Ahh, nostalgia. Nostalgia is the affection for the past whether it be a place, period of time, TV show or most importantly, food. Some of us might have a movie that brings us back to our childhood; others might have a holiday spot that they used to go on family holidays every summer, but all of us have a certain dish that evokes the feeling of nostalgia like no other.
Whether it be grandma’s chicken pie or a falafel that you could get from a food cart down the street, it would be that one dish (or many dishes) that brings you back home to the arguably simpler times filled with less quizzes, finals, essays and homework, and more family time, hearty happiness, and definitely more of being really full.
I asked GW students what their nostalgic dishes are and here’s what they had to say:
Amanda Etemad
Photo courtesy of Amanda Etemad
Year: Class of 2019
Major: International Affairs, concentration in Conflict Resolution
Hometown: Northfield, New Jersey
Photo by Amanda Etemad
Before introducing us to her dish, Amanda was clearly flattered by the impending appearance on Spoon as can be seen with her first response of: “I feel famous.”
“The one dish that makes me nostalgic is the buffalo chicken pizza from South End Pizza in Margate, New Jersey. It’s not homemade, but it’s really special to me because it reminds me of home since it’s walking distance from the beach I always go to. The pizza makes me happy because whenever I go to the beach with my friends we always get this pizza. The taste is amazing and I can actually appreciate every part of the taste because it’s sweet and not too spicy and I can always top it with ranch or blue cheese dressing. Also, this place delivers so that’s prime.”
Peak Sen Chua
Photo courtesy of Peak Sen Chua
Year: Class of 2019
Major: Undeclared, intended double major in Public Health & Political Science
Hometown: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Photo courtesy of RasaMalaysia.com
Peak Sen brings us a classic dish from the Southeast Asian nation, Malaysia, with his nostalgic dish of ‘wantan mee’, which is an egg noodle dish with pork wantons and Chinese roast pork (‘char sieu’) served either with soup on the side or in soup.
“There was something about the soup and the char siew that was so good. The guy that cooked it was super old and he retired so he left along with the oldness of the place before a contemporary grocery company took over the entire building lot”.
Bethany Perez
Year: Class of 2018
Major: Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
Hometown: London, United Kingdom & Lafayette, Louisiana
Photo courtesy of www.louisianatravel.com
Bethany hails from a bunch of different places but her nostalgic dish is one of Louisiana’s signature dishes: gumbo.
“My mom’s side of the family is from Louisiana so we used to go to visit all the time and grandma would always make us gumbo with crawfish and boudin. My grandma taught my mom to make gumbo so whenever I go home that’s what we always eat and it’s major comfort food. Gumbo is a Cajun stew and it usually has a lot of different types of proteins in it (usually chicken, sausage, and/or shrimp/crawfish) and you usually eat it over rice with corn and cornbread. Sometimes you can find okra in it too.”
Antonia Freire
Photo courtesy of Antonia Freire
Year: Class of 2017
Major: Marketing
Hometown: Berkeley Heights, New Jersey; Long Island, New York & Melo, Uruguay
Photo courtesy of smittenkitchen.com
When asked which food makes her feel nostalgic, Antonia (or Toni) immediately answers with, “Damn. That’s a heavy question. It’s so hard to pick one!” Completely understandable – but she eventually introduces us to her nostalgic dish: her mom’s pumpkin muffins.
“The first food I thought of were the pumpkin muffins from Deb (my mom) on Thanksgiving morning. That’s my favorite holiday and waking up to the smell of those muffins always got me so excited. It’s also the only time of year she makes them. And it’s funny because she makes them from a box but because she makes them every year and only once, it became more of a sentimental tradition.”
Annabel Epstein
Photo courtesy of Annabel Epstein
Year: Class of 2018
Major: Journalism and Mass Communication
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Photo courtesy of kathrinsfoodielife.wordpress.com
Annabel starts off by declaring that “all [her] childhood foods are weird”, like the scrambled eggs with vermicelli that her nanny used to cook her.
“But let’s go with rice pudding. My mom always made it for me on Saturday. It was my all-time favorite breakfast/dessert in one. It’s warm rice pudding, topped with cherries; it’s sweet and in Germany, they call it milchreis. It’s made by cooking short grain rice on the stovetop in milk with sugar and vanilla.”
Karl Pederson
Photo courtesy of Karl Pederson
Year: Class of 2019
Major: Political Science
Hometown: Scottsdale, Arizona
Photo by Amanda Fung
Karl introduces us to his dad’s homemade macaroni/tomato soup/ground beef concoction in his nostalgic dish that doesn’t seem to have a name.
“It’s a hot dish with tomato soup, elbow macaroni, and ground beef. You basically throw it all together and mix it up. My dad’s family makes it. It brings me back to when I was young and my family would all sit around a huge pot of this stuff on special occasions or just even week nights.”
