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First Person

How Comfort Foods Comfort Us

Posted March 10, 2009

Charlie Fish has tackled some compelling subjects for us, including strategies for selling our “stuff” on-line and what to say and not say during a job interview. By now, you know how talented a journalist he is.

But, we must admit, we’ve got a special place in our heart for this piece, which he calls, “The Sweet Taste of Nostalgia.” Thanks, Charlie, for reminding us just how important comfort food is in our lives — most especially when times are tough.

By Charlie Fish

As a child and early teen, Saturday mornings were spent sitting less than three feet away from the living room television, the volume set on high to ensure maximum exposure to each upcoming cartoon.

In my lap there’d be a big bowl of fruity-flavored cereal (Fruity Pebbles when we could afford it — a generic brand otherwise), and I would shovel each spoonful into my mouth without taking my eyes off of the X Men, or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or (a personal favorite for its humor) The Tick.

We all have our special memories tied to comfort foods.

For me, those Saturday mornings were a high point of my week.

With each spoonful, I’d get closer and closer to the end of the bowl, and deeper and deeper into the animation’s narrative. If I needed a refill, I would run to the kitchen cupboard during commercial breaks.

But I always timed the collective experience so that when the Saturday morning cartoon block would end, I would have another special treat to enjoy: the leftover cereal milk, which had been “infusing” with the fruity tasting cereal for at least two shows. As the last of the cartoon credits rolled, I would bring my lips to the bowl and drink the sweetened milk, which tasted (I realize now) not unlike macerated berries.

Eventually, the lure of cartoons and cereal milk were replaced with video game systems, shopping malls, exams, and, finally, the world of work. Flavorful cereals stopped finding their way into grocery carts, replaced instead by health-conscious oats, granola, and Kashi.

I had long forgotten about my childhood routine and the taste of sweetened milk until recently, when my partner and I went to Momofuku Milk Bar in New York City’s East Village. “You’re gonna love this,” he told me, having been there before.

How right he was. I immediately was blown away by their creative cookie and pie concoctions. The compost cookie, for instance, is a composite of everyone’s favorite snacks melded together in buttery richness: Pretzels, potato chips, butterscotch, coffee grinds, and chocolate chip cookies go into a cookie batter and come out tasting like the world’s finest comfort sweet. (No flavor competes with the other — instead the individual textures add intrigue and flair to this delicious dessert.)

Another highlight: Cinnamon Bun Pie, which fuses the rich Danish treat with the essence of mom’s homemade pies.

In other words, there are no common options to be found at Momofuku Milk Bar. Each treat borrows from the feel-good taste of nostalgic snacks, blending them together for a modern take on comfort sweets.

As someone who is unemployed and looking for a little escapism, I found it relatively easy to part with nearly $2.00 per (large) cookie. Just as I was getting ready to leave the bakery with a full stomach and a grin on my face, Nathan nudged me and pointed at the overhead blackboard, which had the menu scribbled in chalk.

“What’s Cereal Milk Soft Serve?” I asked the guy behind the register.

“We infuse milk with different cereals and make a soft serve out of it,” he replied.

I tried to play hard-to-get. “Hmm…Well, what flavors of cereal do you have?” I asked.

“We have marshmallow cereal flavor, sweet corn cereal, and fruity cereal.”

Time almost stood still as I found myself wondering: As in the cereal that I grew up on? Watched Saturday morning cartoons with? Could it actually be the type of fruity cereal I had loved as a young boy?

The memory slowly started to come into focus, mostly a blur, but warm and fuzzy all the same. I placed the order. And that’s how I learned what nostalgia tastes like.

For those few moments standing in the bakery, eating soft serve with a small plastic spoon, I wasn’t unemployed anymore. Or struggling to find a job. Or wondering how the rent would be paid next month.

For those few minutes, I was back in front of the television, my only concern being how to time things so that the soft serve would last until the cartoons were over, when real life would begin again.

I was five dollars poorer afterwards, but a few dozen memories richer. Nathan and I put our coats back on and walked out into the city street. Our smiles carried us through the rest of the day.

The Whiner wants to know: What are your comfort foods — and why? Any good recipes, or special memories, you’d like to share?

Reader Comments

  1. Maggie

    My ultimate comfort meal? Pasta with a homemade tomato sauce, a salad, baguette, and glass of chianti. This can always, no matter what’s going on, put me in a good mood.

  2. Doug Barr

    Under the tag “well being”, food that brings comfort to me contains a caloric balance of carbohydrate, protein and fat because scientific facts confirm this balance is most conducive to optimum health. What could be more comforting? http://www.thelastwhy.ca

  3. TJ

    That was a cute article.

    My comfort foods — my dad’s famous chicken and rice crispie treats (not together). Heavenly

  4. Babs

    Nice post. And it gets to an important point: Food really does nurture us. I actually have different comfort foods at different times of day. Breakfast: oatmeal, which I only take the time to make the ‘real way’ when I really need it. Lunch: PB&J. Dinner: roast chicken, homemade biscuits, lots of roasted vegetables, glass of wine.

