comfort + food = COMFORT FOOD !

        "Comfort" is defined as a degree of physical or psychological ease. In my own words, I define comfort as “feeling good” – physically, psychologically, or both. You pair comfort with food, then it would mean food that makes you feel good, literally and figuratively. (click read more below)

grits

        A comfort food is what we like to eat most of the time, most especially when we are sad, toxic, or stressed out. According to Don Voorhees, comfort foods give us deep-down sense of well-being. So when did people start using “comfort food”? The aforesaid term first appeared in print in a 1977 article in Washington Post about grits, a type of food of American Indian origin.

Dr. Florangel Rosario-Braid

        
        Some people have a variety of comfort foods. Constitutionalist, multi-awardee communications expert, and UNESCO adviser Dr. Florangel Rosario-Braid, as relayed to me by his son, my buddy Ferdinand Braid, has a plateful of comfort foods. According to Ferdie, “It’s usually crabs and most sea foods. For fruits it’s lanzones. Nuts, are cashew and macadamia.”  

        A comfort food is enjoyed simply because of its taste. For English professor Ligaya Hidalgo, “My favorite comfort food is chocolate. I just enjoy the smooth sweet taste of chocolate.”

Prof. Ligaya C. Hidalgo

Abi Hernandez

        A comfort food not only tastes good, but it also brings back good memories. “I have two favorite comfort foods. Freshly baked chocolate chip cookies because they remind of my mom preparing them during Christmas in the US. And the other is hot sardine pizza which reminds me of my childhood days in Davao. Both make me melt a little when I eat them,” Abi Hernandez said. 

Engr. Del Gacula

        A comfort food could also mean a sense of affirmation. “Noong araw pag kaya mong bumili ng daing na malalaki, may kaya ka na sa buhay noon,” according to Engr. Del Gacula who grew up in Davao. “Rice and daing are my favorites. Actually I have seven kinds of it in my ref, from Marikina and Davao. Hindi puwede mawala ang daing sa basket ko pag namamalengke ako,” she further adds. 

        What else will describe or define a comfort food? It should be something that is versatile and readily available. Like Anna Czarina Santos’ (BS Psychology) favorite comfort food – cheese. “I love how I can put cheese into almost anything, and it’s easy to find,” said Anna about this combo of versatility and availability that cheese possesses.

Anna Czarina Santos

        Different people have different connotations as to what a comfort food is. But one thing is absolutely certain: a comfort food TASTES GOOD. How about you? What are your comfort foods?

Bon appetit ! ! !