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40 Foods That Used To Be Luxuries But Are Now Found In Every Grocery Store
Interview With Expert
If you’re craving a lavender-flavored oat ice cream, you can probably grab one at the store without a second thought. These days, it feels like the most unique and unexpected food combos are just a shopping trip away. But not too long ago, things like avocado or tofu were considered luxuries, hard to find and even harder to afford. Thanks to globalization, modern farming, and the magic of food trade, a lot of what used to be “exotic” is now just another item on the grocery list. Foods that were once rare and reserved for the elite are now part of everyday meals. Today, we’ve rounded up some of the most surprising ones. Keep reading to see which foods went from impossible to find to totally normal!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
1976 I had hummus and falafel for the first time… had this Syrian guy teach me to make hummus. My yankee parents were so skeptical… it became a staple and I ate falafel every chance I got.
Colleen Glim 8 months ago
I love hummus! The more garlic and lemon, the better. And some days I’d rather have falafel than a burger
David 8 months ago
Invented 1000 years ago by Copts in Egypt for lent, and now a staple in every Middle East country from Morocco to Yemen, each with their own twist on it, so you can experience different seasonings or if its chickpea or fava bean, and then what flat bread is used, what condiments, etc.
Weasel Wise 8 months ago
I never had hummus until my early 20's. Now, hummus is a staple on every sandwich I make and helps me enjoy munching veggies even more than I did before.
Billo66 8 months ago
Haven't seen Falafel but I like it in a pita with black olives and feta. delicious. Or even wrap same in a tortilla. Wow. I'm going for a Gyro today and all that. Thanks!
Billo66 8 months ago
I'm puttin my shoes on and it's 4am. Better slow my roll a little. Got me hungry lol.
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#2
Avocados. I grew up in Michigan and we didn’t have a lot of extra money. My mother used to buy me an avocado every year for Christmas.
I miss her.
Colleen Glim 8 months ago
I love avocados. Avocado toast with scrambled egg and hot sauce is amazing! And I already own my house. So I can eat all the avocado toast I like
Phoenix 8 months ago
Good on you for prioritizing a house before avocado toast! /j
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Raymond Core 8 months ago
Too bad the Mexican d**g cartels have taken over the avocodo industry south of the border. Every step from farm to exporter is cartel owned/controlled.
Abdullah Abd Rahman 8 months ago
Life goes on but you'll miss ,every now and then ,the person or pet you love and has passed away.That's love.
R1MV4Superleggera 8 months ago
I LOVE avocados! Guacamole, on my burger even when I'm making tacos, a tiny, fine slice of that delicious fruit enhance the flavor in sooo many delicious dishes, so, from London, England...Gracias Mexico, for one of your delicious and healthiest contributions to society
Wang Zhuang 8 months ago
I'm one of the few weirdos in the world who can't stand avocado. The texture combined with the taste just doesn't work for me
Julia Strathers 8 months ago
I'm a weirdo too then because I don't like them either lol 😆
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Anna Drever 8 months ago
We don’t have the room to grow an avocado, at least not without taking another tree out, but we’re very lucky in that we have veggie stands down the road and can buy them cheaply.
Weasel Wise 8 months ago
Avocados were never something in my childhood home. You guessed it! Those were for rich people. Even today, I still feel privileged whenever I buy them.
XenoMurph 8 months ago
That's inflation of about 25%, you might be able to afford that, but others will be devastated by it, because it's not just avocados
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Vienetta ice cream
ETA: location is UK.
Alice Landers 8 months ago
Years ago in US you could get Absolutely delish ! Haven't seen here in years
Beth H 8 months ago
I have purchased it in the last two years. It’s just hard to find - I came across a freezer full at a Grocery Outlet and bought it all. 😹
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RobotMonkey God 8 months ago
elsewhere in the UK.....growing up in a large family meant that this type of desert was 'off the menu'. dismayed by these draconian measures i decided to buy one myself using my paper round wages. of course this would be considered an act of pure defiance so i was faced with the task of eating the whole thing- hiding it in the freezer was not an option. the phrase 'biting off more than you can chew springs to mind' half way through it i realised i couldn't eat it all.....i tore up the box- 'melted' the rest of it down the bathroom sink using hot water and went back to bed feeling very unwell....
Kira Okah 8 months ago
It was presented as fancy, and was priced higher than other ice creams, so luxury is correct. I feel that the difference in view comes more with age than anything else; I'm still poor, but I don't see it as something that you'd only see once a year at only christmas any more. Petition for the release of Viennetta on a stick in the UK!
Natalia the espeon 8 months ago
That does make sense cuz ice cream was craved a lot back then and it is very delish.
Weasel Wise 8 months ago
This was for rich people (or so my impoverished child brain thought when I was growing up). I had it once at a friend's house and couldn't understand the hype.
Elizabeth Anderson 8 months ago
Hey I still remember those TV commercials from 30 years ago in the US. It was fancy as heck. But I do not think it is sold here anymore.
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Ace 8 months ago
It was not restricted to the UK. But yes, advertising back from the 1970s onward positioned it as a special luxury thing, Bit like Ferrero Rocher later,
Huddo's sister 8 months ago
Not sure why you were downvoted. We used to eat it on special occasions in Australia. It is still around but I have never bought it myself.
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Magenta Blu 8 months ago
I really can't understand why people like ice cream. I find the stuff absolutely disgusting... Sweet and cold. The things I hate most
Kale chips, truffle seasoning, sriracha popcorn—just a few of the quirky snacks you can casually grab at the store today. Nothing feels “rare” anymore; in fact, we’ve gotten so used to variety that we hardly notice it. But imagine a time when just finding yogurt at a supermarket felt like a luxury. No fancy flavors, no dairy-free options, just plain yogurt, if you were lucky.
Before globalization, certain foods were strictly local. If you wanted something from another country, you either had to travel there or have a well-connected aunt who could sneak it in her suitcase. Take avocados, for example—now they’re practically a personality trait for brunch lovers, but there was a time when getting one outside of its native region was like winning the food lottery. Today, they’re everywhere, from sandwiches to smoothies, making us forget that they were once a rare find.
#4
Pineapple. We would get one fresh pineapple a year, in a christmas gift fruit basket from a more well-to-do relative. You could get canned pineapple, but the fruit itself seemed like from an alien world and was more expensive, if not impossible, to get parts of the year.
Panda Kicki 8 months ago
I went totally overboard when I went to asia and pineapple suddenly was everywhere in neatly cut pieces for a few cents. As pineapples eats you while you eat them (enzymes dissolving.your tissues ) I had plenty of blisters in my mouth and had to go for mango and watermelon instead
Cooking Panda 8 months ago
Rub them with salt after peeling & cutting, let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse. That would minimize the sting
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Lee Gilliland 8 months ago
I HATED HATED HATED pineapple until I tried fresh. The canned stuff is cooked, which destroys some of the enzymes bitter
Wang Zhuang 8 months ago
Pineapple is my favorite fruit, I'm fine with it eating me as I eat it.
