The Smell of Lunch
Writing about the cucumber sandwiches the other day brought to mind all the memories of going to grammar school. It was a small Catholic school and it didn’t have a working cafeteria. We ate lunch at the bingo tables that were set up in the gym/auditorium. Of course they had bingo tables; it was a Catholic school.
Since we couldn’t buy lunch, everyone brown bagged their mid day meal. Some kids had lunch boxes, but it was easier for my mother to pack me a sandwich wrapped in foil and placed into a Garden State Farms bag.
The interesting thing about a brown bag lunch is that when you get to school, your sandwich is still cold, but as the morning advances the sandwich gets warmer and starts off-gassing. By 10:00AM you can smell what is in the bag. The food smells waft out of the rack or cubby hole under your seat.
It would be a game to guess what was for lunch. Every sandwich possess its own scent. Think back and you will distinctively know the difference in the scent of tuna as compared to bologna as compared to peanut butter and jelly as compared to bacon lettuce as compared to egg salad...
I recently packed a sack lunch when I had to go out of town for a day. The scent of the sandwich wafted through my truck. I could smell the bread and the mayo and the turkey breast and the tomatoes. It stimulated my appetite so much I had to indulge before I got half way to my destination.
I know of people who have lost their sense of smell and I feel sad for them because they are missing out on the best of what food has to offer.
posted by The Guy Who Writes This at 6:24 AM
11 Comments:
And that would explain why, as a kid, my tummy started growling well before lunch hour.
Another great prompt for memories of my past. I also remember my mother always packed a special treat with my lunch.
I packed my own lunch starting in 1st grade. I'm pretty sure I had a peanut butter sandwich every day for twelve years.
I still like them.
Well, yeah, as long as you don't have to watch anyone, including yourself eat the sandwich!
Nothing like the smell & taste of a homemade Italian sub for traveling, lots of'em:)
The only time my mother made my lunch she pour Captain Crunch into a brown bag and dropped in a can of coke. She did her best to be a good mom but nutrition was not her forte.
Beth, what is your favorite?
Jaggy, nice fragerence, in deed.
Lori, If you eat near a mirror you'll probably be eating in a bath room. Not a good idea.
Mike, I agree, but it needs oil, vinegar and onions.
CCF, you win, you're mother was a worse cook than mine.
I will not torture you with a description of her attempt at a thanksgiving dinner. The one thing she could make from scratch with great success, I am told, is a rum cake that would knock your socks of.
Packed in tin foil Guy? I knew it...rich kid. Ours were packed in wax paper and the milk was in a mayo jar with another piece of wax paper under the lid to keep it from leaking.
moosehead, I suppose you had two rocks for dessert too. Guy had twinkies, I know it. Or Ho Ho's.
CCF, that would be a good story for your blog.
Moosehead, Yeah, I know and you had to walk through the snow 10 miles and up hill both ways...
Auntie, actually I didn't get dessert. That was only on very rare occasions did we ever have it, like during Thanksgiving. We used to leave the school grounds and visit the candy shop across the street from the school. Here is that story Topnic's
My favourite? As a kid, peanut butter and jam (easy to please).
Now, chicken with lettuce and mayo.
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