Taste as Memory: From Lotus in 'Odyssy' to Home-Cooked Meals
Creatrip Team
25 days ago
Food photographer Kim Ji-hoon reflects on how taste triggers memory, sparked by Christopher Nolan’s film Odyssy where the lotus (lotos) erases Odysseus’s memories. In contrast, familiar Korean home foods—doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew), kimchi, rice wrapped in gim (seaweed), namul (seasoned vegetables), and banchan (side dishes)—have the power to revive multi-generational memories. Kim notes that dishes once considered old-fashioned, like yakgwa (traditional honey cookies), tteok (rice cake), ssuk (mugwort), and black sesame, are being rediscovered by younger people. His long experience photographing everyday meals shows that mundane, familiar scenes—old bowls, a steaming ttukbaegi (earthenware pot), or a simple tray—hold deep emotional resonance. While some tastes in fiction erase memory, real-life flavors often bring us back to places and times we thought were lost.