#5
When I was little we got oranges in our stocking. When I was a teenager we got pomegranates, very fancy for us at the time.
Weasel Wise 8 months ago
Pomegranate, another fruit only the rich could enjoy (my thought as a child growing up poor).
#6
General Foods International Coffees in the rectangular tins, like Orange Cappuccino or Swiss Mocha. If you had those in your house, you were high end.
Oh, and I thought Grey Poupon dijon mustard was for rich people in Bentleys.
Colleen Glim 8 months ago
There are so many amazing mustard options out there. Forget the nasty yellow stuff. Go experiment!
Sky Render 8 months ago
God I love Grey Poupon. I recently got a jar that was accidentally mixed at double strength. It is GLORIOUS.
Zaach 8 months ago
There is a mustard museum in Milwaukee; my ex's sister lived there and she would send us different varieties and some of the hottest sauces that I never tried (I am not a masochist - she took one to work for a coworker - he put a drop on his tongue and fell to his knees, absolutely loved it)
nottheactualphoto 8 months ago
Growing up, we had Grey Poupon in the house because my dad was a francophile. This was long before the "pardon me..." commercials appeared. Nowadays my favorite Dijon is Bornier.
Gingersnap In Iowa 8 months ago
My Mom drank orange cappuccino for breakfast every day. Her local grocery store stopped selling it so I'd buy it for her.
Wang Zhuang 8 months ago
That's because the commercials used to make you think it was for the rich. "Pardon me, but do you have any Grey Poupon?"
To get some insight into how food availability has changed, we spoke with Parth Kothari, one of the minds behind the popular Instagram page Munchymumbai. With over 165,000 followers, his page showcases intriguing food combinations, must-try dishes, and global flavors that have become a part of daily life. Given his experience exploring food trends, we had to ask—how did we go from craving imported snacks to having everything at our fingertips?
#7
Cashews. They used to be really expensive, I remember my grandmother bought a pound every year for Christmas from Fannie May, paid something like $20 around 1970(?). That was when the nuts were hand stripped from the fruits in India before automation.
Colleen Glim 8 months ago
Cashews are still hella expensive. But I will still buy them as an occasional treat because salted cashews are food of the gods
bruce wayne's girlfriend 8 months ago
Although very pricey, you should try macadamia nuts. Genuinely one of the best stuff I have everrr eaten
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Mason Kronol 8 months ago
They are still expenive. Dollar wise and health for some of us. Delicicous but bad for people with even just mild diverticulitis. Our families didnt realize this holiday treat was the reason a couple of us were sick after the holidays. not over eating, not suger, we had/have diverticulitis. We manage it better with diet and moderation. I love tomatoes.
Huddo's sister 8 months ago
We only got them at Christmas, and my dad still does that. They are still one of the more expensive nuts.
PFD 8 months ago
Apparently most cashews are still processed by hand as the machines are expensive, slower than skilled workers and can damage the nut, leading to loss of product. Since learning about how harmful the hand processing is without proper safety precautions (and knowing what that tends to mean), I mostly avoid them. Maybe the situation is better than I've been led to believe but I don't need cashews badly enough to do serious investigation.
#8
Sushi. I remember watching The Breakfast Club and how all the other kids reacted to Claire having sushi, and I agreed. Sounded weird and disgusting. Fast forward 40 years and sushi is my absolute favorite/if I had to eat only one thing for the rest of my life food! I live in the USA.
R1MV4Superleggera 8 months ago
My little brother and I we LOVE sushi! Probably you won't see us eating other thing when we travel to the land of the rising sun...Japan! Meanwhile my Wife and my brother Wife keep asking us, while sipping some sake, where on God's green earth we pack all the sushi and definitely the locals enjoy the show, watching 2 very tall blokes eating sushi like there's no tomorrow 😅
klove62 8 months ago
I love sushi, but not the Americanized versions. I like to appreciate each fish or ingredient for what it is. Only at a true sushi-ya will they know exactly what to do.
Data1001 8 months ago
I love sushi, as well, but be careful about having it every day. There have been cases of people getting mercury poisoning from having it all the time. The amount of mercury is usually so minimal that sushi every so often isn't an issue, but -- like many foods -- having too much of it can be problematic.
#9
Authentic Thai food, no restaurants in the 50s and early 60s either in Nashville or Atlanta where we lived.
Came back North after College, all over the area...Love Thai food.
Manuel Delgado 8 months ago
Some 40 years ago I read about thai food for the 1st time, and sounded great. I couldn't find any Thai restaurant in the yellow pages. So I called the Thai embassy and asked them where did they eat, and I found a rare gem.
David 8 months ago
Manuel, That's a good idea. There are no embassies near me but if there were, that would be a good way to find out.
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Geoffrey Scott 8 months ago
Daughter asked if we could stop to eat Chinese as her mom always told the kids "you won't like it" growing up. We went through the buffet and she got chicken nuggets(without sweet/sour sauce), an egg roll and a piece of fish. Ate the nuggets, and took a bite of fish "this chicken is terrible!" "no honey that's fish"..took a bite of the egg roll.."this is the worst burrito I ever had!". Same daughter, when we went to Ft Benning for a visit, took me to a sushi place.
David 8 months ago
In the 70s it was really rare to find an "ethnic" restaurant other than Mexican and some Chinese. And both of those were often somewhat "Americanized". During the 80s I was in the navy and got to experience many "foreign" foods first hand in the countries they came from. Thailand, China, PI, Japan, France, Turkey etc. I found a lot of foods I liked and I was glad to see in later years how common these sorts of restaurants became back in the US. Probably due to more immigrants / diversity in the US. The local "big" city is at best mid sized. Nothing like a Seattle or Denver in size. But even so, I have my choice of many types of food. Chinese, Mexican, El Salvador, Thai, Greek, Vietnamese, Guatamala and more that I am forgetting.
Brian Droste 8 months ago
One time I went to a Thai food restaurant. Tore my stomach up. I will usually give a restaurant 2 or 3 chances. This time I won't.
Manuel Delgado 8 months ago
It must have been reeally bad, or you are very picky.
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Parth starts off by saying, these days, you can think of literally any ingredient, and chances are, it’s already stocked in a store near you. Whether it’s cheese from Switzerland or pasta from Italy, we can get it all.
“There was a time when finding even simple imported ingredients meant waiting for a relative to bring them back from abroad. Now? You can have them delivered to your doorstep in 15 minutes while sitting in your pajamas.”
#10
My grandad would say ‘oranges’ - he was gifted one every Christmas when he was a child :).
Damned_Cat 8 months ago
My mom would put an orange in my Christmas stocking and I would be like "Why is this in here?" because we had a whole bowl full of them. But she explained that it was a tradition and where she came from in 1930's Germany, an orange was like receiving a gift of gold that kids looked forward to every year. I don't use them for Christmas stockings, but I do have to have a bowl of oranges during the holidays.
CaliPanda 8 months ago
Same here, though it’s my husband (in our early years together) that would put an orange in my stocking. It wasn’t a custom in my family as we always had access to oranges, so I didn’t get it. Now he gives me Reese’s candy instead. WIN!
