Top 10 Break-Up Foods
F&W's fabulous Restaurant Editor, Kate Krader, is also our resident shrink. She once helped a broken-hearted assistant get over her ex by introducing her to her first chef crush (hi, Bobby Hellen!). Here, Kate offers support beyond the office.
10. Sushi. This is not the time to be anything other than crazy self-indulgent. So, go sit at the counter at a non-budget sushi bar and tell the chef who's wielding the knife to feed you. For one thing, it's good practice for your next relationship. There also might be a cute boy/girl a few seats down the sushi bar. If you're more in the market for a Euro expat, you can employ the same strategy at your nearest caviar bar.
9. Ramen. Perhaps the best break-up food ever. For one thing, it's super-comforting; you can pretend your mom made it for you (after she spent time hanging out with a ramen chef). Also, it's relatively cheap, which leaves you more money to shop for a rebound outfit.
8. Korean Tofu Soup. You need something spicy to sweat out the break-up aggression. There's the pleasure/pain principle in the slow chile burn. And we've already talked about the comfort-soup factor (see ramen, above).
7. Chicken Noodle Soup. If your mother didn't happen to make friends with a ramen-making chef and isn't good at pouring boiling water over dehydrated noodles, this is what she'll make for you when your heart is broken.
6. Raw Egg Shake. Here's your chance to embrace a Rocky I situation. Break out your blender and then find some steps to run up so you'll have a soaring self-image for your next relationship. Whether you choose to play "Eye of the Tiger" is your own decision.
5. The Cleanse Diet. Maybe this anguished moment demands some hardcore discipline. It's time to give up food altogether. As an added benefit, you'll be so obsessed with Doritos and chocolate that you won't have room in your head to think about your ex, anyway.
4. Pasta Carbonara. OK, maybe a breakup isn't the right moment to talk about discipline. It's the time to go for broke with the biggest bowl of pasta, studded with pancetta, cheese and raw egg (which you never intended to use in a shake, anyway). The carb high will be awesome.
3. Hot Fudge Sundae. Do you know what's better than a carb high? A sugar high. The kind you get from a bowl filled with mocha-chip ice cream with hot fudge pouring all down the sides and a mountain of whipped cream on top.
2. Raw Cookie Dough. Make a full recipe from the back of the Toll House bag. No judgments.
1. Whiskey. If you've ever listened to a country-western song—maybe at that Coyote Ugly place where you danced on the bar—then you know that whiskey is there for you. Vodka is also there for you; if your prerogative is a quick relationship, get some peach schnapps too, and sharpen up your Sex on the Beach skills.
Related: Valentine's Day Recipes
