Summer seems to have come to an end here in Hannover. The skies are gray, there is a chill in the air, and I find myself caught in the rain more often than I would like. The common adage when you carry an umbrella it won’t rain, and when you leave it at home it most certainly will has held true, and unfortunately I never can seem to remember my umbrella. Shameful for a girl who grew up in Seattle.
With the onset of the cool weather, I have had the desire to make some simple, honest, “comfort” food. For some, comfort food is pot roast or chicken pie or mashed potatoes. But for me? Well, to be truthful, there’s no one or two or three things that I think of as my comfort foods. Something that is comforting in one instance in time can be repellent to me in another. This got me thinking — you hear the phrase “comfort food” all of the time, but really, what does it mean? is comfort food just a genre of American cooking? or is it something that is different for every person and really does provide comfort?
Whatever the answer, last weekend my heart was decidedly set on homemade split pea soup — a simple, healthful, and homey dish. More than a few times on Friday I found myself daydreaming about dipping slices of toasted pumpkin seed rye into a steaming bowl of the split pea soup that I would make on Saturday.
If you want to enjoy this lovely homemade soup for a weekend lunch, it is easy to do: spend 10-15 minutes getting things going when you wake up, go have your coffee, check it now and then, and by lunchtime if will be ready. Though the recipe take about 2 1/2 hours all in all, there is very little prep work (just chop an onion and some garlic), and most of the time the soup can be left unattended (for example, I left this simmering for an hour on Saturday while I went jogging — funny story — I got to my turnaround point, and suddenly the skies opened up and it started POURING rain… I was grateful for hot homemade soup when I finally got back home, completely drenched). If you can’t fathom chopping onions at 9 or 10 AM, then just get them ready the night before and keep them in the refrigerator overnight. You could even saute them with the spice mixture the night before, so really all you have to do in the morning is simmer and mix. As a variation on this soup, you might consider adding a ham hock or sauteing the onions and spices in rendered bacon fat (a.k.a. bacon grease) for a little flavor boost and some added smokiness.
What are your thoughts on comfort food? Is it just a genre consisting mostly of food from the American South? Or is it food that is genuinely comforting, and different for every person?
Spicy Split Pea Soup
Adapted from More-With-Less Cookbook5 c. chicken broth
5 c. water
1 lb dried split peas, picked over
2 T. butter
1 fist sized (medium) onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 T. curry powder
3/4 t. ground coriander (freshly ground if possible, from ~1 t. seeds)
1/2 t. cayenne
1 t. salt
1/2 c. creamCombine chicken broth, water, and split peas in a large soup pot. Bring to a rolling boil, turn off heat, cover, and let stand for (at least) 1 hour. Reheat, and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes.
In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, curry, ground coriander, cayenne, and salt, and saute for about 7-8 minutes, until fragrant.
Once split peas are tender, stir onion mixture into split peas, cover, and cook for 20 minutes over low heat. Ladle out about half of the soup, and pass through the medium plate of a food mill. Add pureed soup back into pan, and stir to mix well. This results in a somewhat smooth soup that still retains some texture. (Alternatively, use an immersion blender to lightly puree the soup in the pot, or use a blender to liquefy half of the soup before returning it to the pot).
Stir cream into soup, and reheat to serving temperature. If too thick, thin with a small amount of water or cream.
Ladle into bowls, garnish with a grind of black pepper, and enjoy!
« Absolute Simplicity: Cucumber and Cantaloupe | Home | Resplendent Roots »
September 10th, 2009at 12:22 pm(#)
For me, comfort food concerns memories and associations at least as much as it concerns flavors. A favorite soup from childhood, something made for me when I was sick, a meal I shared with dear friends… that sort of thing.
Most of my “comfort foods” are out of the Northeastern culinary traditions: homefries with Cheddar, potato soups, macaroni and cheese, etc., but there are some additional things: kheema and Maya’s potatoes from India, various Thai curries, etc. Once again, it comes back to the associations.
There’s a warmth, though, to each of them. Most “comfort food” seems to be warm or hot, rather than served chilled.
September 10th, 2009at 1:07 pm(#)
Hollis — so wonderful to hear from you! and thanks for the birthday wishes earlier this week.
Your definition of comfort food is pretty spot on with me. I guess I got to thinking about it because I feel like the term is getting to be hackneyed — everywhere you look it’s comfort food this and comfort food that, this new restaurant serves comfort food for the low low price of $28 per entree etc etc…
But to speak to your thought that most comfort foods are warm — I have one chilled “comfort food” that I have fond memories of — when I was little I had to have a *lot* of orthodontic surgery — a total of 11 teeth pulled, plus braces and the whole 9 yards… my mom would make me these drinks she called orange fizzes — one scoop orange sherbet, one scoop vanilla ice cream, and soda water poured over the top. I had them nearly every time I came home from the orthodontist, and it made it all just a little bit more bearable
I hope you are well
September 10th, 2009at 2:51 pm(#)
I have to agree, but I do think that in the eyes of the food media it has become more of a genre thing. Can Paula Deen really just add an extra stick of butter and tell you it’s comfort food? Although they tend to be fatty and full of carbs, it isn’t what truly makes a comfort food. You do.
