Food: Comfort Food Through the Ages

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Comfort Food Through the Ages
Saturday, July 22, 2006

It is interesting how each decade seems to have its own comfort food or type of food. In the present time, comfort foods are things like pizza and burgers, fast food, tacos, and so on. How different it was in the past, though!

During World War II, the foods that people now remember as being special are any foods that were not rationed, or the rare treat that was made with rationed foods. These rations were widespread and covered many food items as well as fuel. One of the rationed items was sugar, so it goes without saying that any treat with sugar whether it was a cake, cookies, or fruit pie was a rare treat and remembered fondly in years to come.

Other rationed items included things like bacon, butter, and cheese, so these things are also remembered as comfort foods. One of the heavily rationed items was coffee during World War II. Some people who think back on those times and the war era list coffee as one of the comfort "foods" they remember fondly.

A big comfort food from the decades of the 30s (the Great Depression) and the 40s (WWII era) is soup. Soup was economical because of the number of people it could serve and it also used both meats and vegetables that many people grew on their own. A large vegetable garden assured a big pot of soup cooking more than once during a week and any leftover meat and vegetables from dinner often went into the soup pot for the following day.

The decade of the 1950s was a very interesting time as far as comfort food is concerned. It is the time when casseroles started coming into vogue and suddenly a whole new world of food beyond meat and potatoes opened up. Instead of steak, chicken, or pork chops and a baked potato a few nights a week, families started enjoying things like tuna casserole and the combinations of ingredients that would make a good casserole were endless.

Another comfort food of the 1950s and still remains one today actually, is meatloaf. Everyone seems to have his or her own "Best Meatloaf" recipe. Some are just plain as the name suggests with nothing much more than the meat. Some meatloaves are "frosted" with plain ketchup or a ketchup mixture, and others have various kinds of sauces to serve over the loaf.

Some cooks started collecting recipes for different kind of meatloaf, too. The German kind, as one example, is baked with hard boiled eggs in the center. When the loaf is sliced, each piece will have a circle of hard boiled egg in the middle. Some people put vegetables into a meatloaf to make it a bit more healthy. There are so many ways to make a great meatloaf, and new recipes are still being invented. It is the favorite comfort food of many people.

As the 50s turned into the 60s, macaroni and cheese started becoming more popular. Many individuals will name it as one of their favorite comfort foods. In fact, if you want to serve a very special "comfort meal," consider serving meatloaf with a side dish of creamy macaroni and cheese. For dessert, what can be more comforting in many people's memories than chocolate cake? Or perhaps that ever-famous "chocolate cake with peanut butter icing" we have all heard about over the years.

Still another comfort food that has stood the test of time is fried chicken. A piece of it on a plate with a mound of mashed potatoes and gravy can bring back great memories for many of us. Scalloped potatoes were also a popular side dish through the decades, so that would make a good side for the fried chicken, too.

As I close this article, I am scolding myself for not mentioning the number one greatest comfort food of all time. The thing that makes me want to go to the corner market just from thinking about it! My own favorite comfort food is *chocolate!* All right, so I mentioned chocolate cake but this comfort food comes in many shapes and forms. I prefer milk chocolate and I don't really like the dark but others feel the same about the dark chocolate. No matter what kind is preferred, nothing says "comfort food" better than a candy bar, piece of fudge, or a brownie in my book!

2:19 PM

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