The Calming Comfort in a Can of Campbell's

campbellwarhol
Originally uploaded by wari_aktiv.

I learned that nostalgia tastes better than anything else..."

Sometimes its the simplest thing that gets you satisfied.

During the course of my entire life, I've found myself going in and out of restaurants, for dinner, for lunch, and even for breakfast.

Sometimes I'm with someone, sometimes I'm alone, and sometimes I'm with friends.

Sometimes I pay my way, and sometimes I get treated.

And every single time, I learn something new.

Like how good dimsum tastes with dry white wine.

Or how you can enjoy a mound of raw, uncooked beef.

Or even how, like the Portuguese, you can eat just olives, because you can pop them in your mouth like peanuts.

Its no surprise then, that over the years, I've become somewhat spoiled when it comes to whatever gets put on my plate.

I know I should be thankful, and perhaps that makes me one of the lucky ones, but you have to admit, even the best food becomes tiring after you get used to it.

Lately, I've found myself getting weary, over meals that would cost the average working man a month's salary, and I'd have to admit, I'm both ashamed and a little bit scared.

Ashamed because no matter how you look at it, food is an enormous blessing, and should never be taken for granted.

And scared because at twenty three, food doesn't really have the same wonder that it used to have, just because I've "been there, done that."

Now, I'm not scared nor ashamed anymore. The funny thing is, the most recent revelation I've had with food happened to be something that was loaded with preservatives, far from fresh, and came in a can.

It was a bowl of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup, and it was "Mmm, mmm, good".

When I was a child, I'd remember whenever my nanny or my mom would heat up a can of mushroom soup, I'd come running into the kitchen, spoon in hand, ready to finish it.

This was because as a kid, Cream of Mushroom soup was my absolute favorite thing in the whole wide world.

I'd take a bowl of soup, and pour it over a hill of just cooked white rice, and mix it, until it becomes a perfect, steaming bowl of sticky, thick, and delicious mushroom-rice porridge. It was my comfort food, and it always managed to put a smile on my face.

But as I grew older, my taste for this treat was gone, swept away and forgotten over plates of foie gras, steak tartare, and truffles. I had moved on to better things, so I thought, and continued onward with culinary adventures that managed to surprise my tounge and hurt my wallet.

And before I knew it, I had become jaded... Until a few hours ago, when I came home to a near empty cupboard with an almost empty stomach to match.

Until I spotted a solitary can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup.

Half smirking, I opened it up and cooked it, just like my mom used to make, with half a can of milk, and half a can of water. I placed it in a bowl, and started to eat. Then I learned something yet again.

I learned that nostalgia tastes better than anything else.

Suddenly I was a kid again, spoon in hand, sitting in front of the T.V. with nothing but a steaming bowl of soup to keep me company.

No amount of goose liver could come even close to that.

Because sometimes, the food that you remember can bring you the memories that you've forgotten, comforting you in the same way that a warm blanket will in a frigid room.

That's why it tastes so good.

And that's why I'm heading straight to the grocery tomorrow, first thing in the morning.

Because I think I'll have a box of macaroni n' cheese for lunch.