UNTIL Hurricane Katrina I never really knew much about New Orleans. Sure, I knew about the French term Mardi Gras. I knew that Fat Tuesday in New Orleans was a wild blast of carnivals, balls, parades and other merrymaking, but also that it had nothing on Purim in Boro Park, Brooklyn. But that was pretty much it.

Oh, also, when I was in the ninth grade one of my classmates hailed from The Big Easy, and I heard the Nawlins lilt and dialect for the first time.

Well, it hasn’t been that easy in The Big Easy now, has it? So now, when the “Saints are marching in” their beloved town after living through adversity and struggle, when she was literally sinking, it certainly is quite symbolic.

AH, comfort foods. Which one is your absolute favorite? Me? I can’t decide. There is always chocolate, of course. The nuanced, beguiling and voluptuous yet whimsical quality of chocolate, satisfying in so many different permutations, solid or liquid, cold or hot chocaltiness. Indeed . . . that darkness, that chocolate, sure is comforting.

But then there is macaroni and cheese with its slow warm creamy yellow melty soft pasta and butter heaviness. Mmm. That weighty dish with gravitas indeed is pretty darn satisfying, too. Especially in the winter. Pancakes, too. The heartiness of crisp, butter-fried pancakes with bursts of berries.