Comfort Food

Shresta Nibhanupudi (she/her)

Editorial Team Member

For me, nothing in this world is as comforting as food. It has a never ending capability to be a solution for every problem and an answer to every question: a celebration meal, a consolation binge, an energizing snack. It unifies people over a shared love. My comfort foods are constantly changing, a representation of who I currently am at any moment; from Maggi, the Indian equivalent to instant ramen, to hot buttery popcorn. It makes life extremely difficult for my parents to try and figure out what I want next for dinner. But truly, at any given moment, food will make me feel infinitely better than I previously did. 

Comfort to me means eating my food in front of a romcom or sitcom. I immerse myself in the worlds of Lorelai Gilmore, Ted Mosby, and Andie Anderson while I enjoy a warm bowl of mac-and-cheese. The criteria for a food to be considered a comfort meal is the level of its ease of eating, consistency, and taste. For example, it can’t be extremely messy nor can it be extremely spicy. I enjoy spice but just not in the foods that are supposed to provide me with comfort. Consistency might be the largest factor as it is essential for the food to always taste good no matter what. Once the consistency drops, the meal automatically gets kicked out of the comfort level of foods.  

Although I greatly enjoy the current array of comfort foods I have, I’ve always wanted to try more. But being in the suburbs does not provide as great an opportunity as I would like to try new foods. It’s the same chains and the new restaurants usually don’t last long enough to establish an impact big enough for me to return. So recently, much to my dismay, my comfort eating has been relatively tame.  

The majority of the best meals I have ever had have come from trips to places elsewhere rather than where I currently am. From Chicago to Paris, my culinary experiences have not been limited. But in order for something to be a repeating meal long enough to establish comfort status, it must be in the area. As a parting gift, please let me know what your personal favorites are and I can see if I can incorporate them into my current rotation.