Comfort food
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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]
- Apple pie
- Baked rice custard
- Bread and butter pudding
- Braised lamb shanks
- Brown sugar, yogurt, honey, and banana porridge
- Butterscotch apple dumplings
- Casserole (beef or chicken)
- Chicken soup
- Chocolate chip cookies
- Chocolate delicious
- Cumin potatoes (jeera aloo)
- Fried green tomatoes
- Golden syrup pikelets
- Honey and oat slices
- Hungarian lamb goulash
- Lamb and vegetable soup or Irish stew
- Lamingtons[17]
- Lentil soup
- Mashed potatoes
- Meat pie
- Pavlova
- Pea and ham soup
- Pie floater
- Pumpkin soup
- Roast meat (beef, chicken, or pork with crackling)
- Roast potatoes
- Sausage and mash
- Shepherd's pie
- Spaghetti and meatballs
- Smashed pie
- Steak and kidney pie
- Sticky date pudding
- Sweet potato soup
Britain
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British comfort foods include the following foods:[18][19][20]
- Cottage or Shepherd's pie
- Custard
- Fish and chips
- Full English breakfast
- Bangers and mash
- Cauliflower cheese
- Cornish pasty
- Crumble
- Apple crumble
- Blueberry crumble
- Rhubarb crumble
- Lancashire hotpot
- Mushy peas
- Potatoes
- Chips
- Crisps
- Jacket potato
- Mashed potatoes
- Puddings
- Bread and butter pudding
- Jam Roly-Poly
- Rice pudding
- Spotted dick
- Sticky toffee pudding
- Treacle pudding
- Yorkshire pudding
- Roast meat
- Roast beef
- Roast chicken
- Pies
- Scotch egg
- Stottie cake
- Soups and stews
- Beef stew with dumplings
- Cawl (Wales)
- Cock-a-leekie soup (Scotland)
- Irish stew
- Potato, leek, and Stilton soup
- Toast
- Baked beans on toast
- Cheese on toast
- Toad in the hole
Indonesia
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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:
Russia and Ukraine
Russian and Ukrainian comfort foods include the following foods:
United States and Canada
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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]
- Apple pie
- Baked beans
- Banana pudding
- Beef stew
- Brisket pot roast
- Chicken and dumplings
- Chicken pot pie
- Chicken soup
- Chili con carne
- Chocolate chip cookies
- Crispito
- Corn on the cob
- Fried chicken
- Gelatin dessert
- Green bean casserole
- Grilled cheese sandwich (runner-up)
- Hamburgers (runner-up)
- Hot dogs
- Ice cream
- Macaroni and cheese
- Mashed potatoes
- Meatloaf
- Potato salad
- Pumpkin pie
- Shepherd's pie
- Spaghetti
- Tomato soup
- Tuna casserole
Other comfort foods, as reported by CNN, include:[30]
- Asado
- Banana split
- Barbecue ribs
- Biscuits and gravy
- BLT
- Blueberry cobbler
- Buffalo wings
- California roll
- Cheeseburger
- Chicago-style pizza
- Chicken fried steak
- Cioppino
- Cobb salad
- Cornbread
- Delmonico steak
- Fajitas
- Fortune cookies
- Fried chicken and waffles
- Frito pie
- Green chili stew (New Mexico)
- Grits
- Indian frybread
- Jambalaya
- Jerky
- Key lime pie
- Lobster rolls
- Maryland crab cakes
- Nachos
- New England clam chowder
- New Mexican flat enchiladas
- Peanut butter sandwich
- Philly cheese steak
- Po' boy
- Popcorn
- Pot roast
- Potato chips
- Reuben sandwich
- San Francisco sourdough bread
- S'mores
- Smithfield ham
- Tater tots
- Thanksgiving dinner
- Trail mix
- Twinkies
- Wild Alaska salmon
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
- ↑ "Bangers and mash most popular comfort food as Britons eat more during credit crunch". Telegraph. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Filippone, Peggy Trowbridge. "Top 25 Comfort Foods and Recipes". About.com.
- ↑ "Comfort Food." (definition). Merriam-webster.com. Accessed July 2011.
