Mom's Food: Why does it taste better?

We all know this fact.

Mom's food is the closest thing we have to near-heaven experience that we mere mortals have. One can always relate to mother for some things thing; nourishment, satisfaction with food and nurturing nature that she so embodies. I have often wondered, I have eaten in many places in India and outside India, why does there is a certain appeal that is only there in food prepared by my mother? Why is it that mother's food is the one which appeals to us so strongly? What does mother do to the food? WHY IS IT SO DAMN FINGER-LICKINGLY LIP-SMACKINGLY DELICIOUS?

The answer to this perhaps lies in the way humans have evolved. Food has always been a VERY integral part to our evolution. I do not need to quote sources, when I say this. But still. Food.

C'mon, FOOD.Yes. F- O - O - D. Nourishment. Something that well-off people take for granted. Food is the eternal hope for survival, the fuel of activity and a source of joy.

Man(along with Woman) realised it LONG ago, that Food holds ever important position for survival. That is why we (humans) were the first one to develop cultivation techniques.

Back to my original topic. Mom and food made by Mom.

What we taste when mom serves us hot food is not merely the mixture of delicate spices and such, it isn't her 100 year old secret recipe passed on by her great grandmother, it isn't even the new imported masaala that she brought last week because you were coming home. It is the taste of SECURITY.

Security, yes. Mother's food can always be trusted.

Try this. Whenever next time you go to a restaurant observe people around you when the waiter brings you food. There always is a cursory glance by the said person over the food. There is an evolutionary mistrust associated with a stranger serving you with food. This however NEVER happens with one's mother. Or even someone else's mother sometimes.

So taste that extra helping of food sprinkled with evolutionary security for the food. And Enjoy!