Load More Replies... Lee451 Henderson 8 months ago
My mother (born 1933) discusses getting citrus in their Xmas stockings
Scarlett O'Hara's Ghost 8 months ago
Most of our grandparents and great grandparents got oranges for Christmas. Citrus was hard to find in the dead of winter and people desperately needed vitamin c so an orange was both a treat and a blessing
Heffalump 8 months ago
I got a tangerine in the toe of my Christmas stocking (left by Santa at the foot of the bed while he imagined I was asleep). It may have been a holdover from times when money was tight, but personally I suspect that it was to give us something to eat when we woke early so my parents could get up at a sane hour.
Reddus Heddus 8 months ago (edited)
I was born in 1961, so an orange, a few walnuts, and a King Leo peppermint stick at Christmas was a huge treat. Lean years you got an apple, a few pecans, and those strawberry candies with the strawberry printed on the wrapper.
Kelly H. Wilder 8 months ago
I was born in 1985, and this holds for me, too. We only had fresh fruit at Christmas, and it generally came in a red mesh stocking. Although I now have constant access to a significant variety of fruits and vegetables, I yearn for those from that particular time. Those and Lifesavers storybooks were what defined secular Christmas to me.
Roxy222uk 8 months ago
Yes, my mum was born in 1940, in the UK, and an orange in the toe of her Christmas stocking was a very exciting gift. She always put one in our Christmas stockings and used to say "it just means Christmas, doesn't it?" I hadn't the heart to explain that knowing she'd taken one out of the fruit bowl, where there was almost always oranges, didn't have any kind of emotional kick for me at all.
Tropical Tarot 8 months ago
We had some traditional stuff in our stockings but never really oranges or any citrus. It grows on trees here literally. The neighborhood I live in is named after an orange tree.
#11
I remember when a Mexican restaurant opened in our town in the early 70s maybe? That was exotic!
Sarah 8 months ago (edited)
I remember when a rural Irish town got its first Chinese restaurant! It was the talk of the town.. very agricultural town- farming and dinner was meat and two veg. Noodles and things like pasta didn’t exist. I also remember when they got their first roundabout .. late 1980s and the town drove out to ‘see ‘ it’ .. the adventure!
XenoMurph 8 months ago
I grew up in a council estate in Dublin in the 70s and 80s. When my very adventurous mother would put that super exotic food "garlic" in food, my friends parents would react like she'd put plutonium in the meals.I think they expected their kids to return home speaking French
Load More Replies... Zaach 8 months ago
When I was about 15 some kid from Texas ridiculed me for not knowing what a taco was (I lived about 10 miles from the Canadian border (on a different isolation note, I did not see a black person until I was 18 and at college; he was a basketball player and stopped by our table to introduce himself and lifted his watch to show that black people could darken in the sun)
The Darkest Timeline 8 months ago
I remember when Mexican food was cheap. Now it’s a lot like slow-cooked meats were years ago; poor people ate it because it was from the “bad” cuts but wealthier people found out how delicious it is and drove demand and price up.
#12
Mangos. I live in the Midwest, and we never had real mangoes in the 70s. We called green bell peppers mangoes for some inexplicable reason.
Colleen Glim 8 months ago
I assure you, green bell peppers are not mangoes. But a properly ripe mango is a thing of beauty
BrunoVI 8 months ago
I was all set to make a BS reason (and admit to it at the end), but the truth is so close to my balderdash! Apparently, mangoes were sold in the midwest having been pickled in a unique way; eventually all fruits pickled in that way, including plums, pears, etc., even walnuts were for a while called "mangoes." Old recipe books might even call for "walnut mangoes" or such. Eventually, though, the term got focused on one fruit that lacked its own unique name: bell peppers. They remained "mangoes," perhaps to avoid confusion with black peppers, red peppers, etc.
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Tami Jones 8 months ago
Southern Ohio - my grandmother always called them Mangoes. They're still nasty, though - ruin the taste of everything they touch.
Load More Replies... R1MV4Superleggera 8 months ago
I love mangos (in Spanish) in Mexico they slice it, rub some lemon juice and add a mixture of chile powder and salt, very delicious
Huddo's sister 8 months ago
They are still pretty expensive in Australia. Not sure how it compares to the past, as I don't eat them, but my sister often complains because she can't afford them.
Just Another Karen 8 months ago
here in brazil you can find "mangas" everywhere! i grew up studying in schools that had mango trees
“Take blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries,” Parth recalls. “Back then, getting your hands on them in India was almost impossible. I remember how we’d beg family members traveling from Europe to bring some back. The excitement of finally eating them was unmatched—we’d savor every single berry because we had no idea when we’d get them again. Now, they’re available on grocery apps, ready to be delivered faster than a pizza. Crazy, right?”
#13
I was in mid 20s before I ever heard of Pesto sauce.
Colleen Glim 8 months ago
Pesto with gnocchi and a grilled chicken breast is one of my favourite summer meals. Especially when tomatoes are in season as a side
ninjaTrashPandaBoom 8 months ago
oooh just drooled a little on the keyboard, that sounds so good!
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XenoMurph 8 months ago
LOTS of basil or rocket, garlic, toasted pine nuts, pecorina cheese, olive oil. Toss in a blender, Worth a try
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Grew up in rural Ireland in the 60s/70s. I remember having pasta for the first time.. it was the wild exotic food that my father got from friends who came home from Italy. I remember neighbours coming in to taste it.
Never had an avocado, a kiwi fruit etc... we just had basic foods in the local supermarket/shop.
I do remember when dried potatoes came..in the late 70s...not having to cook a pot of potatoes and have lump free potatoes was amazing.
K Barnes 8 months ago
I might sound spoiled, my apologies if so, but I have never understood why so many people find peeling and boiling potatoes so hard that they buy instant ones! I like skin-in and it takes less than 2 mins to dice them and 10-15 to boil, then you can mash in the same pot and get lump-free with a handheld masher. Unless you have a giant family it's 5 minutes of effort for the whole dish. Instant you still have to boil water and mix so it saves like 2-3 minutes. I just don't get it.
Sarah 8 months ago (edited)
No - you really don’t get it! I suppose it was of its time. Large Irish families , back in the day - no washing machine/ dishwasher/ fancy facilities so evey task took all day. . Peeling spuds was def a chore then than it would be now. - handle mashers most definitely did not exist nor did kettles. It’d be trying to boil water on the range
Load More Replies... Sarah 8 months ago
Absolutely correct. ( im 1980s) spaghetti was Heinz tinned . What’s also strange is what we didn’t eat being an island.. we never had oysters or crab or lobster..
XenoMurph 8 months ago
Yes, we got the tradition of fish and chips from the English, maybe kippers too, but we very rarely had fish. But Ireland was very poor in the 70s 80s, maybe the fishermen just got more from the catch elsewhere.
