Talk:Comfort food

message: I would tend to agree with all the statements that the article needs updating.  First of all let me say that all food is comforting to me (or all the foods that I eat are comforting to me).  Those of us who had the privilege of  growing up and living on the coast seafood is more comforting than meatloaf, which I have eaten once in 63 years.  That was about 58 years ago. No seafood on the list?
24.74.161.189 00:21, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The article should be shrunk down. After a 40 year trend toward increase diversity and sophistication in the American (and other parts of the world) palate, the word emerged to retroactively describe simpler fare. That's it. Say it's "informal" and stop trying to nail it down or enumerate it. 74.68.152.245 (talk) 00:32, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Expansion of the Comfort Foods concepts 

message: Sorry for not having a account but...
As a Swede, I would definitely consider Pannkakor (Scandinavian pancakes/crepes) as comfort food in sweden. Unofrtunately, I just can't come up with any other food for the category.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.78.215.159 (talk) 15:54, 27 September 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Feel free to make changes as you see fit. Vranak (talk) 21:24, 18 December 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Additional examples from other cultures 

message: This article could also use a section on the direct physiological effects of comfort foods. A substantial majority of comfort foods are based heavily on simple carbohydrate, which has been postulated to induce an opiate-like effect in the brain. Emotional eating also may stem from this effect.
:I think a lot of comfort food gives comfort simply because of the effect of easily-and-quickly digestible carbohydrates on one's blood sugar. However, what about comfort food that is not based on carbohydrates? I've heard a thing or two about chicken used as a comfort food because of certain amino acids that it contains in high quantities. In general, people need to be prepared for the possibility that comfortd foods aren't just a trick of psychology, but that there is a real physiological truth behind at least some of it.--Peter Knutsen (talk) 14:07, 30 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Physical effects of comfort foods 

message: Having a list of foods makes no sense.  Every person has their own list of comfort foods.  For some it might be coke and hot dogs, for someone else it could be grits and orange juice.  Delete the list and just explain the notion of a comfort food and if availlable, the effects and social role.  Easytoremember 03:10, 6 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I will.  I came to the talk page to request the list be removed, but I see there's already a consensus for that.  I believe "comfort food" is an important topic that can evolve into an extremely high quality article.  This list is standing in the way;  it makes the article too long to read, without adding any content.  I wrote an article here on Night eating syndrome after reading a survey of the clinical material available, then revised it slightly after talking to a psychiatrist, who agrees that NES is an eating disorder but feels there's an emotional component in many people just across the borderline between disorder, and symptom.  He pointed out that the diet of the night eater is always what would be considered comfort food.  This is only one disorder, affecting a pretty small percent of the population, but somebody else linked to "emotional eating," and, well, I feel there's a lot of importance in this article.  Just to be clear, eating "comfort foods" isn't a pathology in itself.  Ben & Jerry's is better for you than stress.  But in a very stressful world of "fast food nation" I think there's great importance here.  FireWeed 21:18, 23 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The list has been the object of concern for three years. Long enough. There was a single cited item. I left that. But it sure looks weird to have just one item from Japan cited. This article needs a complete rebuild, and needs to rely on WP:RS. I'm not sure there's anything to the concept really except for shared objects of culinary nostalgia. DavidOaks (talk) 22:02, 6 August 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  List is pointless 

message: This idea of a "comfort food" is a western concept or at least anglo concept. I'm a native speaker of Chinese (and also fluent in English) and we don't have this concept or term that speaks of "comfort food". We have this concept of home-cooked food but that is not the same as the English meaning of "comfort food." Thus, I'm raising objections to indicate that the article should particularly point out that comfort food is a western (or anglo, which ever it may be) concept. --71.146.24.9 (talk) 22:14, 16 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: In the "Other Countries" section, I would like to ask who is defining the concept of "comfort food" for these countries such as Japan and India. Perhaps it is westerners who are looking at miso soup, roti, ramen noodles and imposing the idea of "comfort food" onto these cultures when the idea of "comfort food" does not exist (perhaps) in these cultures? The idea of comfort food is not the same as home-cooked meal. I suggest we remove that section and stick to countries that actually use the concept of "comfort food". --71.146.24.9 (talk) 22:17, 16 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I've reverted as unsupported opinion.  The Japanese sentence was sourced to the New York Times.  Japan certainly has a distinction between down home food (available at restaurants and at home) from formal food at restaurants.  I suspect most cultures do - actually, not a cultural question so much as an industry / economic one.  When people start eating out more and more, some seek comforts of homestyle food.  In the US and apparently Japan that is a food industry phenomenon.  It would be useful if those proposing to add info from other countries (or adding any material) could cite a source to make clear they're really describing the phenomenon and not just local cuisine.  Wikidemo (talk) 18:45, 25 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Western concept 

message: Just noticed that the last paragraphs were almost exact copies of each other--just wanted to let you guys know. 67.161.93.146 (talk) 21:19, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Redundant last paragraphs 

