the city’s immigrant population, exploring the ways that particular foods serve as links between members of different generations, a visceral reminder of an often remote and buried past. The memories sparked by familiar tastes can be painful, even wrenching, but they are nonetheless often profound.