Load More Replies... David 8 months ago
Not growing up with pasta is a weird take to me. We were poor and noodles / pasta is a cheap filler food. Avocados were more rare for me though. They existed but cost more so I didn't normally get one. Once in a while my grandmother would buy me an avocado and I would enjoy making as many avocado sandwiches with it as I could.
Huddo's sister 8 months ago
We were also poor, but my dad was a country boy and they never had it when he was growing up. When he did try it, he didn't like it, so we rarely had it when I was a kid either. There were so many things we didn't eat because he wouldn't eat it. He probably has autism, he doesn't like change and only very plain foods. I remember the first time I had lemon chicken and sweet and sour pork. I was 17 and at a uni open day. We went to get food at the cafeteria/food court and I made my best friend order for me because I had no idea what any of the Chinese food tasted like. The only Chinese food we had at home was fried rice and chow mein/chop suey.
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Michael Largey 8 months ago
My mother learned cooking from her mother, an immigrant from the UK. I never even saw a pizza until I was in college - but plenty of Yorkshire pudding! (Good stuff in its way.)
Karl der Große 8 months ago
If they had not have thought of calling Chinese gooseberries "kiwi fruit," people still wouldn't eat them.
Hippopotamuses 8 months ago
The first time I ate at a genuine Italian restaurant, my meal came out and I thought it smelled of vomit. I'd obviously never smelled parmesan cheese before. I was 25!
Data1001 8 months ago
Certain cheeses do have that smell when they're cooked or baked. I remember when I was young lad, and my mother was making homemade pizza from scratch... I came into the kitchen and promptly declared, "It smells like vomit!" My father did not take kindly to that. I tried to save it by saying, "Not in a *bad* way!" but the damage was done, lol.
Load More Replies... #15
Fresh fruit and vegetables. I come from an isolated northern 🇨🇦 town and growing up we got the last of the produce on the truck. What we got was old and battered and cost a small fortune. Now I live in the south and sometimes it still surprises me at the variety.
Ellinor 8 months ago (edited)
I am really, really lucky about that because my mother is an organic farmer, she works in a shop that only sells organic and local food and she and her colleagues often trade their products, so beside school lunch I never really ate anything non-organic (and I have fresh eggs as often as I want and for free)
Just Another Karen 8 months ago
i love being brazilian <3 you can find a lot of nice vegetables for a really good price.
Magenta Blu 8 months ago
I live in the middle of the Amazon jungle and most vegetables and common fruits (like apples, peachs and grapes) are a luxury
ogg 7 months ago
But! You get to have rollenia and jaboticaba - just live on those : ). I could...
Load More Replies... Weasel Wise 8 months ago
I grew up on a farm surrounded by other farms so I was grateful for the fresh veggies and fruits I'd get to eat. I still remember riding my bike to the nearby farm that was worked by a bunch of Mexican folks who knew no English to trade with them. I didn't speak any Spanish at that time in my life but I was always delighted to go see them. We'd swap our corn, tomatoes, and homemade cakes for their watermelons and cantaloupes. 🤤🤤
And it’s not just about groceries, he adds. “The availability of new ingredients has completely changed restaurant menus too. From authentic sushi to avocado toast, the kinds of dishes you can find today are incredible."
"Chefs have access to flavors that were once impossible to get, which means food lovers get to experience cuisines from all over the world without even leaving their city. It’s like having a passport for your taste buds.”
#16
Craft beer. Correct that, good beer is what I meant to say. When I was young, it was Bud, Miller, or PBR. That was it. Literally.
Southern US.
nottheactualphoto 8 months ago
The champagne of beer. Also see Italian Swiss Colony, the beer of champagne.
Load More Replies... BrunoVI 8 months ago (edited)
Come on, you didn't have any of the OTHER bargain beers? Milwaukee's Best? Yeungling? (I think that's made out of Jedi children? Oh, wait, it's pronounced Yingling) Genessee? Schlitz, the once best-selling beer in America? Schaefer? Lone Star?
Scott Rackley 8 months ago
Most of the underage drinking I did was the Beast.
Load More Replies... Colleen Glim 8 months ago
The variety of craft beers out there is mind blowing. And I’ve had really good ones and really bad ones. But even the really bad ones are better than a lot of the domestic c**p. At least it has personality
nottheactualphoto 8 months ago
I try to stick with the good breweries; life is short. Maine, Bell's and Stone, for starters. They are in the US and so am I, so they are domestic to me.
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Roxy222uk 8 months ago
Have Americans ever got into what we call beer, i.e. bitter? Must be served at room temperature. Nothing finer on a hot day.
Chris Jones 8 months ago (edited)
Sorry, it's really cellar temperature where the casks should be. This is 11-13°C . Like wine, certain beers have better flavours at different temperatures and are also better kept when the temperature is correct. Cask Marque audits require a range of 10-14°C allowing a little leeway.
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#17
I didn't have the opportunity to eat Indian food until I was in graduate school; now it is my favorite international cuisine. Luckily, it has greatly increased in popularity over the years, so now it seems like you can find Indian restaurants in even fairly small cities.
Lee451 Henderson 8 months ago
I worked at a Greek sandwich shop at age 16. Discovered Greek food
Nimitz 8 months ago
I think I was 20 the first time I had any Indian food. I was super lucky. I had this wonderful co-worker who had moved from India. One day she brought me some spiced potato and vegetable medley wrapped in a very thin flatbread. She did not skimp on the spice. I have been hooked on that tasty burn ever since. Thank you Narinder!
#18
Olive oil. When I was a kid, that was something in a tiny bottle you stuck in your ear for earache.
Scott Rackley 8 months ago
We called the stuff you warmed up and put in your ear "sweet oil", which was, in fact, olive oil.
Billo66 8 months ago
Strangely, my Grandma though her urine was an earache cure. No thank you Grandma it's fine now. lol
Load More Replies... Just Another Karen 8 months ago
in brazil today you have to sell your kidney to be allowed to buy these (really expensive!!!!!!!!!)
“Another cool thing is how food brings cultures closer,” Parth says. “Years ago, if you wanted to make Mexican food at home, you’d have to hunt for tortillas or make a desperate request for someone to bring back authentic ingredients. Now, you can just walk into a store and grab everything you need for tacos, burritos, or even enchiladas. It’s never been this easy to experiment with food and try things that once seemed so out of reach.”
#19
Any lettuce other than iceberg. Grew up in the south and remember living in California for a month. Not just lettuces but the array of fresh vegetables was awe inspiring to my little mind.
Eta: which is funny because a lot of my family had vegetable gardens. But it was peas, okra, tomatoes, and maybe corn. Kale was still just a decorative plant.
BrunoVI 8 months ago
Hot opinion, but kale should remain a decorative plant. Romaine was also common where I'm from in the NE.
WindySwede 8 months ago
No, kale with a bacon sauce for pasta, with cream, is great!
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Andrew Vince 8 months ago
Why doesn't Elton John eat iceberg lettuce? Because he's a rocket man.....Fnar Fnar!
