Comfort Food
Now that it’s cold and wet, and the night seems to encroach steadily on the day, my body is yearning for comfort food. It doesn’t help that the central heating at home seems to be on the blink and the air-conditioning at work thinks it’s still summer and I seem to have spent most of the last ten days scrunched up in a physical huddle, feeling cold and miserable. All I want to eat is everything that is stodgy and unhealthy:
# Deep fried fish in thick batter with greasy chips, reeking of salt and vinegar - preferably in newsprint paper held in both cold hands as the grease oozes through the paper. And with that distinct greasy paper smell.
# Hot bangers and mash, in a pool of steaming gravy
# Steamed sponge pudding in a pool of treacle, drenched in hot yellow custard
# Juicy minced beef baked into lasagne, moussaka, cottage pie or shepherd’s pie
# Apple stewed with dates and cinnamon and then baked in the oven with a thick, sugary, crunchy crumble on top and enveloped in double cream or more hot yellow custard
# The ultimate English/ American breakfast and/ or mixed grill - bacon, egg, sausages, chips, toast dripping with butter, baked beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, hash browns, steak, grilled lamb chops, grilled pork chops, all washed down with a strong cup of milky, sweet tea
Funny, isn’t it, how the list is made up of primarily English food? Imagine being faced with any of that in the tropical heat, while you’re drenched in sweat and panting. In contrast, this icy, rainy November weather is perfect - especially if you’ve been out in the cold and wet doing something spiffingly British like going for a brisk walk in the rain up a hill or gardening!
What’s your favourite comfort food? Do you try and justify it first like doing some random exercise in the rain? Or do you just eat it anyway, to hell with guilt?
Photo: thanks to ukmari from flickr.com (CCL)
- Posted on
Fri, November 23rd, 2007 - Author
Yang-May Ooi - Category
- 6 responses
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November 24th, 2007 at 12:32 am
Well, I am in the UK and it is freezing at the moment. My fridge has broken so I have kept things outside instead and it is absolutley fine, its so cold!
All of the stodgy food is incredibly comforting and because there aren’t many hot days in the UK people eat this food all year round! No wonder Brits are getting fatter and fatter!
November 24th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
Doubled-cooked belly of pork /dried shrimps/ yam/ five spice [served with fragrant jasmine rice] that that popular Chinese restaurant in London Queensway can’t seem to prepare quite as well as mom could.
November 25th, 2007 at 11:53 am
I agree, Rowena, that food can get addictive so you want it all the time! But for me, the worst is over Xmas, when I over indulge and then have to spend the rest of the year burning it off…
Yeeton - mmm, that sounds like a warming, yummy dish. I will seek it out the next time I’m in Queensway.
November 26th, 2007 at 1:54 am
FYI some Chinese restaurants in London Chinatown have a separate menu written in Chinese catering to those who can read Chinese, for aficionados of certain dishes cooked Cantonese / Shanghai / Beijing or other regional style. Some specialised dishes require up to 72 hours notice to prepare.
*Possibly a dish of Hakka origin
Double-cooked belly of pork dish that I mentioned needs time to prepare to bring out the best flavour, marinated [preferably overnight] slab of belly of pork
then roasted, sliced pieces with pieces of pre-fried (with garlic) taro yam / not-too-finely chopped pre-soaked dried shrimps and a sprinkling of 5-spice powder [arranged alternately] put on a platter and then CLOSED-steamed for a minimum of 2 hours or until done if sooner. And finally a dash of Shaohsing rice wine. Chopped spring onions, coriander to garnish, sprinkle ground black/white pepper if desired. This roughly is one way to prepare that I know. Use of Fu Yee or Chinese butter [for the sauce] as Jackie Chan of movie stardom calls it, purely optional as is MSG.
Calorie/cholesterol rich, very fatty, mind you! But comfort eating on a cold winter’s day or night with fragrant, jasmine rice or flat rice or wheat noodles.
The Bayswater restaurant that prepared the dish - not on the menu - is called 4-Seasons but the chef did nothing approximating what I described, worse still, he OPEN-steamed final stage process introducing lots of liquid thus diluting flavour overall. A disappointing attempt as my co-dining friends agreed.They no longer patronise this outfit that they used to on a regular weekly basis as the quality of the food served has declined significantly in recent times. They have taken their custom to London Chinatown.
bon appetit
November 28th, 2007 at 10:36 am
I love all of the suggestions above. No-one does comforting stodge like the British. Growing up in the “last outpost” of colonial Britain [Durban, Natal, South Africa] they are all dear to my heart.
I’d like to add My Mom’s version of macaroni cheese - very unlike the anaemic tinned version:
In a flat oblong baking dish - cooked macaroni sitting in a rich cheese sauce made with flour,butter, salt, milk and lots of grated mature cheddar cheese. Added to the cheese sauce are small pieces of cooked smoked bacon. On top of the macaroni and sauce place thinly sliced tomato, grated cheese and sprinkle with paprika for colour and bite. Bake in a moderate oven until cheese turns golden brown around the edges.
I’m going back for a holiday in January and will ask my Mom to make it for me. Albeit summer there - I’ll eat, perspire daintily and think of England.
November 28th, 2007 at 11:13 am
Mmm, Mel, you’re making my stomach rumble…