Certain dishes stand the test of time and remain etched in everyone’s minds and palates. Even when you haven’t eaten them for quite a while, the flavors instantly transport you back to a golden era of your life.
This was a Reddit discussion a couple of months ago, where people shared delicacies they sorely miss. Some were popular decades ago but seemingly faded, yet they never fail to bring the same comfort, even through mere memory.
We’ve collected some of the top responses from the thread. Feel free to share your favorites in the comment boxes below!
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Fondue. I only had it a couple of times, but I could really go for a fondue party!
As an old person, I say bread. People buy it, but rarely make it. Which is a pity, because fresh bread is god d**n delicious.
I can't make bread at home. As soon as it's cool enough (but still warm) I slather it with butter and eat it and end up eating the whole loaf within 24 hours.
It’s a time-consuming process, even with a bread machine, and with all adults in a household having to work just to get by, and not enough hours in a day, there’s simply no one with the time to do it. Back in the day, when a family could live on one adult’s salary, at least one of the other adults in the household could stay home, so would have the time for cooking from scratch.
I'm 15, and I stay home all day. I love cooking in my spare time. It's a nice way I can help out around the house.
Load More Replies...I discovered how much I love baking bread last year. Its a fun hobby and I love gifting fresh bread to friends and family that appreciate it
Due to Covid where I live we're now all 'expert bakers' but I have to admit Banana Bread tops most peoples list
The loaves in the pic look like they were done in a Dutch oven which is a fairly easy method.
I've recently started making bread since finding out small batch recipes are a thing.
With fresh baked french bread available for $1 at the store it's just not worth it.
That large loaf in supermarket for $1 ( walmart) is NOT french bread. Maybe italian but even that is a stretch.
Load More Replies...my friends mom is a professional cook. she sends her to school everyday with sandwiches made with bread she made herself.
I make bread, not regularly but I make it, and not in a bread maker either, the good old fashioned way, by hand!
I know several people who make it at home...I did also during the pandemic.
I'm 41, but i bought a stand mixer during the pandemic and have been baking bread 2-4 times a week for the past 4 years. A kilo bag of flour is equivalent to around 50 or 60 cents US, so each bag gets about 4 loaves out of it. Lots of english muffins (crumpets), biscuits, brioche and pizza dough. Hell, since they don't exist over here i've taken to making my own copy cat totino's pizza rolls. Buying a stand-mixer is really the biggest hurdle to making bread at home. Yes, you can make bread without a stand mixer, but you're either working ten times as hard, or ending up with a subpar result because you didn't
I recently bought a thrifted bread machine and have been experimenting with different recipes almost every weekend since. I've found that it turns out much better if I just make the dough in the machine then bake it in the oven. I made a copycat Cheesecake Factory Brown Bread and an excellent cheese bread recently.
I don't have a talent for bread making, mine is heavy and overly dense every time. I'm convinced some people have a "feel" for bread making and I'm not one of them.
Baked Alaska! It's a giant cake with ice cream baked in it. I heard about it a lot in the 70's, but never actually had it until about 10-15 years ago. Very impressive presentation and super tasty!
Stuffed peppers.
My mom made this. I really like it and still have it in our dinner rotations
Angel food cake. That was my birthday wish when I was a kid. Loved it with fresh whipped cream and either bananas or strawberries. Store bought just doesn’t bring back the memories of mom’s homemade.
Not a popular choice at restaurants and cared either. I'm a bit tired of tiramisu or creme brulee, bring me a slice of angel food
Grasshopper Pie with Creme de Menthe and Creme de Cocoa...Very '70's.
that generation could put alcohol in / base any food on a cocktail 😂 it’s a cool era of food
Rarely hear about corn beef hash. And I love it. Especially with an egg on top.
I have a recipe where you take that add some flour and make patties. Served with sawmill gravy and sliced tomato.
Sloppy Joes with Manwich sauce were a weekly staple, haven’t disappeared completely but they’re way down.
From scratch Sloppy Joe's are miles apart from the manwich canned stuff. And very popular at potluck if you bring your crackpot to keep it hot From scratch its: red onion, chopped (must be a red onion), garlic, pepper, salt, vinegar, Worchestershire sauce, can of tomato sauce, ground beef. Serve hot on plain hamburger buns. Serve with extra napkins
My mom used to make brown bread with molasses. It was so good with real butter.
