Surprising Origins of Comfort Foods 

Certain foods can immediately dispel depression and gloom in favor of sunny smiles. We call them comfort foods and your favorite dish always makes you smile or recall satisfied times with home and family. It may be pizza, fried chicken, or some other heart-soothing dish but you will marvel at the origins and history of these iconic tasty treats.  

The term comfort food first appeared in a newspaper article published by the Palm Beach Post in 1966. The article was the first piece explaining how some foods relieve stress and create a sense of well-being. Diner meatloaf, for example, or a great burger can refresh memories of mom’s home cooking or weekend barbecue meals from your father’s grill or smoker. 

Many of America’s favorite comfort foods are local and others, like American-style fried chicken and pizza, are global superstars loved by millions. You can enjoy southern fried chicken from Cairo to Seoul and further. Chicken, Chicago-style pizza, and buffalo wings are only a few of the comfort foods now loved by people worldwide. Here are some of the surprising origins of favorite comfort foods. 

America’s Favorite Comfort Foods:

• Pizza
• Fried Chicken
• Macaroni and Cheese
• Chili
• BBQ

Pizza Mad Millions

Every day, somewhere in a quiet town or major city, pizza-mad individuals gather to consume a staggering 100 acres of pizza every day. That’s about three billion pizzas every year. You discover that the pizza you enjoy today is not much like the pizza Italian mothers once made in home kitchens across the country. Pizza then had fresh cheese, pesto instead of tomato sauces and fewer toppings.  

Lombardi’s opened the first pizza restaurant in 1905 on Spring Street in New York City. The originator of now world-famous New York-style pizza, Lombardi’s is still serving delicious pizza today more than a hundred years on.  

Soon, pizzerias opened in towns everywhere as Americans discovered this much-loved comfort food. The luxurious cheesy taste, convenience, low cost, and portability made pizza popular nationwide. By the 1960s franchise pizza restaurants and mom-and-pop pizza parlors made it easy to get hot pizza no matter where you live. Now the only problem you’ll have is choosing what pizza you like best and whether it will be carry out, drive-thru pick up, or delivered right to your door. 

Fried Chicken Surprises

You probably think of the American South, deep fryers, and a white-haired Kentucky colonel when thinking of fried chicken. While fried chicken is popular in the American South, it doesn’t start there. Most food historians believe that fried chicken came to America with Scots and English settlers. Some of the earliest references to chicken being fried appear in cookbooks and recipes from the early 1730s.  

Scots slave owners are thought to have given the recipe to their African slaves and after emancipation, many enterprising black female entrepreneurs made a business of selling fried chicken and other portable foods to passengers on the railways. White travelers reached out the window to buy tasty food, and that’s how smart black women started the fried chicken business in America. Fried chicken is just one of many delicious taste treats perfected and saved by enslaved expert chefs.  

Today, fried chicken is the most consumed meat in America. The average American eats nearly a hundred pounds of chicken every year with much of that as fried chicken, chicken tenders, wings, or nuggets. Chicken isn’t just the comfort food of choice for Americans. No, now the humble fried chicken is the bird that conquered the world. Rapidly growing popularity in Korea, Japan, Egypt, and many more countries results in massive amounts of the tasty dish consumed worldwide. Experts estimate people eat over 55 million chickens globally with a lot of it sold as fried chicken.  

Macaroni and Cheese

It is available in boxes, bags, and microwave-ready containers. Thousands of restaurants and fast-food places keep it as a permanent menu item and everyone’s grandma made the best they ever had. Mac and Cheese is ubiquitous but where did it come from?  

Many food historians point to macaroni pudding recipes from Italy discovered by Thomas Jefferson. This is where Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved chef James Hemmings enters the picture. The Hemming version of classic Italian pasta and cheese popularized the new, dish with its savory flavor and creamy texture. Hemming’s skill as a chef earned him his freedom and the reputation of one of early America’s most brilliant chefs.  

Over time, the dish developed into the creamy side children fight over and it is on the table at nearly every barbecue, family reunion, and tailgate supper. Many food historians believe the modern baked macaroni recipe goes back to the recipe popularized by Fannie Farmer in 1946. She published her macaroni and cheese recipe in her Boston Cooking School Cookbook. 

This most iconic comfort food has quite a journey to get to your table today. From old-school Italian cooking to Classical French cuisine made better by great African American chefs and Fannie Farmer. It’s creamy, delicious, and made with love.  

Chili

The best way to start an argument is to bring cooks from the South, the West, and the Northeast together with one question on the table. What’s America’s best chili? Just step back and watch the sparks fly as die-hard Texans argue for no-beans red chili while the others shout for low and slow chili with everything from beans to bell, peppers inside. But, just where does chili come from and why is it so popular? 

