We all have them: the foods that we go to when we have something emotional happening in our lives. And they’re all different. We can pick out what we think sounds like a comfort food, but, really, our comfort foods are more personal than that. And we have them for when we’re happy as well as when we’re sad.
This is a topic we ALL can relate to, I think. In setting up a comment contest for barbecue sauce, I figured it was only fair to post something that we can kind of discuss. I’d REALLY love to hear from some of the European readers, as I bet your comfort foods are a bit different than what people in the US or even Canada consider comfort foods.
I found a good page on comfort foods here. It’s interesting to consider how men and women consider comfort foods differently, though it seems ice cream cuts across gender lines.
Comfort foods can break diets, though I think more current diets understand the psychological need for these foods in our lives, and give options to include them either by having ‘free’ days or meals, or by using exchanges to allow someone to eat what they really want to eat within reason.
For me, comfort foods are without a doubt foods that my mom fixed me when I was young. The big one that comes to mind, that I want when I’m not feeling great, is chicken and noodles on top of mashed potatoes. My grandmother made GREAT egg noodles, and my mom would make chicken and noodles, with very little broth. In a bowl, we’d put mashed potatoes on the bottom, then ladle on chicken and noodles on top of that. There’s little that’s much better than that to this day.
Another one is vegetable soup. I’m blessed that my wife makes it very similar to how my mom makes it. And when the weather changes in the fall, I just automatically think of stuff like that; it’s an emotional reaction to the time of year that I enjoy the most.
Holidays are big times for comfort foods. How wrong would Thanksgiving be without turkey and cranberry sauce? Is it because that’s the greatest food there is? No; most of us wouldn’t ask for that for our last meal. It does, however, evoke emotions for that time of year that we all respond to. Think of the Christmas foods you think about every year: eggnog, cookies, candies, etc. Memorial Day and the 4th of July make us think of grilling (just about anything makes me think about grilling, actually).
So if you had to pick one or two comfort foods that are your favorite, what would they be?
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Peanut butter and crackers with a big glass of milk. In the fall it would be potato soup with polish sausage or broccoli cheese soup. Thanksgiving is Turkey with apricot gravy. In between Thanksgiving and Christmas it would be Gnocchi (potato dumplings with a tomato sauce). And my wife came up with my favorite all time sausage casserole. Spring and Summer is anything cooked outside. Oh yeah fresh fruit and veggies (especially fresh corn on the cobb). I am getting hungry just thinking about it all.
Todd, do you have anything that’s NOT a comfort food?
I think one more for my family in general is biscuits and gravy, though I haven’t made it in quite a while. I definitely fit in the “stick to your ribs” type of comfort foods… roast beef with carrots and pototoes, stuff like that.
Nope, pretty much like most food. =) I find that I like certian foods / music during certian times of the year. As soon as there is a hint of spring I have Jimmy Buffett on and as soon as it gets a little cool at night I put jazz in the changer. Same thing goes for food. I tend to go with heartier food (soups, stews, pasta etc)during the fall and winter and then as soon as spring fever hits I like lighter foods (Veggies, fruit anything on the grill etc). Does that make me neurotic? =) Oh wait that is what my wife is talking about. =)
Todd
My comfort food is a big old pot of potatoe soup that mom used to make with dumplings, when I cant have that just give me something to cook on the grill it doesnt matter what as long as I can go outside and cook it with charcoal I am happy and it provides me comfort.
I always think of chili for comfort food. Not sure where my mom got here recipe but I still use it and got my wife converted over from her recipe. Another is the wife’s fried chicken, best I’ve ever had. Man, I’m getting hungry just writing this.
That’s a tricky thing… telling your wife that you like your mom’s version of something better!