Comfort Foods of the the world: 5 dishes that you need to try

It can depend on what the dish is, and who’s eating it, but the homely comfort food can be your saviour for those bad days, or when you’re awfully hungover, or bored, or even are just craving a dish that really hits the spot.

These foods for our souls vary from country to country, so what do they look like? And what are your favourites?

If you’ve read any of my other works, you’ll know I’m a self-acclaimed foodie traveller. That is, one person that will shamelessly curate their entire holiday to-do list based around the foods I want to try. Although I haven’t explored as many comfort foods our wonderful world has to offer as I’d like (and I’m blaming Covid for that, as by this point I’d have at least added South Korean and Central America’s cuisine to my list), these are the stand-out five that will well and truly warm your soul.

USA’s grilled cheese

I feel like I could approach anyone on the street and ask them their thoughts on grilled cheese, and their instant reaction would be hell. Yes. I have many fond memories of lunchtimes as a kid when mum would serve an oozes, gooey, melted cheese sandwich with some creamy tomato soup and I was as happy as Larry.

When I was in New York, this was definitely a safe go-to as a vegetarian (annoyingly, many of the restaurants my group visited specialised in hamburgers or steaks). It comes in at five on my list, because you can’t fault the beauty of the simple melted cheese and toasted bread, however I must question the quality of American cheese. It might have once been cheese, but by the time it arrived on my plate, it seemed more of a distant relative to the delicious cheddar my mum used in my childhood lunches.

Vietnam’s Banh Mi

Much like the Western logic of putting something between two slices of bread to instantly make something delicious, easy, and simply better, the French influence when colonising the country birthed the ingenious Bánh mì (which literally translates to “bread”!).

It only really took off in the 1950’s, with the delicious of bundled vegetables, herbs, meat and chilli sauce being a common street food in Saigon. Before then, the Vietnamese generally ate the baguette’s the same way the residing French colonists did: plain butter, cold cut meats, and cheese. Oh, how long were they missing out on this amazing infusion of deliciousness!

This came in as a solid number four on my list, as a bite into the soft, fluffy baguette instantly takes me back to the bustling streets of Hanoi where you can sit among the locals with a bánh mì and a beer, and spend no more than $5AUD. However if you aren’t a fan of coriander, then be prepared to pick out a fair amount.

Australia’s Milo Ice-cream

Call me biased, being a true blue Aussie myself, but this is a dessert sent down from the heavens itself. Have you ever craved a dessert to tickle your tastebuds, but opened your pantry to find you’re fresh out of everything but plain vanilla ice-cream and Milo powder?

Fear not, because that winning combination is enough to take plain ice-cream to the next level. While Nestle has tried to recreate the chocolate-ly, creamy goodness in stores, with actual milo flavoured ice-cream that were often in popular demand at school canteens, it never quite brought the satisfaction as the home-made two ingredient comfort food did.

Unlike the way Aussie’s use Vegemite (where you absolutely do NOT use more than a teaspoon on your toast), the more Milo the better. If I have a sugar craving to kick, you best find me in the pantry with my Milo, stroking it and calling it "my precious".

Japan’s Okonomiyaki

When I went travelling around Japan, this was my absolute go-to. Despite there being so many delicious foods to try, I had an okonomiyaki for lunch at least every second day.

It’s not hard to see why I became so obsessed with this simple dish that consists of cabbage, eggs, flour and water. It is always different dependant on the chef and their restaurant, as many locals put their own spin on the dish, like topping it with a fried egg, bonito flakes, pork, or even just a whole lot of kewpie mayo! Often the mixtures would be served raw in a bowl to you, so you can fry it up to your very own liking on a personal grill at your table.

In my university days, I also found it to be a step up from the ole’ reliable two minute noodles. Mix in the above ingredients with some spice and soy sauce, fry it up, and boom! I’m going to give thanks to my child-like tastebuds for my timeless love of making these, as the savoury pancakes largely became popular in Osaka in the 1930’s to serve to children because they’re cheap, easy, and even the pickiest of eaters can’t fault a dish like this.

France’s crêpe

This reigns in at number one as I have incredibly fond memories of sitting in a Parisian café, ordering crêpes that have been drowned in caramel sauce and Nutella, and yet still feeling incredibly fancy and cultured despite the fact that it’s unlikely French locals would use the same ungodly amount of toppings as I did.

This is also my favourite comfort food, because I have never successfully been able to recreate it at home. Sure, pancakes are a great, and easier, but they just don’t have that light, delicate texture that the humble crepe does so well.

In the crêpes’s origin of Brittany, France, it was believed that if you toss the crêpe in the air and catch it in the frying pan with your right hand, while holding a gold coin in your left, it would cause you to become richer later that year. The roundness and golden colour of the crêpe also symbolised the sun and the gold coin you held, and if the thought of eating a sun-filled omen that may bring you riches doesn’t bring you comfort, then I don’t know what will!

If you see your favourite comfort food on this list, then don’t forget to leave a <3. I know there’s so many other cuisines and dishes I had to neglect on here (ahem, HSP’s!), but I’d love to wait until I’ve tried the authentic version in it’s home country before I give it the problem low-down. So here’s to waiting for international travel to re-start so this Aussie can explore all the wonderful foods out there that’s to try!