Nimitz 8 months ago
I remember when it became possible to get romaine and leaf lettuce for reasonable prices. My sisters always wanted caesar salad because it was exotic. That was in the '80s. Vegetables were local only because of high tariffs. Then the Free Trade Agreement was signed and slowly the stores started building up to the varieties we enjoy today.
Mel in Georgia 8 months ago
Had a true Southern (U.S.) co-worker who wouldn't eat any lettuce but iceberg. She called other kinds of greens "cow lettuce." Personally, I never buy tasteless, nutrition-less iceberg lettuce - bring on any other kind of green!
#20
La Choy and Chun King canned Chinese food back in the day. Peak exotica. And TV dinners weren't exotic, but pretty novel to us kids. Plus they were in little trays similar to the food trays in 2001: A Space Odyssey, so it was kind of like eating astronaut food in our minds.
Hippopotamuses 8 months ago
Canned Chinese food. I'm not sure how appealing this sounds. Mind you, the 2001 experience would definitely have appealed.
Alex Boyd 8 months ago
There was a small can with meat and sauce, and a larger can with the vegetables--bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, baby corn, and water chestnuts, along with a few other less exotic things. You combined the two cans in a skillet and put them over rice that you got separately. The suggested topping it with the crunchy chow mein noodles, but my dad wouldn't buy them.
Load More Replies... Billo66 8 months ago
Had to have those crunchy noodles. I think my mom even coated them with white chocolate like pretzels one year lol
Kelly H. Wilder 8 months ago
We coat crunchy noodles with chocolate, butterscotch, and/or caramel and call them haystacks.
Load More Replies... Lee Gilliland 8 months ago
I still love taking a microwaved dinner with my special fork ( which is the same type used in the movie) and watching a movie on my tablet so I can feel like I'm there.
Geoffrey Scott 8 months ago
My Mom would serve this with the hard, fried chow mein noodles, also out of a can.
David 8 months ago
I am laughing at the memories because this one is so relatable to me. And yes, specifically the La Choy brand. I think it was the chop suey meal where you had three cans. Two cans taped / sold together. One with the bean sprouts and the other with the rest of the ingredients. Then the third can was the crunchy noodles. I loved that. Have not thought of them in years. I frequently eat "Asian" but these days I have my own wok and know how to make most of it from scratch. Which is both tastier and much cheaper than cans of La Choy. Also yes to sometimes getting a TV dinner. Back then it was aluminum trays in the oven. So not faster but less kitchen / prep time.
Mel in Georgia 8 months ago
Oh man, I can still taste those tinny water chestnuts and bean sprouts ... :P
Tropical Tarot 8 months ago
The meal we had was Chun King sweet and sour pork. It came with a little envelope which was a brown sugar soy marinade for the pork chops. And a big can with really thick sweet sauce with pineapple bell peppers I think carrots and some onions. You marinated your meat with the envelope and then poured the sauce in with it and cooked it till it was done and served it over rice. It was closer to what some places call Hawaiian chicken or sweet or Polynesian chicken.
#21
Blackberries. I used to have to pick them wild when I was a kid for a few weeks in the spring. My understanding is they weren’t really made into a viable crop until the USDA came up with a hybrid variety in the 1990s. Now you can get nice fine ones in the store whenever you want.
Colleen Glim 8 months ago
I remember my great grandmother having a ginormous blackberry patch behind the house when I was little
Brian Droste 8 months ago
I ate wild blackberries. I thought they were really good. The only thing I didn't like was dealing with the thorns.
Huddo's sister 8 months ago
They weren't really common in supermarkets in Australia when I was a kid. I think it's only because they have a different variety now that they have appeared. The only blackberries I knew were the ones growing behind our house, along the creek, where they were always sprayed because they an introduced pest (we have a lot of those) so we weren't able to eat them.
Strahd Ivarius 8 months ago
You get berries all year round because they are harvested in different countries... like most vegetables and fruits.
David 8 months ago
The native ones you pick by the river bank / fields still have more flavor. I live where blackberries are super common / have to fight them back on my property (NW WA state). I have also tried some of the commercial varieties off the vine. A berry farmer we know was growing some varieties for testing which crops he wanted to grow. The commercial ones were large, beautiful, the vine was "mostly" thornless in the same was a 'seedless' watermelon has a few seeds. BUT the taste was very disappointing. Like a watered down version of a real blackberry. Visually awesome for topping a cake or a pastry or something but for a flavorful jam or pie, the local berries are hands down better.
Marlowe Fitzpatrik 8 months ago
Blackberries from the store are not half as good as the wild ones! But - there are (literally) 2000 (!) species of blackberries in Europe alone, not to mention the ones in the Americas, Northern Africa or Asia. And not all of them taste delightful, some are bland and some are even blegh. You also need a sunny spot for them to be good and it's really difficult to get to the best berries because those sit up top of the bramble-bush and you'll need a rake to pull them down. Last year was a great blackberry-year and I still have nearly a kilo of them frozen. Blackberries... best berries ever.
It’s also fun to see how global foods blend into local culture, he adds. “Ramen, for example, once a Japanese staple, now every city has a new take on it. Whether it’s a spicy Indian twist or a creamy fusion broth, people are making these dishes their own. That’s the beauty of food. It evolves, adapts, and makes everyday eating a little more exciting.”
#22
Tofu seemed exotic (to non-Asians) when we first started having it in the 1970s.
Anna Drever 8 months ago
I hadn’t, to the best of my knowledge/memory had tofu until about 15 years ago when I became a veggie. Now it’s a regular thing in our diet. Tempeh is good too.
Huddo's sister 8 months ago
When I was about 10, my mum used a recipe (from Women's Weekly where they anglicised so many recipes from other countries) for tofu dessert. I think it was tofu and banana blended together, not sure what else was in it. I took a large sip and it was foul, I spat it out dry retched and refused to eat tofu again. It wasn't until I was 17/18 and out for a friend's birthday at a Chinese restaurant that I tried a dish with silken tofu in it that I changed my mind. Now I love it.
#23
When I was growing up in Indiana in the 70s stuff like sushi and pho soup were mostly unheard of.
Mel in Georgia 8 months ago
Traveled to CA from the Midwest (US) with a friend in the early 80s and a friend who lived there took us to a beach-side restaurant. Was super excited to try sushi (California rolls) for the first time. My traveling companion pointed to the green blob of stuff it was served with and said, "What's that?" I said it looked like guacamole. She put a big spoonful of it in her mouth, started sputtering, eyes bulging and said, "THAT'S NOT GUACAMOLE!!" Yeah ... her first taste of wasabi was a bit of a surprise ...
Stewie Lu 8 months ago
My favorite Seattle restaurant was a Vietnam/Tex-Mex place. Just look for Phò-Q. 😁
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#24
Toblerone. I grew up in the 80s and only got one when someone I knew traveled by airplane, so they must have been very fancy and exotic. Now you can get one anywhere.
I_imagine_even_worse_w***s 8 months ago
Haha yes having a Toblerone when I was a kid always meant either you or someone you knew had been abroad. You couldn't buy it in local shops back then. Not sure when it became available here (many years now) but it really ruined the joy if being gifted it when you could buy it domestically.
