Knor Noodles

By Asma Afzal

Q: Describe a food and the memories associated with it.

Long, cozy, never-ending nights. Sneaking out of our rooms quietly into the kitchen, because if Yasmin Mami woke up, all of us would get into serious trouble. These are the flashes of brilliant memory that appear before my eyes as soon as I so much as SMELL Knor noodles.

Ah, the smell! Whether it's the spicy, zesty aroma of the "Chatpatta" noodles, or the somewhat salty smell of the chicken noodles, it transports me to my uncle's house and lazy summers spent with my cousins playing dark room, corner corner and kedi kedi (prisoner: basically involves throwing a cushion at each other. The person who catches it makes the one throwing it his prisoner.). It reminds me of our group of six; me, Beea, Wajiha, Hassan, Furqan and Uzair bhai, and the nights we spent awake. A whiff of that redolent, savory smell, and I am ten again, fighting over who gets to eat the last pack. I am sitting back in the hot kitchen at 2 a.m in the morning, watching Beea and Uzair bhai cook for us. It was only sensible that they did it; aged twelve and thirteen respectively, they were much better equipped at handling it - plus the rest of us didn't particularly want to do the work.

One whiff, and I can almost hear the hum of the pink panther tune, interrupted by giggles and laughter as we snuck back into our rooms, each with our own separate bowl. My mouth waters, before I even take a bite, at that peppery smell. The first bite...yum! The way the succulent, juicy noodles (long because we never broke them into half) snake their way into my mouth. That first burst of flavour; a mix of red chilli and black pepper and fiery orange paprika.

I remember the euphoria of having successfully gotten a snack without waking anyone up. The talks that we had as we gobbled down those divine noodles, about everything that was important in the world; "Shh Koi Hai", and cricket and what we were going to do the next day.

It's surprising to jolt back to the present, and find the sweet taste of nostalgia mixed with the spice of the noodles. A honeyed taste, that requires only a whiff.