umphmamisense

Macaroni & Cheese, Peanut butter, ice cream, beaver tails, roti, lassi, tourtiere, kadhi khicdhi, ramen, onigiri, balut, mais, bangers & mash, etc ...

What is comfort food?

Science always attempt to explain our need for comfort food as a chemical reaction in the brain. It seems that the brain releases certain "feel good" hormones into the body to compensate for all the different negative feelings that overwhelm us in every day life like: fatigue, stress, illness etc ...

Why do we cherish it, rely on it and need it so?

I dare say that there is a deeper connection to feelings and peoples need for comfort foods. One person's comfort food is another person's dieting nemesis.

Selection and choice of comfort food is a very personal thing, more behavioral and cultural then chemical. Comfort foods usually are tied to times and places in our memories that remind of us of joy, warmth, friendship and comfort.

Some like me find hainese chicken rice to be one of my comfort food because it takes me back in time to the memoirs to family outings in Penang or Perak where its the easiest food to order in one swift order by my dad to the aunties (not many mamaks then) that will take our order. We can see the dishes prepared in once swift stroke. Usually, there will be a commotion in trying to get the best part (breast fer me, alwaysz), somebody will sulk, some will laugh but we do it time after time and we love every minute of it.

During rough times in our lives we seek to ground ourselves and find that sense of self that often gets lost when life becomes hectic and crazy. We may not be able to go to those exact moments in time, but we can have physical foods that mentally bring out those feels of love safety and self.

We don't have just one great memory that helps us cope with lives challenges, which means most of us don't have just one comfort food. I myself have several and depending on how I feel and what's immediately available, will pull from my list of comfort foods:

Maggi Mee (either Asam Laksa or Curry)
Mee Goreng Utara
Mee Kuah
Hot Fried Chicken, right out from the kuali
Hainese Chicken Rice

I can tie each of these foods to many great memories in my life that caused them to become my comfort foods as well as the times in my life when I turned to them when the world was not being kind to me. When I eat these foods they don't necessarily remind me of the events that allowed them to be come my precious comfort foods, but they do make my life a little easier and gets me back to my sense of self.