Comfort food

Comfort foodis food that provides anostalgicor sentimental value to someoneand may be characterized by its highcaloric natureassociated with childhood or home cooking.The nostalgia may be specific to an individual or it may apply to a specificculture.
The termcomfort foodcan be traced back at least to 1615, where in the beginning of the second part ofDon Quixote, at the beginning of chapter one, Quixote's niece and her nurse (governess, housekeeper?, "ama") are told to pamper him, "to give him things to eat which are comforting and appropriate for the heart and the brain... ." Others trace it back to 1966, when thePalm Beach Postused it in a story: "Adults, when under severe emotional stress, turn to what could be called 'comfort food'—food associated with the security of childhood, like mother'spoached eggor famouschicken soup."According to research by April White atJSTOR, it might have beenLiza Minnelliwho used the term for the first time in its modern meaning in an interview, admitting to craving ahamburger.
When the term first appeared, newspapers used it in quotation marks. In the 1970s, the most popular comfort food in the United States were variouspotatodishes andchicken soup, but even at the time, the definition varied from person to person. During the next decades, the nature of comfort food changed in the US, shifting from savory dishes to sweet ones, while comfort food themed cookbooks started to spread and restaurants started to offer items labelled as such, when originally the term was used for food items consumed "home alone". Worldwide diet trends, emerging in the 1990s, like thelow fator thelow-carb dietwere unable to end the cravings for comfort food. Also in the 1990s the emergence of mass-produced food emerged which reshaped the idea of comfort food. The ability to produce and preserve food, such as canned goods, meant that comfort food became more available to those needed an extra reminder of home. For example those who were far away or under difficult conditions particularly war.  According to White, theCOVID-19 pandemicthat hit the world in 2020 further strengthened people's need for comfort food that evokes nostalgia and the feeling of belonging.
Consuming energy-dense, high calorie, high fat, salt or sugar foods, such asice creamorfrench fries, may trigger the reward system in the human brain, which gives a distinctive pleasure or temporary sense of emotional elevation and relaxation.These feelings can also be induced bypsychoactiveingredients found in other foods, such ascoffeeandchocolate.When psychological conditions are present, people often use comfort food to treat themselves. Those withnegative emotionstend to eat unhealthy food in an effort to experience the instant gratification that comes with it, even if only short-lived.
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 affect, and indications that the medical-therapeutic use of particular foods may ultimately be a matter of mood-alteration.
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 assteak, casseroles, and soup) while females instead preferred comfort foods that were moresnackrelated (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 ofguilt.
Comfort food consumption is seen as a response toemotional stressand, consequently, as a key contributor to the epidemic ofobesity in the United States.The provocation of specific hormonal responses leading selectively to increases in abdominal fat is seen as a form ofself-medication.
Further studies suggest that consumption of comfort food is triggered in men by positive emotions, and by negative ones in women.The stress effect is particularly pronounced among college-aged women, with only 33% reportinghealthy eatingchoices during times of emotional stress.For women specifically, these psychological patterns may be maladaptive.
A therapeutic use of these findings includes offering comfort foods or "happy hour" beverages toanorecticgeriatricpatients whose health andquality of lifeotherwise decreases with reduced oral intake.
Comfort foods provideemotional nutritionin the form of familiar tastes and a sense of security in stressful situations, but when taken in large quantities these foods becomeaddictiveand impair a person from engaging in new experiences or meeting challenges head-on. A reliance on comfort foods can stifle growth and transition, since the comfort foods are overused during times oftransition and distress. The foods that peopleover-consumeduring stress periods leads to a state of emotional inertia where people may become resistant to necessary change or adaptation. This reliance on experience rather than interaction with present or upcoming situations eventually stifles the ability to thrive in fluid situations and inhibits the potential for personal growth.
A partial list by region of comfort foods around the world.
Comfort foods in Afghanistan are:
Comfort foods in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa may include:
Austrian (and especiallyViennese) comfort foods may include the following foods:
German comfort foods may include the following foods:
Some popularIndonesian foodsare considered to be comfort food, usually served hot or warm, and either soupy or with a soft texture. Most of them are high incarbsor fat, such as congee, fried rice, and noodles which are high in carbs; while meatballs and grilled skewered meats contain fair amounts of fat and salt. Comfort foods often are the kind of food that provides nostalgic sentiments, as they often calledmasakan rumahan(home cooking) ormasakan ibu(mother's dishes). In Indonesia, the warm and soft texture ofbubur ayamis believed to help people to recover duringconvalescence.Sayur sop or sup ayam is Indonesian chicken soup that often sought duringflu. The warm soup contains chunk of chicken, bits of potato, carrot, and commongreen beanserved in chicken stock.
Some Indonesian comfort foods are traditional Indonesian food and some are derived fromChinese influences.
Indonesian comfort foods include:
In Japan, there is an expression called "Taste of Mom(おふくろの味)".
Some Polish comfort food include:
Some Puerto Rican comfort foods include:
Romanian comfort foods may include:
Russian comfort foods may include:
Traditional Swiss cuisine is characterized by its simplicity and extensive use of dairy products like cheese, cream and butter. Fruits (often apple compote) are also used in many (main) dishes,notablyÄlplermagronenandMaluns.
Some Turkish comfort foods are:
Ukrainian comfort foods include, but aren't limitied to:
United Kingdom comfort foods include:
American comfort foods may include the following foods: