Welcome back to Dont get this Twisted

In this episode, Robb and Tina explore the world of comfort foods, sharing personal stories, cultural insights, and the emotional connections behind favorite dishes. They discuss how food evokes memories, provides emotional regulation, and varies across cultures, making it a universal language of comfort.

Explicit

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Thanks for

You should start that over.

Probably. Here we go. And welcome to another show of Don't Get This Twisted. I am Rob along with my co-host as always Tina. How you doing Tina?

Kind of low energy today, Rob, but I'm doing all right. I've come off a two week, actually it's been closer to three where I've been sick and my dad was sick and then we relapsed and now I'm coming out of it. I still sound nasally. I think I sounded nasally last week though too and kind of, yeah, low energy. So we're getting better.

Yeah. Well, that's good. That's good. Yes, the sickies are going around. So if you're around people, stay away from them because I heard it's It sucks. So, you sent me a message. It's funny. I wish people could see our, our, our little text mess trail. It's kind of funny.

Stay away. It sucks.

It sucks.

Kinda random.

It's so random, like out of nowhere, it's like, hey, let's do this. So you, you sent a message over and all you said was funny, because this is how you generally say things. You're like, hey, let's do a show on comfort food. And that was it. And I went. I mean, it is, but it's like I was like, OK, so I I got a little help with.

Yeah, that's good enough, right?

some talking points, but I'm going to throw it at you and you can kind of say where this came from.

Well, I cook for my dad a lot because I'm living with him and I've always been a cook even when I was married and had my daughter. I made sure to cook quite often because well everybody needed to eat and that was just my thing and it dawned on me that there's like foods that kind of make everybody happy in my family. And so we were talking about that. I'm like, oh my God, that would be cool to just kind of talk.

comfort foods and what made us happy or what brings us back to a certain person or memories of things that we did before. Because I was talking to my dad about stuff and my uncle visited me or us. He came from Portland and you know we were talking comfort foods with him so it was just on my mind. So I thought we could go through like things that that made us feel more like home even though the person that may or may not.

be around to cook those things for us you know we could talk about it so that's where that came from.

As soon as you, as soon as you kind of said something like I think the day after or the maybe the on Monday, I don't remember what day it was. I threw it at a guy at my work. was like, we're going to talk about this. And I had ran some, some talking points and I kind of threw something out at him because I think a lot of this is the first question is very. Point.

This is about Comfort Food. said, is it about taste or is it about memories?

I think it's about both though, because if it's really good food, it's going to set a really good memory, you know?

Correct, but I think a lot of food that we have with people, whether it's out or at someone's house, I think it works both directions this way. It's a memory of being together with people that makes the food good, or it is just great food and that is memories for a lot of different things.

Mm-hmm.

the person that maybe cooked it. Because like one of my big comfort foods on my dad's side, my grandmother used to make homemade flour tortillas and she was a beast at making these tortillas. She normally made six or seven dozen every day and she had a way of doing it where it looked like an assembly line and they were perfect. Like they fit in this Tupperware container and they were, it was

Correct.

the container was just high enough to make a huge stack and wherever she brought them, like people would just run to her to get some. And to the point where even the air conditioning guy that used to fix my grandparents air conditioner was paid in tortillas. Like he was like, I just want a stack of tortillas. And, and they were like, they were almost see through and you could put the wettest

Burrito making things inside of it and it the tortillas didn't turn to mush they kept their form and they were delicious and The only thing that I that I didn't get to do that I think back now and I'm like Why didn't I do that was make a quesadilla with one but I couldn't even get that far It was like give me the real butter slap some butter on it and eat it just like that. You know, it was amazing Yeah Yeah, just throw some butter

I that that would have been me. Just give me throw some butter on it. The funny thing though is is that your grandma probably made him with lard. Yeah, that's why they were so good and they held up. That's why.

She did, she did. And they held up, yeah. They were amazing. Like if you ask people that have had my grandmother's tortillas, they all go, they were so good. You know, cause.

Right, yeah. I mean, there's nothing better than homemade. There's nothing. Homemade tortillas are the greatest.

No, nothing. No, and flour tortillas you don't really see that too often. So, and she used to when she learned she was 13 years old and made them every day for like her whole life and it started on a wood burning stove. So, you know those tortillas were like phenomenal. Yeah.

Yeah. So good.

even better.

Or bomb. Had a little, had a little, had a little sear on him. yeah.

Yeah, so we used to we used to work at or we used to run the Chumash Interpretive Center in Thousand Oaks as a family. We all did that. And on Saturdays, I always had to work being a hairdresser. I couldn't get there when everybody else did. So my grandmother used to fold up in half or in quarters. She would fold up four tortillas and stick them in her purse for me. And, you know, they'd be in a little

excuse me, Ziploc baggie and everybody that was already there already ate theirs and so they'd have to watch me eating mine and they're like, I didn't get any so I'd have to share a little bit but because I was working, she said, I'm only doing this baby because you're working but if you were here and you just got a plate that would be on you but she always saved me four tortillas and man, I miss those tortillas. My grandmother's been gone.

I don't even know how long, probably 20 years. And I think about those tortillas every time I want a tortilla, every single time. So I don't know, that's just a really... And you know another funny story about that. She used to make balls of masa before she'd roll them out and they all, she would just look at a ball and pinch a little or put a little bit back on it. But when she made the tortillas, they were all the same size. And one time...

We were I had her joking. I was always saying something stupid to my grandmother to her to laugh at me and we were laughing and having a good time and she sneezed and when she sneezed her dentures fell out and it fell out on a couple of the balls that she just made and I was howling. I couldn't stop laughing. She she laughed at me and then she's all Cochina and she slapped me and then she picked up her her teeth and she took the balls that were on him and she threw those away. But I mean

I will never forget that day as long as I live. It was a fun day with my grandmother making tortillas because, you know, she was always perfect at making them. And then when she dropped her teeth, I just thought that was hysterical. So.

Mm-hmm.

I'll give you an example of, I think, memories to taste. Not counting us. Chi-chis. Where I love it, but I've taken people there that were like, eh. And I'm like, no, but it's so good. But then I remember, I mean, I've been going there since I think 18. So.

Mm-hmm.

yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I have tons of memories there. When I was wrestling, we would wrestle in San Bernardino County. And this is when Chi Chi's was open until 1 a.m. We would leave San Bernardino at like 10 o'clock at night and drive all the way to Northridge and then eat pasta at midnight and like raise hell in that place. And it was like nine of us and just us. Because by then most there are people at the bar and then us.

Right.

Mm-hmm.

So I think a lot of it is memories, like just, you know, my family when I was married and our kids went there, like there's just a lot of memories in me and you go there still to this day. So to me, I think, and don't get me wrong, I think it's great, but I think it's a mix of that there. Lots of really good memories. I mean, I used to work in the same parking lot there.

Mm-hmm. I was just there the other day.

Mm-hmm. Well, yeah, you did.

So like, so for me, it's a lot of that where, know, it's both, but like my dad used to make the greatest SOS, like shit on a shingle or gravy over toast, but however you eat it yourselves. And I've tried to redo the recipe and I get close, but I don't know what it is my dad just.

Mmm. Mm-hmm.

made the best gravy and to this day it's like, but I think that's a little of both. It's my dad who made it, but it's just, there's something about his biscuits and gravy and it's to this day. Yeah, the way he did it, he made it better than my mom. Like there's just something about it. So I think it's interesting. What do you think about comfort food?

Mm-hmm.

way he did it. Yeah.

Mmm.

for being stressed or having issues. Do you think that there's a lot to that? Because I know people stress eat or either when you're sad or happy, there's a lot of different reasons to stress eat. Do you think that that also is a comeback to a comfort food? so...

yeah.

I totally agree as well. think that there is something to that where when you're stressed you go to a go-to.

Yeah, when when on my dad's side of the family again, when somebody passes away, we all get together like before even the funeral, like we just show up. That's that's just how it is with the family and they will almost always ask me to make fried bread, Indian fried bread. Now, that's not something that most people get, but once they have it, they want it all the time. It's so good. And they'll always

ask me, hey teen, we're getting hungry. Do you think you make some fried bread? you know, we could get some beans and we could just, you know, put whatever together. And I'm like, yeah, I always make that for them because it is, it's a family thing. It's definitely a comfort food. I don't know, it makes me happy whenever I eat it. But I noticed that my cousins really, really want that too. When

when we're having hard times or when there's a family get together and everybody comes back to the house. It's like, I know I'm going to be making fried bread. It's just a given. So that no matter whether it's a good or a bad time always seems to be something that hits home. And all of my cousins have asked for the recipe and I make sure to give it to everyone. And not that they make it because they'd rather have me do it, but everybody.

should have the recipe and if they don't that's on them because I give it to everyone. I don't want to keep that sort of recipe to myself because it's a family thing but it's definitely comfort food.

This is kind of an interesting thing, part of my little show notes here. This is what it says about like eating from a psychology angle. Stress, when we're stressed, we eat carbs, sugar, and fat as people in general. Yeah, I mean, I do sugar, a lot of sugar.

Mm-hmm.

As a family, I know that's what we do.

Yeah. I was never like a sugar person. My grandmother and my aunt would always make pies. They had me always making pies, but that was not my go-to. I did though, when I wanted the sweet thing, it was always like grilled peaches with almond slivers and cream cheese in the center of where the pit was. I'd make that. And that was definitely a comfort food for me.

They were so delicious.

Yeah, to this day, I'm still like if I I prefer to fill my stress with like gummies or or you know, like that kind of candy. So and then here's one for you that's I think very, true. Childhood imprinting what you ate when you felt safe. So you go back to a comfort food that makes you feel. Good.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Totally makes sense. Or food as emotional regulation, which is basically what we're talking about. It's basically edible therapy.

I agree with that. I'm definitely a stress eater. Yeah.

I 100 % agree with that. Me too. I'm 100 % a stress eater. And then, and over anything, like, now here's the flip side though. When I'm, when I'm stressed over something or just sad in general, I stress eat. But if I'm sad over a relationship, I don't eat at all.

Hmm.

Weird, But yeah, to the point where like food doesn't even taste good when I'm in that headspace. It's very bizarre.

It is weird.

I don't really I don't know how I am. I'd have to think about that one. I Think I just eat anyway. I Would definitely say that what I eat and what I crave has to do with my emotion at the time I noticed that one day one of my clients and I were talking about the past and we were talking about our own family and things that had gone on and I went home and I and I did stress eat that night and I was like

Right.

I'm not even in this situation anymore, but the thought of it or the hurt that comes with it definitely made me want to stress eat and I did. Yeah.

Absolutely. That is 100 % me as well. that's what I would do.

Like you're not even in the situation anymore, the hurt that it caused causes, I don't know, causes you to want to eat a certain way.

Yeah, like the reminder of that might bring up something. And you might not even overeat or get crazy. You might just have to hit something to remind you that it's going to be okay or whatever the situation would be. Here's something about that I want to see what you think. Childhood versus adult comfort food. What you loved as a kid versus now.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Mmm.

Are you different or are you the same?

No, no. I had a cousin that would always make macaroni and cheese and when she did, she even as a kid, like she knew I liked it so much that she would bring some to me. And then I had another cousin, her beans were just off the chain, good refried beans. And she would bring those to me as a kid. And then it stopped for years. And then as an adult, they started doing it again because they remembered how much I liked it.

And apparently in my family, if you like food the way I do and you talk about it like it's the best thing, the person that normally made it would just want to make it for me. So no wonder I always had a weight problem because, you know, there was certain foods that were always around and because they felt good, I just ate them. And I miss the people that the food's attached to also. Like it's not the same anymore. And I try to make macaroni and cheese the way they did.

I come up short. I can't make my grandmother's tortillas, can't make my cousin's beans. You know what I mean? It's just, I could make the fry bread, I got the fry bread. But it's amazing how the person that made the food just was that much better. I can't tell you why, it's just the way they made it. It's kinda like your SOS with your dad.

Right.

Yeah. I think what's what's interesting, what it says here says foods that hit different when you're broke versus when you're doing well. I mean, I not for me, I don't think that there's to me, there's no difference. Because a lot of the things that I ate when I was broke, I eat now.

Mmm.

Yeah.

and they hit just as hard. So...

Yeah. I don't necessarily know that it was... One time my cousin passed away and I went over to my godmothers with my grandmother and they had nothing. These people were very poor. And she picked a couple of avocados off of her neighbor's tree and my grandmother had bought over a French bread. And then they had some government cheese and we had avocado and cheese sandwiches on our French bread.

That was probably.

the food that I remember from being poor, like, cause there was no meat on it, there was no nothing. It was the best sandwich though. I still make avocado and cheese sandwiches, just throw it on some bread and normally some French bread. And that will take me back to that day. she died when I was, shoot, I wasn't far out of high school. Cause I remember I took my senior picture to my godmother, maybe a couple months before that. And

So it's been a long time and I still think of that day eating the avocado and the cheese sandwiches. So good. So good.

Yeah, I I'm kind of the same with like, like you're talking about, like, like Kraft macaroni and cheese. When I was broke, I ate it all the time. It hits hard even now. And it's nothing like it's not even real.

Yes!

No, no, but my brother will still say hey teen, let's have some macaroni and cheese with hot dogs in it. Hell yeah. So I would, you know, cook that up real fast. That's something that when we were kids we used to like and every so often we'll still want it. It's been a long time though.

Here here's something that's interesting that's on here. It says hot takes that spark comments. Uh macaroni and cheese is overrated I I I would argue that one. This one's pretty interesting comfort food doesn't have to taste good. It just has to feel familiar I 100 agree with that

No it's not.

you

I don't. think everything has to taste good.

No, but if it feels familiar, it probably tastes good to you. I would say that I think from that, it does have to taste good to the person who's getting both things out of it, right? It feels familiar, but it does taste good to you. But like I said, it could be something that someone else would try and be like, either go, nope, or be like, mid.

Maybe.

Yeah.

You know what's funny is me and my brother have things. My mom used to make beef stroganoff and I gotta tell you, the family goes crazy. They'll call me, they call me often and say, Tina, how'd your mom make beef stroganoff? And I would, there was no recipe. My family doesn't do recipes. So every time, can you send me the recipe? No, I have no freaking clue. Come over, watch me make it and figure it out that way. And over the years,

I don't know it.

Right.

Because my mom's not around she we're going on 15 years since she's been around The family will still call me teen. Can you make some beef stroganoff or can you do this? And I love it and my brother's like, yeah, I don't be stroganoff He won't eat it. and even though mom made it even though mom's not around even though, you know It it's delicious. It is My brother's like y'all pass

Right.

We used to have it growing up. That was a staple for the late 70s and early 80s. It just was it. yeah, it was in every household. It was in every cookbook. If you look at Betty Crocker cookbooks for the late 70s and 80s, it's in there 100%. It's a little. It's a little tangy for me. It's a bit much, but we used to eat it all the time like growing up.

Think so?

Yeah.

Mmm.

Yeah, I mean, I haven't had it in 20 years, if not more, but I remember it being at home all the time because it was easy. It was an easy meal. I mean, there was four people in my house. It was my older brother, me, my mom and my dad. So like it was always a family meal. We sat down every night and ate dinner together. Yeah, it was.

Interesting.

Yeah.

Yeah, we did too.

It wasn't Leave It To Beaver, but it was pretty damn close.

We used to, I remember my dad would get up and leave the table because of some of the conversations we had. My mom used to think they were hilarious, but my dad was like, God damn you guys. And he'd get up and walk out.

Right. mean, I was really young. My parents got divorced when I was eight. So we didn't have to go through those things. then...

yeah.

You didn't have the high school conversations.

No, and here's the funny thing when I got older my brother left the house at late. Well, he he left the house because he was asked to leave before he was 18 So like my high school. yeah. Yeah. He my brother he ended up being a very good man But his his teenage years, he was a punk rocker and he had he would go to shows He lived in his car for a little while like he was he did his he did his time Yeah

no way.

You did his thing,

So like the high school years, was literally just me and my dad at the table. And it was like the simple stuff like, Hey, how was school today? There was no like deep. Yeah, there was exactly. There was no deep conversations. here's one that I find, I will agree because I think we live in the culture now, but probably when we were kids, probably not. says fast food is the real comfort food for most people.

You're like, I didn't talk at all. That's funny.

Yeah, no.

I would say I agree to a point because we're on the run so much that if you're out and you're going to need to get food, you're going to pick your comfort food being out. So like you're going to go to your favorite burger place or you're going to go to your favorite burrito place or you know. So I agree to a degree.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think real comfort food is restaurant. So could be whatever the restaurant of choice growing up would be. Or home. Most of it's home cooked meals.

Well, we could talk about Tommy's. know, Tommy's, we would go after clubbing every weekend because it's open 24 hours and we would be starving because most of the time we came from work, came home, got ready and left again, clubbed all night and then on the way home we would stop at Tommy's and that to me takes me back to that time but the food's crap. There's nothing really great about it.

yeah.

And there's nothing good for you about it. But man, that chili hits hard, boy. And here's the thing, it hits hard when you eat it, because it's good, but it also hits hard later on.

Yeah, there's nothing good for you about it.

Yeah, your stomach's gonna really pump it out.

Yeah, it's not a friendly chili. I don't know if they make it with lard anymore, but I know when we were growing up, they would cut a chunk of lard off and start the beans with that.

No.

It's so greasy, I would imagine it's still that way.

Yeah, probably. And that's why people keep going there because that Chili's been around since, I want to say probably the 70s or late 60s. Tommy's been around a long time.

Right? But like even another place around here was nachos. Nachos to me was total comfort food if you went out. And they haven't been around probably in a shit, 15 years, maybe another.

Was that the place over on Devonshire? So that used to be a Noggle's before that, which was really, really good. If people can, if I throw that around, that would have to be a Valley thing, but I remember Noggle's being there. That was like a big deal.

Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah.

Definitely.

Yeah. And then nachos was there for years and that's me and my friends and my cousins, we talk about, remember the bacon and avocado burrito, you know, or just, because those definitely comfort food. I remember being sick and my dad would say, you know, you haven't eaten in a couple of days. Do you want me to get something at nachos? And I don't think I ever said no. I don't think I ever said no to that place, but it's since been gone.

Right, exactly. Is that building gone or is it still there?

No, it's now a falafel house. Yeah.

okay. Yeah. Because I know it was empty for years. Like, there was a few years where there was nothing there. I mean, and I'm talking a long time ago. A long time ago. Like, right after Nagel's, or Nagel's, Nacho's closed, I think it had like a year two that it was nothing, it was empty. And then, and then it... Interesting. So...

Mmm.

I don't know.

Yeah, they turned it into a falafel place. Which is not a comfort food. Falafels and that sort of stuff, gyros, not a comfort food to me.

Well, that's a great segue that you didn't know was coming. So comfort food around the world where it says soul food, Mexican home cooking and Asian soups. So there is comfort food for other people, right? Outside of American where I'm sure comfort food is multinational, multi...

Yes.

country, multi, they all, everyone has a comfort food. We all do. And no matter what country you're in, they have it. So.

I was talking to one of my clients today and she's Korean and she was talking about all the soups. So she's, go, so what was comfort food for you? And she's like, the soups, you know, and she went through the soups and the stews that she liked from when her mom was, her mom's still alive, but her mom has Alzheimer's and she's definitely not with it to cook anymore. But she talked about the soups and stuff that she really appreciated when she was younger.

And just her talking about it, was like, I would have loved to have tried some of the ones she talked about. They just sounded amazing.

Well, you every culture has a version of like warm, filling and nostalgic. All of them, no matter. And not that I've been to like, you know, many countries, I've been to Mexico, but you know, my daughter lived in Germany and she went to a lot of European countries over there. And it's funny that you go to a restaurant there and they have like that.

Yeah.

you know meal that's like the do you want the overly German meal it's this or if you want the you know they went to Spain it's like this is like the Spanish meal of that everyone knows about so it's it's very multicultural and here since we're such a you know melting pot like if you want soul food

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

You can go get it. You want good Asian soup? You can go get it. Mexican food galore, mostly in California. There's, and I know people who live in Arizona. I know people who live in Texas. You know, it's, that's, it's totally different. And they've all been, they've all been through California.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Absolutely.

It's different.

Excuse me.

and all of them will always tell you that California Mexican food is the best. Yeah, which is quite funny. Although I had Mexican food in North Carolina and I won't lie to you, it was top notch. Yeah, but like, now here's the thing though. I read a Yelp review before we went there and when we walked in, all the furniture was pastel pinks and blues and like,

Yeah.

By far. By far.

Interesting.

My thing with with most ethnic food is if you walk in and there's no people from that Ethnicity you probably shouldn't eat there So so we walked in and there was several Mexican families there and I told my friend at the time I went I think we're gonna be okay and And we were and they made the greatest orchata. so good

Right.

Yeah.

See and that's in that's another thing like drinks to a drink for me is hamica We used to have hamica or my grandmother would make she made the best lemonade and She always used fresh lemons that she picked off somebody's tree as we were walking down the street or around Around the corner from where she lives or whatever, but the lemonade was off the chain

yeah.

Mm-hmm.

run down.

So Hamica, is that the green one or is that the red one? The red one.

It's red, it's made from flowers, from hibiscus flowers, I wanna say, and you steep them in water, and then you add some sugar, whatever sweetener you're gonna use, and it's delicious.

So there's a place around the corner from my work and it used to be a liquor store, which is now a converted little Mexican place. It's really awesome place. And they still have the refrigerator sections that are in it, but there's only like one thing that has drinks in it, which is kind of funny. And Mexican Coke is obviously in it. But they have Jamaica, they have horchata, and then they have this other one. It's like a...

Like, is it the green one? It's green, right?

Tamarindo.

the green one. Now it's like an orange-ish

Okay, this one is like a greeny color. It's green, like greenish. Yeah, I'll try to find out what it is. I'll ask my buddy at work. He gets that one when we go, I get artrata, because I, homemade artrata is the greatest thing in the whole world. And it's.

wonder what it is.

Yeah. So is rice pudding, rice pudding or tapioca when it's made at home. And when it's hot, my grandmother, because I don't like it once it's cool, cool down. just it's weird to me. And so my grandmother would give it to me fresh out of the pan. my God. That's comfort food for sure. And every time I was sick, she wasn't eating or was throwing up. My grandmother would say, you want some tapioca or some rice pudding?

Tapioca's good.

funny.

and the first thing out of my mouth seemed to say, yeah, like, of course I I didn't get sick for nothing.

Right? That's funny. Tapioca was always around my house. So no rice pudding, though. I love tapioca. There was never rice pudding because my dad had to eat it as a child. And I mean, eat it like for a meal because my dad was dirt ass poor. They didn't even have a bathroom in their house. They had an outhouse. Some someone had given them a shit ton of rice pudding so he can't smell it.

Yeah, did you not like it?

out.

Yeah.

Holy crap.

Nothing. He hasn't ate it since he was a child. My dad's 81 years old. So he hasn't ate it in like 70 years because he says the smell makes him want to vomit. But that goes to show you about what food can do to you, whether it's comfort food or something that you had to eat. You know, it ruined that for him. Here's like one of the things we were talking about earlier, and I think this is 100 % true, whether it's

Wow.

How sad.

is true.

Yeah.

friends or family, food that is tied to people. Meals remind you of someone, grandma, parents, ex. Like, I'll tell you, my ex-wife makes the best red rice that I've ever had, and she's white.

Yep. Yep.

Mmm.

Okay.

And I mean, now to be fair, her first husband was Hispanic and she learned from his mom. But it's insane. It's so good that when my son goes to her house and hangs out, she makes a whole pan full of it and sends it home with him. Yeah, because and like every time he brings it home, I'm like, I need to get a little bit of that race and put it in my shit because it's so good.

wow.

Yeah.

So yeah, it does. There's so many foods that remind us of people, friends. And I think, like I said, whether it is good or it's a memory of just great people, it means a lot. Over the last...

Yeah.

I would say year and a half or so. my friend down the street would always make food and I'm very finicky and she would make me eat it or make me try it. And the shit that I ate that I've been missing is it makes me like kind of sad because she would make these soups that were like really good. And then, you know, or whatever, she would just make food and I would start eating it. So I think that like. There's so many things that.

Mm-hmm.

Remind us of things like certain candies remind me of my grandma because you would make cookies for the holidays and When I see a certain like a she used to make a sugar cookie with a Hershey kiss on top When I see that cookie no matter who makes it to this day. I think of my grandmother and I mean, I haven't ate that since I was 13 years old that from my grandma So but it still reminds me of her

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

yeah.

Wow.

because of that. it's funny, or here's a funny thing that, you know, my mom only had me every other weekend, so I would always go to her house and we would order a pizza every single time. Just because my mom knew that it was easy, it was quick.

Mm-hmm.

So when I eat like when I get a Domino's pizza, it reminds me of going to my mom's house and my best friend would go with me and we'd go and hang and we'd always watch movies and eat pizza together. That reminds me of like really good times and it's just a simple delivery pizza. So.

Yeah. My grandmother on my mom's side, she used to make fried chicken within these big, big cast iron pans. And she always had two going and she would cut up the chicken, it in bacon grease. And then she'd fry them up and then she would make these buns that were like the size of my face. And on big...

Mm.

Yes, the best.

Mm-hmm

big sheets, she just made tons of them and she always had like a pound chub of butter sitting there. Man, I remember eating that chicken right out of that bacon grease with a bun and to this day if I smell bacon grease or chicken being fried, think of my gra- excuse me, my grandmother. I literally cannot stop thinking about her the whole time I'm smelling it. And-

Right.

I make chicken like that now too because they're saying, you know, you don't want to use all the, the, the seed oils and you don't want to use the vegetable oils. You know, they had it right when they were using lard, apparently. Yeah. Fat. But I got to tell you when I make chicken like that, I'm like, my God, this makes me so happy.

Fat.

yeah, yeah. My dad did the same thing, although he used corn oil obviously, but yeah, like my dad would cook and I would always remember guacking in the kitchen and he had a big skillet and he would just be frying chicken and put it in on a paper plate with a paper towel on it so it would suck up some.

Yes! Soak up the grease.

Which is kind of funny because like looking back, I think that my dad would have been the person that had a wire rack if. It was a huge thing then, and you know what I mean? Like like now everyone has a wire rack. Where?

Yeah, I don't know, I still don't use it with the wire rack. I still put it on a paper plate with napkins down.

Yeah, that's how I cook my bacon. I cook my bacon, I always put it more like my fried potatoes, because I make like home fries. I always put them on a paper towel first so it gets a little of that grease. Now here's, now this is where like the flip side of where we're talking about how they remind us of something. What about foods you can't eat anymore because of memories like my father in his rice pudding?

Yeah.

awesome.

Is there anything that you just go, nope, reminds me of this person or you had a bad experience?

No. No. Well, so in the first grade, everybody liked those burritos that you get from school, the frozen burritos. I threw up one in the first grade and I still to this day have never eaten another one because it just grossed me out so much. and everybody I've ever known has always had even my dad who'll have frozen burritos in the freezer.

Mm-hmm.

And I don't touch them. Like that is one thing. even, he said, who ate my burritos? And I looked at him and he goes, yeah, that wasn't you. You know, he knows it. He knows that's not me. But that's one of the only things I could think of that I didn't like in everybody in school, like those stupid burritos. Like all through school, but not me.

Yeah, exactly. That's funny.

Yeah, I can't off the top of my head go, I don't eat this. You know, because of this. I do have a memory, but I don't eat cheese anyway. So like for me, but I remember way back in the day, you could go to Bob's Big Boy and they had pasta with chili on top of it and a big slice of cheese and they brought it to the table and I hacked on the table.

Mm-hmm

and a big slice of cheese.

how sad.

Yeah. Yeah. So, but the funny thing is, is if they would have brought it, no cheese out of killed it. So it was just, it's a cheese thing, but like.

And it's American cheese, so it's crap cheese anyway.

Mm-hmm. So for me, the funny thing is, like I said, I can't off the top of my head think like, I don't eat that anymore. Because like I said, I'm very finicky. So like the things that I eat, I eat and I enjoy them. So what about this? What do you think about is cooking as a way to reconnect with somebody? yeah, I think so. I've had some, some.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

really good barbecue times recently where the cooking is second hand to the reconnecting but the reconnecting is great because you're cooking together.

Yeah, for sure. I definitely would agree with that. I have a lot of family that will still, Tina, will you cook this with me? Tina, you show me? know, now it's show me because I'm getting to an age where they should be asking that because, you know, I could not be here tomorrow. You know, we're getting to that age where people are passing and I noticed that that families are starting to do that or my cousins are starting to say,

Or the kids, like the younger ones that I used to babysit. Theatina, can you make this or that? And I'm like, yeah, let's do it. You know, let me teach you because it should be passed on.

Yeah, yeah my my aunt she lives out in Palm Springs somewhere She we would always go over to my dad's brother's house, which is my was my husband she made the best barbecue beans like ever and and and that's kind of like that same thing where it was like You know no matter what and we would always go there and I remember watching them and we would help a little but they were really good at

you know, cooking the food. But when you see that and you're like, yeah, I remember that, when you do it with somebody to reconnect, you get double nostalgia. You get like this and you get this. Like we, I had cooked some things, we got some,

We got asparagus and cooked it on the barbecue. But we also got Brussels sprouts because it was really hot out when we were cooking. It was summertime. So we put, we put, we, she soaked them in like, like an olive oil or whatever. And then we put it on a piece of aluminum foil on top of the barbecue and cooked them spot on. They got a little crunchy.

So like these are now things that I'll remember when I think of them and think of eating food a certain way. It's kind of, it's awesome.

Yeah.

You know, it's really cool, because I've always been the one to cook. So people will remember things from like way back and I'm like, I don't remember making that with you, but I'm glad that you have that memory and that you want it again. Like, yeah, I'll make it with you again. you know, I've done it so much with so many people that I don't even remember who I'm cooking for or what I'm cooking. And that's been kind of a trip too, because as we get older and we're

we'll reconnect again because you know years have gone by and situations have changed and whatever and we'll sit together. do you remember when you did that with me? And I'm like, my God, I don't remember that. But yeah, I know how to make that. Let's make it. You know, I'll cook it up for you again. It's I remember like my grandfather made the best French toast.

