Have you ever met Bruce?
I like Bruce. He’s my friend.
comfort food
noun
Definition of COMFORT FOOD
: food prepared in a traditional style having a usually nostalgic or sentimental appealExamples of COMFORT FOOD
- Pot roast and fried chicken are my favorite comfort foods.
- a restaurant that serves comfort food
nos·tal·gia
noun
\nä-ˈstal-jə, nə- also nȯ-, nō-; nə-ˈstäl-\Definition of NOSTALGIA
1 : the state of being homesick : homesickness2 : 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
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:
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.