Gustav Gallifrey 8 months ago
Toblerone is becoming more difficult to find. I mean, it's in shops everywhere, but the 'shrinkflation' reductions in the amount you get for your money mean that it's becoming harder to spot on the shelves.
Pittsburgh rare 8 months ago
Now you can buy the giant one at the supermarket in Spain, not so long ago you could only get it at the airport. I'm always tempted but l know l have no self restraint
Tropical Tarot 8 months ago
I was a child of the eighties and we didn't have friends that traveled by plane but you could get them at a couple of the drugstores. Because they had exotic candies like that.
Robert Millar 8 months ago
Used to be Toblerone... lerone... lerone and now it's not.
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The way food has changed over the years is honestly wild. What was once a rare, special treat is now just another Tuesday’s grocery run. Thanks to globalization, technology, and changing tastes, we can experience so many different cultures through food without ever stepping on a plane.
So next time you casually toss a once-exotic ingredient into your cart, take a second to appreciate just how far we’ve come in the world of food!
#25
I remember my mom (born 1948) told me the first time she had yogurt was when she was 18. Hummus was also a very exciting discovery for her.
Auntriarch 8 months ago
I remember when yogurt came out in UK. It was pineapple flavoured. I didn't care for it. Some years later through Indian and Arab friends I discovered savoury yoghurt. I have it most days now.
Dilly Millandry 8 months ago
It was basically in 1963 with the Swiss-invented Ski being launched in the UK. There were more flavours than pineapple but I suppose maybe some shops didn't have the full range.
Load More Replies... Billo66 8 months ago (edited)
My kids like it but nahh, like eating a bowl of miracle whip. I use sour cream as a topping but I would't eat a bowl of it.
The Darkest Timeline 8 months ago
What yogurt are you eating that tastes like Miracle Whip?
Load More Replies... #26
When I was maybe 6 years old (approx 1956) a brand new restaurant chain came to my Midwestern factory town.
McDonald's!
I attended a friend's birthday party, and the new and exciting birthday excursion was...a trip to McDonald's!
My hamburger had *mustard* and *pickles* on it, which to me meant poison. I cried because I couldn't (wouldn't) eat the exotic new food.
SM 8 months ago (edited)
Unlike today, getting fast food was a real treat for us when we were kids (didn't happen very often). I remember going to McDonald's about once or twice. I remember that a burger cost 15 cents (early 1960s).
Tropical Tarot 8 months ago
I grew up in a small town and McDonald's was the only thing there for about 20 years. Now there's a Burger King a Subway and Italian restaurant a barbecue place and if you count the two truck stops out by the interstate there's Bojangles godfather's Pizza and Arby's.
Rick Murray 8 months ago
I was in hospital as a toddler for "failure to thrive", a fancy term to say that my mother was mistreating me (complete bollocks). The doctor eventually signed me off when an intern brought me a load of stuff from McDonald's and said I could eat anything I wanted. Anything? Anything. So I pulled out all of the pickles and ate them. Left everything else. I wasn't mistreated, just small and an incredibly fussy eater (still am, but now I know that for me texture is more important than taste so I can work with that). But burger pickles...mmmmm....
Brian Droste 8 months ago
I remember seen them around but as a kid but rarely went to them. Not sure at what age went to one.
David 8 months ago
It sounds wild now but I can remember when the Big Mac was new and McDonalds was trying to get people to try them so they were giving them out for free. They had a promo where if you recited the jingle from the commercial they gave you a free one. Even as a young boy I could do that so I got a free one. "Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun".
#27
Eggs Benedict - You would have to go to the fancy breakfast restaurants to get that mammy jammy. Now I think you can even get them at IHOP.
Billo66 8 months ago
The person that does that also trusts gas station sushi.
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Major Harris 8 months ago
just cooked it this morning for breakfast. i add mushrooms and green onions to the sauce.
K Barnes 8 months ago
I used to think it was gross, until I had good hollandaise. I rarely get it but always on the side and only at places I've heard it's good. Even then it's not great more than half the time.
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Which of these posts did you find the most intriguing? Is there a food you remember being impossible to find, but now it’s everywhere? Maybe something you once had to wait for a relative to bring back from a trip? Share your thoughts. We’d love to know what once felt like a luxury but is now just another everyday item!
#28
In a tiny town in northern BC Canada ca 1970, an uncle visited from Vancouver and introduced the family to pizza. It must’ve been from the local Safeway frozen foods section but it seemed very exotic - hmmmm, what is this strange food peet-za? I recall my parents marveling and feeling very cosmopolitan.
Binny Tutera 8 months ago (edited)
When Pizza Hut came to our town my dad couldn’t believe my friends and I would pay money for “leftovers“! When he was young my grandma would make bread almost every day (this was in Italy) and take leftover dough, meat and tomatoes and make “pizza” for my grandpa to have for lunch at work. My dad was eventually won over, but his pizzas were amazing!
Anne Sage 8 months ago
My best friend in grade school got to order her bedroom sheets and comforters from the Sears catalog...and she had an Atari. 🤣
Bec 8 months ago
One of my aunts would come home to visit and buy pizza for her kids and invite everyone over and try to give my grandmother a break from having to cook when she was visiting but my grandfather refused to eat that 'stuff' and grandma would have to make him something to eat (like meat and potatoes type food). Midwest 1980s-1990s
Huddo's sister 8 months ago
We didn't get it often, because it's another thing my dad wouldn't eat, and my mum would refuse to pay for delivery so we only got it if we were able to get out to pick it up.
#29
Shrimp and really any seafood. I buy bags of frozen shrimp as a regular thing now. We have a shrimp dish once or twice a month. I remember shrimp was a once-a-year maybe thing and only at a restaurant.
FlamingoPanda 8 months ago
I had shellfish for the first and only time in my early 20's. Immediate trip to the emergency room.
Lady Eowyn 8 months ago
For many years, I ate and enjoyed shellfish enormously. Then, I may have been in my late 20s, I became allergic. Pre-epipen day. It's so sad.
Load More Replies... ninjaTrashPandaBoom 8 months ago
Was spoiled as a kid when we lived on the Chesapeake Bay, blue crabs all summer long!
Roxy222uk 8 months ago
Unfortunately this is because of intense shrimp farming. It's absolutely destroying the environment in some areas of the world. But don't worry, not in the USA.
Marlowe Fitzpatrik 8 months ago
Yes to this. Also - do you know how NASTY the water is that the poor shrimp live in? I sometimes like to eat a shrimp (singular mostly) but I usually avoid them like the flue
Load More Replies... Huddo's sister 8 months ago
We would have prawns and fish and that's it for seafood. Dad wouldn't eat either, and neither would my sister, so it was a rare treat. I still only eat what I can get out of the supermarket, mostly frozen. I mentioned this to coworkers and they said next time they go fishing they will give me some.