Davone Morales
Photo courtesy of Davone Morales
Year: Class of 2018
Major: Journalism and Mass Communications
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Photo by Amanda Fung
LA born-and-raised Davone grew up in an El Salvadorian household with two of his favorite things: his dog and his grandmother’s Pupusas. Pupusas are thick handmade corn tortillas usually filled with seasoned ground pork and cheese cooked to the consistency of refried beans or mashed potatoes. They are sometimes also served with a traditional Salvadoran sausage.
“I grew up eating the traditional Salvadoran dish, Pupusas, with my family. I don’t have them as often anymore being away at college. However, whenever I am feeling homesick I go to the El Rinconcito Cafe in Mount Vernon Square. I purchase at least three Pupusas and it instantly reminds me of the countless times I have eaten them with my family at our dining room table.”
Milan Gary
Photo by Ashley Le
Year: Class of 2016
Major: Fine Arts & Art History
Hometown: Exeter, New Hampshire
Photo courtesy of www.supperforasteal.com
Her artworks aren’t the only masterpieces in her life.
Her dad makes his special Mac and Cheese with “extra sharp cheddar, pasta, cheddar cheese soup, butter, salt and pepper.” “He makes it every holiday and during summer barbecues and it’s unreal.”
Becca Neteler
Photo courtesy of Becca Neteler
Year: Class of 2019
Major: Business Administration, undecided concentration
Hometown: Scranton, Pennsylvania
Photo courtesy of www.recipeshubs.com
While pizza is a quick dinner for some of us, it does more than fill Becca’s stomach. It brings her back home and reminds her of the lack of great pizzas in DC.
“I’d have to say pizza, really any pizza in general, but especially the mozzarella with tomatoes and basil, thin crust. I usually get a margarita pizza from Kings Restaurant back home.”
Stacy Oentoro
Photo courtesy of Stacy Oentoro
Year: Class of 2017
Major: International Economics
Hometown: Jakarta, Indonesia
Photo courtesy of www.zmescience.com
Disclaimer: Stacy’s dish is highly controversial and she wants everyone to know that whilst she did enjoy it as a child (hence, the nostalgia), she knows about the consequences of it now and never eats/drinks it anymore. She starts her answer to my question off with “super controversial but I can’t lie…”
“Probably my grandmother’s shark fin soup because 1) it’s homemade and 2) she cooks it every time all her grandkids are all back together, so it would be something she cooks every Chinese New Year. The dish is thick, warm, also has strands of chicken and mushroom in it and it’s cooked to absolute perfection. It makes me nostalgic because that’s a tradition that started even before I was born, and it’s almost symbolic of the eternal nature of family. Everything changes; things come and go; but family’s always got your back and where there is family, there’s this FREAKING amazing homemade shark fin soup made by my grammy.”
Jon Weigell
Photo courtesy of Jon Weigell
Year: Class of 2016
Major: Journalism and Mass Communication
Hometown: Long Island, New York
Photo courtesy of www.unitednationsoffood.com
His heart and passport say The United States of America, but his stomach says Turkey.
“A dish that really brings me back is called burek. It’s a Turkish dish that my mom would always make and it’s essentially a kind of fried pastry stuffed with cheese and spinach or cheese and beef; either way, it’s delicious. It really brings be back because I spent my first 5 birthdays in Turkey with family and every time I do go to Turkey, me and my family always go out to get it in Istanbul. Just the smell of it makes me think of my family and all the love I have for them and Turkey in general.”
Noah Thomas
Photo courtesy of Noah Thomas
Year: Class of 2019
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Hometown: Singapore, Singapore; Bangalore, India & Dallas, Texas
Photo by Amanda Fung
With parts of his heart and soul in Singapore, Rochester, Dallas, Malaysia, India and now D.C., Noah’s life is nothing less than multi-cultural, but the one dish that’s enough to bring him back to his roots is the unique Malaysian dish, nasi lemak. Nasi lemak (directly translates from Malay to ‘fat rice’ in English) is a coconut rice dish served with a side of a chili paste, deep fried anchovies, salted and fried peanuts, cucumbers, a boiled egg, and either a piece of fried chicken or beef rendang.
“My favorite nasi lemak comes from this shop in Klang, Malaysia near my grandma’s house. It is a small part of a much larger open food court style complex owned by this little old Malay woman who makes the best nasi lemak I’ve ever had! Nasi lemak is nostalgic to me because for years I had never liked it and then around the age of 13 or 14, I reluctantly tried a bit of the nasi lemak my father had gotten for breakfast that day and it completely blew my mind how good it was!
I don’t know what happened but I suddenly loved it and I made him drive back down to the shop to order more for me. From that moment on, it was always one of the dishes I looked forward to most when my family would travel back to Malaysia. I mean, don’t get me wrong, my Ammachi’s (grandma’s) cooking was always the best, but she never made nasi lemak so there’s that.”