# 1960s-70s cooks--What is/was "Complement"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541 "2010-01-03T21:07:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ThirdOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@ThirdOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThirdOne)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/21 "2010-01-05T20:12:55Z")
Very interesting. Something my mom would not have used. No pre-made stuff for us! 😃 I see that was in Pittsburgh, so maybe it was an east-coast thing. I’ve been on the west coast all my life. Or, it’s just because my family never used it. Thanks for finding that. ---
**Author:** ![conlejw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@conlejw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conlejw)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/22 "2015-03-03T19:08:35Z")
Obviously the posters on this thread were not adults in the 70s. Compliment was a canned sauce used to smother grilled or fried meats. I think there was a different flavor for beef,pork, and chicken. Oddly, I have been trying to recall the name of this product for several years. It was basically for non-cooks(as was my then girlfriend ). ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/23 "2015-03-03T19:14:37Z")
A little more info - [http://davescupboard.blogspot.com/2010/01/vintage-sunday-strange-products-from.html](http://davescupboard.blogspot.com/2010/01/vintage-sunday-strange-products-from.html) Just another dead soldier in the cream-of-whatever recipes wars. ---
**Author:** ![JeffinNYC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@JeffinNYC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffinNYC)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/24 "2018-08-09T12:58:13Z")
I don’t know about the other Compliment sauces, but the one for meatloaf was very good. We had it about once or twice a month, more often if my cousins or school friends were over. My mother worked and we lived in a very small town with no fast food, so it was great to be able to make a delicious meal so easily. I lived in East Texas; I think this was a nationally distributed product. You could get it throughout the ‘70’s and into the early to mid ‘80’s. Really, all you did was mix it gently with hamburger, mold it into shape, and put it in the oven. My mother usually made a sauce from tomato paste and some other ingredients to spread on the top about 15 minutes before it was done. This filled the house with a wonderful aroma and tasted delicious. Whenever I order meatloaf at a restaurant now, this is what I expect. Although some meatloaves I have had have been really good, that is not the usual case, and none has ever tasted like this wonderful meatloaf of my childhood. ---
**Author:** ![Jammaca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Jammaca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jammaca)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/25 "2020-04-20T05:19:53Z")
I just wanted to let you know that you are not dreaming it there was such a thing as complement it was made by pet milk and it was delicious. And very easy to use. We kept it stocked in our cabinets on a regular basis. But suddenly we just could not find it any longer. What a shame it was a really good product. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/26 "2020-04-20T12:12:56Z")
[Labels](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/110619734577552341/). ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/27 "2020-04-20T15:43:25Z")
Better link. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/5052/5510624213_a8d4f7d5f9_z.jpg "PET Compliment Cooking Sauce Labels") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/25692985@N07/5510624213) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/28 "2020-04-20T16:36:33Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Some of it might be canned gravy, but the text at the bottom talks about the different varieties of Compliment including “Compliment for Meat Loaf”, which would be pretty hard to do with gravy. (Which of course isnt to say that they didnt create a gravy and implied that it plus ground beef = meat loaf :)) Dang… ninjaed. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/29 "2020-04-20T16:48:26Z")
Never heard of it before, but it seems to be essentially Hamburger Helper, but liquid, not powder. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/30 "2020-04-20T16:48:55Z")
The Pet Milk product may not be the same item as described in the OP. It is **Compliment** , as in “praise” or “adulation” (presumably for whatever you cook or concoct with it in your kitchen), whereas the OP was asking about **Complement** , as in “that which completes”. That doesn’t mean it isn’t possible that the OP simply misspelled or misremembered what was written in the recipes, but it’s far more common to misread or misspell _complement_ as “compliment” than the other way around. ETA: Oops, missed post #12 where the OP confirmed that it is indeed that stuff ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/31 "2020-04-20T17:32:48Z")
If I remember right it was more like a demi glaze powder ---
**Author:** ![OldCook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@OldCook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldCook)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2025, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/32 "2025-05-15T18:41:01Z")
I used Complement when cooking meatloaf when I was in my teens. If I remember correctly, it was a light brownish looking goop (my family actually called it Goop) with a consistency similar to Campbell’s cream soups, but thicker and stickier. It tasted pretty good and made a great meatloaf. Just like the ad said, you mixed it with meat, shaped it in a loaf and stuck it in the oven - so easy. But very hard to clean off your hands after mixing it in the meatloaf. I was thrilled when zip lock bags came out I could pour the Complement and beef into a bag and squish it around until mixed then throw away the empty bag. If you blended chili sauce, bread crumbs, and eggs together that is propably about what goop looked like, I mean Complement, looked like. It was not a gravy and did not produce a sauce for the meatloaf, just a binder with flavor, although the ad seems to indicate it could be used as a gravy. I remember once my grandmother visited and made her “from scratch” meatloaf and got mad when my little brothers complained because they prefered the Complement meatloaf over hers. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2025, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/33 "2025-05-15T18:51:30Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, @OldCook ! Just so you are aware, you’ve resurrected an old discussion thread, which was originally started in 2010, and was last active in 2020. Terraplane, to whom you replied, hasn’t been active here for ten years. ---
**Author:** ![OldCook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@OldCook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldCook)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2025, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/34 "2025-05-15T19:19:28Z")
Thanks for the comment, I was distracted when I posted and didn’t see all the other relevant posts until it went live. I was in the process of updating my meatloaf recipe to use a new cooking method and got curious about what happened to Complement. When I googled and saw very few posts about Complement, and lots of questions about what it was, I decided to reply and for some reason didn’t see all the other posts. My apologies… ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2025, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/35 "2025-05-15T19:24:46Z")
Not a worry! “Zombie threads” happen with frequency here, especially when a new member finds a thread on a topic via a Google search, and doesn’t realize that it’s an old conversation. Mostly, I wanted to let you know why you might not get a direct reply from the person you tagged. And, now that it’s been resurrected, there might wind up being more discussion on it. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2025, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/36 "2025-05-15T19:31:54Z")
Well, I add to it! I’m old, and I’ve never heard of this stuff. My mom and dad (dad made a _much_ better meatlof) always made meatloaf from scratch. But I’m on the West Coast so maybe we never had it here? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2025, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/37 "2025-05-15T19:53:10Z")
> [@ThirdOne](#): > > Kitchen Bouquet was never in a can Right, but wasn’t there something in a light blue shaker can that was effectively starch to thicken gravy? ---
**Author:** ![Tokushizu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@Tokushizu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tokushizu)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/38 "2025-05-15T19:55:40Z")
That would be “Wondra”. > **[Wondra Quick Mixing All Purpose Flour - Gold Medal Flour](https://www.goldmedalflour.com/products/wondra-quick-mixing-all-purpose-flour)** > > Wondra Quick Mixing All Purpose Flour is ideal to thicken sauces for a lump-free, smooth mix. Learn more about this product today at Gold Medal Flour. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2025, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/39 "2025-05-15T20:04:14Z")
Best stuff ever.^^ (I have a very vague memory of the Complement stuff.) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2025, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541/40 "2025-05-15T20:04:33Z")
My mother always used Kitchen Bouquet, and I did too until I learned how to properly make gravy. It really only takes a bit of patience to get it right. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1960s-70s-cooks-what-is-was-complement/523541.md?page=3)