Vida in Portuguese means life, but it is often used in everyday language as a term labeling your significant other. When I first heard it, I found it insanely touching: the idea of calling the person you love your literal life, carries within itself a very deep implication about how valuable the other human being can be. If the text above already is making you feel that love is in the air, let me take you down to earth now, because today’s topic is not as romantic as you may think - but no less passionate. After all, it is about love… towards food.
To me, vida is the perfect label for food, circling in a love triangle - life is love, love is food, food is life. From my personal experience, I believe that foodies are people with the most passion for life, because they love to live, and they savour life. They see food as something more than just fuel, lengthening your being. To them, with food come emotions and experiences. Think about travelling; how many times have you been to a different place around the world, and tasted some ‘specialities’? In food, there is a history written, a history of people tied to their culture and origin; food holds memories like the Le Creuset pot keeps warmth - long.
The other day, I was sitting in the classroom waiting for the tutorial when one of my classmates came in. We never really exchanged more than small talk, but this time it was different - and it was all because of food. He is of Malaysian descent, and when he mentioned Nasi Lemak, a popular Malaysian dish, our eyes lit up, and the conversation took off. We were discussing the ’flavours’ that make this dish so good, and I immediately felt like I was again standing in the queue in Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown waiting for it.
You know what they say - the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. So next time, if you want to fall in love, start there (but ask for allergies first).
Rita Wiśniewska, third-year European Law student