Sometimes you just lose yourself. The setting was terribly romantic - I’m sure that contributed to it. I was in the ‘Land of Love’ - Italy -
seated at a small table under a lush canopy of grapevines on the side of a cobbled street, washed orange with the evening sun. I was wearing a floaty red dress and the Mediterranean warmth had dissolved any muscle tension that I’d acquired over the previous few months.
He was sitting opposite. And I was practically drooling.
It was the vision that first wet my appetite. Not pretentious but an element of care had been taken. And then a subtle aroma. But it was that first taste when I knew I was in trouble. All the juices started flowing...
This bowl of pasta was unlike anything I’d ever had before in my life. It was so ridiculously simple, so fresh, so original. Every mouthful was like tasting sweet love for the first time. The home-made pasta ribbons, the fresh smell of wild sage, the locally produced olive oil - oh the olive oil - and finally... finally... the generous shavings of white truffles.
I didn’t speak to my partner for the whole meal because, yes, I was having a love affair with this bowl of pasta. I’m not even a massive pasta lover – but, of course, they say you haven’t really tasted pasta unless you’ve been to Italy. And it was transformative for me on that front, for sure. I have never paid so much attention to every mouthful of a meal – I ate with such attention, caressing each mouthful like I was never going to eat again.
This was a real stand-out food memory for me. This dinner sums up a wonderful evening in a beautiful holiday spot that my partner and I shared. The fact that we didn’t speak for the whole meal didn't matter - we just soaked up the atmosphere of the evening, every sense saturated.
❤️ This Valentine's Day Tell a Food Story ❤️
We can’t go out to dinner this Valentine’s, so re-create a special memory at your own dining table that will awaken your senses and recall good times. Let yourself linger in those times that have fed your soul and warmed your heart. What are memories for, if they are not to be recalled and remembered? Cook, share, laugh, remember and feel how nourishing this can be in itself. And if you’re on your own, make a special evening just for you, because love is just as much about nourishing the self as it is about that other.
If the body and mind are linked, so it follows that the senses and memory are too. We have receptor sites in our cells whose job is to remember sensations. So by using our senses to trigger happy memories, we can literally ‘tap into’ those sensations again and feel the swell in the heart center or those butterflies in the stomach.
How we eat our food and with what emotion has a physiological effect on our wellbeing. So make sure this Valentine’s you get a good dollop of self-triggered wellbeing!
My fiancé and I have been boxed up together for nearly a year now, day in, day out. We’ve had dinner almost every night together. This Valentine’s Day, we will be trying to recreate that pasta dish to re-ignite that wonderful memory and be transported from Lockdown Grey to La Dolce Vita. Of course, the pasta won’t taste quite as extraordinary as it did that summer, but it will remind us that, however tough things are now, we will make more memories – the stuff of life. I might even grace my fiancé with some sparkling conversation this time round (if he’s lucky!)
So light some candles, put on some good music, get that special menu ready and make use of your strongest asset this Valentine’s – your mind.
Sending loving and healing vibes and Happy Valentines to you all! N x
I really believe that HOW you eat and with WHAT MINDSET is a HUGE part of our nutritional health. Want to know more about the connection between the mental and the physical in terms of Nutrition? These might interest you:
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