Comfort Food

I was really struggling to come up with something tonight.  I just didn't really pay much attention to the news tonight because the focus was on tonight's debate.  Honestly, I've had enough of all the attack ads that are running for all of the offices.  But tonight's complaint is coming from a show called Eat Street on the Cooking Channel.  This particular episode was all about comfort foods.


How could I have a problem with something that is food that reminds you of your childhood?  Pretty simple, this stuff isn't from your childhood.  That is unless you are less then 5 years old.  That's right, all of these "comfort" foods have nothing to do with what most adults grew up with.  It has to do with chefs doing what chefs are supposed to do, create different foods.  The one that set me off was the food truck that was all about the grilled cheese.  I'm not saying that I wouldn't try some of these sandwiches, I'm saying that they just don't fit the definition of a comfort food.  They are making it using things like macaroni and cheese in place of or in addition to the cheese.  Who ever did that in childhood?  Or how about putting avacado in there?  These aren't comfort foods, they are new recipes based on the concept of the comfort food.  And if you listen to the chefs in their dialog about how they came up with the idea you will usually hear them state that they were trying to "take it to another level" of flavor.

And that takes me to a broader point.  Have you seen how often these places try to take things to another level?  All you hear about now is how many layers of flavors are in the food.  I don't want to eat food trying to find different layers, I just want to eat something that tastes good!  What ever happened to that concept?  Personally, I think this layering of flavors is a big part of the reason everything is so salty.  How about allowing spices to stand up on their own?  Some of the recipes that you see on these cooking shows have so many spices in one dish it makes you realize why they are so expensive!  I saw this one chef add something along the lines of 15 different spices to a rub, it totaled about a pint or more.  That pint was enough to rub 2 pork butts.  How in the world can you taste the meat?  With all that rub there wasn't much of a smoke ring which also means that you don't have the flavor which defeats 1/2 to 3/4 of the reason for smoking the pork butts in the first place!

At some point people are going to start to demand simple recipes and the current crop of chefs aren't going to be able to deliver.  I'm not saying that their food isn't good, I'm just saying that it is extremely complex.  Some times it is best to just have a steak that has been seasoned with salt and pepper cooked on a grill.