My First Contribution to The Contrarian
The Rising Need for Comfort Food
“to take comfort, a meal or a drink, if the need arises” - Gustave Garlin, Le Cuisinier Moderne, 1887
A brief break from French cuisine to let you all know that my first piece has been published on The Contrarian Substack, an alternative news source - unflinching journalism in defense of democracy - founded by Jen Rubin and Norm Eisen. I wrote about the increasing need for comfort food in the face of our crazy, crazy world.
“They did not, however, omit to visit his niece and housekeeper, and charge them to be careful to treat him with attention, and give him comforting things to eat, and such as were good for the heart and the brain, whence, it was plain to see, all his misfortune proceeded.” - Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes (translation John Ormsby, 1997)
We’re living in strange and complicated times…We have become desperate and angry in this overcharged and overheated political climate, and it’s eating away at us… I’m a food person and in moments of despair I find myself, like a lot of people, heading to the kitchen to eat. I have always found comfort in food, so much so that when someone I love is having a tough time, my reflex is to cook or bake for them.
Click on the link above or below to read the rest…
You will also find my recipe for one of our favorite and most turned to comfort foods, Harira, a rich, warm, fragrant, flavorful, comforting Moroccan chickpea and lamb soup.
Please link over to the post and read my take on our national grief and how and why we must feed and sustain ourselves with a little comfort every now and then.
Please click on the 💜 button on the article. And please share the link on Substack and your other social media platforms. Thank you!
Jamie: Wow! This is my kind of article! I think good food is food for the soul! It tells us there is joy and fun and peace and spice in life, no matter what is going on. The surface of the ocean might be in chaos and storm, but deep down, deep, deep down, All is well and at peace and as it should be. Just a reminder: Words of a deeper truth also feed the soul and heal the mind and heart, words like: I really think you are the cat’s meow, I am still so very proud of the wonderful young man or woman you have become, I think you are one of the kindest people I know, I don’t see you that way….I see your loveliness, your gentleness, your wisdom, even your innocence, which I imagine, you don’t see at all. Stuff like this is also food for the soul. To get them both at the same time: Declare a Feast, good food and good wine. Can we come?
Wow - so great to see you and the Contrarian connect! 🌟 Two of my faves in one post ❤️ A very much-needed recipe for these unsettling times...the soup looks delicious!