Beans and wienies. Campbell’s pork and beans and cut up hot dogs.
Waldorf Salad. I love it. Nobody else eats it.
Tuna noodle casserole with canned soup.
Was raised in a Catholic household back in the day when you didn't eat meat on Fridays, this was a staple dinner then.
Tapioca.
I used to eat the tapioca pudding at my grandparents house. All the other cousins would be sharing chocolate or what not and you got me over here head over heels getting to eat as much as I wanted because no one else wanted it XD
Chicken à la king.
This is confusing to my eyes, cos my dad made al a king for me alot as a kid and he’s a French chef and it’s not this. What is this 😂
Custard pie. I loved it when I was a kid and make it for myself now and then.
Still very common in British high street bakeries. Didn't know until just now that it's also a southern US thing, one of those rare occasions that it would appear to be almost the same on both sides of the pond. UK ones are often made in individual portions, as well as the flan sized ones.
I make Salisbury steak a lot.
Very easy low carb food...
Havent had a sloppy joe since the 90s.
Liver and oinios.
Guilty pleasure of mine. Pro-tip: filet the liver and let them soak in milk overnight in the fridge. This way the liver will lose that tangy, iron-like flavor and taste almost like a steak.
Salmon croquettes.
Veal parmesan, which was my favorite food growing up. Now, it's a very rare restaurant that serves it, and none of my local grocery stores carry the veal patties we used to get to make it at how.
Watergate salad.
My mother made oxtail soup two or three times in the winter , now I have to go to the local Jamaican place. It’s no longer a cheap product and my wife won’t eat it. She also cooked beef tongue in a pot of salted water then sliced it for sandwiches. I have to go to Mexican restaurants that serve lengua tacaquitos, which is actually a good thing.
S**t on a shingle. Used to have it weekly as a kid.
Wrong picture BP. That's just brown sausage gravy on toast. Different dish entirely.
Watermelon rind pickles.
Turkey tetrazzini. Was that a thing anywhere but school cafeterias?
ETA: TIL turkey tetrazzini lives!
Egg Creams.
40 years ago my Grandmother would make a hard licorice candy. We would break it like glass and it could cut you just as easily.
Whatever happened to chateau briand on the menu? As a teen, that was my go-to when the family ate out at something more upscale than the cafeteria/steakhouses.
D**n those were good!
Are parsnips on the menu anywhere either? Haven't seen/had some in ages.
I love honey glazed roast parsnips. I do them every time I make a Sunday Roast.
Lobster Newburg.
Tuna noodle casserole. Not my favorite. I do miss chicken a la king. You can still get it in Amish country, under different names. I also never see chicken cacciatore.
Mincemeat pie! A fall and winter favorite of mine. It's not at all meaty, mostly just dried fruits, and SO delicious.
Pork chops and sauerkraut, with chocolate cake.
Mock apple pie.
"Hey, you call that a crust? My grandpa's underwèar looks more appetizing! And how hung over was the baker that did your lattice work? Hah, you sùck!"
Welsh rarebit.
Haven't had this for years. I can't remember if it's a kind of cheese sauce on toast, or something else. We called it rabbit but there's no rabbit in it
Lime jello with pears suspended in it. (or was that a weird thing only my family did?).
Chili mac. So good.
Indian pudding, London Broil , bread pudding. Double Dutch potato. Carrot casserole.
Indian Pudding is cornmeal, milk, molasses and cinnamon baked into a warm custardy dish. YUM! Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream.
Scrapple, perfection salad, oatmeal pie, tamale pie, scalloped oysters, Watergate salad, checkerboard sandwiches, Sunbonnet Baby salad, candle salad, Welsh rarebit, English muffin pizza, just about any low calorie recipe using saccharine, just about any recipe involving canned bean sprouts.
American chop suey.
I wonder how this differs from Australian chop suey/chow mien, if at all. It was very common when I was a kid because it's so cheap to make.
Tripe isnt very popular now.
Yes it is. It's very common in Mexican restaurants and alot of taco stands too. Served mostly in a soup, but I've seen it as a meat option for tacos
Hardtack with fresh honey.
Don't hear of many people eating brains these days.
Rumaki, frog legs, oysters Rockefeller, chicken cordon Bleu, Salisbury steak.
What’s grosser than gross? Cow tongue.