And he would make it, he didn't cook much. didn't do very many things, but he made some killer French toast. And for as long as he was alive, I would get him, he made it in my house when I was married for us one day. He came over and I said, hey guys, Pops is coming over and he's gonna cook some French toast. Y'all should show up. And everybody showed up because they were used to his French toast and it was delicious.

And I like the memories because we got to do it together.

I think this is kind of part of what you're talking about. So there's a guilty pleasure part of my little notes here. And part of it says, I don't care, I'm eating this anyway foods. That's 150 % correct.

Yeah.

God, there's so many though, I couldn't even.

They give a really good example. This one I think is what you're kind of talking about earlier with Tommy's late night fast food runs. Where I remember being with somebody and we had had a few drinks and Dell taco sounded like the greatest thing in the whole world.

You

And funny thing is, it really is when you're intoxicated. So I think that that's kind of interesting, where I think a lot of us have that, that it's late night, you're,

Either hungry because you've been up too long or people are drunk around you and you need to go pick something up mostly on the way home. If you're a DD, I've done it many times where the other five people in the car are like stop at McDonald's or stop it. We need it now. Taco Bell. Go to Taco Bell and get 48 tacos like all right or.

We need it now. Right? Do you remember a place called El Meadow Meadow in Pacoima?

No.

Man when I hung out with my friends that lived in Pacoima. We would stop there at the end of the night and get like the best burritos like Carnesada burritos with beans and rice and cilantro and onions and hot salsa. Man, I wish that place was still open because I would go there still

So there was a place that my ex-wife would take us to that was open I think until like 2 a.m. every time. Funny thing is in Pacoima called Rigos Tacos. It's on like Glen Oaks and Osborne. And I remember going there and I was, know, Pacoima when I was married was not a very safe place for white folk.

Right?

It's still not.

So we would go there and I was like, look, we're going to go in this place. It's like almost one in the morning. I'm like, are you sure we should be there? And she's like, don't worry about it. I come here all the time. And when we went in there, it was like the United Nations. It was like every race you could think of was sobering up and they all had, you know, nachos and Brita and I went and got a Brita. Funny thing is kind of solid Brita and

Yeah, for sure.

That's like such a crazy memory that like, yeah, you're right. That is like, wow, fast, late night run. And at the time I didn't drink. like she was always sobering up. What about this one? What about like weird combos? Like people who will eat like weird shit together? I don't. But like my brother would eat anything. Like.

Well, what do you think is weird versus not weird, though?

Like things that like wouldn't go to... When my brother was much younger, and I mean in high school young, he worked at McDonald's. He would come home and he would make like pickles. Whatever was in the fridge, he would just throw together. So like...

Maybe there was some fried chicken left and then he would make like a pickle and and Manny's sandwich and then you know a thing of pretzels on the side whatever like just he would throw shit together because he was a growing lad. So like I you know that's like having. You know, me so soup and a burrito together like something that like obviously.

may do that.

Right, and I think that that's the thing though. There are weird combos that it doesn't matter. They're comfort foods.

My brother takes pizza that's leftover and cuts it into little pieces and scrambles it in eggs. And for the life of me, I don't understand that, but he does that often enough that I had to try it. Yeah, it's not bad.

Wow. Interesting. That is weird. mean, how do you, my question to him would be how do you get there? Like how did that happen? You know what I mean? That sounds.

It is weird.

I think he and his friend were ones to just throw stuff together and the pizza stuck.

So, and then here's one that I don't have a problem with, but I'm sure some of our listeners would. Foods you'd never admit to publicly until now. Anything that I eat that's a comfort food is pretty normal. Like there's nothing.

I don't know, I remember when we were camping all the time, all of my generation, all the cousins, would eat sardines and crackers. And it's so gross now that when I've smelled it, I'm like, I can't even get past that to eat them. But when we were younger, we would buy that stuff ourselves and then go home and eat it like it was the best thing ever.

Right.

Now, I think that was a cousin thing. I don't think it was a good thing. It didn't taste all that great, but we did it because we were all together and I don't know, maybe all fitting together or getting along or wanting to connect. And that to me now, when I open up that stuff, I'm like, I'm over that.

I think that that was a very common boomer thing.

Yeah, could be.

Yeah, because I think that they were cheap like way back in the day. So going to get a couple packs of sardines and some some crackers, it was enough to get you through.

Yeah.

Yeah, my when my brother and my cousin that he's since passed away. When they were at my grandparents house as far as like sandwiches, they would ask for monkey meat. And I don't know why they called it monkey. I guess the devil looked like it was deviled ham. But the the devil looked like a monkey. And so my cousin and my brother called it monkey meat. And my grandmother would make that. And to me, that's that's just disgusting. Always has been and always will be.

yeah.

My brother said he had it not too long ago and he goes, I don't know how we ate it. It was so salty and it's still really salty. And I was like, I never liked that shit. But my grandmother would make me, shit. I would call it Indian mush and it was cornmeal. So I would eat cornmeal like oatmeal or cream of wheat. She made it like that and that was.

Yeah, I think.

That was so much a comfort food for me when I was a little kid, but not the monkey meat.

I remember my dad eating the devil ham. Yeah. That was, that was a, it was a round. And again, probably on crackers, but my dad ate crazy shit. Like he would just get a tomato and put salt on it and eat it. Yeah. That's like a, it's a very...

