Posts
I was talking to my husband about things people used to eat, but you rarely hear of anymore.
We have become quite picky. Most of these "strange," abandoned items were protein sources. Once upon a time, it was not as plentiful. And sweets were rarer, too.
Do you remember foods that were once common but are now avoided?
Some things have simply "gone out of fashion," I believe.
I am thinking of:
Liverwurst
Pate [Circa 1960s chic]
Caviar [See above]
Tongue
Brains [I could use some, but no]
Kidneys
Pigs' Feet [Faints]
Aspic
Horehound candy
Candy Sticks
Candied Figs [I love them still but eating the lil' bit of stem is disturbing]
Dates [They look like candied roaches to me]
Souffles [I remember a whipping for letting the front door slam]
Mousses
Poached Eggs [Queasy just thinking of it]Milktoast
Pickled Eggs [floating eeriely in a giant jar of murky vinegar]
This gal, like me, watches her weight. Watches it go up, that is. Bet I'd lose weight on a diet of pigs' feet and candied dates.
Wow that's a doozie of a list. I can answer for caviar. . .there are like 2 sturgeon left in all of Russia - so no eggs. And the figs? I could never eat the figs after learning what pollinates them in my plant systematics class. There's a bunch wasp eggs hidden inside. Blech!
The rest of that bunch of food makes me squeamish. Except for the poached eggies. I love the poached eggies. Been having them a few days a week. My kids are on your side of the shell though. They won't touch them.
And what the heck is milktoast. I thought that was just a name you called somebody who was a wimp. Not that I am really the milktoast name calling kind of lady. . . er . . . person.
I don't eat many of these foods but like Julia what is milktoast....I'm kind of glad these foods aren't as poplar any more as my stomach gets pretty queasy reading the list and I didn't think there were any foods I didn't like.
........:-) Hugs
Quite a list there Holly and I'm gonna totally ignore that factoid from Julia about figs!! I love 'em and have been eating them all my life and don't expect that will ever change a bit! But, I also love liverwurst, good caviar and pate and a few other things on the list. And I can't believe you left off congealed salads. Seems they've too gone out of fashion along with the aspics.
HOLLY,
I PUKE AT THE TASTE OF HOREHOUND CANDY...I WOULD NEVER EAT ANY CANDY, IF THAT WAS ALL THAT WAS LEFT.I TASTED IT ONCE AND THAT WAS ALL I NEEDED FOR A LIFETIME. I HATE CAVIAR AND DATES.
I LOVE POACH EGGS...THEY ARE DELICIOUS. I LIKE TO PUT A POACH EGG ON TOP OF WHEAT TOAST.....YUMMY...I POACH MINE UNTIL IT IS SOFT BUT STILL SOME RUNNY. IT IS NO DIFFERENT THAN AN OVER EASY EGG BUT IT IS SHAPED LIKE A LITTLE CAKE.
I WOULD NEVER EAT BRAINS OR TONGUE....IT JUST MAKES ME GAG THINKING ABOUT IT.
VERY INTERESTING TOPIC TODAY.
I LOVE THE GRAPHIC.
LOVE AND HUGS
SIMPLY DEBBIE
Holly, how about headcheese, I can still see my Grandma making it, and me thinking about running away...lol. great topic. take care.
Well the candy sticks sound good! Never had brain, tongue or feet of anything, ewwwww!!!!!!
My grandmother use to "snack" on pickled pigs feet.. luckily I never saw her but it still gives me the willies just thinking about it.. ick.
Hi Holly, I grew up on a working farm and we ate all parts of the pig and cow. I don't know if I could now but back then, we thought nothing of it. I somehow have an uneasy feeling now. lol Smiles and keep cool, Sally
Oh my gosh! I had forgotten about a lot of these foods! Mymother used to talk about milk toast- ick!
I do love dates though! My great incle left behind a shopping list for the 1800's- horehound candy was one of the items on it- never have tasted it myself. Pickled pigs feet- no thanks!
Great graphic!!
Back in the day, when things were not readily available as now, you raised and ate all the parts. Milktoast..just sounds gross..The only other thing Ihave eaten is pickfeet, when prepared the Hungarian way, jellied pigs feet. I have eaten heacheese once or twice. Love the graphic for today....
EEEwwww! I'll have to pass on pretty much most of that list.
But yes, I would be able to lose weight on that diet which could be a good thing.
I've been quiet for a long time but just have to jump in and defend some of my favorite foods.
Liverwurst--good on a sandwich with slices of sweet pickles--not for those on a low cholesterol diet
Caviar--okay but way too salty
Tongue--cooked properly and sliced very thin makes good sandwiches with German mustard (good when I was a kid but grosses me out now!)
