How does the author use various food references to anchor you to specific locations, memories, and cultures? Which foods in the book were the most memorable to you and why?

Food is a prominent motif throughout the memoir. How does the author use various food references to anchor you to specific locations, memories, and cultures?

Which foods in the book were the most memorable to you and why?

I am totally ignorant about Korean foods. Thus, the food references were, for the most part, over my head. I'm sure for someone with knowledge of these foods, they would have had intense meaning.

I’m not familiar with Korean foods either. So, the specific food references were new to me. It was interesting to read about the different foods and the culture.

I loved that, as a child, Michelle was willing to eat anything. Her mother encouraged this by telling her to just try a bite. We also had that rule with our children and they have grown up to enjoy many different things. The item that stands out most in my mind is the live (although deconstructed) octopus tentacles. I don't think I could have eaten those!

I wish I knew how to pronounce the names of the many foods or what they were. I find that foods of your culture or your parents' culture carry very significant meaning and memories. I think I most connected with my first, and so far only, visit to H Mart where I felt as though I stepped into a store in another country rather than a 15 minute drive away from my home. I was disgusted by many of the foods I saw
(packaged chicken feet!) but also understood that these foods could be important to those from Asian countries. I have fond memories of cooking and baking with my Mom, so I think the author paid her mother a great tribute.

I thought the food descriptions began to take away from the story rather than add to it. Anything fermented or purposely spoiled was very foreign to me.

Michelle Zauner describes Korean foods with such specific, sensory details that she makes the dishes come alive in her writing, even to someone like me who has had little exposure to Korean food. The many exotic ingredients, the care with which they are prepared, and the shared sensory experience of eating them together all serve to emphasize the depth of her mother's love for her and the importance of their Korean heritage. Learning to prepare Korean foods herself helps Michelle to feel connected again to her mother after her passing.

I am such a “tradition American eater”. With that said, I marveled at the list of Korean foods. I don’t know if I would be brave enough to try all of them, but maybe a few.

I am a fan of ethnic foods, but I'm not Korean. Like earlier people posted, I think the descriptions of Korean food and recipes were way too much. They took away from the book for me as I didn't understand the names and the ingredients of a lot of the recipes. I guess if I had more experience with Korean food, I might have enjoyed reading about food that I knew. But there was so much talk about eating and making Korean food that was lost to me.

I agree with several of the others that the food descriptions and references were too much. I did not like reading about the food or the ingredients or the preparation.

Even though I live in an area with many Asian cultures I am not versed in their food culture from a cultural standpoint. Looking some of them up for further explanation was interesting however.

Sensory memory is strong in all of us and in a culture where food plays such an important part of every day life as well as the points in time where celebrations are held..this made sense to me. She remembers the smells, the textures and the ties to her mother's love for her.
Not from an Asian culture but I am a southerner where food also plays a big part in our culture and sense of identity. I appreciated her way of making us a part of her memories and having visited Korea (and having a Korean son-in-law) I could almost taste and remember each of those foods and places.