message: The comfort foods described in the 'Middle-East' section are specific to Arab cuisine, including North Africa. Furthermore, they are neither popular nor comfort foods in other parts of the Middle-East such as Iran or Turkey for example. Iran also has it's own section, therefore making a very general 'Middle-East' section redundant. So I changed the titke to the more appropriate and accurate 'Arab World'. Pink Princess (talk) 09:21, 2 February 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Middle-East to Arab World 

message: The list mentions Pierogi, Chlodnik, gingerbread cookies... what an utter mess. We don't even have the concept of 'comfort food' in Poland. And according to the definition, a comfort food is easy to prepare. I can't see how any of these foods can be prepared easily. Coming from a different culture, I feel that this article didn't really make the concept any clearer to me. And there is no research supporting any of the statements made, neither social, psychological nor nutritional-scientific. This article seems very un-encyclopedic.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.28.142.137 (talk) 20:16, 19 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Poland 

message: I got rid of the long list of uncited examples, and added material that turned up in a search of Google Scholar hits, though the results now need editing for coherence and general style. Lists should not be added unless they come from WP:RS's  I'm hoping that we now have an article, maybe stubby, that makes sense of the concept as more than a list of faves. It's been studied by marketing specialists, anthropologists, health care professionals, etc. I would be surprised if it has not been treated in articles on eating disorders, on cultural hisotry (you can't have comfort food until a mobile society begins to experience alienation) and economics (this is a phenomenon of abundance and choice). But I do not yet have sources for those things. DavidOaks (talk) 16:16, 7 August 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: There's a lot of good stuff in there, but a few issues in particular.  The lede sentence, I think, does not define comfort food very closely.  It's a category of food, and perhaps a cultural phenomenon, not a term.  The term is defined by culture and popular awareness, not science, anthropology, or health.  By default, all different types of food are consumed by choice (what's the alternative)?  And eating to feel better?  That could apply to any cuisine.  I think the original lede was closer to the mark - it mentions correctly that comfort food is simple, hearty, familiar food cooked at home or eaten in informal restaurants.  I'm sure that's in the sources somewhere, but one problem with most sources about comfort food is that they assume the reader knows what it is, and then describe a specific restaurant or dish as comfort food.  The academic sources assume often-simplistic and imprecise definitions as their premise (e.g. food you eat to feel good), then elaborate on that.  The simplistic definitions admit foods (ice cream, potato chips, chocolate, junk food) that I don't think most people would consider comfort food.  It also leads to the questionable conclusion that comfort food is not a collection of foods - I think it is, it is just a different collection for different communities. My hunch is that there are plenty of sources that will list specific foods as comfort foods. Although the lists were indeed uncited, and prose form is far preferable, it is helpful to list examples so that readers can get the point.  Also, the scientific studies should all be in a section on America, if they are about Americans.  It is a little tricky to generalize.  There is a source (written from an American perspective) that describes Japanese comfort foods, and presumably one could find comfort foods in every culture.  Is that because these cultures all have their own concept of comfort food, or is it that Americans, thinking about comfort food, find analogous types of food elsewhere?  - Wikidemon (talk) 18:11, 7 August 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: The sources given are strictly scietific, and they're all in agreement that it's a category of food use for psychological purposes (as opposed to simply acquiring calories), also that these are active choices rather than default acceptance of what's available. Sources don't agree that it's simple or has anything to do with home, although some identify that as one psychological category. If there is a definitive collection of comfort foods according to WP:RS's we should include that list, but people's particular ideas accumulated for three years with only one citation. DavidOaks (talk) 19:01, 7 August 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Ah, but it's not a scientific subject, so the scientific information is a bit of a side issue here.  You can't prove a premise, and as I said, they seem to take as their premise something that may or may not be the issue.  Obviously it satisfies some kind of desire, that's the "comfort" in comfort food.  But characterizing it as a psychological phenomenon as opposed to a cultural or culinary one seems to miss the point.  There are 2.5 million ghits (per my cookies, yours may vary) versus 5,800 in google scholar (an unusually high ratio) and 32,000 book references.  Many of them do describe specific foods.  It seems pretty likely that somewhere amidst the recipes, restaurant reviews, blogs, and other unusable stuff, there is some reliable description of comfort food as a cultural and food matter.  - Wikidemon (talk) 20:02, 7 August 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't follow -- "it's not a scientific subject"? If scientists write about it, how could it be otherwise? Now, maybe there's a different definition in circulation for popular culture, but we then have the problem of determining a proper authority there -- linguists and mass culture scholars would be the best bet. So if we can find such WP:RS's, let's include them. But the problem with definition byt list is that one must demonstrate principles of inlcusion and exclusion, as well as comprehensiveness. The trouble with the old article was, "comfort food" was indistinguishable from "Yummy stuff" -- that is, entirely arbitrary, with no systematic way of saying why something might or might not be included. Having principles allows us to avoid the list. Analogy: it is easier to define "blue" in terms of wavelengths than by listing everything that might be described as "blue." DavidOaks (talk) 20:08, 7 August 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  rewrite 

message: I would like to add references to other sites but I'm not sure where to add them - the Further Reading section seems to have only books.
May I add a reference to this web site which I think would be helpful to readers?
Nutritional Comparison of Many Comfort Foods
http://www.fitsugar.com/Nutritional-Comparison-Many-Comfort-Foods-1084313
--Bill.albing (talk) 21:43, 16 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Additional references

