No matter your ethnicity, culture, or religious background; we can all agree on one thing: the importance and uses of food in our lifestyles and culture. Food helps bring people together, share culture, fuel our bodies, and much more. We utilize food in so many ways in life, and one of the biggest things that food does for good is in bringing people comfort. Comfort foods vary from region to region or family to family, but it serves a similar purpose.
This type of food particularly serves to bring families together and lift spirits. But, what exactly are the comfort foods from different places in the world? Here are some comfort foods from around the world to give you some insight into what is most popular in different places.
Poutine – Canada
Poutine is a dish that involves fries covered in gravy and cheese curds, which is a go-to comfort food for those in Canada. Poutine often has individual variation depending on what person is making it as well. Some people vary in the gravy making process, going for easy or homemade versions as well as differing flavors of gravy; and some people choose to add to the basic idea too. Poutine has found its way out of Canada, but Canadians seem to enjoy it most.
Wiener Schnitzel – Austria
Austria has a mouthful of a name for its national dish and favorite comfort meal. Wiener schnitzel consists of thin pounded boneless meat which gets breaded and fried, typically veal being the meat of choice. The dish turns out crispy and delicious, and there’s a reason Austrians chose this food for their national dish and common comfort food. It’s easy, delicious, and loved by many.
Pierogies – Poland
Polish comfort food involves a twist on the classic dumpling idea that comes as comfort food for many other cultures. Pierogies are boiled dumplings that have potatoes and cheese curds for filling, then are typically topped with sour cream and/or caramelized onions. These Polish dumplings are an interesting way to combine cheese and potatoes, and also are quite loved as a comfort food for Poland and other countries.
American Comfort
The United States has a great deal of comfort foods due to the many mixing cultures and people in the country. While there aren’t often very many shared comfort meals across the entire country and more so regions of comfort items, it seems most people agree that items like grilled cheese sandwiches are commonly found to be comfort foods across the entirety of American cuisine.
Paella – Spain
Paella is a Spanish food that includes seafood topped rice with Spanish specific seasonings and flavor. This dish does change shape depending on what person is making it, as it is also commonly loved in other Spanish-speaking countries. Spain’s version is known as a comfort food for the entire country, which is why most people thing of Spain when thinking of paella. Some variations include other types of meats or certain seafood.
Now that you know some important worldwide comfort foods, it can be interesting to try some for yourself or your family as well as learn something new about what foods compare to your own comfort ones at home. Every family, person, or region can have their own unique way to find comfort in their foods.
And sometimes sharing these recipes or foods can be quite enriching for those of us that want to learn something new or for those that want to share the way they find importance to meals. No matter why you need or want to use or learn about comfort foods, this list of some of the most popular or interesting choices from around the world can be nice to know or keep in mind for the next time you need a comfort meal.