Otto Pfeiffer’s food had been described as a mix and exchange of Asian and German cuisine so I was curious to see what flavours I would encounter at lunch. Naturally I expected something along the lines of Asian European fusion with the exotic meeting the familiar in the multicultural environment of ECLA. But what I found was that both the main and the dessert were closer to home than I could have imagined and the distinct taste and flavours of the dishes conjured up buried memories from my Mediterranean childhood.

The cous-cous was more similar to my grandmother’s Libyan version of the dish than anything I’ve had since she passed away, despite my aunts’ countless attempts to try conjure it up again and despite the lack of lamb in Pfeiffer’s version of the dish. I guess the most important elements were the spices and the texture which immediately sent me back eight or so years to when my grandmother would meticulously prepare the grand dish through hours of constant work which no one in my family has managed to imitate. The familiarity and recognition I felt with the first mouthful were such positive and present emotions that I’m sure that they played a big part in my judgment of the dish. In fact I wonder whether anyone enjoyed it to the extent that I did.

The sorbet, on the other hand, brought images of my grandfather rushing through my mind. Here I was eating a mixture of homemade marmalade and homemade Maltese ice cream, which my grandfather used to make in abundance thanks to the excess of oranges falling from the trees in his garden and his sweet tooth. Actually, as a child, I never liked marmalade or Maltese ice cream (which tastes nothing like gelato or soft ice cream, its more a hard block of milk, sugar and other ingredients which taste like the sorbet we had on Monday) and yet I really did eat the sorbet, maybe because it actually had nothing to do with either of my grandfather’s creations, or perhaps because in recognition of lost flavours and people I’d do anything to try gain them again.

So, perhaps oddly, lunch is what really got me thinking on the first day of this year’s SWWE. Food emerged as a tool to resuscitate memories and as a way of initiating the telling of stories, it became clear that it could be distinctly connected to past experiences and, in connecting with the senses, is capable of drawing up memories in much the same way music or images often do.

Entry by LUISA TOLU
Academy Year 2009-2010
Currently studying Commerce at University of Malta

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