Grilled guinea pig? “Sure, I’ll try that.” I am audacious with food and enjoy trying new cuisines. I may try things once (such as the guinea pig in Peru) and never need to taste it again. Like most people, however, I have foods that I enjoy eating often– comfort foods.
Comfort food includes dishes that provide a sense of nostalgia and emotional satisfaction linked to personal or cultural memories. These foods are typically rich, hearty, and/or indulgent. Particularly in the winter months, comfort foods are heartening.
The foods my family of origin ate did not have ethnic significance since most people with whom I grew up were from homogenous white northern European backgrounds. I was lucky, however, to grow up with a mother who was “food adventurous.” She liked to serve casseroles and variations on how vegetables were cooked, especially the ones we experimented with from our garden such as brussels sprouts and parsnips. Although my dad insisted on a typical farmer’s diet of meat and potatoes, and reluctantly a vegetable or two, my mom was open to fixing menus with variety.
My Aunt Dorothy made the best kolaches in the world and although I don’t come across them often, they remind me of her. Fried chicken was often part of family reunions. My family raised sheep and was one of the few that ate lamb when I was growing up. I am conflicted about eating red meat, but when I enjoy a lamb dish, it brings back memories from growing up on my Iowa farm.
As I travel around the world, I am keen to learn about special foods from other cultures. For example, although not my favorite, Asian Indian comfort food often includes curry. Europeans may prefer the possibilities of pasta. In my recent trip to Chile, I loved sampling variations on empanadas. When I think about the months I spent in Türkiye, I long for kebabs. I loved the mommas in Nepal. Universal comfort foods around the world seem to include chocolate, ice cream, or fresh-baked bread.
My favorite comfort food today is pizza. I am not referring to the Chef Boy-Ar-Dee complete pizza boxes that I had growing up. Good pizza is always a treat whether celebrating something special and/or getting together with friends. Clearly, comfort foods are not necessarily about the taste as they are about the emotional connections.
All I can say is YUM!!!! 🙂