What is Comfort Food?

Chicken fried steak with mashed taters and gravy.

Pinto's and cornbread.

mac and cheese

Fried Chicken and Waffles.

Chili

Turkey,mash taters,filling and gravy.

To me, comfort food by definition is something that will invariably make you feel better about yourself or things. Sometimes it seems to be favorite meals or foods from childhood, or those special dishes your mom or aunt or gramma made just for you.
My Great Aunt Agnes' baked beans for example. Whenever we visited, she always made sure she made those just for me.



Or your dad. His poached eggs on toast I've never been able to quite get right, but is still a comfort food.

To me it's any food that makes you feel warm and fuzzy - for what ever reason. Could be your favorite food as a kid, could make you remember something special, coupd be fancy, or just plain downhome cooking.
A couple of my favorites...
Grilled cheese and tomato soup
Mac & Cheese
Roasted Chicken and Mashed potatos - my mom would make this for me on my b-day.
"Dutch Cake" - something my dad would make for breakfast once in a while - it was a heavy, somewhat sweet cake. It was a recipe his grandmother passed down to him. It was also the first recipe I had ever seen where the ingredients weren't cups or tablespoons, but "butter the size of an egg" May have find the recipe and make that this weekend in memory of my dad.

deguerre said:

To me, comfort food by definition is something that will invariably make you feel better about yourself or things.

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hmmmm, using Guerre's definition I'd have to say Rum :mrgreen::bow:

Gadragonfly said:

hmmmm, using Guerre's definition I'd have to say Rum :mrgreen::bow:

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Rum is it's own food group.:mrgreen:

deguerre said:

Chicken fried steak with mashed taters and gravy.

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^^^That and home made biscuits made with LARD!

mac and cheese

Mac and cheese
Meatloaf and mashed potatoes
Chicken fried steak
Chili
Thanksgiving Dinner
Chicken pot pie

And if this qualifies, Oktoberfest beers for me!

Man, now I want all of them!

Fried Fish, french fries and macaroni with tomatoes.

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
Chicken and Noodles
Meat Loaf & Mashed Potatoes
Turkey Dinner
Pot Roast
Pot Pie
Swiss Steak

Chuck roast with mashed potatoes and gravy.
Fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy.
Chicken fried steak with.....wait for it...

Mashed potatoes and gravy!!!

Also, look here.
Comfort food???
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=127963

Back on computer now...

To me, comfort food is food that provides you with a feeling of familiarity, nostalgia or positive emotional response. It can vary widely from one person to the next, especially as we consider culture, family, tradition and geography and how it relates to food.

I do believe there is a limit to what you can do to it, before it starts to lose that effect. Although, for instance, a chef can really add some technique to a dish, and still have it be comforting, if the setting becomes too stifled, or the presentation becomes something so elevated that only a few people can tolerate it, then is it losing it's status as comfort food for most folks.

I know of folks that consider things such as foie gras, or frog's legs, sparrows or horse to be comfort foods, but, for me, these foods add elements that are too foreign for me to call them comfort foods. It gets down to the idiom of comfort food being so broad as people are so varied.

to me:
American Comfort Food (yes, American is a cultural designation): Foods that harken to the rural and semi-urban locales of American heritage. Biscuits, fried meats, dairy and cheese, gravy, bread, pies, ketchup all hearken to those roots.

Personal Comfort Food (because of who and where I come from) ramen, miso soup, teriyaki chicken, short-grain rice, fish and egg cakes, all these speak to me from a different point of view, that is intensely personal to my journey.

Pierogies
Bova Shankel
Pork and Sauerkraut with mashed potatoes and gravy.