Bite Size

Bite Size

After a never ending day, when everyone who crossed your path just happened to be annoying, what do you crave for dinner?  Or when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, nothing sounds good but all you want to do is eat, what’s calling you to the kitchen? How about when your body’s just off, under the weather, trudging through a mad case of a stuffy nose, what’s your nourishing penicillin?

Well, if word play isn’t your thing- comfort food!! I’m asking about comfort foods!

Food (to me) is the ultimate uniter. When I think of my most beloved memories, the main or supporting character is always food. And while those precious thoughts include delicacies from around the world, ranging from Michelin-adjacent masterpieces to a Subway sandwich (footlong, double meat, double cheese), the shared bites and cheers-ing over drinks hold the same validity.

Food is special and holds a really special place in my heart and life. So when I think about comfort food, I think about when I needed something that would transport me to a happier, more peaceful, maybe even mundane place. In the same way a classic camp song cues the nostalgia…the minute sweet and sour cabbage soup hits my palate, I’m instantly at ease. All of the previous bowls of cabbage soup I’ve devoured, some consumed standing over the stove in my parent’s crowded kitchen, others in a classic deli with fellow soup connoisseurs, are remembered and re-lived.  So, for however long it takes me to eat that bowl of soup (an approximated 4-5 minutes), I’m comforted. And when I’m craving that bowl of sweet and sour cabbage soup, I’m really subconsciously craving memories that will make me smile, take me out of a rut or cure the common cold. Isn’t it cool to think our mind and stomach are working with us here? 

While I have a wide repertoire of questions ready to ask people, the top 10 includes: their chosen childhood birthday dinner, what their high school lunch was and something about their family’s tried and true restaurant for carry out. Why you may ask? Food preferences offer a different type of lens into people. Despite the “eat to live” vs. “live to eat” bull shit, there are some really beautiful stories that accompany favorite foods and why they are meaningful. 

Oooohh vulnerability and food…talk dirty to me.

But really, have you ever thought about why sometimes the ONLY thing that sounds palatable is a bowl of popcorn? No? Just me? 

So tell me about…what’s your comfort food?