Devil's food with brown sugar buttercream. WIN! Via howtoeatacupcake.net @ Flickr.
I normally don’t read O Magazine, but a friend who knows my passion for food just forwarded me an essay entitled “Love, Loss and What I Ate“, the title obviously cribbed from Ilene Beckerman’s wonderful book Love, Loss and What I Wore (which was recently adapted into a play by Delia and Nora Ephron).
In the essay, author Lisa Kogen reminisces about the foods of her life and the emotions they trigger, like hope (pizza from Buddy’s in Detroit) and familial love (beef soup, the veggies hand-chopped). Books by women, from Kate Jacobs’s Comfort Food to Erica Bauermeister’s The School of Essential Ingredients to Laura Esquivel’s Like Water For Chocolate have always played on the intimate connection between food and emotion. In Kogen’s essay, the kicker is her description of her go-to food in times of tragedy, the “dessert potato.”
Upon breaking up with my first true love, a delightful young gentleman whom I still affectionately refer to as “evil incarnate,” I invented the ultimate my-boyfriend-has-just-dumped-me food…Steve Jobs created the iPod, but let the record show that it was I who brought the world the dessert potato.
Yes, the dessert potato, because nothing says “I’m hurting” quite like a woman who hasn’t showered in nine days chowing down on a Yukon Gold that’s been slathered in sprinkles and marshmallow fluff while the greatest hits of Janis Ian play on in an endless loop of sheer misery.
Personally, I think the dessert potato sounds kind of icky. But hey, I’m not going to judge people for their comfort food–whatever works, eat it! The English make endless cups of tea in times of crisis, we Southerners have a casserole for every occasion–the active ingredient is usually at least one variety of Campbell’s condensed soup–and chicken soup “aka Jewish penicillin” will cure whatever ails you. Unfortunately, stress gives me a stomachache and kills my appetite dead, so in times of loss, I only want what I absolutely love: pudding, tortilla chips, slabs of cake. We know that eating sugar releases seretonin–the body’s natural feel-good chemical–in our brains and that people with low brain seratonin crave sugar. All those yummy sweets and starches, including the dessert potato, are cheap anti-depressants.
For me, family togetherness is my grandma’s Elston casserole, named for a long-ago Mrs. Elston who belonged to my family’s church and used to bring the casserole to church suppers. Strangely, it’s full of stuff I do not like and/or rarely eat–like ground beef, Campbell’s condensed tomato and mushroom soup and Velveeta cheese–but one bite makes me feel comfy and nostalgic and satisfied. Celebration means chocolate icebox cake, which I made for the Harpies at my birthday party this year; it’s possibly the most delicious food known to humankind. And, of course, bacon just means joy and indulgence no matter when or how it’s served.
Love, loss, a good meal…What’s your favorite comfort food? Serve it up in the comments!
oooo macaroni cheese.
or chocolate. and coke (the drink)
Chicken soup. All kinds of chicken soup. Matzoh ball and egg drop are my favorites, though — they’re basically all I ate for three days after I had my wisdom teeth out.
I spent last summer in France doing a study-abroad program and had a couple of weeks that were just horrible. I’d been lonely and homesick for a month, and, on top of that, I got a stomach flu that lasted for days and totally destroyed my ability to absorb nutrients. When I finally dragged myself to the program coordinator’s office and asked her where I could get some matzoh ball soup, she hadn’t heard of it. The only French person who had knew about it from her daughter in England. I had to make do with a powdered chicken soup mix. It was terrible. I loved French food, but man, they need to get with the program, soup-wise.
Chocolate, and re-heated Lasagna with extra cheese.
And hot chocolate
And, very Dutch, a sandwich (not with white bread, brrr) with chocolate sprinkles:
http://www.thehollandring.com/food/food-hagelslag.htm
Pasta tossed with proscuitto and toasted breadcrumbs and Parm–so simple and so, so good.
Instant gratification: Chocolate milk and Bailey’s. In a BIG glass.
