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One would be congee. I discovered it on board the Hai Xing Shipping Company vessel that conveyed me from Hong Kong to Shanghai in two days and three nights in 1987. Congee was an item from their Chinese breakfast, and I still believe theirs was the best I've had. There's nothing like rice porridge with scraps of fish, blackened fried onions, scallions, and egg drop to start the day. In Malaysia back in the 70s, I found that there was nothing more comforting to the soul than a bowl of steaming bubur cha cha (the "cha cha" part was never mentioned in the village I lived in, though; it was just bubur), made with coconut milk, palm sugar, and starchy foods like beans, sweet potatoes, taro, and regular potatoes. Many types of Malaysian food are now comfort food for me, reminding me of a joyous two years of childhood that I spent in that country. If I could ever again have the sura (aka asyura) that was served up from big vats in the village...but that's too much to hope for. Panforte is also a kind of comfort food for my soul, albeit well-nigh impossible to eat in large quantities. I've loved it since the first summer I spent in Siena as a student (1991). Similarly, really great macedonia di frutta con gelato is wonderful comfort food, and come to think of it, I don't think I've had any great examples since the last time I was in Siena, at my favorite bar on the Campo, which I think was called Bar Il Palio. That was in 1998, during my third visit to Italy. In terms of savory items, zuppa di verdure and ribollita are much appreciated, especially during colder months. I'm thinking about what I considered comfort food while in France, the other foreign country I've spent a good deal of time visiting and studying in. I think that the foods that have given me the most comfort in France have usually been sweets: Tartes rhubarbe, pomme, poire et amande, blette; pates de fruit. But there are some savory comfort foods, too. I love gougeres, and really good soupe de poisson is a wonderful comfort food for me. I think that I've accumulated comfort foods through my travels, more than any other way, but one other thought occurs to me: Pylos, the very good somewhat upscale rural Greek restaurant near me, has a section of the menu entitled "Greek comfort food." I agree with them that pastitsio and moussaka are wonderful comfort food. And I discovered pho in New York and agree with others that it's a great comfort food. So what do all these foodstuffs have in common? Really, not much other than the way they make me feel.

It looks like definitions 1 and 2 are relevant, and conceivably 3a (but that's a stretch and would involve the "morals" of food). ← Oh yeah, I think "morality" does definitely play a role here. I seem to recall there was a whole strain of the heavily church-based temperance movement's arguments for prohibition in the US that emphasized what they saw as the immorality of booze in any quantity, not merely the physical unhealthiness of overindulgence in alcohol. The arguments would extend to the general unwholesomeness of the boozing lifestyle, to saloons as dens of iniquity, etc. etc. etc. I also find a decidedly moralistic tinge to a number of present-day health advocates' exhortations to ban fats, etc. from the diet. (And personally I find that tinge a really unhelpful turn-off--I'm seeking info, understanding, and support, not yet another guilt-trip.) ← You're right. And come to think about it, definitions 4a and 4b can also be relevant, in that advocates of "wholesome" food may well consider it safe and prudent to avoid whatever items they consider "unwholesome," be those artificial ingredients or produce that isn't "organic" (based on what they consider a well-grounded fear of pesticide residues), or whatever.

One of the best fish I ever tasted, at least as I remember from the time when I was about 11 years old, was a Malaysian fish locally called ayam laut (chicken of the sea, and no, it was NOT a brand of canned tuna!). It was seldom available on the coast of Terengganu in those days (mid 70s), and was considered a delicacy. It did indeed have a somewhat chickeny taste. I also liked ikan keli very much. Those are small catfish native to the streams of coastal Terengganu, and they had a very different taste from the much larger catfish native to the Mississippi Delta (which I also like). The best fish I had in a restaurant during my last trip to Malaysia, and a memorable one at that, turned out to be a marble goby. You can find a discussion of the fish and the dish on page 3 of the "Eateries in Malaysia" thread, and you can find a link to a photo of that fish in this post by SG-.

I just noticed that we haven't had any dictionary definitions in this thread yet. Merriam-Webster's definition: It looks like definitions 1 and 2 are relevant, and conceivably 3a (but that's a stretch and would involve the "morals" of food). I think that where the contradiction can appear is that what's great food for the mind or spirit may not always promote the health of the body.

Michelle, there are actually a number of restaurants in New York that are open on Shabbat but yet are certified as serving kosher food and drink by an orthodox rabbi. Of course, many Sabbath observers will not eat their food, anyway, but it is incorrect to say that none of them are certified as kosher, unless certification means something different from what I think it means.

