Few things get my memory going like food. I love that a certain taste (or smell) can transport you back in time to a memory you can almost touch it’s so real. Music is the same. While I can think of many songs that bring me back to a certain memory, no sound does so quite like the taste (and smell) of “Papa’s Soup”.
This hearty bowl of flavour is a recipe handed down from my grandfather (Papa). While his mom, Grandma Demeyere, was the original creator of the soup, some of my fondest family memories revolve around the dish, my papa at the stove. I’m pretty sure it’s Belgian- the hearty meal has potatoes, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes and highly coveted meatballs. I picture it as something she’d feed my grandpa and his brothers, after they came in from a long day playing out in the snow.
In my time, we usually had the soup on New Year’s Day. All my siblings and cousins would head to my Nana and Papa’s house, down the snowy driveway into the warm, lit kitchen where we’d sit around the table and throw back several bowls of soup. Every year, my Papa would make more and more meatballs (which was good because my brother would eat a lot of them).
When I was little, I’d try to convince an adult or big kid to play a game with me. When I was older, the cousins would hole up in the basement and watch the top videos of the previous year on Much Music or something to that effect. When I was older than that, the tradition stopped.
These things happen but I still love coming home to a fresh pot of Papa’s soup (thanks mom) on a chilly day like today.