Nostalgia is felt not in the heart, but in the stomach

Have you noticed that the posher the restaurant, the more the choice of “comfort food” which is uncannily like sitting down to tea in the 1970s? We seem to have come full circle when it comes to mince and tatties, macaroni and cheese or shepherds pie.

I’m not complaining. This is the time of year when we all crave tasty, filling and warming food, much of which reminds me of various meals I enjoyed in the olden days. The memories a dish conjures up are not always taste-related. An apple pie never fails to remind me of the smell of my grandparents’ coal firescented front room.

My grandad was a chef by trade and when he cooked a pastry dish at home, it was always a full-on dramatic performance for his grandchildren, starting with cracking the eggs on our heads before adding them to the bowl. Mixing and baking, he would tap dance on the kitchen lino while accompanying himself on the spoons – my multitasking role model.

We would sit by the fire for our apple pie – with homemade custard, natch – and watch

The Generation Game on TV (ask your parents/ grandparents). Happy days, even though I can’t remember the taste of the pie, just the surrounding comforts.

My mother inherited his preference for cooking from scratch, which us children saw as a great disadvantage when convenience foods started being introduced. We envied our friends who spoke of the delights of boil-in-the-bag or just-add-water treats.

I don’t have a particularly misty-eyed view of some of the disgusting processed foods of the 1970s, but it is uncanny looking at restaurant menus now and recognising many of the home-cooked meals we used to enjoy then.

Sure, there may be vegan/gluten-free options which didn’t exist then, and there may be truffle or kale or whatever added to the mac ‘n’ cheese, but generally we’re still comforted by the idea of comfort food.

As the days get shorter and darker, let’s not knock the nourishing effect of sharing hearty dishes that serve up a healthy dollop of nostalgia.

“The memories a dish conjures up are not always taste-related...