Food nostalgia: a feast down memory lane

The return of Bridget Jones to our cinema screens this week has provoked a nostalgic "surge" in demand for "classic" 1990s food, said The Times – with sales of chardonnay on the up and a 200% increase in searches for turkey curry recipes.

"Nostalgia food trends" are already "winning hearts and wallets", with "retro" dishes from the 1950s and 1960s, such as trifle, roulade, prawn cocktail and meatloaf, also "back in vogue", said FoodNavigator. Whether it's the "smell of potato waffles under the grill", or the "gloop of a drop of golden syrup", food can provide the gateway to a trip down memory lane, said The Drum.

'Strangely comforting'

A "bittersweet, sentimental longing for the past" is nothing new, said psychologists Megan Lee, Doug Angus and Kate Simpson from Bond University on The Conversation. It is "experienced universally" and stretches across "different cultures and lifespans".

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But food-related nostalgia is especially "powerful", given it "engages multiple senses: taste, smell, texture, sight and sound". Smell "is closely linked to the limbic system of the brain responsible for emotion", making food memories "particularly vivid and emotionally charged".

Indulging in childhood foods can also be a protective response, a way to "make ourselves feel safe when faced with uncertainty or fear", said The Drum. And this feeling is "strangely comforting" when it is tied to "aspects of older media", such as film or television, Emily Contois, co-editor of "Food Instagram", told the Financial Times.

'Tap into memories'

Tapping into "the role and relevance" of nostalgia today can really "leverage" a company's brand, said The Drum.

But nostalgic marketing "doesn't always translate into present-day sales". While consumers look "fondly" on brands of the past, companies must invest in consistently "staying current" if they hope to achieve "timelessness".

Some people are taking the nostalgia trend into their own hands, "creating foods themselves" to replicate the "homemade flavour and feel" of the past, said FoodNavigator.

The science behind "food-evoked nostalgia" may prove useful in the future, said the psychologists on The Conversation. Understanding this effect could help dementia sufferers "tap into lost memories" or help others "reframe negative experiences" in psychological therapy. Even for people "feeling a little down", using "favourite comfort foods" to transport them back to happier times "could help turn things around".