Brian Droste 8 months ago
Asca teenager my mom would buy frozen breaded shrimp. It wasn't until I was an adult on my own did I try unbreaded shrimp. Love it.
#30
Edamame.
ninjaTrashPandaBoom 8 months ago
I'm half-Japanese, we always had edamame in our house. Love them steamed lightly salted or roasted with wasabi. It is way easier to get now though.
Billo66 8 months ago
I don't know why thats not a thing in the states. We love green beans and we grow a lot of soybeans. Seems similar. Just steamed young soy pods right?
ninjaTrashPandaBoom 8 months ago
Yes. Great with Japanese beer or as a side dish with sushi and/or sashimi. I enjoy them as a healthy snack anytime of the day.
Load More Replies... Ace 8 months ago
Had to look that one up. Still sounds "exotic", although that's not the same as "appetizing". Doubtless the real thing is a lot nicer than the descriptions make it sound.
Dilly Millandry 8 months ago
They are fairly ordinary in and of themselves. Like a lot of things, it's what you do to them!!
Load More Replies... #31
Hummus. I made it in my middle school "Teen Living" [Home Ec] class and my mom thought it was the weirdest thing ever. It was not available in grocery stores. This would have been 1992-93.
Billo66 8 months ago
My mom is the same but she likes the garbanzo beans at the salad bar. I'll never tell her.
Huddo's sister 8 months ago
My mum has been making this for at least my whole life, so at least 34 years. Such a cheap dip to make, whether tinned or dried chickpeas.
#32
I remember when nachos became a national fad, in about ‘77 after Monday Night Football went to Dallas and had them as a bar appetizer. My mother took 3x5 cards to a friend's house to copy the recipe for nachos.
Damned_Cat 8 months ago
I remember when chips and salsa or cheese sauce was something you got from the snack bar at the beach.
R1MV4Superleggera 8 months ago
For me, it would be a cardinal sin, punishable by having my head on a stick in my front yard if I don't have nachos when my mates visit my castle to watch Formula1, MotoGp and football (for the Yanks, the REAL football is where you have to use your two legs to kick the ball and never use your hands. Don't believe me? google is you friend, FIFA was created in 1863 while the NFL in 1920 but didn't become until 1922)
#33
Kiwi in the Northeast.
persephone134 8 months ago (edited)
From the novel "The Salesman" by Irish writer Joseph O'Connor (1998). In this scene, the main character (middle aged and grumpy in the mid-90s) visits a Dublin séx shop. “They have kiwi-flavoured condoms nowadays, for Jesus’ sake; when I was a kid they did not even have kiwi-fruit-flavoured fúcking kiwi fruits.“
PFD 8 months ago
Reminds me of the old Billy Connolly standup routine (1985) where he's going on about how fancy shampoos are getting. "Aloe vera...henna...avocado and hazelnuts. Bloody unbelievable! Cucumber...egg and mushrooms. If we had egg and mushroom when I was a boy it would have gone straight in the bloody frying pan! 'Has anybody seen my shampoo by the way?' Your father is away to work with it on his sandwiches'." Not that I've ever seen egg and mushroom shampoo, tbh, but that was in Scotland.
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Pittsburgh rare 8 months ago
Kiwi in Spain was such a novelty that there were TV ads to educate us on that exotic, strange, hairy fruit. They were also expensive af
#34
Star fruit.
Colleen Glim 8 months ago (edited)
Star fruit taste like somebody crossed an apple with a green bean
XenoMurph 8 months ago
Like dragon fruit, star fruit tastes of disapppoinment
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Pheebs 8 months ago
My 6th grade class, my science teacher had a fruit day. He managed to get his hands on fruit very much not typical to our area (central New York, not the city) - mango, papaya, kiwi, star fruit, and ugli fruit. Maybe some pineapple too. Kiwi became an instant obsession for me, but I only managed to have it a couple times a year. Most of the others were meh to me, though I vaguely remember liking ugli fruit. Star fruit was okay, papaya could disappear, and mango was bleh. Haven’t had ugli since, and I try mango again every so many years now that it’s readily available, but still not one I like. Blackberries, kiwi, and strawberries remain my faves, with other fruits lining up behind.
#35
Believe it or not, yogurt. I remember when they first started advertising it. We all thought it was very odd.
BrunoVI 8 months ago
OP is correct. And they used fraudulent pensioners from Eastern Europe to claim it could help you to live to 120 years old.
Roxy222uk 8 months ago
Imagine how cheese appears to the cultures that don't traditionally eat dairy. Milk that has clotted up like blood? Milk but partially digested out of a calf's stomach? Imagine milk is mucus, then cheese is bogies?
Rick Murray 8 months ago
Leave milk to go off and... yogurt! Leave it a little longer, soft cheese! Squash it, hard cheese! Milk doesn't make sense.
Load More Replies... #36
Artichokes, in 1960's US.
Also, cilantro was really hard to find, until the late 80's.
Hippopotamuses 8 months ago (edited)
Cilantro still can be, in countries where it's called coriander. (Edited: To correct spelling of cilantro)
nottheactualphoto 8 months ago
At my local supermarket, cilantro is labeled "corriander" (yes, with too many Rs).
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#37
A slab of ham with a pineapple slice promoted as ‘Polynesian’.
Lady Eowyn 8 months ago
I love ham steak with pineapple. I poke holes in the steak and pour in the pineapple juice, on both sides, let it sit for a bit before putting it in to broil, and serve with pineapple on top.
Tropical Tarot 8 months ago
You have to put a slice of Swiss cheese on it to make sure that it's fully Polynesian.
Load More Replies... Tami Jones 8 months ago
Mine, too! Christmas and Easter mostly. Only she used a half bone -in ham, studded with pineapple rings and Maraschino Cherries, glazed with pineapple juice/brown sugar syrup. My best friend stayed with us in my grandmother's home for several weeks after her father was hurt in an industrial accident. We were in ninth grade at the time. For years my grandmother talked about S- saying that she'd never seen anything like that outside of a magazine.
Load More Replies... Ace 8 months ago
Known as 'Gammon steak" or just gammon in the UK (from Spanish Jamon, French Jambon etc.).
Gourdeous 8 months ago
Gammon and pineapple is my go-to at the pub. Yum!!
Load More Replies... #38
Iced coffee. I learned to drink it in Boston in the late 80s in college, but when I was home in Colorado and tried to order it people thought I was crazy.
And in the early/mid 90s in Los Angeles, coffee shops were like nightclubs. There were lines to get at night, and you’d go in to order drinks, talk with friends and meet people. Very different from the Starbucks of today!
persephone134 8 months ago
Iced coffee. You let a cup of coffee go cold, then put in a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Brilliant.
Scott Rackley 8 months ago
I waited tables at a Shoney's in high school in TN. One regular always ordered a glass full of ice, put a butter knife in it, and get us to pour coffee in it. Why the knife? Otherwise the glass would shatter. First time I'd ever seen or heard of iced coffee.
Brian Droste 8 months ago
I never got into drink regular coffee let alone cold coffee. When I heard of iced coffee I thought why would anyone want to drink cold coffee? After a short period of time I thought if people want to drink cold coffee that is up to them.
