The Taste Remembered. On the Extraordinary Testimony of the Women from Terezín
The Taste Remembered. On the Extraordinary Testimony of the Women from Terezín

Summary/Abstract: The article presents an attempt to combine food studies (also termedthe anthropology of food) with scholarly reflection regarding memory. The analysisfocuses on the book entitled In Memory’s Kitchen. A Legacy from the Women ofTerezin [ed. Cara de Silva 2006], containing recipes for Jewish dishes writtendown by women from the Teresienstadt ghetto. But some dozen recipes that havesurvived do not make it a cookbook, which is essentially meant to be functional. Itis more of a remembrance, a testament, and also a source of knowledge of cultureat a given point in time. It is also a testimonial document. Recipes collected by deSilva tell much about their authors. They define their roles as wives and mothers.In addition, the Terezin notes point to a culinary heritage, the religious principlesof food preparation and the social and economical conditions that shaped theculinary preferences and the diets of women locked in the ghetto. The articledemonstrates that the actions of preparing and consuming food are a constantlyrepeated practice, which is connected in a network of relationships with otherpractices. This practice it is anchored in the everyday life, embedded in the family’sbiography and fused with childhood memories. Food is presented as a signof identity, the social bond and the community of family and friends, and also asa gift that serves to uphold these ties.

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