message: Because I'm fairly certain the concept of "comfort food" is a part of Mexican cuisine as well.  Seeing as though I'm a second generation American of Mexican descent, I can only hazard guesses as to what these food items would be, but if I had to guess, such a list would include chicken mole, tamales, barbacoa, tortas, chorizo, menudo, reposteria (or what some might called "polvorones" -- Mexican wedding cookies), buñuelos, Mexican hot chocolate, and that milky drink made with masa that tastes very faintly of chocolate, whose name I can't recall.  Oh, and flan too.  But that's just my guess and it could be partly influenced by American Mexican cuisine.  I mean, I very much recall eating barbacoa in Mexico and believe menudo is an actual Mexican dish, but it might not bring as much comfort to a regular Mexican as it would an American of Mexican descent such as myself.  So help from an actual Mexican would be very much appreciated, y gracias para su ayuda.  69.149.105.46 (talk) 06:57, 8 January 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Where does Mexico fit into this equation? 

message: Hi there! The list is going nowhere. It was removed in 2007 but came back again. Excellent points were made back in 2006 and 2007 on the reasons why it should be removed but editors clearly didn't look at the Talk page. I have met with too much resistance on even small overhauls recently on this kind of page. IMHO the only good reference listed is the one from the US, at least supported by a poll. The others I can judge of are often frankly ridiculous.
Rdavout (talk) 11:01, 14 January 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Agreed.  In my opinion it's a simple matter of routine article maintenance.  This is one of those articles about a popular subject that lots of people enjoy and have an opinion on, so over time it begins to accumulate haphazard contributions that need to be organized, trimmed, and possibly removed.  There are so many different comfort foods in different cuisines, and no universal criteria, so coming up with a definitive list is a hopeless task.  It may be possible to make a list specific to the US or a particular cuisine, but a global list would just be too long.  Any list we do make is going to be arbitrary and incomplete, so the encyclopedic purpose if any is a matter of exposition, to teach the reader by use of select examples - that's a matter of editorial discretion.  For anyone building a list, it's probably better to use templates or categories. - Wikidemon (talk) 15:30, 14 January 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Consider the issue of unintended propoganda or advertising. That's right, comfort food is a subjective concept. Examples only turn this article into something more gonzo than it should ever be. It should be a highly dictionary like piece on this psychological concept. Afterall, good taste may be primarily personal, common trends of localized consumers, and a logical scientific practice, but a comfort food is only personal and trends are really just trends not actually in assistance of any definition, rather said popular foods surely conform to the definition lending that people of a certain location may show similar psychological behavior(obviously). The definition alone is of far more importance and value especially to psychologists, dieticians/food health practitioners, or anyone looking for the actual answer to the question: What is comfort food? The answer is anything edible but its selection follows a purely personal psychological criteria that may generate trends when masses are tallied but cannot rely on or reference trend data for its own definition to be purely observational. 24.52.222.241 (talk) 17:46, 24 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  How about removing the list on this article (again! - 2007 and now 2012) 

message: The Canadian list is nothing but uncited stereotypes.  Comfort foods in Canada are likely to be as diverse as (and probably significantly overlaps with) the US list.  I also suspect there is significant regional variation (e.g. Tim Hortons doesn't seem to be as popular out west as it is in Ontario, poutine is probably mostly a comfort food in Quebec and less so elsewhere).  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.100.41.189 (talk) 21:10, 30 October 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree. Half of the listed items are not even comforting foods. The majority of the listed items in the American comfort foods I can associate as comforting foods. Where does this information even come from? All I see in the Canadian list is items most prevalently manufactured in Canada (which does not constitute them as being comforting). - 24.36.109.251 (talk) 21:34, 6 December 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Canadian section 

message: The recent additions of Polish-language names for foods are unintelligible to non-Polish readers.  Please translate these terms and/or Wikilink to articles describing them, similar to the section on Russian foods, for example.  Reify-tech (talk) 18:24, 16 February 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Polish food

message: I've deleted most of this. One bit wasn't even sourced to an article about comfort foods, another was just original research with a link that didn't mention the content of the sentence, and the 3rd was the 2004 About.com poll. That wasn't a reliable source. It was based on a forum discussion with only 281 replies, a number of which weren't actually stating their favorite foods. Too tiny, too limited to be in the article. Dougweller (talk) 10:00, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  American section 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: The definition is seemingly negative and could be expanded, seeing as though psychology research has delved into the topic. 
In addition, I noticed that under the US/American culture has a lot of foods that are either 1) not of American origin or 2) specifically African American dishes. 
I will possibly expand this, seeing as though I am a student in a class on food. I will use resources from Jstor and my university's database. --Cheesesteaklover16 (talk) 03:56, 5 September 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Comfort Food Definition 

message: The comments in this article about the origins of the term "comfort food" are erroneous. There is a book called the Oxford English Dictionary that documents the term as far back as 1962. 128.36.7.163 (talk) 01:42, 5 April 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Erroneous Comments on Origins of the Term "Comfort Food"