# Comfort Foods **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 1, 2025, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087 "2025-06-01T22:29:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/41 "2025-06-02T02:35:06Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > What I don’t (do not) understand about a “comfort” food is Pie. For me it is cake. And that includes cupcakes. Bread with cloying huge gobs frosting (aka all sugar). Never got it. Still don’t. I know everyone else loves it and that’s fine…enjoy. Not for me. Some pie I can do. And cheesecake (which is really a pie). ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/42 "2025-06-02T02:37:26Z")
I prefer pie to cake anyday and cake is so good 😊! ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/43 "2025-06-02T02:40:02Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > Have never made it but I’ve thought about it. It sounds delicious. Give it a go. Walking in to a cold kitchen you can probably make it in 20 minutes (mostly time to get the water to a boil and then cook the pasta). The rest is easy. Prep it while the water is coming to a boil and then cooking the pasta. Only a few, cheap ingredients. Super yum! Here is the recipe that got me going with it and I love it but there is no shortage of recipes for this out there (really not a whole lot to fuss with). NOTE: If you do not like garlic then steer clear of this one. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bJUiWdM__Qw/maxresdefault.jpg "Binging with Babish: Pasta Aglio e Olio from "Chef"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJUiWdM__Qw) ---
**Author:** ![Fortyfold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7c8e57/32.png) [@Fortyfold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fortyfold)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/44 "2025-06-02T02:43:28Z")
My theory of a ‘comfort food’ is that it’s any food you eat regularly when you’re really hungry (because hunger is the best sauce). Some people will have a particular dislike for certain foods so something might not pass, but otherwise quality probably isn’t important. I still greatly enjoy microwave burgers as I had them as a work meal for a time, and they were so filling. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/45 "2025-06-02T02:44:54Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I loathe mac & cheese. I don’t know what it is. I love pasta. I like cheese. Me too… but GOOD pasta and cheese. Noodles made fresh by someone whose mother can only speak Italian, with a gourmet sauce and some fennel sausage. And the cheese would be freshly-ground Parmesan or fresh mozzarella. Or maybe a smooth goat cheese on the charcuterie board with some capicola and soppressata, yummmm… ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/46 "2025-06-02T02:54:33Z")
Chicken nuggets or fish sticks, along with Tater Tots (brand OR generic) are my go-to food if I’m not up to a full-fledged meal. No, I’m not a kid, either LOL! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/47 "2025-06-02T03:03:15Z")
I like most comfort food. A few exceptions: - Meatloaf. Hearing others wax nostalgic about it, I’ve made it a couple of times. My wife loathes it, so I end up eating most of a loaf. The second time I made it was because I forgot that first experience. I hope I remember well enough to avoid a third time: while I don’t loathe it, I just don’t see the fuss. - Kraft Mac 'n Cheese. The Alton Brown Stovetop stuff takes a little bit longer to make, but we’re talking ten minutes longer, max–and it’s so goddamned good, the eclair to Kraft’s Twinkie. - Baked mac and cheese. I know y’all make it delicious. I don’t get it. Too mushy, not enough flavor. Stick with stovetop for me. - Little Debbie snacks. Yuck. I love me some junk food, whether it’s Chips Ahoy or Hershey’s bar or whatever. But those Little Debbie snacks are nasty. Their only saving grace is that they’re not - Moon Pies. Are you serious? Are you goddamn serious? Stale graham crackers and gluey marshmallow spackle dipped in sweetened brown wax, and this is a regional comfort food? Look. Come to North Carolina for the barbecue. Come for the hush puppies, the Calabash seafood, the buttermilk biscuits, the cheese grits, the Cheerwine. We got some excellent eating here. But _stay away from the Moon Pies_. They nasty. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/48 "2025-06-02T03:16:42Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > Agreed, no to tuna melts. Just wrong. That’s what I thought, too. Not a big fan of tuna sandwiches in the first place. But then one evening, on a whim, I ordered one at the local pub, and it was transcendent. It was on an open-faced English muffin. I’ve tried replicating it and I don’t come close. Maybe because I use water-packed tuna? I’m afraid the place is going to closing down, so I’ll have to talk them out of their recipe. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/49 "2025-06-02T03:30:52Z")
I had a transcendent egg salad sandwich once. I’ve been trying to replicate it for years (not very often but a few times a year) and I can’t do it. Bums me out. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/50 "2025-06-02T03:33:42Z")
I hate a tuna melt that anyone else makes: too much mayo. But I love the ones i make, modeled off what they served at Skylight Exchange in Chapel Hill in the early 90s: -Drain water-packed tuna and add some olive oil (you could probably just use oil-packed, but this is how I do it). -Add garlic powder, garam masala, chili powder, and salt, until it’s heavily flavored. -Put on a slice of whole wheat bread and top with shredded Cheddar. -Toast until melty. What can I say? It works! ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/51 "2025-06-02T03:52:12Z")
