Do you have a favorite food or snack that instantly brings you comfort or a sense of well-being? Comfort food can come in different flavors, fat content, and caloric density, and I have many on my list. What comfort food is to you does not only depend on which part of the world you grew up in, but it’s also heavily influenced by the memories you’ve created with specific foods, tastes, and flavors.
The smell of freshly baked apples can evoke different emotions and reactions in different individuals. In one person, this scent alone can be sufficient to resonate with childhood memories of happiness and family, while in another, it might evoke any range of emotions. This can vary from no emotions at all to something more extreme, such as disgust.
While these links are unique from person to person, Mexico as a country has successfully used food as part of its cultural heritage for centuries. In alignment with this understanding, in 2010, UNESCO declared Mexican cuisine as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The link between food, memory, and culture has been preserved as a comprehensive cultural framework passed down through generations.
For many Mexicans, food, especially the ones associated with a specific season, celebration, or tradition, can be a powerful trigger. They evoke a sense of nostalgia as well as both a personal and communal sense of identity. The specific flavors, aromas, and textures are “unforgettable” and anchor a sense of “home.” The smells and flavors of Mexican heritage are incredibly diverse, often combining ancient indigenous ingredients with influences from Spanish, African, and Asian trade routes.
With the Day of the Dead celebration just behind us, you probably have seen or even tried the famous pan de muerto recently. While Mexico doesn’t lack in its variety of “pan dulce” or sweet bread, you can only indulge in “pan de muerto” during the few weeks preceding the Day of the Dead celebrations.
It’s a unique variation of a sweet bread that separates a special occasion from the everyday. With its unique orange blossom flavor, pan de muerto provides a clear distinction between the expected, familiar flavors of everyday bread and this very specific, often time-consuming, recipe reserved for this special celebration.
For those enjoying pan de muerto, these celebratory tastes carry a collective memory. The symbolism behind the pan de muerto represented in flavor, form, and traditions, further reinforces this collective memory. Its round shape represents the cycle of life and death. The crossed strips of dough on top often symbolize the bones of the deceased or the four cardinal directions. Traditionally, the scent of the “azahar” or orange blossom is used as a direct sensory pathway for returning spirits and their living relatives alike.
The reason taste and smell are such powerful memory triggers is neurological. The olfactory and gustatory signals travel directly to the brain’s limbic system, which is the ancient part of the brain responsible for emotion and memory formation. Unlike the other senses (sight, sound, touch), the chemical senses of smell and taste have a more direct neural pathway to the amygdala, which processes emotional responses, and then to the hippocampus, which forms and retrieves long-term memories. This creates a fast, strong, and highly emotional link to the memory.
While positive nostalgia is the most common association, food memories can also trigger strong negative emotions, which is why not everyone has the same reaction, appreciation, and enjoyment of certain foods. Essentially, we like or dislike foods based on our food memories.
For some of my local friends, indulging in pan de muerto feels like an “apapacho,” which literally translates to a “hug for the soul.” If you’ve tried one and you did not feel like your soul was being hugged, don’t despair. That’s normal since you probably don’t have the same nostalgic resonance to a pan de muerto that would induce an “apapacho” feeling.
If you’d like to start creating your own relationship with this delicious bread or any other food, really, you can train your brain for it. This process is driven by the brain’s incredible capacity for neuroplasticity, through its ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections.
As for myself, bread, sweet or salty, offers a natural “apapacho” effect on my soul, compliments of the French influence on Mauritian cuisine. This year, I’ve indulged in too many pan de muertos to count and too many delicious flavors to pick a favorite. My ultimate pan de muerto apapacho, however, comes from stuffing plain ones with Manchego cheese, a flavor combination often not understood in these parts of the world, but to me, it is the ultimate comfort. What’s your food apapacho?
Naailah Auladin for more on my work: www.naailahauladin.com or reach me on WhatsApp at: +52 612 141 8002
Naailah Auladin is a life and relationship doula in La Paz, specializing in guiding individuals and families during periods of emotional trauma, crisis, and mental unrest. She focuses on teaching and inspiring individuals to take responsibility and ownership in participating in their civic duties, prioritizing the well-being of the self-first, as she believes that fostering and maintaining well-managed emotional, mental, and physical health is our primary civic duty.
