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Southern
Comfort
Related Trade
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Method to Your Madness
Saddle Up The Side Dishes
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What do Chicken in a Pot, Macaroni and Cheese, Spiced Pumpkin Cookies, and Chocolate Pudding have in common?
They're all comfort foods.
Most comfort foods are easy to make, easy to eat, and easy on the psyche. All comfort foods are evocative of a time when you felt safe and secure. Much of the dining-out experience has to do with feeling pampered and fussed over. This could mean friendly, personal service, a warm and comfortable environment, or a toasted cheese sandwich.
A Chicago Sun-Times article discussed how the Sept. 11th attacks and anthrax scares have created an added level of stress, and people are turning to food to help them cope. And a National Public Radio broadcast of All Things Considered featured an interview with three comfort-food chefs. On their web site you'll find four fantastic comfort food recipes and information on the chefs' recently released books.
What comfort foods do you crave?
Everybody has a favorite. My own is tapioca pudding. Consider
making comfort foods a part of your dining experience. Ask your employees,
and even customers, for ideas and favorite family recipes. Feature the
best submissions, or your chef's own favorites, as nightly specials. Side
dishes, like creamed corn and mashed potatoes, make for profitable add-on
sales, too. You can also generate retail sales -- a great profit builder
-- by selling cookies by the dozen. This is the essence of hospitality
-- favoring the health or comfort of a guest. If you can feed the soul
as well as the stomach, you've earned a loyal customer.