Great idea! But don't you mean palm sugar?

Lotus root is available in various stores throughout Flushing, Manhattan's Chinatown and, doubtless, other Chinese neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens.

Living in Manhattan, I don't get to forage much. I used to forage on another East Coast -- of Malaysia. But that's for another thread.

What if the "food" I was gathering turned out to be toadstools? On a more serious note, if I gathered clams and you then fried them in tremendous amounts of butter, they might taste good, but would you still consider them wholesome? What if you milked the cow and made the butter yourself.

One nitpicky correction, gaf: "Black Grouper with Masak Lemak" should be "Black Grouper Masak Lemak." "Masak lemak" means "cooked (with) fat." Which goes along with the point you made about the place.

In New York, several of the South Indian vegetarian restaurants have caught on to the fact that they can increase their patronage by having the local rabbi certify them as kosher (which, being strictly vegetarian, of course they are). Are there some kosher Indian vegetarian places in London these days?

Yeah. Better not to serve any unboiled cholera-contaminated well water... I would have to think that vodka should be served. I feel sure most any Russian composer would have liked to drink vodka.

Yes, water -- and Metamucil wafers. Congee is also a good idea.

Is the Malaysian (not just Malay, and more Indian than anything else) thing you're thinking of a curry puff?

Nope. Please elaborate. I suppose you're suggesting that kosher meat is less likely to have spinal cord tissue in it and won't include "downer" cattle, but that does not guarantee that there is no risk of transmission of mad cow disease. I wouldn't be sure that e coli contamination is impossible, either. Kashrut in slaughtering has more to do with the way the animal is killed (cut to the throat) and whether a rabbi is supervising than what the animal is fed or how clean the meat is. I'd like to think that cleanliness is a requirement of kashrut, but I've read too much about dirty kosher shops in England and so forth to believe that.

That's like asking me whether I'd claim credit for performing a work by Bach. Sure, I'd claim credit for the performance. No, I'd never think of claiming I composed it!

There is a panforte tipo cioccolato, an excellent variety which is indeed enrobed in a layer of chocolate. However, I have never seen it in any shape except circular (plus a slight thickness, of course, so technically cylindrical). My inclination would be to very much doubt that what Aria is describing is any type of panforte.

Moderate consumption of alcohol seems to be healthful for many people.

John, as you know, I've enjoyed your posts for a long time. I look forward to the rest of this blog with pleasure. If I don't end up participating much, it will be because I get absorbed with that odd thing called "real life," which caught up with me the last few weeks...

Now that I've read the article, I have a few thoughts: The remarks about pesticide use and residues give me some pause and make me glad that I drink Tropicana only occasionally. But who knows where else I'm getting pesticide residues and other contaminants? I'm also disturbed by the remarks on worker exploitation but, as mentioned upthread, abusive conditions for laborers are commonplace in the agriculture industry. Apple juice is not an alternative for me because it tends to upset my stomach. Like Britain, New York is an apple-growing area, and I wonder why most of the apples sold in New York City seem to come from Washington instead of the Hudson Valley, but that's a topic for another thread...

I do drink Tropicana from time to time and prefer Grovestand without added calcium and so forth -- lots of pulp. Fresh orange juice from good oranges is a real pleasure. In a way, it seems to me we've come full circle with this. My grandmother had a glass hand-juicer identical to those sold as antiques at numerous flea markets I was dragged to as a little kid. Recently, after mass-marketed juices had long since taken over, I feel that home juicing and the sale of freshly-squeezed juices and brands of "fresh-squeezed" juice like Odwalla and Fresh Samantha have made a strong comeback. I may have more comments after I read the linked article.

The Jamaicans also make vegetable patties and callaloo patties. For those who haven't had callaloo, it's a leafy vegetable that tastes something like collard greens.

The tiny ones are traditionally used in Malaysian and Indonesian food. If you're making recipes from those countries, unless otherwise specified, "dried shrimp" means the tiny little ones. Very salty, but a very good flavoring in appropriate dishes.

Take your camera out more. That food really looks great.

I thought that Yonah Schimmel's knishery in New York served (used to serve?) something I think I remember being called a bagele, which was like a knish but different in some way I've forgotten (shape?). I recall that these things were sweet, filled with cherry preserves and such-like, and I thought they were an innovation of the establishment. I can't find any trace of this memory when I look at Yonah Schimmel's website, but I know they used to serve something else in addition to knishes when my father used to take me there in the early 70s.