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What a wonderfully amusing thread. Thanks especially to PamNY for starting it and Eden for 'The Gallery of Regrettable Foods'!
Edit: On Spam, just be grateful you didn't have an aunt who made a curry with it and processed canned peas, then served it up with rice. I'm from Southeast Asia originally where we got a lot of processed Western food which was often given a local twist - a bit like the sushi mentioned earlier. That was a long time ago though. I still steer well clear of Spam. And processed cheese in blue boxes.
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I grew up in the 50s and 60s and rarely ate any of that awful looking stuff! I never had a jello mold until I was in college and ex MIL made one. Never even heard of Spam until same ex-MIL had it in her kitchen. I think this was a regional and cultural difference. This woman also had a can of lard on the kitchen counter, which made me gag when I looked inside.
We ate lots of broiled chicken, steak, pork, baked potatoes, pasta, a lot of fruit, and salads. Sandwiches for lunch. Sure, maybe the pastrami wasn't so good for you, but at least it was real food. My mom was a really good cook and really explored ethnic foods as she got older, after I left home. Both my brother and I love to cook.
I do get amused at the breakfasts I had sometimes. Sugared cereal with a danish :eek:. But we also had french toast, oatmeal, and pancakes.
I do remember having Twinkies and Devil Dogs, cupcakes in the house all of the time. Never drank soda with meals, just as a treat for Saturday deli sandwiches or lunch.
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Aspic is gelatin made from meat, fish... The connective tissue. Sounds awful but its not. It's the stuff that makes soup stock as well. If you slowly cook/simmer real stock it will get thick. Then when you chill it, the stock will gelatinize (is this a word?) and you have aspic of sort.
Typical English dish with Aspic would be Eel in Aspic. Also found in Germanic/Nordic countries.
Sounds awful but not as bad as Lutefisk. Of course you would have to drink Akuavit, then anything tastes good. :p
I actually love reading some of the recipe from back then. It's interesting how our taste has changed. It used to be flank steak was for poor people and who would have ever thought of eating skirt steak. And today WHAT??!!! YOU PAID HOW MUCH FOR A FLANK STEAK??!!!
Today, some foodie wants skirt steak/butcher steak/hanger steak. Years ago, people would turn their nose. It's a very tough cut of meat.
OH we can't forget about salisbury steak seasoned heavily to clog your artery. Did it come before SPAM??
But somethings are still good deviled egg for one. Another dish that seems to make a bit of a come back but I just can't wrap my head around is string bean casserole topped with crisped onion.