#39
Anything you could cook in a microwave.
David 8 months ago
HAVING a microwave. The early ones in the later 70s were huge beasts. But about 1970 I'd never heard of a microwave (older tech, but not for the average home). My mom got me a Presto Hot Dogger and I would make after school snacks with that. Basically you electrocuted hot dogs to make them hot quickly. Video in link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2ZZbuOeNmw
Hippopotamuses 8 months ago (edited)
My family had numerous timing accidents when we first got a microware. Five minute Easter buns being my first accomplishment.
#40
I grew up in NYC, sushi was barely on the radar until the mid to late 1980s -- longer in the outer boroughs. Same can be said for most Asian food aside from Chinese. Not necessary exotic but Mexican food, aside from a few neighborhoods, was also not popular back then. My wife grew up on the west coast and was disappointed in our lack of options when she moved to Queens in the 1980s.
What do you think ?
Sky Render 8 months ago (edited)
I remember a time when Chinese five spice was considered very exotic. Nowadays it's on every supermarket spice rack (or rather, a version of it that uses more local ingredients). It sure does make pork sing!
XenoMurph 8 months ago
I think you should speak to your local butcher, if your pork is singing, he's missing out a vital part of his job.
Load More Replies... BrunoVI 8 months ago
When I was a kid, salmon and shrimp were much more expensive than beef. Especially since coronavirus, that's no longer true at all. I remember specifically marveling how, about a month after coronavirus, salmon had dropped to $8/lbs, but a decent cut of steak was $15/lb and even london broil (once a very cheap cut) was $9/lb. Even hamburger was near $8/lb.
Pheebs 8 months ago
Fish was a treat when I was a kid. We didn’t live close to fishing water, so everything had to be shipped in to our town. Made it pricy. I absolutely hated fish, but ate it until I was 8-9 years old because I knew it was something my mom struggled to afford. Still don’t like any form of seafood.
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Apatheist Account2 8 months ago
Staying at small hotels in the 60s and 70s, the choice of starter for evening meal was prawn cocktail or orange juice. That was posh for us, we never had starters - just sugar-filled desserts with custard.
Roxy222uk 8 months ago
Didn't you get a slice of melon sitting on its rind, with the flesh in cubes pushed alternately left and right, and then a cocktail stick holding a Maraschino cherry in the middle? Trying telling my kids that a piece of melon, with nothing else, was worth paying for as a starter.
Load More Replies... Damned_Cat 8 months ago
This isn't really exotic, but I remember when Orville Redenbacher "gourmet" popcorn kernels came out (back when you had to pop it in a popping machine, or stove top, not the microwave). It was like $3 a jar, but a bag of Jolly Time kernels was maybe 69 cents. No way my parents were buying the gourmet stuff. I remember using my allowance to buy some Orville for myself.
Rick Murray 8 months ago
"Easier access to diverse foods" and "Increased variety" - aren't these basically the same thing?
ElfVibratorGlitter 8 months ago
I remember my mom making polenta thinking it was super exotic. She literally just served polenta, nothing else.
BeesEelsAndPups 8 months ago
I grew up in the tropics by the ocean. So mangoes, coconuts, pineapples, were everyday things. My grandparents yard was littered with mangoes and Jack fruit. For me, exotic was red meat. It was a mountainous area, so no space for cattle. Beef would need to be imported at great cost. I knew it existed, but I never had it until I was a teenager. Honestly, I'm not impressed. I still prefer fish. I live in the USA now. I miss fruit very much. The fruit we get here is terrible.
Carl Roberts 8 months ago
Jackfruit and dragonfruit. Probably still exotic to a lot of people, but where I live in California, they're sold at just about every grocery store.
Abel 8 months ago
In Spain, there is some sea food that was common and cheap a century ago and now is expensive, like angulas (elvers) or other seafood.
Pittsburgh rare 8 months ago
Percebes used to be cheap because of how they look, but that was eons ago
Load More Replies... Sky Render 8 months ago (edited)
I remember a time when Chinese five spice was considered very exotic. Nowadays it's on every supermarket spice rack (or rather, a version of it that uses more local ingredients). It sure does make pork sing!
XenoMurph 8 months ago
I think you should speak to your local butcher, if your pork is singing, he's missing out a vital part of his job.
Load More Replies... BrunoVI 8 months ago
When I was a kid, salmon and shrimp were much more expensive than beef. Especially since coronavirus, that's no longer true at all. I remember specifically marveling how, about a month after coronavirus, salmon had dropped to $8/lbs, but a decent cut of steak was $15/lb and even london broil (once a very cheap cut) was $9/lb. Even hamburger was near $8/lb.
Pheebs 8 months ago
Fish was a treat when I was a kid. We didn’t live close to fishing water, so everything had to be shipped in to our town. Made it pricy. I absolutely hated fish, but ate it until I was 8-9 years old because I knew it was something my mom struggled to afford. Still don’t like any form of seafood.
Load More Replies... Apatheist Account2 8 months ago
Staying at small hotels in the 60s and 70s, the choice of starter for evening meal was prawn cocktail or orange juice. That was posh for us, we never had starters - just sugar-filled desserts with custard.
Roxy222uk 8 months ago
Didn't you get a slice of melon sitting on its rind, with the flesh in cubes pushed alternately left and right, and then a cocktail stick holding a Maraschino cherry in the middle? Trying telling my kids that a piece of melon, with nothing else, was worth paying for as a starter.
Load More Replies... Damned_Cat 8 months ago
This isn't really exotic, but I remember when Orville Redenbacher "gourmet" popcorn kernels came out (back when you had to pop it in a popping machine, or stove top, not the microwave). It was like $3 a jar, but a bag of Jolly Time kernels was maybe 69 cents. No way my parents were buying the gourmet stuff. I remember using my allowance to buy some Orville for myself.
Rick Murray 8 months ago
"Easier access to diverse foods" and "Increased variety" - aren't these basically the same thing?
ElfVibratorGlitter 8 months ago
I remember my mom making polenta thinking it was super exotic. She literally just served polenta, nothing else.
BeesEelsAndPups 8 months ago
I grew up in the tropics by the ocean. So mangoes, coconuts, pineapples, were everyday things. My grandparents yard was littered with mangoes and Jack fruit. For me, exotic was red meat. It was a mountainous area, so no space for cattle. Beef would need to be imported at great cost. I knew it existed, but I never had it until I was a teenager. Honestly, I'm not impressed. I still prefer fish. I live in the USA now. I miss fruit very much. The fruit we get here is terrible.
Carl Roberts 8 months ago
Jackfruit and dragonfruit. Probably still exotic to a lot of people, but where I live in California, they're sold at just about every grocery store.
Abel 8 months ago
In Spain, there is some sea food that was common and cheap a century ago and now is expensive, like angulas (elvers) or other seafood.
Pittsburgh rare 8 months ago
Percebes used to be cheap because of how they look, but that was eons ago
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