Comfort Food Around the World: 20 Dishes Like a Warm Blanket
Every culture has a dish for the day that went wrong or the weather that turned. Here are 20 comfort foods from around the world, from India’s khichdi to Québec’s poutine, each with an authentic recipe.
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Mac and Cheese
USAPasta in a cheese sauce, baked with a crust. Jefferson brought the idea back from Paris.
Few dishes say "home" quite like Mac and Cheese. Tender elbow macaroni folded through a silky, golden cheese sauce, this is the ultimate American comfort food, equally at home on a child's dinner plate and a grown-up's table. It …
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Khichdi
IndiaRice and lentils cooked soft with turmeric. What Indian households make for the sick.
Khichdi is rice and lentils cooked together to a soft, seasoned porridge, and it is what Indians eat when they are ill, when they are fasting, and when they cannot face anything else. It is also, arguably, the oldest continuously …
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Congee
ChinaRice simmered down to porridge, plain or with a hundred toppings. Breakfast and convalescence.
Few dishes are as comforting as Congee, the silky rice porridge that has been nourishing Chinese kitchens for centuries. Cooked slowly until the grains break down into a creamy, soothing bowl, it works just as well as a gentle …
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Gulyás
HungaryBeef and onions cooked with sweet paprika until the sauce is thick and red.
Discover Goulash, the dish that more than any other stands for Hungary at the table. Simple, generous and deeply savoury, it brings together tender beef, sweet onions and a bold spoonful of paprika into something far greater than …
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Irish Stew
IrelandMutton, potato and onion. Traditionally nothing else, and it does not need anything else.
Irish Stew started as mutton, potato, onion and water. Carrots are a later addition and purists object to them. So is browning the meat, which the oldest versions skip entirely: everything goes in raw and cooks in layers until the …
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Katsu Curry
JapanBreaded pork cutlet with a thick, mild Japanese curry sauce over rice.
Discover Katsu Curry, one of Japan's most comforting plates. This crowd-pleaser brings together a crisp, golden cutlet, a glossy and gently spiced curry sauce and a mound of steaming rice. It is the kind of hearty, satisfying meal …
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Poutine
CanadaChips, cheese curds and gravy. The curds must squeak or Québec will tell you so.
Poutine is chips, cheese curds and gravy, and the curds have to squeak. That is the test. Grated cheddar melts into a blanket, which is a different and lesser thing. Proper curds hold their shape and go soft in the middle while …
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Pierogi
PolandBoiled then pan-fried in butter with onions. Every Polish grandmother's filling is the right one.
Discover Pierogi, the beloved filled dumplings that stand at the very heart of Polish cooking. These tender parcels of dough wrap around a whole world of fillings, from savoury potato and cheese to minced meat, sauerkraut, …
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Feijoada
BrazilBlack beans with salted and smoked pork, cooked slowly. Saturday's lunch in Brazil.
Feijoada is black beans cooked with several kinds of pork, and the traditional cuts are the ones nobody else wanted: ear, tail, trotter, snout. It is served on Saturdays, it takes most of a day, and nobody makes it for two people.
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Stamppot
NetherlandsPotato mashed with sauerkraut or kale, with a sausage pressed into the middle.
Meet Zuurkoolstamppot, the kind of warming, no-nonsense plate that the Dutch turn to when the days grow short and cold. This hearty classic mashes fluffy potatoes together with tangy sauerkraut and finishes it off with golden …
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Dal Bhat
NepalLentils, rice and vegetables, refilled until you stop. Nepal eats it twice a day.
Dal Bhat is lentils and rice, and Nepalis eat it twice a day, every day. There is a saying about it: dal bhat power, 24 hour. Trekking guides use it as an argument, and having watched porters carry 40 kilos uphill on it, the …
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Pot-au-Feu
FranceBeef and vegetables simmered in one pot. The broth is served first, the meat after.
Pot-au-Feu is boiled beef, and calling it France's national dish annoys people who would prefer something more obviously refined. It is nonetheless what the country has eaten for centuries, and it produces two courses: the broth …
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Svíčková
CzechiaBeef sirloin in a strained root-vegetable cream sauce, with dumplings and cranberry.
Discover Svíčková, the dish many Czechs regard as the very soul of home cooking. Tender beef is slow-braised until meltingly soft, then blanketed in a smooth, creamy sauce built on sweet root vegetables. Traditionally served with …
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Pastitsio
GreeceLayered pasta, spiced lamb and béchamel, baked until the top sets golden.
Discover Pastitsio, one of Greece's best-loved comfort classics. This generous baked dish layers tender macaroni with a richly seasoned minced meat sauce and a golden, creamy béchamel topping. It is the kind of hearty, satisfying …
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Köttbullar
SwedenSmall meatballs with cream sauce, lingonberry and pressed cucumber.
Köttbullar are small meatballs served with cream sauce, mashed potato, lingonberry jam and pickled cucumber. All four accompaniments are part of the dish. The meatballs alone, with ketchup, are a different and lesser thing.
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Sarmale
RomaniaMinced pork rolled in soured cabbage leaves and cooked slowly. Romania's celebration food.
Sarmale are cabbage rolls, and Romania makes them with pickled cabbage rather than fresh, which is the important detail. The sourness of the varză murată against the fatty pork filling is the whole point, and fresh cabbage gives a …
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Pelmeni
RussiaBoiled meat dumplings with butter, soured cream and black pepper.
Pelmeni are small meat dumplings, boiled and eaten with soured cream or vinegar. In Siberia they were made in enormous batches in autumn and frozen outdoors in sacks, then thrown into boiling water as needed through the winter.
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Kaiserschmarrn
AustriaA pancake torn up in the pan, caramelised and served with plum compote.
Say hello to Kaiserschmarrn, one of Austria's most beloved sweet treats. This wonderfully fluffy, shredded pancake is studded with plump raisins and finished with a generous flurry of icing sugar. Simple to make yet utterly …
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Cullen Skink
ScotlandSmoked haddock, potato and onion in milk. Thick enough to stand a spoon in.
Meet Cullen Skink, one of Scotland's most comforting bowls of soup. Thick, creamy and gently smoky, it brings together flaked smoked haddock, tender potatoes and sweet softened onions into something greater than the sum of its …
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Couscous Tfaya
MoroccoSteamed couscous with caramelised onions and raisins over lamb. Sweet, and meant to be.
Say hello to Couscous Tfaya, one of Morocco's most beloved celebration dishes. Mounds of fluffy couscous are crowned with tender meat, slow-cooked onions and plump raisins, all gently spiced with cinnamon and ginger. The interplay …
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