Comfort food

Chicken soup is a common classic comfort food that is found across various cultures, and is widely regarded as a folk remedy for the common cold and flu.

Comfort food is traditionally eaten food (which often provides a nostalgic or sentimental feeling to the person eating it),^[3] or simply provides the consumer an easy-to-digest meal, soft in consistency, and rich in calories, nutrients, or both.^[4] The nostalgic element most comfort food has, may be specific to either the individual or a specific culture.^[5] Many comfort foods are flavorful; some may also be easily prepared.

Psychological studies

Comfort foods may be consumed to positively pique emotions, to relieve negative psychological effects or to increase positive feelings.^[6] The term was first used, according to Webster's Dictionary, in 1977.

One study divided college-students' comfort-food identifications into four categories (nostalgic foods, indulgence foods, convenience foods, and physical comfort foods) with a special emphasis on the deliberate selection of particular foods to modify mood or effect, and indications that the medical-therapeutic use of particular foods may ultimately be a matter of mood-alteration.^[7]

The identification of particular items as comfort food may be idiosyncratic, though patterns are detectable. In one study of American preferences, "males preferred warm, hearty, meal-related comfort foods (such as steak, casseroles, and soup), while females instead preferred comfort foods that were more snack related (such as chocolate and ice cream). In addition, younger people preferred more snack-related comfort foods compared to those over 55 years of age." The study also revealed strong connections between consumption of comfort foods and feelings of guilt.^[8]

Comfort food consumption has been seen as a response to emotional stress and, consequently, as a key contributor to the epidemic of obesity in the United States.^[9] The provocation of specific hormonal responses leading selectively to increases in abdominal fat is seen as a form of self-medication.^[10]

Further studies suggest that consumption of comfort food is triggered in men by positive emotions, and by negative ones in women.^[11] The stress effect is particularly pronounced among college-aged women, with only 33% reporting healthy eating choices during times of emotional stress.^[12] For women specifically, these psychological patterns may be maladaptive.^[13]

A therapeutic use of these findings includes offering comfort foods or "happy hour" beverages to anorectic geriatric patients whose health and quality of life otherwise decreases with reduced oral intake.^[14]

Comfort foods by country

Australia and New Zealand

Australian comfort foods include the following foods:^[15][16]

Britain

Bangers and mash is a British comfort food.^[1]

British comfort foods include the following foods:^[18][19][20]

Indonesia

Bubur ayam (chicken congee) is an Indonesian comfort food.

Some popular Indonesian foods are considered to be comfort food, usually served hot or warm, and soupy or with a soft texture. Some Indonesian comfort foods are traditional Indonesian food and some are derived from Chinese influences. For some Indonesians, especially those who are abroad, comfort food might also be a certain brand or type of Indonesian instant noodle, such as Indomie Mi goreng.^[21] Indonesian comfort foods include:

• Bakmi or Mie Ayam^[22]
• Bakso^[23][24]
• Indomie Mi goreng^[21]
• Nasi goreng^[24]
• Soto ayam (chicken soto)^[25]

Philippines

• Adobo
• Arroz Caldo
• Batchoy
• Binignit
• Champorado with tuyô
• Chicken Sopas
• Halo-halo
• Kare-kare
• Lomi
• Pancit
• Puto
• Sinigang
• Suman

Poland

Polish comfort food include the following foods:

• Pierogi^[26][27][28]
• Bigos
• Kotlet schabowy
• Golonka
• Gulasz
• Sernik

Russia and Ukraine

Solyanka

Russian and Ukrainian comfort foods include the following foods:

United States and Canada

Macaroni and cheese is an American comfort food.^[2]

Fried chicken is another American comfort food.^[2]

North American comfort foods include baked beans, apple pie, clam chowder, chicken noodle soup, casseroles, and other warm, inviting, and familiar foods.^[29]

Following a reader's opinion poll by About.com, the following foods were listed as the most common comfort foods by American respondents:^[2]

Other comfort foods, as reported by CNN, include:^[30]

One recent development, as chefs have explored the roots of American cuisine and tried to define it as a unique style, is the advent of fine dining comfort food restaurants that feature more careful cooking and presentation, higher quality, and fresh organic ingredients, along with consequently higher prices.^[31]

References

External links

• Media related to Comfort food at Wikimedia Commons