The ingredients found in modern chili recipes come from many sources. The cumin originates in the Canary Islands, the chili peppers along the Mexican-Texas border, and Native Americans. Many food historians now think the earliest version of chili got served to Cherokee chief Sequoia in 1842 by the natives living along the Rio Grande River valley. They reported enjoying the fiery meat and pepper dish. 

The word Chili comes from the Mayans in Mexico. They cultivated and used capsicum peppers for food and beverages. In later years Tex Tex-Mex chefs refined the dish to create the beefy dish Texans revere. 

From there, chili traveled east to get find the recipe packed with new flavors, different ingredients, and a taste of old Europe. In the Midwest, the Macedonians discovered chili, and they got busy adding new spices, tomato sauces, and even cacao powder. Then, simply serve it up on a plate of spaghetti or a hot dog. 

The recipe traveled on and grew with beans, ground meats, and new varieties. Soon Chili cooking competitions popping up everywhere challenged the skills and recipes of hometown favorites. People discovered white bean chili, chicken chili, and even vegan chili with lots of meaty mushrooms. Variety and ease of cooking with crock pots and modern instant cookers mean chili con carne is likely to remain one of America’s favorite comfort foods.  

BBQ

Love BBQ? Then you can thank the Taino people of the Caribbean for this delicious American favorite. Nationwide, low and slow is the state religion for great-tasting beef brisket, pork butts, ham and chicken. Called barbacoa in their native language, cooking meat over coals soon became a set of regional styles and traditions with a wide variety of meats, cooking styles, and sauces based on the things available in each locale.  

Out West, brisket is king and often cooked on Mesquite wood with dry rubs containing cumin and chili powder for kick. In the southeast, pork shoulders, pork butts, and whole hog BBQ cooked over hickory and fruit wood create unique flavor profiles. In the Carolinas, sauces are mustard and vinegar-based. Further out in Georgia and Tennessee sauces are sweeter and thicker. Most southern pit masters showcase pulled pork with an array of delicious side dishes. Macaroni, cole slaw, potatoes, and baked beans sit cheek and jowl with delicious pork BBQ and ribs. 

Now there are as many great BBQ recipes as there are pit masters to create them. Commercial BBQ joints across the country serve up thousands of pounds of slow-cooked goodness every day. From Florida to Alaska. Someone is loading wood into their smoker and cooking up delicious BBQ something. There are even delicious versions of BBQ on sale in Japan, Korea, and Jamaica. Some, like Korean BBQ, are so popular they are now sold in the USA. Again, it’s comfort food that truly makes everyone happy and satisfied.  

Comfort Rules

The world can be sad sometimes. That just means it is time to open a container of goodness and comfort with something yummy. You’ve seen the surprising origin of some of your favorites and discovered unexpected influences and expertise along the way. From the Taino to enslaved chefs and enterprising female entrepreneurs comfort food made people happy and opened doors to opportunity. 

Take some time to discover the amazing food heritage and history where you live and don’t forget to try the best comfort foods on sale where you live. You’ll be glad you did.

serves: 4-6
calories per serving: 264
fat per serving: 9g

Ingredients:

juice of 1 orange
100g caster sugar
4-6 bananas

for the orange mascarpone:

zest of 1 orange, plus two tablespoons juice
2 tablespoons icing sugar
½ x 250g carton mascarpone
orange zest, for decoration
baking tray, lined with a sheet of oiled foil

Preparation:
1) Pour orange juice into a small saucepan and add the sugar. Place pan on the hob over a low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Using a damp pastry brush, wash down any sugar crystals around the sides of the pan. Bring the pan to the boil and simmer the sugar syrup gently until it turns to a pale golden-caramel colour. Pour the syrup out on to the lined baking tray, and tip the tray to spread it out in an even, thin layer. Leave to cool and set.
2) Break the set sugar into small pieces and then either grind it into a powder in a food processor or place it in a thick plastic bag and crush into small pieces using a rolling pin.
3) To make the orange mascarpone beat the orange zest and juice and icing sugar into the mascarpone. Place in a serving bowl and chill.
4) Cut the bananas in half, lengthways, and spread an even layer of caramel powder over them. Place them, skin-side down, on the barbecue and cook about 7-10 minutes until the sugar starts to bubble.
5) To serve decorate the orange mascarpone with some orange zest and serve with hot bananas.

damp – nedves
to tip – megdönteni
rolling pin – nyújtófa
lengthways – hosszant, hosszában
to bubble – bugyborékolni