Food, memories, and migration: MultiAalborg 2.0

Identity, Belonging, Remembrance, Migration, Food culture

Food, memories, and migration: MultiAalborg 2.0 explores the importance of food and meals in creating a sense of home and belonging to a community. Food is not only about nutrition; it also engages the senses and emotions, as the tastes and aromas of dishes and spices can evoke memories that extend far beyond the meal itself. In this way, food plays an important role in preserving memories of “home” and one’s place of origin. It is also essential in the process of settling into new environments. Finally, food serves as a key medium of cultural communication, as reflected in the strong public interest in Verdensfestivalen, which has been held in Aalborg over the past four years.

This is the second book about MultiAalborg. The first, MultiAalborg – Migrant Storytelling Across Borders, published in 2021, highlighted the interplay between the routes people have travelled and the roots they carry with them and re-establish in new places. At the same time, the book demonstrated the unique importance of the home in preserving memories as well as in creating a sense of security in new surroundings.

In this volume, we follow the trail into the homes of eight families with ethnic minority backgrounds. We enter their kitchens - sensory spaces that evoke emotions and memories and give rise to stories. From here unfold narratives from the following eight culinary traditions: Afghan, Canadian, Colombian, Greenlandic, Chinese, Palestinian, Somali, and Ukrainian.

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