Three Cheers for Madeleine

Marcel Proust redefined the meaning of a Madeleine in his short writing The Madeleine. This tasty treat is a small cake in the shape of a shell, made from flour, eggs, butter, and sugar. Essentially, all things delicious. At least that is the first definition. Proust has created the Madeleine to have a completely separate definition, creating a symbol for something that triggers a memory. He paints a beautiful picture of a powerful flashback that is catalyzed by this tasty complex treat. It is astounding to me how many connections can be made between food and memory, and how powerful it can be. Whenever I smell a salty chicken broth smell, I will always be reminded of the rainy passover week in April when I eat Matzo Ball Soup, no matter where I am. Even when I eat soups that have that similar saltiness, I get an overwhelmingly familiar sensation, and it takes me a while to realize what it is.

Everyone has at least one food that triggers memory, many have more than one. In The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan describes the Chicken McNugget as "a madeleine in the making." He describes going to McDonalds with his family, and how the McNugget is his son's taste of childhood. It is very generous even to say that the Chicken McNugget resembles chicken, with its bland flavor and 38 ingredients, 13 of which, according to Pollan, are derived from corn. How is it that something as beautifully constructed as a Madeleine can even be put in the same sentence as a piece of fried "chicken"?Products like the Chicken McNugget have diminished any possibility to persuade kids to eat healthy. Burger King is trying, with their new apple fries, which are slices of apples shaped like french fries. Really? Has it really become necessary to shape something into a completely unnatural form for it to appeal to kids? And where did those apples come from anyway? Were they in the same refrigerated truck as the nuggets, getting cozy on the several thousand mile trek to make it to the consumers plate? Let's do the Madeleine some justice and create memories of fresh, homemade foods, not corn fried corn!