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Hi there, my brethren joined by food. I'm coming here with a question. I think we all have something like this in our lives and it must vary from country from country. But this is it:
What are your comfort foods?
Chinese Food
In Venezuela, nothing spoke of comfort like Chinese Fried Rice. But of course it's Venezuelan style. When Chinese migration became a thing in the country some of them built supermarkets but others got restaurants. However, they adapted their recipes to match the sweet palate of the country.
Move forward and Chinese food became a comfort food. We could even get a plate when we were sick. It was a common dish during celebrations, birthdays and else. But when the crisis started, fried rice became a luxury item. It was sad.
This year after a really long time, we could get some fried rice from a restaurant in town. This also happened because neither mom nor I wanted to cook. And she posed the question "what about Chinese food?" We waited no longer and went out in the car and got some fried rice with pork, beef and chicken. I asked for some spring rolls as well.
I missed the flavor of MSG. Uncle Roger would be proud. Jokes aside. Each bite reminded me of my years in Caracas. The late nights about hitting the MTG store in Altamira and then going to that little Chinese restaurant a block away. Beers and a steaming plate of fried rice was my way of ending the night among friends.
It recalled those lasts birthdays of grandpa. This was one of his favorite foods. Eating this and other things reminds me of that joke he used to tell about not looking anywhere but your plate until you're done.
And of course not having to cook is the best thing. It's far from the healthiest food in the world. But it doesn't lack in flavor. Beside, it's comfort food. You're not supposed to eat it everyday.
Burgers
If there's something we love around here, is a good burger. But even when I admire US burgers for their simplicity, I love the grotesque filling need we have around. For Venezuelans more is more and that's the best thing. Once I had a hot dog with pulled pork. And it was glory.
Burgers follow the same patter. We tend to have this places in streets where fast food is made. Burgers. The good kind tend to have 3 types of meat, bacon, lettuce, tomato, fries, egg, tons of sauces, a mound of cheese and more stuff. You can barely close it. Let alone have a full bite of it.
This is a take of a sort of healthier burger since it's homemade. But it is a tower of flavor. The special ingredient? Avocado, of course.
Burgers are sort of the regular comfort food in the house. We have one every once in a while and it's always something we set in a day. When I see mom making the patties in advance with her mold and placing them in the fridge I know something good is coming that week.
And once I have a bite, all problems fade away. There are no more rants or bad things happening around. It's just me and my food! That's my definition of happiness.
The ingredients of this precious thing are simple:
- A bun of bread
- A beef patty
- Lettuce
- Slices of tomato
- Rings of Onion
- Cheese and Ham
- Bacon
- Ketchup and mustard
- Fries
The best part is you can add or take ingredients you don't like. I don't put any mayonnaise in it since I'm not too fond of it.
If there's something better than buying comfort food, it's preparing it. In that moment you can adjust the ratios of everything and flavors work in your own accord. That's the magic and beauty of doing cooking.
But that's all about me. What are your confort foods? What memories do they bring? Do you have any specific reason to have that kind of food?
Feel free to drop a comment below!
Thanks for reading. Have a great day!
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