I'd like to know more about comfort foods. This will be for my column dedicated to the ongoing crisis in the US.

Thanks in advance!

[elakin]

to me, "comfort foods" are foods that remind you of home. things you ate growing up, foods that give you a sense of place, that comfort you by reinforcing the connection you have to family and community.

i think it's a very appropriate focus during this time of crisis in the u.s.

for many americans, comfort foods might be things like pot roast, mashed potatoes, and apple pie. for others it might be chicken-fried steak with biscuits and cream gravy.

but for many americans it could be arroz con pollo, or chitlins and collard greens, or cous cous with lamb and merquez sausage.

what's a comfort food depends on who's being comforted.

[Pete]

I totally agree. It's the foods that remind you of home, of family (biological or social), of loved ones. It's food that takes you back to better times, to when you were a kid. But even beyond that, it seems to reach deep down and touches your soul. There is something intrinsic to "comfort foods". Although, I am not French a perfectly done Cassoulet or hearty Beuof Burgonione (please forgive the spelling tonight) have the same effect on me as the comfort foods of my past. The same with tamales, or saurbraten, or a full-blown T-Day dinner. It's food that relays the love of the person cooking it to those who consume it, or remind us of that love once bestowed upon us. That to me is what comfort food is all about-love!

[nancya]

Spaghetti. Making the sauce is like being in the kitchen with my mom.

Made a big pot yesterday. Good batch. Felt good to make it.

[Anneke]

Curried goat - even though I'm quite certain I have no Jamaican ancestry. Go figure!

Thank you very much for all the information.

Back in the Philippines, our comfort food would usually be a fish soup or a vegetable dish in coconut milk.

On the pastry side, native delicacies have become comfort foods as well with the tedious and laborious process it calls for. Our delicacies are usually rice-based which cannot do without coconut milk.

[Mezzaluna]

Matzo balls in chicken soup, no doubt about it! When I'm feeling icky, lonely, sad, or just plain not myself, that's what I make.

[Kimmie]

For me, it may sound silly, the ultimate comfort food are eggs!




[ September 22, 2001: Message edited by: Kimmie ]

[Kimmie]

[ September 22, 2001: Message edited by: Kimmie ]

[Isa]

Whippet, crepes with maple syrup, French toasts.

Comfort food, bouffe doudou in French, has to be soft and preferably hot, except for the whippet.

[Anneke]

Whippet? Qu'est-ce que c'est? Not 'whippet' the dog, is it?

[Kimmie]

Anneke,

Whippets are chocolate coated marshmallow cookies.

[Anneke]

OMG! Now I remember! Actually, this is embarassing but I remember being very depressed one night in Mtl and going through an entire bag of those... That's probably why I blocked it out of my memory!

[Kimmie]

Yup...and the best ones came in a box!

[Anneke]

Kimmie, do you remember Papineau cookies? I haven't seen them in years. I used to love them when I was a kid. THey were kind of like sweet potato and marshmallow casserole: disgusting and yummy all at once! Ring a bell?