Double to ham. Ew.

I do that. Or yesterday I had it, when I had a tomato and I had an avocado and I put salt on it and just sat there and ate it.

Yeah. Yep, that's that's a very southern thing. The tomatoes like that. Yeah, tomatoes. Yes, I don't. Avocados aren't really big in the South, or at least they weren't obviously when my dad was young. But yeah, then you know that's so he I I'm assuming he probably still does it to this day because my dad is my dad. Here's a question for you and I and.

Is it? Hmm.

Right.

I will say I understand why. Is covered food supposed to be unhealthy?

Or can you can your comfort mood be like a clean a clean eating? And I I would argue that sure, it could be decent. Yeah.

It could be anything as long as the memory is there and it's good. I mean, it hits, it's just got to hit that spot.

Agree.

Yeah, it's whatever whatever hits the craving. Yeah, it doesn't matter if it's. If you're like a crazy bodybuilder and protein, you know, chicken hits the spot and that's your comfort food. It's clean and it's going to do the same thing as a piece of pie. You know you're. I'm assuming and again, I'm we're not doctors on this show, but you know it's hitting electrons in a certain part of your brain. And it's it and it's giving you a dopamine hit.

Yeah.

Yeah.

doing something.

Mm-hmm.

the food and the memory. So here I'm going to I'm going to ask you one little closing question. I want to see what you think. If you could have one comfort food for the rest of your life, what are you choosing and why?

shit.

Yes.

Ahhhh

Wow. I think my first thought was macaroni and cheese, homemade macaroni and cheese. But then my next thought would be my grandmother's tortillas, but she's not around anymore, so I wouldn't get those anyway. So then it would go to fried bread and fried chicken. So all of those are fatty foods.

I would say for me if it had to be one thing would be Kanye Sada tacos.

Yeah, see those are to me those aren't comfort food. That's just good food, you know, but that wasn't like the But I get you I I would hands down do those any day every day

Yeah.

I think sitting at, yeah, I think sitting at, if I had to have that, and I actually put that now to people and places, not just that, because I've had it with people that, certain people, me and my ex-wife used to cook it. It's funny, because where I live now, they're opening a Viartha right down the street. I can't wait, cannot wait, because they don't have them where I live.

Mm-hmm.

Nice.

So they're just starting to open them up where I live. So I can't wait. told my son, go, it opens on April 1st. I'm like, we're going to go get a big old bag of carne asada and we're going to cook it on the barbecue. So for me, like those are it. But I guess if it had to be something that was made by someone, I would tell you that it's my dad's SOS every time. There's just something that hits with that. And it's horrible for you.

There you go.

Hmm.

Yeah.

It's like bacon grease and flour.

Yeah, yeah. My dad makes a really good meatloaf. I like his meatloaf. And my grandmother or my mother used to make chicken noodle soup, but we would make the noodles by hand and then she would put dumplings on top and my God. But again, that's fatty food. So maybe I, yeah, maybe I am. The good fooder is the fattening stuff.

Yeah.

Yeah, it is. Well, because it has all the good flavor in it. Fat is flavorful. That's why I like a good steak has marbling in it or you keep a big fat, you know, the fat around it to cook on it because it seeps in. Fat is good. Bad for you. But boy, that's why do think we love bacon so much? Bacon is. But it's very fatty.

Yeah.

Yep, fat is good.

Cuz it's delicious and it's salty.

It's salty and fatty. That's why it's so good and it's amazing. I love me some bacon. A good BLT.

You know, I asked, right? I asked my friend the other day, like what, what she, what type of foods remind her of certain people. And whenever I do a girl's trip with the girls, we would go to have a Sue. And basically the whole time I was there, I was the only one cooking because everybody was like drinking and they weren't having it. And, and she said, I really like when you make your tuna melts. Cause again, I'll do it on a French loaf, a French bread loaf. And then the tuna's got

jalapeno and onion and tomato and cilantro and a little bit of ranch dressing and mayonnaise mustard. I put sesame seeds in it and then you know we put real cheese. I don't use the the American cheese but we'll put slices of cheddar on it and then I put it in the broiler and toast it up and every single one of my friends that I go with to have a soo they're like can you.

when you're there, you make that sandwich again for me? Like, really? That's what you like? And they're like, you make tuna not taste like tuna. It's kind of delicious, so.

That's funny.

Yeah, and again that just goes to show you like that's a comfort food for them. It's something that reminds them. Exactly.

Yeah, and it reminds them of our vacations together. And I like that they think that way. It makes me feel good that they have that memory with me.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's good stuff. All right. I think that was a pretty solid show there, Miss. Hey, yeah. And you know what I need to do right now? Eat. That's kind of funny. Hey, keep checking us out on the social medias. We're posting when the shows come out and we're up in listeners, which is super awesome.

Yeah.

That was quick.

Eat. Right?

It's awesome.

You can pretty much hear us anywhere. There's podcasts, they're everywhere now, but you guys have been really good. Apple, Spotify, checking out our webpage. And it's an opinion show. Don't get it twisted. Keep coming back every Wednesday. I'm Rob, that's Tina. We'll see you in a week. Bye.

See ya.