Issues → January/February 2009 → Food →
Comfort Food Recipes
Meatloaf, mac and cheese, brownies, and more
by Annie B. Copps
So much more than just fuel for our bodies, food can also give great pleasure and solace. Sometimes it's the act of cooking that comforts; the methodical pace of chopping and slicing offers a primal, satisfying rhythm that connects us to ourselves.
Sometimes it's cooking with and for others that restores calm. Other times still, it's a pint of butter-brickle ice cream eaten on the couch with a spoon, feeding not just our physiological needs but our very souls.
Food moves us all in different ways, and just about everyone has his or her idea of "comfort food." It could be a recipe that, as you prepare it, lets memories of a long-passed grandparent bubble to the forefront of your consciousness...or an exotic spice that takes you back to a special night in a land far away...or just the thing you need to eat when you've got a bad case of what Holly Golightly called the "mean reds." Perhaps it's the texture of a certain food that fills and warms you like a blanket.
Food comforts me in any number of ways. Hand-kneaded bread, Barb's Bolognese sauce, Nan's quiche, a pulled-pork sandwich with beans and coleslaw, or sometimes just a Klondike bar have all placated me. Here are a few recipes that always set my wagon straight.
VIDEO:View the video of Annie preparing comfort food on the Today Show.
RECIPES
Reader Comments
Comment from Michael Deming on December 31, 2008
Annie B. Copps, Where in the world did you learn about butter brickle ice cream? I grew up in Lincoln, NE and listed butter brickle ice cream as my favorite. No one I know in New England has ever heard of the stuff. Where can it be purchased in Maine? Good article on comfort food. Having lived in OK for my first six years, I learned to like, as a comfort food, cold-day-old cornbread crumbled up in a bowl with milk and some kind of jam{maple syrup now in New England}. Michael Deming
Comment from Nelson Carter on January 8, 2009
Outstanding...Thanks!!
Comment from gail o on February 16, 2009
Comfort food is a staple here in cold and rainy Ireland! This applies in Winter and sometimes...even in Summer! We've had our worst snowfall in 30 years, just 2 weeks ago, we rarely get snow, only really up North, so its been major comfort food all the way!! Mom's Irish (lamb) stew, no Guinness in it...no need! Tasty without! Mom's roast chicken dinner, Dads sausage, potato and garlic crockpot casserole (actually a Rick Stein recipe, but it's dad's dish in our house!) Fish pie, freshly baked scones with real butter and or jam, batch loaf bread, porridge with maple syrup ( from New England of course!) failing that maple flavoured sugar-cane! Apples, pears, figs, etc are all baked, poached and so are made even more delicious!Of course a gratin, stirfry, or mash potato with whatever also does the trick!! Great article...Im hungry now, off to start dinner! What will I have... :0)
Registered users can add comments.
Registration is free, and just takes a moment.
Login or Register.