Every family gathering or every time I visited, my grandpa would give me this specific coffee candy. When he passed at the end of last year, it made me realize how often he reached out to me through the use of food. He was also the main inspiration for this project.
There’s this one specific Vietnamese dish that was always one of my favorites. There’s no name for it in the English language but it is a steamed flat rice dough with shrimp and pork sprinkled on top. I would always get this dish from my grandma.
Throughout high school and even now when I visit home, my mom would always cut up fruit and bring it to me while I do homework. She believed eating fruit was good for your physical health and a good way to get your fiber in but it would also give you the energy to do work.
My dad would always be the person that would give me food outside of Vietnamese food. In my memory, he would always ask if I wanted chicken nuggets from McDonalds or we would get it after class when he would pick me up.
Over quarantine, me and my sister craved a lot of milk tea drinks as we were deprived of it during shelter in place. My most significant memory was when I had covid and wanted to drink mango sago so my sister brought me the drink and left it outside my door.
Growing up, my family was never the affectionate type and never really expressed their emotions clearly. Instead of the traditional love languages that are known in today’s generation, my family’s love language was giving out snacks and food. It was a way for them to show that they cared for you by making sure you were full and fed. The photos represent the members of my family that have carried this out and that have corresponding foods that my memory associates them with.