Wonkblog: Why macaroni and cheese tastes so good when we're down

Macaroni and cheese, a staple of so many children's diets, might be the most popular comfort food known to man - or at least any American. The Kraft variety, so carefully split into its essential components - dried pasta, packaged cheese product, and step-by-step directions - makes its way into millions of homes around the country each year. So too does Annie's - little white shells, perky rabbit, and all. And restaurants haven't been shy about serving their own, house-made versions. This country's long-held obsession with the wholesome dish is so great that it has even been cited as a contributor to the steady growth of cheese consumption in the United States.

Macaroni and cheese is popular because it's delicious - the immediate, gustatory payoff of any food centered around starch and cheese should be fairly straightforward. It's also caloric, which carries with it its fair share of delights. But behind its appeal is also a deeper truth you may not realize at all.

Like other dishes referred to endearingly as comfort foods - mashed potatoes, meatloaf and spaghetti in the U.S., kimchee jjigae in Korea and moussaka in Turkey - macaroni and cheese soothes more than simply one's taste buds. Comfort foods in fact reach much deeper into our psyches, all the way back to our childhoods. And there is a subtle science to how, when and why we seek them out.

Comfort foods, you see, are not just a category of foods reserved merely for meals that are unhealthy. They might be comforting because they are often indulgent, sure, but they don't need to be caloric. Take, for instance, chicken noodle soup, which isn't heavy in the least and yet is still an archetypal comfort food.

A new and growing body of research has suggested that certain foods resonate with us not just because we enjoyed them in our youth, but because of our feelings toward the people - often moms and dads - who gave us the food.

"If your mom makes something when you're a child, that food becomes associated with the care she gave you at the time," said Shira Gabriel, a professor at the University at Buffalo who has been researching the social and emotional ties to food consumption. "If the care was good, the association will be good too. It's about more than just the food."

Gabriel has been studying the social and emotional associations of foods for years. Her latest research, a new study published last week, shows that people not only seek out comfort foods when they're feeling down or socially disconnected, but actually tend to enjoy them more when feeling isolated or sad. What's more, it builds on the notion that our love for certain foods is an extension of our feelings toward certain people - often those who served them to us when we were young.

Comfort foods, of course, aren't simply the sorts of heartwarming meals had in the United States - they vary widely from country to country. In Korea, one might be likelier to form an emotional attachment to kimchee than mashed potatoes; in Morocco, the tie might be stronger to tagine; in India, hearts could be closer to certain curries. But no matter the culture, or dish that warms people the most, the personal connection remains.

The next time you find yourself sitting over a meal that makes you feel at home, you might want to give mom, or dad, or whoever made or served you that meal when you were young a call.

• Ferdman is a reporter for Wonkblog covering food, economics, immigration and other things. He was previously a staff writer at Quartz.