Comfort Food
Hold the aioli. Just when it seemed that nineties cuisine had pushed American classics so far onto the back burner that they'd fallen off the stove, the old standbys are making a comeback. Restaurants everywhere, from diners to supper clubs to three- and four-star hot spots, are bringing Mom Dishes back to menus, and diners are rediscovering the recipes of their youth. Grab a slice of white bread and get ready for gastric reminiscence. Whether it's Salisbury steak at an uptown restaurant or glazed ham on the patio at a swanky wine-country bistro, comfort food is back to do Betty Crocker proud. This time around, it smells like it's here to stay.
What's cooking up this hankering for comfort food? It's no secret that eating is our most common way to satisfy emotional yearnings. While some foods (most notably turkey) contain high levels of the nutrient l-tryptophan, which induces a drowsy state of well-being, most of the peace and satiety we get from certain edibles has more to do with the positive associations they inspire rather than their specific nutrient content. If our favorite babysitter fed us sloppy joes, chances are we'll get a serious craving for messy ground beef on a bun after a rough day or while stuck in nightmare traffic.
Not surprisingly, comfort foods are finding the greatest popularity with diners in their twenties and thirties, who, having finally accepted that the American dream ditched us somewhere between Reaganomics and the O.J. trial, wonder if our only hope isn't for a sense of comfort and security suspended in Aunt Alice's Jell-O salad. We may have lost our faith in relationships and job stability and even a decent housing market, but we can always count on mashed potatoes to make everything right (at least temporarily) with the world.
Most devotees of comfort cuisine are quick to recognize the connection between their love for the old favorites and the often unsettling complications of being a young adult in today's world. Let's face it: we've got a lot of post-nuclear-family angst brewing in our generation, and we're working it out on our dinner plates.
The yearning for the simpler times of days past is also reflected in the recent trend toward retro nightlife for the post-college set. No longer naive or bored enough to embrace gleefully every new sound, style and cuisine, many of us are grooving on social scenes that hearken back to the easy and familiar sophistication of past eras. Most major metropolitan areas host a number of night and supper clubs that offer live bands and swing dancing complemented by classic culinary delights. These joints are perfect for a night of cocktails, comfort foods, dancing and conversation and offer a relaxing, yesteryear experience for the mind and tummy.
If you can't find a local restaurant that's traded in mesquite chicken for liver and onions, or if you don't have the gumption to hit the city hot spots, try sating those down-home cravings at neighborhood diners, long-time havens for secret comfort-food seekers. Blue plate specials still exist out there, and there's nothing like a late-night snack of chicken-fried steak with potatoes and two sides of veggies to transport you back to the delights of mom's kitchen.
If you really want to plumb your Brady Bunch roots and start the comfort food tradition from your own stove, there are several recent cookbooks that can teach you the basics on classic and revamped American favorites. Check out All-American Comfort Food: Recipes for the Great-Tasting Food Everyone Loves, by Emily Anderson (Cumberland House, 1997); American Favorites: Streamlined and Updated, by Betty Rosbottom (Chapters Publishing Ltd., 1996); and Blue Plate Special: American Diner Cookbook, by Elizabeth McKeon and Linda Everett (Cumberland House 1996). If you can't make a recipe work, just give Mom a call.
Wherever your tastebuds take you in the search for comfort food, be forewarned: as you rediscover the satisfaction of classic dishes, you're likely to feel a little embarrassment at indulging wholeheartedly in what was so recently considered the most banal of cuisines. Don't let it get to you. In retro-crazed 1998, what's old is new, what's familiar is fresh and what's square is hipper than hip. If your spoon is in the tapioca pudding, you're dipping right into cutting-edge culture.
Eat hearty, be contented and please pass the gravy. Back to top
Even if we wouldn't touch these products today with a 10-foot fork (at least not in public), we deify them because they remind us of a simpler time. A time when artificial flavoring was a selling point and "fat-free" didn't exist.
If you don't believe in the processed-food-as-pop-culture-icon theory, just take a look at the Internet. There are more than 140,000 web pages devoted to Spam worship, along with some 6,000 Peeps pages, 2,300 Twinkies sites and 9,000 shrines to Jell-O. And in the non-digital world, there are cookbooks, museums and Monty Python sketches.
Yet we know tragically little about our favorite edible icons. Who among us can name the mastermind behind Hamburger Helper? Or who knows when the first TV dinner was created? Who can tell the story of how Spam got its name? To find the answers to these probing questions, we must journey back 101 years to the dawn of the processed food era.
In the beginning... there was Jell-O...
1897
• Jell-O is introduced by cough medicine manufacturer and carpenter Pearl B. Wait. Peter Cooper created the original recipe in 1845 and Wait adapted it, adding the snappy name his wife came up with. Jell-O's secret weapon: 88 percent sugar. The world impatiently waits for the invention of Jell-O wrestling.
