# Let's open a Comfort Food Cafe - what do you want on the menu? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [September 18, 2021, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865 "2021-09-18T10:51:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/203 "2023-01-18T22:34:53Z")
There are many fair to middling homemade pies, but only one that is great. And that, without question, is warm raspberry pie a la mode. [![](https://katpoulin.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/pie-a-la-mode.jpg) ](https://katpoulin.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/pie-a-la-mode.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/204 "2023-01-18T22:42:57Z")
Agreed on the pie. Commercial raspberry pies are lacking. I try to get raspberries from a local, organic grower every summer. This past year, I was too broke and still had berries from the previous year in my freezer. As I mentioned in another thread, I tend to just pour heavy cream over it rather than add ice cream. The pie has enough sugar in it. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/205 "2023-01-18T22:51:04Z")
The only things on my list that hasn’t been mentioned are scotch eggs. Hope that’s not too upscale. Molasses cookies on the dessert side. I’ll just second/third/tenth a few submissions. Anything breakfast, especially biscuits and gravy. Chipped beef on toast (SOS) Clam chowder, New England style. Grilled cheese / tomato soup. ---
**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:** [January 19, 2023, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/206 "2023-01-19T00:07:55Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > What, no halibut? No problem. The next bar over has a great fish fry with halibut. And, if you’re in Wisconsin, the next bar is no farther than a couple of blocks. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/207 "2023-01-20T14:09:23Z")
Meh. Those raspberries are the wrong color! Black raspberry pie is needed to take me back to my youth! My dad said his grandfather believed red raspberries tasted like bedbugs smell. ---
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/208 "2023-01-20T14:28:10Z")
I like a nice cheese omlet, hash browns, toast and jam. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/209 "2023-01-20T18:00:32Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Wonton soup > Cha siu bao (bbq pork bun) > White rice with fried egg and oyster sauce > Beef chow fun (wide rice noodles) > Jiandui (sesame ball) Yum! I love love love those sesame balls. Except I’d change the chow fun to chow mein. I have a weird thing about flat noodles. I _much_ prefer round noodles. So, my addition to the menu is: Spaghetti Bolognese > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I saw a chili-size earlier. I second this. Yes. Why doesn’t anyone offer a chili size anymore? I never see them. Mine needs a big pile of chopped raw onions. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/210 "2023-01-20T20:01:45Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Those raspberries are the wrong color! I love black raspberries, too. They are sweeter than the red ones. But the red ones have a nice bite that I like too. Black raspberries are meant for ice cream or liqueur. Or eating out of hand, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/211 "2023-01-20T21:03:27Z")
Oh, so you don’t like my red raspberry pie, huh? Think my pie smells like bedbugs, do you!?! Well allrighty rooney, I baked a new pie just for you…with darker berries. [Bon Appétit.](https://i.imgur.com/4CkOea2.jpg) (BTW, my pal Poopie Pete helped me make it.) [j/k] ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/212 "2023-01-20T21:53:55Z")
Until just now I had no idea black raspberries existed. I mean, if they’re berries that are black then they’re blackberries. Raspberries are red, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/213 "2023-01-20T22:25:28Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I mean, if they’re berries that are black then they’re blackberries. Nope. Black raspberries are smaller than blackberries and not tart unless picked before being ripe. There is quite a difference in the flavor profile. ---
**Author:** ![dummygladhands71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@dummygladhands71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dummygladhands71)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/214 "2023-01-21T02:49:06Z")
Nah, black raspberries are awesome, they grew wild in Westmoreland County when I was in junior high, we’d pick a ton of them and eat them with milk, nothing else, berries and milk. Mom made jam, but we didn’t like it, too seedy. Black raspberries are a good bit smaller than backberries and actually, the color is sort of dark dark purple-ish, to be honest. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/215 "2023-01-21T03:30:15Z")
I grow black raspberries, Munger variety. They are very easy to grow if you have some garden space. The canes grow up and then over in an arch or hoop and the growing end often roots itself back into the ground. The fruiting stems grow up off the hoop making them easy to pick. The canes that fruited will die the next year and you cut them out. Just like managing many other kinds of berries. [Munger Black Raspberry Plant - Stark Bro’s (starkbros.com)](https://www.starkbros.com/products/berry-plants/raspberry-plants/munger-black-raspberry) ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/216 "2023-01-21T06:03:40Z")
> [@dummygladhands71](#): > > Mom made jam, but we didn’t like it, too seedy. Yeah, the only problem with black raspberry pie is the seediness but the flavor makes up for it. I made some black raspberry syrup once. It was sheer deliciousness. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/217 "2023-01-21T09:42:35Z")
Where I grew up, blackberries are something that are picked in someone’s garden - the part of the garden that’s a bit wild, or at a park. Here they cost an arm and a leg, and are nowhere as nice as wild blackberries. I’m now wondering if this year is the year I should plant a blackberry bush. We have a very sunny area that could use some quick growing vines and the blackberries would be a big plus. Anyway, I want to add wild blackberry pie to the list. Marionberry ice cream Scones with Cascade blackberry jelly (not jam because of the seeds). ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/218 "2023-01-21T18:23:32Z")
I’m with @carnut here. I love the tartness of red raspberries. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2023, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/219 "2023-01-21T23:44:11Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > I’m now wondering if this year is the year I should plant a blackberry bush. We have a very sunny area that could use some quick growing vines and the blackberries would be a big plus. You an even get seedless blackberry vines. I have a bunch of them. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865/220 "2023-01-22T00:09:03Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > I made some black raspberry syrup once. It was sheer deliciousness. Yes. It is fantastic as a jelly or syrup. It is also makes a great vodka or white rum flavoring. Make the syrup, add vodka, seal it up, rotate it occasionally, but don’t open for at least six months. I prefer a year. Then try it with lemonade. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-open-a-comfort-food-cafe-what-do-you-want-on-the-menu/950865.md?page=10)