- ↑ "Comfort food". The Free Dictionary By Farlex. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
- ↑ Rufus, Anneli (June 22, 2011). "Explaining the Psychology of Comfort Food". Gilt Taste. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
- ↑ Wansink, Brian; Sangerman, Cynthia (July 2000). "Engineering comfort foods". American Demographics: 66–7.
- ↑ Locher, Julie L.; Yoels, William C.; Maurer, Donna; Van Ells, Jillian (2005). "Comfort Foods: An Exploratory Journey into the Social and Emotional Significance of Food". Food and Foodways 13 (4): 273–97. doi:10.1080/07409710500334509.
- ↑ Wansink, B; Cheney, M; Chan, N (2003). "Exploring comfort food preferences across age and gender". Physiology & Behavior 79 (4–5): 739–47. doi:10.1016/S0031-9384(03)00203-8. PMID 12954417.
- ↑ Dallman, Mary F.; Pecoraro, Norman; Akana, Susan F.; La Fleur, Susanne E.; Gomez, Francisca; Houshyar, Hani; Bell, M. E.; Bhatnagar, Seema; Laugero, Kevin D.; Manalo, Sotara (2003). "Chronic stress and obesity: A new view of 'comfort food'". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 100 (20): 11696–701. doi:10.1073/pnas.1934666100. JSTOR 3147854. PMC 208820. PMID 12975524.
- ↑ Dallman, Mary F.; Pecoraro, Norman C.; La Fleur, Susanne E. (2005). "Chronic stress and comfort foods: Self-medication and abdominal obesity". Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 19 (4): 275–80. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2004.11.004. PMID 15944067.
- ↑ Dube, L; Lebel, J; Lu, J (2005). "Affect asymmetry and comfort food consumption". Physiology & Behavior 86 (4): 559–67. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2005.08.023. PMID 16209880.
- ↑ Kandiah, Jayanthi; Yake, Melissa; Jones, James; Meyer, Michaela (2006). "Stress influences appetite and comfort food preferences in college women". Nutrition Research 26 (3): 118–23. doi:10.1016/j.nutres.2005.11.010.
- ↑ Lebel, J; Lu, J; Dube, L (2008). "Weakened biological signals: Highly-developed eating schemas amongst women are associated with maladaptive patterns of comfort food consumption". Physiology & Behavior 94 (3): 384–92. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2008.02.005. PMID 18325547.
- ↑ Wood, Paulette; Vogen, Barbra D (1998). "Feeding the anorectic client: Comfort foods and happy hour". Geriatric Nursing 19 (4): 192–4. doi:10.1016/S0197-4572(98)90153-7. PMID 9866509.
- ↑ "Australian Comfort Food Recipes". Food.com.
- ↑ "Ultimate Comfort Food". ninemsn Food. ninemsn.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Romero, Jo (27 September 2012). "Comfort foods from around the world". Yahoo! Lifestyle UK. Yahoo!.
- ↑ "All-time classic British comfort food recipes". Delicious Magazine.
- ↑ "Comfort food recipes". BBC Good Food. BBC.
- ↑ "British comfort food to make your mouth water".
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Indomie - Mi Goreng
- ↑ IndonesiaEats.com
- ↑ Comfort Food Helps Indonesian Maid Recover
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 BBC: Barack Obama's Indonesia charm offensive
- ↑ Chowhound Indonesia - Soto Ayam at Malioboro Country
- ↑ Ardis, Susan (7 November 2012). "Pierogies: Comfort food, Polish style". The State.
- ↑ Scatts (17 January 2011). "What Is Polish "Comfort Food"?". Polandian. Wordpress.
- ↑ Izlar, Camille (14 February 2013). "Polish Comfort Food: Best Way to Stay Warm". Steve Dolinsky.
- ↑ Slotnik, Daniel E. (26 May 2012). "What's Your Comfort Food?". The New York Times.
- ↑ Joseph, Dana (10 May 2012). "American food: the 50 greatest dishes". CNN Travel. Time Warner.
- ↑ "Comfort Food Goes Upscale: Top Chefs Injecting Luxury To Old-Fashioned Favorites". CBS News. 2005-08-28.
External links
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Media related to Comfort food at Wikimedia Commons