I’m the opposite. I totally “get” al dente - it’s clearly better, in some aesthetic way. But me? I love my pasta slurpy soft, to hell with what the sophisticates think! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/52 "2025-06-02T04:45:03Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > What comfort foods do you enjoy and which don’t you get the fuss about? > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This was the OP’s question. Yes, but he also asked what comfort foods you DO like. > [@Ellecram](#): > > Totally missed that one. You are fine. > [@sunstone](#): > > And a bit of magic occurs when Chili is added to Mac and Cheese Chili- mac, ye, I make my own- a full meal! > [@susan](#): > > Just the idea of tuna melt makes me gag. Join the club. Or hot tuna casserole. blecch. Mind you, I like tuna sandwiches. Tuna, some mayo (not too much!), chopped dill pickles, on soft bread. Maybe a little chopped onion. > [@Patx2](#): > > That for some reason makes me think of cheap ramen The American version from the 50’s, now it is cheap raman more often. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Meatloaf. Hearing others wax nostalgic about it, I’ve made it a couple of times. My Dad had a special recipe, and no other meatloaf is quite like it, so i dont care for it- unless smothered in gravy- but lots of things are better smothered in great greavy. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Moon Pies. Are you serious? Are you goddamn serious? Stale graham crackers and gluey marshmallow spackle dipped in sweetened brown wax, and this is a regional comfort food? Yeah, not a fan either. But _Ah, but when that clock strikes midnight_ _And I’m all by myself_ _I work that combination_ _On my secret hideaway shelf_ _And I pull out some Fritos corn chips_ _Dr. Pepper and an Ole Moon Pie_ _Then I sit back in glorious expectation_ _Of a genuine junk food high_ (Larry Groce) 😀 😇 > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Little Debbie snacks. Yuck. I love me some junk food, whether it’s Chips Ahoy or Hershey’s bar or whatever. But those Little Debbie snacks are nasty. Yep. but now Entenmann’s makes kinda similar stuff that I do like. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/53 "2025-06-02T05:30:10Z")
Mac & cheese. i just don’t get it and was very sad in elementary school when I’d go over to a friend’s house and that’s what we’d get for lunch. Rice krispie treats are tasteless sadness. I have fully embraced tater tot hot dish as excellent comfort food. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/54 "2025-06-02T05:37:37Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Meatloaf. Hearing others wax nostalgic about it, I’ve made it a couple of times. My wife loathes it, so I end up eating most of a loaf. The second time I made it was because I forgot that first experience. I hope I remember well enough to avoid a third time: while I don’t loathe it, I just don’t see the fuss. I usually dislike meatloaf, because it usually has peppers in it, and i loathe peppers. (And if i get too much, it makes me ill.) That means that even if it doesn’t have peppers, I’m suspicious and it makes me anxious. Do i don’t eat meatloaf unless I’ve made it, which has happened… maybe two or three times. > [@Odesio](#): > > I hate meatloaf. The singer is delightful, but I’ve never cared for the dish. My mother used to tell me it was the same as a hamburger but didn’t have an answer when I asked why we couldn’t just have hamburgers. It’s usually cut more than hamburgers, with oatmeal or bread. So it would have been a cheaper meal for your mom to make. It’s also usually seasoned more heavily than hamburgers. I liked hamburgers okay as a kid, and refused to eat meatloaf. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/55 "2025-06-02T06:13:18Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I usually dislike meatloaf, because it usually has peppers in it, and i loathe peppers. Green peppers or any pepper whatsoever? (black pepper, jalapeno, etc.) ETA: I know green, red and yellow peppers are the same pepper so lump them together. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/56 "2025-06-02T06:15:53Z")
Another one who is not fond of macaroni and cheese here. Plus, I’m in Canada, where kids, and the adults they grow into, have learned that Kraft Dinner (what we call macaroni and cheese) is an inexpensive and filling fallback for when you want a meal, but don’t know what you want. I know what I want: anything but it. Poutine. Somehow or other this abomination of good old fries and gravy escaped Quebec, and now has infected Canada and parts of the United States to the point where it is ubiquitous. Many regard it as a comfort food, but I don’t. On the other hand, I love meatloaf, especially with mashed potatoes. Beef stew with some crusty bread is always welcome. I’ll never turn down shepherd’s or cottage pie. And a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup is the food of the gods, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/57 "2025-06-02T06:17:54Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Poutine. Somehow or other this abomination of good old fries and gravy escaped Quebec, and now has infected Canada and parts of the United States to the point where it is ubiquitous. Many regard it as a comfort food, but I don’t. I’m with you on that. I LOVE French fries! I love gravy. Don’t mix them…just makes my French fries squishy. At best, leave it on the side as something to dip the fry in like mayo or ketchup. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/58 "2025-06-02T06:20:32Z")
I’m with you on that. Gravy is for dipping fries in, not for being slathered on the fries, and no cheese curd should come anywhere within fifty feet of the dish. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/59 "2025-06-02T06:20:39Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > -Drain water-packed tuna and add some olive oil (you could probably just use oil-packed, but this is how I do it). > -Add garlic powder, garam masala, chili powder, and salt, until it’s heavily flavored. > -Put on a slice of whole wheat bread and top with shredded Cheddar. > -Toast until melty. Very different! I can’t even envision how the flavors come together. This will be my project for tomorrow evening. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087/60 "2025-06-02T06:38:06Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > [@puzzlegal](#): > > > > I usually dislike meatloaf, because it usually has peppers in it, and i loathe peppers. > > Green peppers or any pepper whatsoever? (black pepper, jalapeno, etc.) > > ETA: I know green, red and yellow peppers are the same pepper so lump them together. Green, jalapeno, and hot peppers are all the same family, and i avoid them all. I don’t care for “hot”, but tiny amounts of the very hot peppers are less problematic than the more flavorful ones. Black pepper is unrelated, and i enjoy it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comfort-foods/1019087.md?page=4)