Brains [I could use some, but no]--ditto
Pigs' Feet--not bad pickled-my dad's favorite treat
Aspic--better than jello
Horehound candy--I actually have some in my kitchen right now--good stuff
Candy Sticks--pure sugar delight
Candied Figs (Holly, don't eat the stems!)I am on day three of making spiced figs and canning them. Already put up several jars of fig preserves.
Dates--stuff with pecans and roll in sugar--yummy
Mousses--Didn't know that these were on the passe list.
Poached Eggs--what's wrong with these?
Milktoast--this was cereal before all of the boxed cereal came into being. Simply butter toast, add cinnamon, put in bowl and add hot milk that has sugar and raisins added. Eat fast before the toast gets soggy!
I think you don't hear of some of these foods anymore because they take time to prepare.
Thanks, Holly
Hmmm! Sounds like all the stuff my Grandparents used to eat. Grandma always had a jar of pickled pigs feet in the fridge. Grandpa ate poached eggs on milktoast quite often ~ I think he called it Graveyard stew! The figs I knew about from my Biologist daughter, but I never eat them anyway! I have tons of horehound growing around here so I want to try to make horehound candy! Never tasted it, but if it has enough sugar I can probably eat it! ;~P
And for the brains and tongue ~ I don't think those things were meant to be eaten!
I love the graphic ~ wish I had her shape and the outfit!
Milktoast -- toast pulled into pieces and milk poured over it -- for convalenscents.
I forgot BUTTERMILK -- my parents would drink it up, often crumbling cornbread in it.
Julia, go to the corner. That lil' fact about the figs was HORRIFYING.
Sorry to insult the noble Poached Egg. I must have gotten a bad one.
Cinner, how could I forget headcheese? UGH!
Mary, yes, those congealed salads -- don't barf -- but I remember some with MEAT INSIDE.
Those who grew up "on the land" like Sally and Faith were saying, had many of the items. So did my relatives, including fried squirrel and bunny. In his memoirs my dad was musing that his children would faint if they saw him crack open a squirrel's head at the dinner table -- TIMES CHANGE! lol
Oh my Lady Farmer, I'm going to serve Graveyard Stew at Halloween!!!
My goodness what a list.
But goat 's kidneys and liver and brains and trotters are a speciality here in India....even cow' s.
People eat strange things here, like fish eggs (not the caviar kind), intestines of animals ugh, I hate it. There is a rat eating nomadic tribe in Bihar. And in the NE people eat dogs and snakes and God knows what else.You won 't find a single stray dog there.I want to send Naughty there.
Dates are very popular in India. The muslims eat loads of them during the Ramadan Fast.
Holly, do you love to watch those couple of shows on travel channel where they go all over the world and eat brains, innards and bugs? Yikes.
We used to pickle the tongue in a sweet vinegar and onion brine for a week or so the slice it very thinly and eat it. I haven't had any for close to twelve years and have no intentions of making it ever again.
My mother in laws version of milk toast was so much worse. In the summer when it was considered too hot to cook she would cube several loaves of day old bread pour cold milk over it and add several cups full of what ever fruit was in season. Set it on the table and unless you ate it you had to go hungry. Beyond gross! As a young bride it was one of the most disturbing meals I was ever served. ( And get this, she still serves it every evening during the summer.) My husband still likes it but thankfully he seems to enjoy my cooking even more and cold soup never makes it to our table.
I never did learn to like horehound candy. And some of the rest of your list has me gagging. You brought back loads of memories for me. Thanks.
OH MY some of you gals are so adventurous! And some have lived through HORRIBLE MEALS!!!
The milktoast dinner -- WAH!
And I'll "hold my tongue" about the tongue!!!
I was served cold pumpkin soup once at a dinner -- and gazpacho, too -- I don't know how I ate it but I kept thinking "manners come first." I just about passed out when second servings were pressed on me...
Ha ha I'll take this chance to say I HATE CLAMS and they ought to be outlawed, the nasty lil' bivalves!!!
But Sarash's spicy figs -- hmm, even hearing they have baby wasps in the figs (YEAH THANKS AGAIN JULIA) doesn't keep me from being interested in these figgies...didn't know I wasn't supposed to eat the stems...lol...
I didn't know that about figs..had to do a bit of hunting but found out only 2 species need the wasp pollination...relieved my mind, don't ya know..our fig tree is a Brown Turkey and needs no pollination as it self pollinates...only the Smyna and San Pedro need wasps....
and we love ours...so yummy...
I like dates too, date bars, date bread and of course, date shakes....
My dad ate pickled pigs feet and I tried it...it was actually rather good...but don't think I'd buy any now....he also ate smoked oysters and sardines.....usually with beer and crackers......