For me, meatloaf and scalloped potatoes are comfort foods, along with Better Homes and Gardens Spaghetti and Meat Sauce from the 60’s and cracked wheat sourdough with garlic and butter.
September 10th, 2009at 5:40 pm(#)
I make this soup, too! It’s a good one—thanks for bringing it to the forefront of my mind.
Some of my comfort foods: toast with lots of butter and coffee, Nican red beans and rice, tortillas and cuajada, potato soup, etc. In other words, foods that are filling and starchy!
September 10th, 2009at 5:46 pm(#)
I also agree about memories being an important part of comfort food. When I was sick with my pregnancies, the only think I could keep down were a couple of my mom’s Indian dishes. Everyone at work who heard this couldn’t believe that mashed potatoes made me nauseous but spicy spinach dal was okay. but that was my comfort food and that was what my body could handle.
September 10th, 2009at 7:18 pm(#)
I have to agree with Hollis. I think memories and context are an important part of it. For me it’s also about food that goes beyond just tasting good and really gives me a deeper sense of comfort, on an emotional level. Soup is one that really does it to me because I love the slowness that often accompanies eating it for me as well as the way it feels when it goes down: all hot, and cozy, and warming me up from the inside.
September 11th, 2009at 2:02 pm(#)
For me, comfort food is food that reminds me of happy and comforting times in my life. Some of those comfort foods would surely be difficult for others to understand. One example that comes to mind is a Filet-O-Fish sandwich + orange drink from Mc Donald’s. See, you had to be there.
September 11th, 2009at 11:58 pm(#)
Erin — scalloped potatoes is one for me too. I took a kids cooking class when I was about 10 years old, and that was one of the things we learned how to make. I felt so happy/proud that I could cook something for my family and they actually liked it! we made another things that I used to love — spaghetti pie — you basically make a crust with cooked spaghetti mixed with egg and cheese, then top with a layer of ricotta, then cooked ground beef mixed with tomato sauce. Sounds strange, but it’s actually quite good. Once I left home, my mom continued (and still continues!) to make it, and always tells me, “I wish you were around to make me spaghetti pie” — I suppose the question is if she makes it because she actually likes it, or because she misses having her children around :)
Mama JJ — do you have any other favorite from this cookbook? I find a lot of the recipes to be good starting points, and allow for you to add your own personal touches. I also love the Mexican Chili Beans — have you tried them?
Maybelles Mom — that makes perfect sense to me! I am curious, do you continue to make the dishes your mom made for you when you were little?
Kelly — well put. I guess it’s still pretty summery in Boston right now, but a warm bowl of soup on a chilly fall day (or a downright cold winter day) is certainly comforting, physically and probably mentally too. When I was at Wellesley I lived in a coop that overlooked the lake, and we often had french onion soup sundays during the winter — it’s one of my favorite memories, sitting around with everyone, looking out the window seeing the snow piling up on top of the frozen lake
Denise — yep, definitely had to be there :)
September 12th, 2009at 7:51 am(#)
Jen, My favorites from the More-with-Less Cookbook are the Indian chicken, the honey-baked chicken, the lentil-sausage soup (I’ve adapted it), the baked lentils with cheese, cream of tomato soup, Edna Ruth Byler’s potato dough donuts, the easy French bread, the oatmeal bread, the quick fruit cobbler, the basic lentils, etc… I’ve posted a number of these recipes (with my modifications) on my blog.
The author’s husband (she died from cancer years ago) attends our church!
I’m also a fan of the other two books in the trilogy. Do you have those as well?
September 12th, 2009at 8:09 am(#)
Mama JJ — so many of those are on my “to-try” list. I made the cream of tomato soup two weeks ago, and will definitely make it again. What are the other two books? I have Simply in Season, which I know is also published by the same MCC, but is it part of the trilogy?
September 12th, 2009at 2:34 pm(#)
Jen, Yes, Simply in Season is the third one. The one in the middle is Extending the Table—foods from all over the world. There are lots of little stories and background information—my mom used to make new dishes and then read the little stories about the country from which the dish came while we were eating our supper. I think you would like the book.
And no, I don’t think I’ve tried the Mexican Chili Beans from More-With-Less.
September 13th, 2009at 5:22 am(#)
i do a little. more and more. my mom lives very near so we are starting to make her show us her recipes. but nothing ever tastes as good as mom.
November 27th, 2009at 7:37 pm(#)
[...] in the fall Jen over at Modern Beet* posted a recipe for split pea soup, but I never got around to making it. I blame her for planting the seed in my head. Then later in [...]