Suubi and I worked together on the same team at Business School. We’re rather different, but over time have connected unexpectedly deeply. Our trip to Hawaii back in November 2018 is filled with precious memories. I’m almost immediately transported back to San Francisco when we talk; and it always comforts me knowing that Suubi is just a phone call away. This story of the smell of ginger tea and family breakfast makes me feel even closer to her.

It was one sunny Californian morning in February 2020, a little before the world started drastically changing. I was taken back to my childhood home in Kampala, Uganda. I had recently read that ginger is good for the body and helps reduce inflammation. So I slowly started adding more of it into my daily diet. On this particular day I slipped a few pieces of chopped ginger into my flask as I prepared to pack strawberry flavored tea for work. Yes, I love strawberry flavour, especially in tea or ice-cream. Oh, and in cheesecake too.

Mid-morning came and my body was craving that warm beverage. I poured some of the tea into my cup and the aroma rising from the hot tea instantly reminded me of breakfast back home in Kampala. As I brought the cup to my mouth, the smell of brown bread and blueband margarine filled the air. How is it that I could smell brown bread from Capital Shoppers Supermarket and the margarine that goes with it from about 10,000 miles away? Needless to say, blueband, a Unilever product is not available in the US!

Family breakfast in Kampala

Looking Back

A typical breakfast meal at our home would include ginger milk tea, a side of brown bread, a tropical seasonal fruit and choices of jam, margarine or butter. What made this draft of nostalgia even more surprising is, I hated ginger tea while growing up! It always gave me hiccups and I didn’t like the spicy and burning sensation it added to my tea-sipping-experience.

As I sipped my tea, I started reminiscing about the breakfast experience at home. The meals are always simple but fresh and the mornings involve lots of decision making. My siblings, parents and I usually sit at the kitchen island taking our tea with my father’s little silver radio playing in the background. As we listen to the current affairs in the country and the world at large, we also get news as to what is going on around the home. The commentary on the events in the country or from home usually makes us chuckle because there is always something funny happening!

The herdsman often comes by and gives us an update on the health and milk production of the cows. If we have run out of anything at home, it was brought up at this time. This was also the time we planned what we should have for dinner with our mother before heading off to work. We would each take turns in choosing what should be made for dinner that day; depending on what food was available. If there were also any chores that had to be done, they were handed out to us at this time and those who had slept in would find a note in the kitchen with instructions for what to do. By the time breakfast was finished, your mind was surely alert!

Looking Ahead

It is funny how all our senses are connected. My sense of smell triggered my mind into a space that I did not particularly enjoy at that time; and turned it into a beautiful memory. In that moment, the ginger tea brought such a huge smile to my face; I instantly texted my cousins telling them the same. Nowadays, I do drink ginger tea from time to time. But, I try to have some brown bread around to complete the experience.

Written by Suubi Nambwayo and edited by Jashan Sippy.

‘Food, the Feeling of Home’: A series of stories exploring nostalgia, the power of food, our memories and stories of ‘home’. Want to share your story? Send it to us at info@sugarandspace.in