How long has it been since you ate your mother's cooking?

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My mother has been gone for more than 15 years, everything around me has changed. I have grown up, matured, have a stable job and a relatively full life. But there is one thing that has never changed in me, that is missing my mother and especially the craving for the meals she cooks.

When my mother was alive, I used to think that meals were just a normal thing, simply to fill my stomach. As the youngest child in the family, since I was a child, I was pampered by the whole family, especially my mother, especially in daily meals. Knowing that I was a picky eater and had a poor appetite, my mother would prioritize cooking whatever dish I liked. My temper was very difficult, so I always found a way to criticize any dish my mother cooked, even though I still ate it deliciously. Strangely enough, my mother was not upset at all at that time, but only smiled gently and coaxed me: "Eat this for now, next time I will cook better."

At that time, I did not understand. Only later, when my mother was no longer around, did I realize that each meal my mother cooked was not only about ingredients and spices, but also about her effort, meticulousness, and her whole heart poured into each dish. Whether it was simple, repetitive dishes like tofu with tomato sauce, fried eggs, peanuts roasted in fish sauce... or the meals my mother painstakingly prepared like crab soup with jute and eggplant with shrimp paste, braised carp with galangal, or frog stir-fried with lemongrass and chili, to me, those were all excellent dishes that no restaurant could cook, I could never find the "flavor" of my mother's cooking.

Growing up, I also learned to cook, also tried to cook the dishes my mother used to make, the recipe was still the same, the ingredients were still enough. However, no matter how hard I tried, I still felt like something was missing, perhaps the special “flavor” that could only be seasoned by my mother’s warm hands and loving heart.

It has been a long time since I have enjoyed my mother's delicious meals every day. So every time I see someone gathering around the family dinner table, hear someone call out "Mom, what are we eating today", I feel a stinging in my nose. How lucky they are to still be able to eat the food my mother cooks. And suddenly I miss a familiar voice, a familiar figure in the old kitchen. I miss the smell of braised fish my mother used to make when it rains, I miss the crab soup my mother cooked every hot summer. I also miss my mother's loving nagging voice "eat fast so you can go to school" or "eat a lot to stay healthy".

Those sounds now only exist in distant memories. I wish I could one more time, just one more time, return to those old days, sit at the table of food my mother cooked, be scolded lovingly by my mother, have my mother pick up food for me, and inhale the strong aroma of the dishes that were associated with my childhood with my mother.

But that will forever be a wish, never to come true.

So, if you can still go home and eat your mother's cooking, cherish every moment, every meal. Don't wait until everything becomes a memory, then regret it endlessly. Go home more often, spend time with your mother, help her cook, or simply sit down and enjoy the meal your mother cooks with all respect and gratitude. Because that is a priceless happiness, a privilege that only those who still have their mothers are blessed to have!

My Duyen

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/van-hoa/202508/da-bao-lau-ban-chua-an-com-me-nau-31d0f4e/