Comfort Food: Chili Sin Carne

 by Amy

“’Oh, I wanted to surprise you,’ said Ben, coming over to hug Clara. ‘Chili con carne.’

‘My favorite comfort food.’

Comfort food. It’s actually a widespread concept (yes, I googled it), but the words to describe it vary from culture to culture. In Portuguese, for instance, it translates into “a taste of childhood”, which evokes nostalgia for or memories of better or happier times. I do realize not all childhood memories are good ones, but the idea of remembering good times makes sense.

I wouldn’t have listed chili – with or without meat – on my own list of comfort food. I’d include bread. Fresh warm bread. Maybe chocolate. Homemade warm cookies, definitely. Have I mentioned fresh bread?

Chili con carne appears twice in STILL LIFE and it is described both times as comfort food.  

In the second appearance, the dish is just one of many in another potluck dinner at the Morrow’s home. They have chili con carne as well as casseroles, shepherd´s pie, and plenty of wine. They also have cashews and a bag full of junk food and candy – Halloween-style comfort food, I guess. Clara is comforted by the meal where she is surrounded by familiar faces, indulges in the guilty pleasure of candy before dinner, and breathes in the homey smells coming from the kitchen.

There is a bit of foreshadowing since the uncomfortable part of the meal is when Clara realizes how Peter feels – and predicts how he’ll behave - when she acts on her own. I don’t think I truly caught this hint as to his behavior – or didn’t give it enough importance – when I first read the book.

“Animated and excited she’d gabbled on about her box and the woods and the exhilarating climb up the ladder to the blind. But her wall of words hid from her a growing quietude. She failed to notice his silence, his distance, until it was too late and he’d retreated all the way to his icy island. She hated that place. From it he stood and stared, judged and lobbed shards of sarcasm.”

But let’s go back to the first chili meal. Ben tried to find the perfect recipe to appease Clara. What he failed to realize is that part of the comfort in food comes from the way the tastes and smells and even the surroundings trigger memories of better – or safer, or maybe just familiar – places and times.

The Morrows go to dinner and probably expect to eat something bought - maybe even from the Bistrô. We’re told in a previous scene that Ben doesn’t cook. He’s made an exception this time, though. He resurrected one of his mother’s old cookbooks and has followed the instructions in order to create what he believes will be the perfect answer to Clara’s grief: Chili con carne.

‘I’ve never made it before but I have some of my mother’s recipe books and found it in The Joy of Cooking. It won’t bring Jane back, but it might ease the pain.’

Clara walks into the home expecting to smell stinky dog and old books. Instead, she's overwhelmed by the aroma of homemade cooking. You’d think it would be an improvement, right? Apparently it wasn’t. She wanted the old and familiar smells…

Grief is partly about the loss of predictable patterns and interactions in life. You are aware of changes and have to find a way to fill the new gaps in your life. That’s probably why Peter’s mug of Earl Grey Tea was a better choice for comfort. To borrow a friend’s expression, what she needed was for everything to be “nicely normal”. Ben's unforeseeable behavior and the unusual settings were jarring.

“Clara looked at the huge cookbook open on the counter, and felt revolted. It had come from that house. Timmer’s place.The home that repulsed love and laughter and welcomed snakes and mice. She wanted nothing to do with it, and she realized her revulsion stretched even to objects that had come from there.”

Aside from the unfamiliarity of Ben’s cooking, Clara is discomfited by the fact that the cookbook and, indirectly, the recipe and even maybe the meal are contaminated by the place they came from. The theme isn’t explored in depth in this first book, but it is brilliantly discussed in the latest book – THE NATURE OF THE BEAST. Is something evil because its creator is evil? Can you separate the creation from the creator?

“She took a deep breath and inhaled garlic and onions and frying mince and other calming smells. Nellie must have cleaned recently because there was the fresh aroma of detergents. Cleanliness. Clara felt better and knew that Ben was her friend too, not just Peter’s. And that she wasn’t alone, unless she chose to be. She also knew Daisy could best sautéed garlic any day and her smell would re-emerge triumphant.”

In the end, Clara isn’t comforted by the meal. She’s comforted by the thought that familiarity will return and that the musty odor of old books and Daisy's stink would eventually override detergent and home cooking.

And we’re back to the concept of comfort food. Familiarity is probably more important than the taste itself. Likely there are things that are tastier, better for you, and even more presentable. But comfort foods – like old shoes, baggy pajamas, and books that have been read so many times they’re full of little marks and folded tips and pages that are starting to fall out – are about familiarity and the idea that essential things have not changed.

What's your comfort food?!

I decided to make a vegetarian version of this meal.

If any of you are in any way intimidated by Libby’s sophisticated cooking and presentations (I am), this is the polar opposite. I actually think Ruth could have easily made and served this for dinner instead of her elaborate gummy bear-velveeta-cracker dishes. It's easy to make. You just kind of add it all in and let it simmer for awhile... and you're done.

This recipe is based on one I found in Jamie Oliver’s website.  The link is at the end of the post. I tweaked it a bit.

Ingredients

•           2 onions
•           3 to 5 cloves of garlic
•           1 medium leek (I LOVE leeks, so I actually used a large one)
•           1 long fresh red chilli (I know some people add seeds, I used two, but removed the seeds)
•           1 yellow pepper (this wasn’t in the original recipe, but I had some and added them “just because”)
•           2 Tablespoons of ground coriander (The first time I made it I used two, but the other times I only used 1 TBS. It was enough for me)
•           2 TBS smoked paprika (this was in the original recipe but I couldn’t find it ANYWHERE here and finally gave up. I’m adding it to the recipe here because I wish I had found it)
•           ½ cinnamon stick or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
•           2 Tablespoons dried oregano
•           1 whole nutmeg for grating or ½ teaspoon powdered nutmeg
•           2 tablespoons tomato purée
•           500g dried lentils (the original calls for 250g of green and 250g red lentils – I only had green)
•           800g red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
•           800g of black beans, drained and rinsed (truth be told, I’ve made this recipe with all kinds of beans – canned, just cooked, brown, black, red, you name it. It works no matter which beans you use)
•           2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
•           1.2 liters of vegetable stock (homemade, in cubes or store-bought)
•           Salt (I didn’t use any – there was enough in the vegetable stock)
•           Black pepper, freshly ground (my husband doesn’t enjoy black pepper, so I rarely use it)

How to

Finely chop onions, garlic and leeks. Also chop the chili – with or without seeds. Fry in the olive oil until softened. Add the spices. Fry for another 2 minutes. The original recipe says to add a splash of water if it starts getting dry, but I think you can go ahead and just add the tomato purée if you reach that point. Cook for another two minutes. Then basically you just pour everything else in: lentils (dry), beans (cooked and drained or drained from a tin), and chopped tomatoes. Add the stock. Bring it all to a boil, then reduce the heat and leave it there for at least an hour. Stir a few times, and then season however you like it. I didn’t think salt was necessary because the vegetable stock I used already had salt.

And you’re done. But you’ll have enough chili for an army. The first time, I made a full recipe and regretted it. Then I made ½ a recipe and it´s still a good amount. My husband didn’t care for it (even though I added meat to his) and my son doesn’t much like beans at the best of times. It doesn’t qualify as comfort food in my house! But I thought it was yummy and I have small portions frozen, so I can easily have a quick meal whenever I want to!

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/kerryann-s-chilli-con-veggie/#F1ykAe8sD3KHzmDz.97