    TJ, I love the sound of your dad’s chicken with rice. You don’t happen to have the recipe, do you?

  5. Kate

    Ah. I know exactly what you’re talking about Charlie. I had such a bad week (and an awful Monday on top of it) that I left work early and went to the grocery store for my particular comfort combo…a Tombstone hamburger pizza and sour cream and cheddar potato chips, which you have to crumble on top of the pizza. Of course it wasn’t QUITE the same as Saturday morning at grandma’s (the pizza wasn’t cold and Transformers wasn’t on,) but it was close enough that I didn’t call in sick and screaming this morning.

  6. Micky

    While I admit that fruity cereals aren’t my thing, I do think that breakfast foods can provide a lot of “comfort” when we need them. So I’m all in favor of pancakes, french toast, eggs and bacon (although I do try to stay away from the bacon these days). Fritattas. And, yeah, even a glazed donut with a really good cup of coffee will do it for me in the right set of circumstances.

  7. Bob

    I have a special memory but I wasn’t sure how many
    words I can use to describe it. Glad you started this
    topic. I was extremely nervous in the pie thread and
    feel a lot more comfortable in the cereals thread.

    Just let me know on the word/sentence limit.

  8. anita

    Chocolate cake. I’ve been resisting it for about 10 days now, but I finally bought one last night. It was light and rich with a smooth creamy chocolate filling and crackly poured chocolate covering. With a glass of milk. I feel so much better today.

  9. Hope

    Campbell’s tomato soup made with milk and a grilled cheese sandwich. Sooo comforting.

  10. abo gato

    mmmm, mashed potatoes…..with butter…..that’s mine. Made some last night along with another comfort food, chicken fried steak. Mondays have become the guitar lesson at our house. Husband’s been taking lessons for some time from this very nice guy. Nice guy’s place where he gave the lessons stopped existing so now he just comes over on Monday, I feed him a nice meal, he and my husband play guitar for a bit and everyone is happy. He is single, our age and he always looks like he needs a meal. I’m glad to be able to give him one.

  11. Nano

    Warm chocolate pudding cake – recipe from my first cookbook – Betty Crocker (1970)!

  12. Amy

    Anything that starts out in a box or can. My mother made nothing from scratch and we didn’t even know what “fresh” meant. Hamburger Helper, Spam, Velveeta Shells and Cheese, No-Bake Cheesecake. MMMMMMMmmmmmm!

  13. yalda

    ice cream ice cream ice cream ice cream!!!! Cheap is fine — any flavor ‘cept rocky road (marshmallows yuck).

  14. Bob

    Just would like to add that the picture of
    the fruit loops generic or otherwise really
    made my day.

    It’s a little slow over here.

    Anyway, the colors were great with whatever the camera
    was and it reminds me of the afghan I’m crocheting.

    Thanks.

  15. Crayon

    When I was a kid, I worked on the same balance of cereal to ratio of milk and sugar, and marination if it was Shredded wheat. One summer for some reason I had the kitchen all to myself every morning. For the life of me I don’t remember where everyone else was? Mom, Dad, sibs? I taught myself to cook a poached egg perfectly (under the tutelage of my best friend) and put it expertly on a piece of toast. Once in the cupboard I found a bunch of those miniature cereal packages that were bundled together that included flavors my mom would never buy. I sampled my way through them all every morning for a week.

    When I was a teenager I wanted Chef boyardee ravioli from the can and pop tarts.

    Now all food is my comfort (sorry HH!)

    I like pasta hot or cold, with olive oil, the right balance of herbs and salt and pepper, and additions that are in the fridge, such as chopped fresh basil and tomatoes, well- seasoned sauteed eggplant, or chicken sausages.

  16. Jorge Novoa

    Great impressive article!
    My mom came up with really weird concoctions. Like “pizza” made with a slice of bread, tomato sauce, and cheddar cheese. Or Spam battered in egg.
    And then I created my own. I’d get 9 Ritz crackers, cut up a slice of ham into 9 squares, do the same to the cheese, and make Lunchable wannabees. And then I’d microwave it so the cheese would melt. MMMM.
    Of course, not all food nostalgia is good. I recently smelled something that reminded me of my friend’s mom’s mystery meat… the kind I would chew for about five minutes before I could swallow. The one I would push my tongue against the bottom of my mouth as much as I could, hoping it would help me not taste it. No wonder my friend was always coming over during dinner.

  17. Miriam

    Just loved this article. Yes, food can heal and help in it’s own way. My comfort food is anything with ground meat. This isn’t the first recession I’ve weathered and growing up we were not rich. We had a lot of ground meat and Yes I have a cookbook “1,000 Receipes Using Ground Meat!”