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Daily Archives: August 31st, 2011

Comfort food

Definition of COMFORT FOOD

: food prepared in a traditional style having a usually nostalgic or sentimental appeal

Examples of COMFORT FOOD

  • Pot roast and fried chicken are my favorite comfort foods.
  • a restaurant that serves comfort food
You’ll note the examples.  They’re pretty standard USian fare.  You’ll note the definition.  It mentions nostalgia.

nos·tal·gia

noun
\nä-ˈstal-jə, nə- also nȯ-, nō-; nə-ˈstäl-\

Definition of NOSTALGIA

1 : the state of being homesick : homesickness
2 : a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition; also : something that evokes nostalgia

Now, having these definitions, it seems pretty strange that I consider Persian and Ethiopian food to be within the realm of comfort food considering that I AM CHINESE and that I WAS RAISED IN THE US.  To be exact, I was raised in Southern California.  And that may explain some of this.  Lots of immigrants from different cultures flock to SoCal and I feel rather privileged to have been raised in an environment where there are so many different cultures.  There’s something special, seeing a little of where people come from.  However, I didn’t have any Iranian or Ethiopian friends growing up.  I certainly didn’t eat any of their food.  I did have some friends who hailed from Saudi Arabia and their mother introduced me to some of their cuisine, which is similar to Persian cuisine, but I didn’t eat it regularly.  So, how did I end up adopting some of their cuisine as something I crave when going through some rough times?  No idea.

But this

(Ethiopian cuisine)

is delicious.

So is this.

(This was from a Lebonese place, which is similar to Persian cuisine. I actually like the cuisine from that whole area.)

But don’t get me wrong, I also really like

Left to right, top to bottom:

  • stuffed fudge cupcakes
  • flavorful burritos of all varieties (this one is from Wahoo’s)
  • cheeseburger with whole grilled onion and chopped chilis with animal fries (In-n-Out)
  • happy pho…and unhappy pho too…and lots of different types of Asian food, but I could only find a picture of happy pho (a local pho shop whose name I’ve forgotten)
  • pizza of all types (this one is from Neo in DFW)
  • eggs in a basket…with soy sauce, because I’m pretty sure there’s a rule about only being allowed soy sauce with fried eggs

Now, why did I put up all these pictures of food that I find comforting?  I’m not particularly hungry.  I suppose this is another anger management technique?  Only, this one can make you pretty fat and more angry.  Probably better only follow this advice sparingly.  It is delicious though.

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