Spaghetti with Meatballs

What is it about a food memory? Sometimes when I am reminded of a certain food-- be it anything-- I just can't seem to get it out of mind. It is embarrassing to admit, because I think I am the only one who probably sometimes watches Full House, ever since I saw an episode where Michelle was eating Spaghetti with Meatballs, it has been stuck in my mind. I just couldn't get rid of the image of that little girl spooning the noodles into her mouth with most of it landing on her lap. Since that episode I have been craving spaghetti with meatballs.

Herein lies a problem. My image of the spaghetti is what my mother would rarely make back home in Kolkata. The meat sauce she would make would be a spicy sauce without using too many tomatoes. This was the dilemma in my mind. I was craving spaghetti with meatballs but I didn't realize until later on that it was my mother's version that I was dying for.

This weekend I had the opportunity to finally satisfy my deep desire. I went for lunch to a restaurant called DownCity on Pine Street and lo and behold, there was Spaghetti with meatballs! I know I am going on and on about this simple yet perplexing situation. I felt that I had to write this and share it with others. I ordered the spaghetti and as usual the sauce was a heavily tomatoed sauce, which I am not particularly fond of. But eating it made me realize something. How powerful food is. It is one of those elements of your life that sometimes feels seemingly unimportant but is actually one of my sole reasons for living.

Food has so much control over our moods, personality and sometimes even relationships. This petty experience really did open my eyes up.