Early 1900s
• Peeps marshmallow chicks are invented by Pennsylvania's Rodda Candy company.
1912
• Oreo Biscuits, created by William Turner, are introduced by the National Biscuit Company (later shortened to Nabisco). Their cream-filled chocolate wafers soon surpass the Hydrox cookie in popularity. Nabisco changes the name to "Oreo Cream Sandwich" in 1958.
1916
• Kraft processed cheese is introduced. This "American" cheese is made from ground chunks o' pasteurized cheddar or other natural cheeses that are stirred with an emulsifier and water into a smooth, homogenous fluid. Would you dare make a grilled cheese sandwich with anything else?
1923
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are introduced by former Pennsylvania farmer H.B. Reese, who took a job operating one of Hershey's dairy farms in 1917 and later started a candy company of his own.
1927
• Wonder Bread and Hostess Cakes are introduced by Continental Baking Company.
• Kool-Aid is introduced by inventor Edwin E. Perkins. In less than 10 years, his net sales shoot up to $1.5 million. Oh yeah!
• Pez peppermint breath mints are introduced in Vienna. Originally intended for smokers, the mints are repackaged in a plastic dispenser in 1948. U.S. manufacture begins in 1952, and Pez is marketed as a children's candy in a variety of fruit flavors with cartoon heads on the dispensers.
1928
• Velveeta cheese is introduced by Kraft. The cooking cheese "loaf" was originally developed in 1915 by a Phoenix cheese company chemist who was hired to duplicate Swiss gruyere processed cheese.
• Sliced bread is introduced -- the greatest invention since... uh.... damn. What was the greatest invention before sliced bread?
1930
• Twinkies are introduced by Continental Baking Company. The sponge cakes were originally sold without cream fillings for use in strawberry shortcakes. Cream filling is later added, when bakery manager James A. Dewar comes up with the idea to keep sales going after strawberry season is over.
1933
• Kraft Miracle Whip Salad Dressing is introduced by National Dairy Products. It combines the best features of two existing products -- mayo and boiled salad dressing. It soon grows to outsell mayo in the U.S.A.
1937
• Spam is born -- hallelujah! Invented by Hormel, this ground pork-shoulder and ham product is destined to become the world's largest selling canned meat. It was created to make use of surplus pork shoulder, mixing it with ham, salt, sugar and sodium nitrite. To distinguish Hormel's "spiced ham" from similar products, the company held a contest to come up with a unique name. Kenneth Daigneau, brother of a Hormel executive, won the $100 prize with "Spam."
• Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dinner is introduced by National Dairy Products after one of its St. Louis salesmen came up with the idea of mixing grated American cheese with Tenderoni macaroni. The product is advertised as one that makes a meal for four in nine minutes for 19 cents or less.
1948
• Frito Lay introduces Cheetos Cheese Flavored Snacks, which soon results in a nation of kids with permanently orange fingers.
1953
• Cheez Whiz is introduced by Kraft. Originally created as an easy way to make Welsh rarebit, this stable cheese sauce comes in a jar with Worcestershire sauce, mustard flour and orange coloring added. A survey of American housewives reveals more than 1,300 possible uses for the product. Can you name three?
• Swanson introduces the first TV Dinner -- a combination of turkey, stuffing, gravy, peas and whipped sweet potatoes on an aluminum tray. Blame for the destruction of the family dinner is later pinned on TV-Dinner creator Betty Cronin.
1958
• Rice-A-Roni is introduced by San Francisco pasta maker Vincent DeDomenico. He was inspired to create the product after he saw his sister mixing canned chicken broth with rice and vermicelli. In 1961, Rice-A-Roni grosses $100 million in its first year of national distribution. (The company now resides in San Leandro -- not San Francisco.)
1965
• General Foods introduces Shake 'n Bake, the first complete seasoned coating mix for chicken and fish. Other versions for pork and hamburgers will follow.
• Cool Whip is introduced by General Foods. This whipped-cream substitute is cheaper than the real thing, keeps longer in a resealable container, requires no whipping and has fewer calories. Within three months, it's at the top of the whipped-topping market.
• Tang powdered orange drink is introduced by General Foods. The product is chosen by NASA for the galley of Gemini astronauts in space, and in July 1969, it goes to the moon with the Apollo mission. We have to hear about it in commercials for the next 10 years.
• Campbell Soup Company introduces Franco-American SpaghettiOs. The canned pasta Os are created for kids who haven't yet mastered the technique of twirling long spaghetti strands around a fork.
1969
• Pringles Potato Chips are introduced by Procter & Gamble. Made from potatoes that have been cooked, mashed, dehydrated and reconstituted into a dough, Pringles are cut into a uniform size and shape, then packaged in air-tight canisters designed to extend their shelf life. Yum!