Longterm: baking of any kind. Bread can be therapeutic because of the inherent violence of my kneading technique, but the long rising time equals more brooding time. I prefer to bake fussier things that take my mind off my problems: butter tarts, salted-caramel brownies, cheescake, banoffee pie, flourless chocolate torte. Then I share with other people, who are inevitably glad to see me. Yeah, I’m sure the baking has nothing to do with that.
I may have just discovered a major trend in my family’s women regarding mood disorders and eating habits.
Must think about this now.
Sausage and mash with onion gravy. Every time. And it becomes even more magical if followed by ginger cake. I just had a little think, and every single distressing incident of my life has been followed by this meal, and I always remember it is stark detail, and it is the equivalent of a huge hug I can give myself. Mmmmmmm.
My dissertation defense is in 45 minutes and I am eating bagels like it is my JOB.
@DangerMouse: GOOD LUCK! Have an extra schmear to fortify you!
@Dutchie: Holla! Chocolate sprinkle sandwiches represent! My mom once made me a sandwich made with white bread and speculaas – damn that was good. Now I’m definitely going to go up to the German/Dutch import market after work to get me some choc sprinkles, speculaas, and bischeit (I think that’s how you spell it, I have trouble articulating the hawking of spit sound in the middle of that word).
Mashed potatoes. Always. I keep an box of instant in the house for emergencies, since stress/heartbreak/etc does NOT wait for peeling, boiling, mashing and so forth.
I’m sensing a major carb focus to most people’s comfort food! I am definitely with you; a bad day means a big sloppy bowl of spaghetti, just a little tomato sauce or maybe just butter. I don’t like any unnecessary condiments coming between me and my starch. Mac and cheese from the box, of course, stand by.
Any chance we can get a recipe for grandma’s Elston casserole??
I would attack that.
It’s all about the carbs. My two major comfort foods/favorite snacks (I’ll eat ‘em whether or not I need comfort): salt & vinegar potato chips, and a crusty loaf with olive oil and balsamic.
I have a vinegar thing, too. Anything vinegary–pickles, mustard, sauces–and I am insatiable. Not sure what that’s about.
Aaaaand we are having chocolate icebox cake at Harpy House, right, Becky?
@PhDork: I hadn’t thought about it, but yes, chocolate icebox cake can most definitely be made available.
@distractedbyshinyobjects:
Okay, you asked for it.
Brown 1 lb lean ground beef with one chopped onion. Drain and mix with 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, 1 can of Campbell’s cream of mushroom and 1 can of Campbell’s cream of tomato (you can use the low-sodium kind; it will still taste good and be kinder to your arteries). Mix the soupy beef mixture in a casserole dish with 1 bag of cooked egg noodles and 1 cup of corn (canned or frozen, just remember to drain). To the top of the casserole add a layer of some kind of yellow cheese–Velveeta, Kraft singles or shredded cheddar all work equally well (my grandma is partial to American cheese). Bake at 350 until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly.
Chili. Warm and spicy and filling and so good. Plus making it means I’ll have an entire pot of it, so I’ll be able use it as a comfort food for days if need be.
Kraft macaroni and cheese, Campbell’s chicken noodle soup (original recipe, none of this reduced fat, reduced sodium bullshit), Triscuits. Hmm. I see a pattern.
[...] rest is here: In Praise of Comfort Food – The Pursuit of Harpyness By admin in Uncategorized .::. You can follow any responses to this entry [...]
Kraft macaroni and cheese, Campbell’s chicken noodle soup (original recipe, none of this reduced fat, reduced sodium bullshit), Triscuits. Hmm. I see a pattern.
Sorry… forgot to say great post – can’t wait to read your next one!
@miktacular I think you mean beschuit? (crispy round things?) They are great, my mum always made them with sugar when we were sick, and its great with cream and strawberries in summer (y).
(And the Dutch ui is very difficult to pronounce for foreigners, even harder possibly than the sch or g-sound, which is very charming to teach people (I always direct them to the g-spot in there mouth
)
Scrumptious gooey-in-the-middle meringue – STRAWBERRY PAVLOVA wins every time.
http://www.tried-and-tested-recipes.com/strawberry-pavlova.html