Horehound candy is very good for a sore throat...
I've never had a souffle....
My mom would pickle eggs, using the liquid from pickled beets..they are actually rather pretty and tasty..
my hubby fixes me something like milk toast after having the flu or a stomach upset...a piece of toast, with a poached egg on top..covered with hot milk...not my favorite, looks gross but it does stay down......
THANK YOU DANI for finding my beloved Brown Turkey figs do not have the wasp eggs in them!!! Julia, like many botanists, is fond of terrorizing people with horrible facts!!!
I have seen wasps seemingly getting drunk on the older figs that are rotting...
My son LOVES sardines...
OK, in 1955 I married a boy with Southern Roots. HE was born in AZ, but his family was deep south. Thus began an incredible awakening to foods of the south; and, not my midwestern parents foods.
My dear MIL made candy: Date nut roll My mom took dates, split them, stuck in an English or Black Walnut, and rolled them in sugar.
I loved both ladies way with dates.
Horehounds were given to sooth sore throats and Dad and I had a 'taste' for them, you can still buy them from the Vermont Country Store (along with the original Horlick tablets) I never had pigs feet nor some of the other fare; but, DH worked as a butcher for a few years and he brought home cow's tongue (I chased the girls around the room threatening to 'lick' them LOL). However, much to my surprise, cooked ~ it was quite tasty. And I also like chocolate Mousse if it is nice and creamy and not grainy. I use to eat figs from the fig tree and didn't care what "kind" they were…just didn't like the outsides much as a 3 year old. AND, I still like liverwurst on crackers with a good German beer or Negro Modelo.
LOL
A lot of us respond to food stuffs…hugs, bj
Oh, you have dissed some of my favorite foods!
I really like pickled pork hocks (they have more meat than pigs feet) and liver wurst. I've never had brains or kidneys and I can see no reason to eat them--but liver, yum!
When the hubs and I were dating, he took me to his great-aunt's house, where she served a lunch of salmon in aspic. She also had tongue sandwiches. I ate a bit of the salmon but could NOT eat the tongue for fear of hurling. We laugh about it now but I was horrified then. My grandmother makes a congealed salad with vegetables in it all held together with lime jello in a mold.
This is a rather interesting post, Holly! You couldn't pay me to eat oysters or headcheese! Pigsfeet, are you serious? Surely you're joking! But I love dates and figs. I use them all the time to make pudding for Christmas. My mother used to give me milktoast when I had the flu only she sprinkled sugar on it too. I'm getting squeamish just thinking about tongue, kidneys, and brains! I'll keep my own thank you, and leave everything else's alone!
Mousse and souffle are wonderful but I've never had horehound candy. What is it anyway? Very entertaining post, m' dear.
Blessings,
Sandi
Holly! Lucas just got his funny rubber bands, he loved it, thank you so much, sweetie, you SPOIL this kid! lol
I'm preparing something for you that should be made centuries ago, you do deserve being well spoiled back. Love ya!
Kisses from us.
I've only had a few things on that list, and I'm probably the oldest guy here. I still have the occasional poached egg -- very occasional. The one time I had heart, I wasn't told until after the meal, but I don't think it would have bothered me if I had been told up front.
yeah, growing up in Germany after the war, I ate all that stuff and some of it, still do...the stems on the figs are the least disturbing thing...read about the fig wasp and see if you can enjoy it as much as before. But, you'll be happy to know that when a female wasp dies inside an edible fig, an enzyme in the fig
called ficin breaks down her carcass into protein. The fig basically digests the dead insect, making it a part of the resulting ripened fruit. The crunchy bits in figs are seeds, not anatomical parts of a wasp.
Oh, by the way, it's fig season here in Georgia and I must say, they are delishious and sweet as honey!
Having been raised in Germany after the war makes me familiar with just about everything on that list, including brains. My mom loved calf brain with scrambled eggs - I was never a big fan. It's very, very rich, plus you must wash it really well to get all the gray matter out from between the squiggly vessels (or whatever it is) I never cooked it - never wanted to! I did prepare beef tongue and that was a drama...After I boiled the thing I read in my Betty Crocker Cookbook (yes, I cooked it in the US for the first time) that you have to peel the tongue - boy that was gruesome!
I would not worry about the stems of the figs, m'lady, but rather be concerned about the fig wasps. But, you'll be glad to know that
when a female wasp dies inside an edible fig, an enzyme in the fig
called ficin breaks down her carcass into protein. The fig basically digests the dead insect, making it a part of the resulting ripened fruit. The crunchy bits in figs are seeds, not anatomical parts of a wasp.