1970
• Hamburger Helper is introduced by General Mills. Created during a meat shortage, this pasta-and-seasoning mix is intended to help housewives stretch a pound of hamburger into a tasty meal for five. Its rampant success will inspire General Foods to develop variations like Chicken Helper.
1972
• Snapple Fruit Juices are introduced in New York by Unadulterated Food Products (later named Snapple Beverage Company). The business was started by Hyman Golden and Leonard Marsh, brothers-in-law who formerly had a window washing business. Nearly 60 Snapple variations will be created in the next 20 years.
1974
• Pop Rocks are unveiled by General Foods. Ever since 1956, when company research chemist William Mitchell found a way to put carbon dioxide into a solid, General Foods searched for a way to market the invention. The popping, crackling candy turns out to be worth the wait; in only five years the company will have sold 500 million packets of Pop Rocks. (Don't drink that Coke, Mikey!)
1978
• Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Crepes opens in a former Vermont gas station. Their business will grow to compete with Haagen-Dazs.
1986
• Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn in introduced by General Mills.
1987
• Snapple Iced Tea is introduced. The ready-to-drink iced tea category explodes, and Snapple will add 14 new tea flavors in the next six years.
1993
• SnackWell's reduced fat cookies and crackers are introduced by Nabisco. Reduced Fat Creme Sandwich Cookies soon outsell Nabisco's Oreo cookies to become America's favorite cookie.
1997
• Jell-O celebrates its 100th anniversary. Champagne flavored Jell-O is introduced for the occasion. (For an upscale version of "Jell-O shots," try making it with champagne instead of water!)
It's comforting to know that not all that much has changed in 100 years. We began with Jell-O, and that's where our historical journey ends. Hmm... maybe I would have been even more popular if I'd dressed up as a box of Jell-O for Halloween instead of Spam. Or maybe Spam-flavored Jell-O? Hey, there's always next year.
Parties start, friends fly in, you forget to eat dinner, there were more people at the table when you left to buy the shot, you were on antibiotics at the time ... blame what you like baby, you’ve got a hangover
What is it?
"Headache, tremulousness, nausea, and fatigue combined with decreased occupational, cognitive or visual-spatial performance..." Your head thumps from the inside out, your limbs shake so much you spill sugar on the table before it reaches your coffee which you don't think you can stomach any way 'cause all you wanna do is throw up. But you need it because you're so tired. As for facing up to work and actually using your head? Not a chance. Your head feels like a cabbage and the only thought you can muster up is that you will never, ever drink again. You promise.
The alcohol hangover is a real medical condition. The reason you feel all these things is because, well, you drank too much and your body is reacting. Whether alcohol is pleasurable or painful is all in the quantity you drink it in. Couple of glasses of whatever can enhance an occasion, drinking for the country will result in much woe.
What affects the severity of a hangover?
Lack of food consumption. Having food in your stomach doesn't make the alcohol any less potent, if you have too much you will still get a hangover but it prevents the stomach from getting agitated. This is one of the symptoms of a hangover.
Clear liquors such as rum, vodka and gin tend to cause hangovers less frequently. Drinks like brandy, wine, tequila, whisky and other dark liquors have some leftover nasties from the distilling process called congeners. These increase the frequency and severity of a hangover. Despite what they say about not mixing your drinks, there's no real evidence to suggest that having a few different types of drinks can make a hangover worse. The most likely scenario is that by the time someone had actually drunk a few different types of drink, they had consumed a lot anyway and it's the quantity of alcohol consumed, not the mix, that gave them a hangover. Variety is in fact very palatable.
While we're on variety in your drinks, try to vary your poison with a fair portion of water. Dehydration is one of the biggest causes of the symptoms of a hangover. Other factors that increase the severity of a hangover are things that make you feel pretty average at the best of times but are often branded as part of a hangover because they went with the drinking. These are, lack of sleep - often a big night is a late night, increased activity while drinking and if you have poor health anyway, getting boozy won't help your cause.
How to avoid a hangover
Pace yourself, eat, get sleep, drink lots of water, take a vitamin B tablet before bed, don't exert yourself physically while drunk - you're not 10 foot tall and bullet proof, don't have a late night and if you're gonna drink spirits, stick to the clear ones.
Hangover Remedies
Because hindsight's a beautiful thing and you can't undo what's already done, here's the low down on what might help ease the pain. And try to learn from last night's mistakes, will you.
Water
Drinking water helps to prevent a hangover, not by diluting the alcohol in your system (alcohol travels through your system at same rate as if you'd had a litre of water) but as a rehydrator against all that lost liquid. At this late stage, it'll still help.
Alka Seltzer
This bubbly tablet contains aspirin and antacid. Quite a combo, it works as an anti-inflammatory, kills the pain, lowers temperature and the antacid bit neutralizes the acid in your stomach that causes gastritis (sore guts).
