by Sandra Piddock

Created on: January 19, 2010   Last Updated: February 16, 2010

At some stage, most of us have eaten what we call 'comfort foods.' Speaking personally, comfort foods have helped me through many a crisis. Before we look at comfort foods, let's define the concept, for the few people on the planet who have no idea what we're talking about here.

By definition, 'comfort foods' are foods that bring cheer when you eat them, so we can safely cross salads off the comfort food list. Comfort foods should also have a satisfying texture in the mouth, so that you experience fully the sensation of the food before it hits the stomach. So that lets out thin soups and jellies, which slide down the throat without you even noticing they're there. Lastly, comfort foods should be items you don't eat every day, either because they're ruinous to your figure, or they're on the expensive side.

Now we've established what comfort foods are, we can identify the usual suspects. Of course, as humans we're all different, so one person's idea of comfort food will be another person's food hell. My top of the list comfort food has to be a lovely, thick soup or stew, accompanied by fresh crusty bread. It doesn't matter whether it's meat or vegetable based, as long as it's thick enough to stick to my ribs on the way down and leave a lingering aftertaste in my mouth. If the spoon will stand up in the bowl without support, I've got a great comfort soup.

To follow the soup, I'd choose a golden syrup sponge, covered with thick custard that you could almost carve slices off. And however much golden syrup is included in the recipe - I want more, please. As a child, my favourite after school snack was a golden syrup sandwich - thickly buttered bread oozing golden syrup - wonderful! Now I'm older and unfortunately wiser, I realise that this is nothing more than a portable calorie and sugar time bomb, so I never keep golden syrup in the house now.

Another favourite comfort food dessert is rice pudding, made in the oven with full cream milk, and cooked until the skin is nice and thick. There was a saying when I was a child that, if someone wasn't very strong, they 'Couldn't knock the skin of a rice pudding.'  Let me tell you, the skin on my grandmother's rice pudding was so thick, Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn't have knocked the skin off it!  Gran and I were the only ones who liked the skin, so we had a large helping every time. A big dollop of Gran's home made damson jam or golden syrup completed this fantastic, comforting dessert. As I don't really have a sweet tooth, these are the only dessets that make it to my comfort food list.

Other favourite comfort foods are Shepherd's Pie, topped with lashings of mashed swede and potatoes. Cauliflower Cheese is another great comfort food, especially served with crusty bread to mop up every drop of the sauce. If I need a really quick comfort food fix, I'll make some cheese on toast, with slices of tomato and Worcestershire Sauce - great stuff! Another quick comfort food is beans on toast, topped with grated cheese melted under the grill. And before you ask yes, I know they're all loaded with calories, but when you need comfort food, calorie counting kind of slides down the list of priorities, doesn't it?

All the comfort foods I mention here are English, for a very good reason. Comfort foods originate in childhood, and I was brought up in England. Other Europeans, Americans, Asians and Australians will probably have a completely different comfort food list to mine. At least that means they won't be hijacking my golden syrup sponge. Vive la difference!

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