My grandma used to make it. We raised cattle. When a cow went to the butcher, nothing was wasted.
Delicious as lunch meat. I've seen many Mexican restaurants offer tongue as a meat option
I wish they explained what half of these things were as I have never heard of half of them.
I know, I'm going to have to spend some time googling
Load More Replies...Prawn cocktail and then Steak Diane. I know that they are still available but they are rather looked upon as passe nowadays. My family had restaurants through the 60's, 70's and 80' and my uncle would flambe the sauce in front of the customers for a variety of steaks. Probably a banana split or profiteroles for sweet. God I'm old!
I live in the southern US and a lot of these foods are pretty common.
Half of this stuff can be found in other BP lists like “Disgusting Vintage Recipes“.
Wow! I have old-fashioned tastes, I guess. I really enjoyed reading this!
Entire comment section: 1. I still make that! 2. Obligatory “America is bad” comments. 3. Fight over origins of dish, even though everyone already said it’s disgusting American food.
Veal and Oxtail are the only things on the list I haven't had. Granted, I work in Senior Living. *We called Watergate Salad Lime Jello Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Suprise. There's even a song about it!
Pulled Pork Sandwich, There used to be great place to get them where I live but now its gone.
Come to the South in the U.S., there's a barbeque joint on every corner!
Load More Replies...For more and even dicier concoctions check out James Lileks' Gallery of Regrettable Food: https://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/
Growing up in the US, most of these were 'fads' pushed by nascent food magazines and their employers (food manufactures). About 2/3 of the items made me smile, 1/3 still give me the shudders.
Having moved to France nearly a quarter of a century ago, the things I miss: Baked jacket potatoes, any cake based upon a Victoria Sponge (French cakes are far too heavy, the quatre-quarts could be used for building), flapjacks, chicken in white sauce in a tin, apple pies (like the Kipling sort; the French make open top tartes with a lattice and use unpeeled apples 🤮), and creme eggs (but I hear they've been ruined so...). Thankfully one can now buy cheddar (proper cheddar, not that orange muck) and Amazon ensures that I have plenty of real tea (in bags of 1,100!).
Way too many USA only posts. There's more than just the USA. Just that comment about that Hungary is not in the USA. Are you people in the USA that shortsighted?
I wish they explained what half of these things were as I have never heard of half of them.
I know, I'm going to have to spend some time googling
Load More Replies...Prawn cocktail and then Steak Diane. I know that they are still available but they are rather looked upon as passe nowadays. My family had restaurants through the 60's, 70's and 80' and my uncle would flambe the sauce in front of the customers for a variety of steaks. Probably a banana split or profiteroles for sweet. God I'm old!
I live in the southern US and a lot of these foods are pretty common.
Half of this stuff can be found in other BP lists like “Disgusting Vintage Recipes“.
Wow! I have old-fashioned tastes, I guess. I really enjoyed reading this!
Entire comment section: 1. I still make that! 2. Obligatory “America is bad” comments. 3. Fight over origins of dish, even though everyone already said it’s disgusting American food.
Veal and Oxtail are the only things on the list I haven't had. Granted, I work in Senior Living. *We called Watergate Salad Lime Jello Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Suprise. There's even a song about it!
Pulled Pork Sandwich, There used to be great place to get them where I live but now its gone.
Come to the South in the U.S., there's a barbeque joint on every corner!
Load More Replies...For more and even dicier concoctions check out James Lileks' Gallery of Regrettable Food: https://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/
Growing up in the US, most of these were 'fads' pushed by nascent food magazines and their employers (food manufactures). About 2/3 of the items made me smile, 1/3 still give me the shudders.
Having moved to France nearly a quarter of a century ago, the things I miss: Baked jacket potatoes, any cake based upon a Victoria Sponge (French cakes are far too heavy, the quatre-quarts could be used for building), flapjacks, chicken in white sauce in a tin, apple pies (like the Kipling sort; the French make open top tartes with a lattice and use unpeeled apples 🤮), and creme eggs (but I hear they've been ruined so...). Thankfully one can now buy cheddar (proper cheddar, not that orange muck) and Amazon ensures that I have plenty of real tea (in bags of 1,100!).
Way too many USA only posts. There's more than just the USA. Just that comment about that Hungary is not in the USA. Are you people in the USA that shortsighted?
