Consumption of Comfort Foods: Examples from Mersin

Abstract

Comfort food can be defined as foods that people consume to relieve themselves in the event of negative feelings such as stress, sadness, and depression or to reward themselves in the case of positive feelings such as happiness and success. The aim of this study is to determine the preferred comfort foods people living in Mersin consume in the negative and positive situations. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 168 participants living in Mersin province center in March and April 2018 and 154 valid forms were obtained. Participants were included in the study using convenience sampling method based on their age and gender. The obtained data were subjected to content analysis. According to the findings of the study, it was determined that the comfort foods consumed in negative and positive emotional situations were different. It was found out that when people were happy, pleased, and successful, they mostly preferred Turkish tea, coffee, assorted kebabs and meatballs, sunflower. On the other hand, when they are stressed and nervous, the most frequent comfort foods are respectively Turkish tea and coffee, chocolate, and desserts with sweet syrup such as künefe and baklava. Nevertheless, a significant number of participants expressed that they aren’t tend to eat or drink under stress and that they lose their appetite. When nostalgic foods and drinks reminiscent of childhood memories were examined, it was found that candies, soups, çiğ köfte, dolma, batırık and fruits are respectively nostalgic comfort foods for participants. It is suggested for future studies on comfort foods that comfort food consumption based on the demographic characteristics and comfort food preferences of different cultures can be examined.