Comfort Food

A "comfort food" is a food that brings about a sentimental feeling to the person eating it. The food is rich and flavorful. It's generally soft and easy to digest as well as make. It can be a family tradition or a regional treat. Recipes can be handed down through generations. Comfort food is family food. I generally think of comfort food as warm and gooey like homemade macaroni and cheese or shepherd's pie, but comfort food can also be ice cream. How many of us girls have consoled ourselves with a vat of ice cream, 2 spoons and a friend?

Comfort foods can be seen differently by different people. Studies on college students have placed them into 4 comfort food groups: nostalgic foods, indulgence foods, convenience foods and physical comfort foods. Men tend to see comfort foods in meals such as steak, casseroles and soups. Women look at comfort foods more as snackables like chocolate and ice cream.

Comfort foods also have a dark side. Originally coined by Webster in 1977 as "food that is satisfying because it is prepared in a simple or traditional way and reminds you of home, family or friends", comfort foods can be consumed to heighten positive emotions or to quell the negative. Comfort foods, whether they be from the home hearth or 7-11 down the street, can be consumed to relieve stress and this may be a key factor contributing to the obesity rate in the U.S. Oddly enough, comfort food triggers positive emotions in men whereas in women emotions were negative. There is a correlation between comfort food and guilt feelings.

Comfort foods have been around for a long time. What started as family bonding meals have slowly contorted into individual emotional refuge. Processed foods have made comfort foods unhealthy and fattening. What's a good goal for the winter of 2014? Grab that crock pot and slow cook some old fashion comfort food. It's easy. It's cheap. It's good for you!

What's your favorite comfort food and why?