The (Foody) Pursuit of Happiness

Christmas is long gone (but the festive weight is not). Summer still seems a million miles away, and you have exams and essay deadlines looming. It’s easy to see why this time of year can be depressing. But rather than grin and bear it there’s only one thing to do… eat your way to happiness. And let’s face it, we all agree, that sounds like a top-notch plan. But where to start? Well, we’ve all seen the articles telling us of the foods scientifically proven to boost our mood, and don’t get me wrong, I love having a scientific excuse to eat chocolate as much as the next person. However, there are some foods that make you feel better not because they contain endorphins or the protein ‘tryptophan’ (whatever that may be), but just because they do. Maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s pure gluttony or maybe it’s the only thing that soothes your hangover Whatever it is, it works and so as far as I’m concerned these foods deserve to be acknowledged just as much as those that come government recommended.

• BBQ’d meat = Now, I’m aware that I’m stereotyping (and excuse the mild sexism), but I have never seen a man happier than when he is barbequing meat (vegetarians obviously excluded). Not only does it give them an excuse to avoid anything healthy, the closest your gonna get to a vegetable at a BBQ being a greasy fried onion afterall, but something about the alpha malesness of cooking a big slab of animal on an open fire seems to regress them to the caveman days. And I must say, they seem perfectly content there.
• Jelly = Not only does it remind us of children’s parties, it can be moulded into novelty shapes, and there’s just something about the way it wobbles…
• Gravy = Whether it’s over your mum’s roast dinner or cheesy chips when you’re a bit worse for wear, somehow it makes everything alright. That is unless there’s not enough of it, in which case it feels like your world is falling apart. Nothing worst than a dry roast, after all.
• Sunny D = The name’s happy and so were we as we were drinking it by the gallon when we were young. Little did we know that it was because it was pumped full of E-numbers (with the delightful side-effect of giving you a healthy orange glow that fake-tan addicts would kill for).
• Cuppa Soup = Because sometimes we all need a hug in a mug.
• Worthers originals = Maybe your grandad didn’t actually feed these to you at poignant moments throughout your childhood, maybe you don’t even have a grandad but somewhere along the line that advertising campaign connected Worthery goodness with the happiness receptor in your brain and voila.
• Space dust = How can you not like a food that literally makes it feel like there’s a party in your mouth?
• Egg and Soldiers = The novelty of the egg-cup, the expert cracking of the egg, the ceremony of dipping the soldiers and the need to refer to the bread as soldiers and not just bread. It all makes for a cracking good time (you knew it was coming).
• Porridge = On a cold morning is there anything better than a hot-steaming bowl of porridge to warm your cockles? Add a big dollop of golden syrup and the answer is probably no.
• Potato Smileys = Because you can’t not be happy when you’re eating a food that is smiling back at you…

Ok, so they might not contain your recommended daily allowance of vitamins and they probably won’t boost those all important serotonin levels, but these foods are guaranteed to put a smile on your face whatever the weather. So take a break from that essay, put those revision books down and get started on your own personal foody pursuit of happiness.