A Pot of Noodles in England

Essay Writing Competition 2024
Category: 8 - 11 years
- Winner -

"A Pot of Noodles in England" written by Elizabeth Ling from England was chosen as winner in the Junior category 8 - 11 years.

This article was submitted in the Kids World Travel Guide Essay Competition 2024.

A Pot of Noodles in England

Food is who you are, which means that what you eat represents your culture and where you belong. Mom calls me "a pot of noodles made in England", and the reason behind this is that pot noodles explain my mixed self.

People who I meet think that I eat a lot of pasta, and pizza because I am Italian and live with my Italian grandparents, and mom. But actually my Italianess is not about this food. I was born in Italy half Chinese, and grew up in England. My favourite food is noodles, because they warm my heart. Specifically, the ones I love the most are curry, or chicken ones bought in Morrisons supermarket in a pot.

Noodles have been around for 4000 years. They originated in China under the Han dynasty and now have spread all around the world. Every nation has adapted their own version of noodles and flavours: ramen, udon, sōmen, spaghetti, rice noodles, wheat noodles. But the ones I really love are instant noodles.

The pot of noodle represents my Asian identity. I got this from my Chinese dad who always eats spicy noodles. He visits me from Cambridge once a month and always has packs of Chinese noodles in his bag. I remember once when my dad shared some of his noodles with me, they were a hot flavour, and my mouth was on fire, but they were still delicious.

Noodles are used in China to celebrate people’s birthdays to wish for a long life. So during birthdays my dad prepares a bowl and slurps the twirling long noodles up. However, you cannot find pot noodles in China because the pot of noodles is Chinese food made in England.

Pot noodles are not traditional food, but I have memories with them here in the UK. If I go to a supermarket after gymnastics in the afternoon I will always want noodles. One time, when I had a stomach bug in the hospital the doctor asked me what I wanted to eat. Even though I was poorly I really needed to have noodles, because noodles bring me joy.

What I love about pot of noodles is that they taste amazing, and adore drinking the delicious soup, and chew the noodles. My grandma had to learn to cook the noodles. She fills the pot up with boiling water, stirs the noodles until they are ready, and checks on them. They are very fast to prepare, so I don’t have to wait that long. Before my grandma wasn’t used to cook noodles and always let my dad do it. One day she managed to prepare them, because she understood how much I wanted to eat the noodles.

There is lots of love and care in this food. When we go on a holiday my grandma will put lots of noodle bags in our luggage because I only eat noodles when away and it feels like I am bringing a piece of home with me.

In the Age category 8 - 11 years, Elizabeth's outstanding essay was chosen as the winning essay.

Congratulations on your amazing work, Elizabeth! You are a star! Thank you so much for sharing your well-written story about your favourite food with us!

Elizabeth attends Asquith Primary School in Leeds in the UK. Her home language is Italian, English is her second language.