Taste of emotion

Remy, the protagonist of Disney's Ratatouille, experiencing flavor through all the senses

In the most powerfully moving part of the movie, the food critic Anton Ego is transported to the kitchen of his childhood upon tasting the eponymous dish, another salvific meal from the art world. When the same flavors jolt him back into the present, where he sits at his table in the restaurant he's reviewing, he is overcome by the flavors and the pen he is using to take notes falls from his hand. This scene lasts mere seconds, but contains what is to me the essence of the film - that food is not simply fuel (at least not for the more fortunate of the human race). Rather it can evoke memory and emotion with each flavor (individually and combined).



There are many many instances from film and literature that show us the healing, saving, transforming, or otherwise inspiring power of a meal (such as the one I cited in a post around Thanksgiving from Jim Welch's The Heartsong of Charging Elk).

In another call for comments, I'd like to know about a meal from a book or movie that has stayed with you...