These memories become a literal taste
of experience. Central to celebration
and commiseration, food can bring
joy and solace. Happy occasions are
toasted with a special celebratory dish
while many tears have been shed into a
comforting bowl of reassuringly starchy
carbohydrates.
There’s something about being away
that makes you nostalgic for the food
of home. Sometimes these cravings
are irrational; you may even develop
a deep-seated longing for a regional
food that you may never have regularly
enjoyed in their home country. British
expats may crave fish and chips when
they are away from their own shores —
even though it has not been a regular
item on the menu at home.
The reason for this is that a favourite
dish conjures up so much more than
a culinary treat. For some Brits, like
me, fish and chips in my home country
is a rarely eaten dish. But when I'm
thousands of miles away, this is the
BIG BITE
Home Comfort
Food plays a more important part in our
lives than many of us realise. You don’t
have to be a foodie or a gastronomic guru
to appreciate a good dish — one that is
made with love, a taste that can recall a
happy memory for years to come.
28 ASCOTT LIVING
Photos: Stock Food/Click Photos
No matter where you live there's food that reminds you of
home, something your mother made or a treat dished out by
grandparents. Alison Marshall looks at the dishes that warm
heart and soul — and how to recreate them, wherever you are
dish that to me is the epitome of the
country on a single plate (or wrapped
in newspaper if it’s done properly).
The tart whiff of vinegar cuts through
the warm grease of the battered fish
and the fat chips — cut from earthy
potatoes — all conspire to conjure up
memories of long childhood summers,
trips to the beach, moving house (the go
-to supper accompanied by a cold bottle
of champagne) and cold winter nights
spent sitting around a roaring fire.
Conversely, when I do get the chance
to travel home to the land of fish and
chips, I am likely to yearn for the food
of my adopted Singaporean home.
Residents of Asia are likely to agree
with me that the lure of European food
is a delightful novelty for a while but
after a time the yearning for chilli, the
warm heat of ginger, the soothing balm
of chicken rice or the comforting pillow
of steamed dim sum kicks in — and
then you know that it’s time to return.
Comfort dishes rely heavily on a
generous hug of carbohydrates and
simple preparation, dishes that are easy
to execute when staying away from
home in an apartment.
Cooking at home from scratch with
real ingredients sourced yourself and
prepared with love is a real pleasure
— and is gaining in popularity as the
provenance of food and its origins
becomes more and more important to
both our health and wellbeing as well as
decreasing our global footprint.
Far left: Buttery croissants are
baked in a heady vanilla custard,
bursting with the sunshinebrightness of apricots and the
crisp bite of flaked almonds;
Left: Few things are as comforting
as the molten ooze of grilled
cheese, sandwiched between
toasted bread and accompanied
by the yeasty tang of beer
ASCOTT LIVING 29