Comfort Food

Music is known as perhaps the most emotionally-charged medium for memories: though one song can remind you of the best of times, another will certainly stir up old pain. Even hearing the first few beats of a song can bring you back to a difficult time, making you rehash unpleasant memories. However, I find that food very rarely brings back the bad. Maybe because food can be such a trivial and basic part of being human, we only really store memories of the good stuff. Usually, when a food has the power to take you back, it’s called comfort food.

For over a year, I’ve been collecting comfort food. It sounds like a much more fattening operation than it actually is; I haven’t been exclusively eating baked mac and cheese. I’ve been asking people what comfort food means to them and writing it down. Usually, it’ll start with a few items, things that a parent or grandparent used to make on an average night in their childhood. As much as the really elaborate dishes that people make for special occasions are memorable, the stuff that stays in the back corner of our memories are the staples. Not surprisingly, these staple foods vary vastly from person to person.

Comfort food also varies enormously by culture. What a parent makes on a day to day basis is usually influenced by what their parents made, and so on through the past several generations. This is why a simple quesadilla, just a corn tortilla, oaxaca or mozzarella cheese, and salsa verde, is the epitome of comfort food for me. My parents grew up in Mexico, where the classic light dinner fare is a quesadilla or two (or a sincronizada, where a slice of ham is added), so this tradition immigrated to Canada alongside them.

A 2011 study published in the journal Psychological Science showed that by eating comfort food, a person is able to mentally reconnect with people and moments from happy times in their lives, and in so doing, temporarily stave off loneliness. The study was looking at a phenomenon called “social surrogates,” which are non-human experiences that can make a person feel connected, and it looks like food falls right into that category. Even when study participants were simply asked to write about their favourite comfort food, they reported feeling less isolated. I personally can report those same findings: when I moved to a new city and was feeling isolated, I distinctly remember digging into a quesadilla with added gusto and feeling much less alone in the world.

I’ve noticed some trends throughout my ongoing poking and prying in my friends’ food lives. Almost everyone that I “interviewed” that grew up in North America included pizza on their lists, and most of them also included macaroni and cheese in some form (including KD). If they grew up in a multicultural environment, their comfort food list reflected that, often including dim sum, Mexican food, Indian food, and sushi. Those who grew up in a European country typically listed foods that are in the canonical cuisine of their home.

Every time I ask someone what their comfort foods are, I get a peek into their childhood. More often than not, each food they mention comes with a short anecdote, and this turns into a spiral of memories and chatter. I got to hear a vague explanation of what exactly goes into “Nan’s Dip” from one friend. Another told me about why her family refers to a tiramisu-like cake as The IGG (Inflammable/Incroyable/Imaginable Gateau Garin). I learned about Callaloo soup from the Caribbean, about Italian Beef sandwiches native to Chicago, and about the braaibroodtjies eaten in South Africa. I got to picture another friend and his family grilling merguez sausages in the south of France, and yet another friend and his family crowded around a massive, cheesy lasagne. Hearing about people’s comfort foods is a way to learn about them, about food, and about the world.

I’ve realized that comfort food also extends far past what Mom and Pop used to make. Frequent visits to the same restaurant usually factor in as well, not to mention dishes that friends make for each other. Living within a friend group of 20-something students, sharing meals and potluck dinners is the most economical way to eat excellently, so many of my newer comfort foods have come from my friends.

No one can deny food’s ability to bring people together. It’s linked to good memories, and just talking about it makes people understand each other a little better. The only downside to talking about comfort food is that it makes you hungry, but the best way to solve this is to organize a comfort food potluck meal where everyone brings their favourite dish. I suggest you fast for several hours beforehand.

By Dahlia Snaiderman

Recipe:

This is a recipe that a friend of mine made for me last year, and I’ve made it time and time again. What’s better than melted cheese?

1 1/2 pounds fontina*, rind removed and 1-inch-diced

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 crusty French baguette

*Suggested brand: Italian Fontina Val d’Aosta

1. Preheat the broiler and position the oven rack 5 inches from the heat. (If you can’t get it exactly 5 inches, don’t worry)

2. Distribute the cubes of Fontina evenly in a 12-inch cast-iron pan. Drizzle on the olive oil. Combine the garlic, thyme, and rosemary and sprinkle it over the cheese and olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and place the pan under the broiler for 6 minutes (or longer if your pan is farther from the heat source), until the cheese is melted and bubbling and starts to brown.

3. Serve the baked Fontina family-style-right out of the oven in the cast-iron pan with crusty chunks of bread for everyone to dip.

Recipe Source: Ina Garten (Aka the barefoot Contessa)

picture: Demi Sakelliou