HABR | A Plate Called Home

The table is set: plate after plate overflowing with hummus, baba ghanoush, labneh, olives, cheese, meat, grape leaves, sambosak, dates, tabbouleh. Inviting aromas waft through the air: mint, parsley, citrus, yoghurt, bulgur. The food of my culture and my childhood remains with me as I remember my family and dream of home. As we grow, we absorb our culture, and it shapes us in more ways than we realize.  Our cultures influences the smells we like, the tastes that delight us, the music that we prefer and the voices we like to hear. These preferences become part of our identities, even if we leave behind the places that helped instill them in us.