# "Exotic" foods from your childhood that are common now **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [October 9, 2020, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539 "2020-10-09T02:33:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/202 "2020-10-29T04:13:36Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > You mean like this? [https://www.chabad.org/recipes/recipe\_cdo/aid/4520/jewish/Salmon-Steaks.htm](https://www.chabad.org/recipes/recipe_cdo/aid/4520/jewish/Salmon-Steaks.htm) > > I see both this and filets all the time. Yes, that. After further thought, maybe I don’t see them just because of the stores I shop at. I buy the majority of my fish from Trader Joe’s. I haven’t looked at the seafood case at a regular grocery store in a long time. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/203 "2020-10-29T10:49:44Z")
I was 62 years old the first time I had monkfish (aka poor man’s lobster) and it was fantastic. I’d never seen it on a menu or in the supermarket. It was a local restaurant’s special, the owner strongly recommended it, and it was sooooo good. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/204 "2020-10-29T16:55:06Z")
Some “french” cook got her [hands on a whole](http://img.timeinc.net/time/photoessays/2009/julia_child/julia_child_08.jpg) monkfish. Not a pretty sight. Mostly they just cut off the tail and throw the rest back in the water. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/205 "2020-10-29T17:02:59Z")
Monkfish is delicious. But you do not see it often in Canadian grocery stores. Any good Spanish cookbook has good recipes. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/206 "2020-10-29T17:07:46Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Unless Chili’s has changed dramatically (I probably haven’t been to one in over a decade), I’ve never thought of them as a “burger place”. Yes, they have some burgers on the menu, but that’s not really what you go there for. The flagship items that they promote are the ribs and the fajitas. And I’d often get a grilled chicken dish there. I probably have had their burgers a few times when I used to go there, but as I recall the majority of their menu was stuff other than burgers. I always thought Chili’s was a sort of pseudo Tex-Mex place with some other American items on the menu (like the rib They started out as a burger place in Dallas in the 1970s. By the time I worked at one in 1989, there were like a dozen different kinds of burgers on the menu, along with fajitas (which were relatively new), a handful of salads, ribs, and a couple of chicken dishes- Monterey chicken and grilled chicken sandwich. The only Tex-Mex things on the menu were chicken tacos, fajitas and chips & queso. Over time, they expanded the non-burger options, but in the past couple of years, they’ve pared it back somewhat; they’re more of a general restaurant now, but they’re closer to a burger joint than a Tex-Mex restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/207 "2020-10-30T14:08:44Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I grew up in the PNW and most of our dinners were some form of beef or pork. Chicken was not exotic, per se, but it was a rather small part of the rotation. SoCal for me but similar story. Although my parents grew up in Chicago, so there may be some Midwest influence on Mom’s meal choices. 4 beef, 2 pork, one “other” per week was probably the average. Where “other” might be pasta or might be chicken or might be fish. Or leftovers. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/208 "2020-10-30T14:18:37Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Where “other” might be pasta or might be chicken or might be fish. Did your mom make the baked macaroni in the casserole dish with breadcrumbs on top? My mom tells of roving gangs of schoolchildren at lunchtime seeking out the house where they could get the macaroni. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/209 "2020-10-31T02:03:18Z")
Growing up mostly in the 70’s, and being working-class small-town Midwesterners\*: 1. Any cheese other than American. Fancy stuff like Swiss and Cheddar only came out at Holidays. Gouda? Brie? Fuhgeddaboudit. 2. Beer. Anheuser Busch products predominated, but also saw a LOT of competition from Miller, Schlitz, PBR, Old Milwaukee, Olympia, etc. Actual Imports were few and far between. For the longest time, Heineken was it for “foreign beer.” 3. Any fowl other than chicken, with the exception of turkey at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Turkey outside of Thanksgiving and Christmas (like, say, deli-slice turkey for sandwiches) was looked upon as weird, or that you were putting on sow-fistic-ayted airs. Considering the number of post-holiday turkey sandwiches that got eaten, this has always baffled me. 4. Just about any ethnic foods. Tacos and Chop Suey (from a can, bought at the grocery store) were about it. Pizza/Italian had already been assimilated as “American” even in my hick town, provided you only wanted some kind of red sauce on your pasta. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/210 "2020-10-31T02:10:27Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Any fowl other than chicken, with the exception of turkey at Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is still exotic for me- I have eaten duck one time, ever. Because I actually saw it in the grocery store. Normally, chicken and turkey is all that is available as fowl. Oh, and cornish hens, frozen. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/211 "2020-10-31T02:15:26Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > I have eaten duck one time, ever Oh, man, we were in Traverse City where, at the time, the best place to eat in town appeared to be the one with trophies adorning the walls and a rowboat on the ceiling. I ordered the duck breast medallions. They were like eating little pieces of beef fat swimming in gravy. Not an experience I wish to repeat. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/212 "2020-10-31T02:35:56Z")
> [@Mirtha](#): > > In the 60’s, midwest, main courses were steak, liver, tongue, hamburger, ham - then on some Sunday, there’d be this meat, breaded and fried, called fried chicken. It felt exotic to a kid. in Indiana, in the early 80s, it was the same but tongue never and liver occasionally with things like biscuits n gravy and spaghetti hamburger helper, etc ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/213 "2020-10-31T16:11:10Z")
calamari ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/214 "2020-10-31T16:14:45Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > > [@ExTank](#): > > > > Any fowl other than chicken, with the exception of turkey at Thanksgiving and Christmas. > > This is still exotic for me- I have eaten duck one time, ever. Because I actually saw it in the grocery store. Normally, chicken and turkey is all that is available as fowl. Oh, and cornish hens, frozen. I grew up on Long Island in the 60s, so duck was pretty common. But other than that, it was turkey on Thanksgiving and chicken. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/215 "2020-11-03T16:34:17Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > I have eaten duck one time, ever. Because I actually saw it in the grocery store. Normally, chicken and turkey is all that is available as fowl. Oh, and cornish hens, frozen. I remember the frozen Cornish hens once in a while. My brother thought they were neat, kind of like a mini-pizza. We had goose once for Christmas. It was tasty enough but the grease played havoc in the oven – long before they were self-cleaning. Mom swore never again. > [@eschereal](#): > > I ordered the duck breast medallions. They were like eating little pieces of beef fat swimming in gravy. Not an experience I wish to repeat. Midwestern preparation. 🙂 I’ve had it a couple times in French restaurants and they know how to render the fat properly. The last time it was a ‘half duck.’ The breast was served intact with a sauce (not l’Orange) and the thigh and leg meat had been made into a sausage. It was very tasty. When we were wed, my father offered to pay for the rehearsal dinner. We went to the good Cantonese restaurant in town to plan a feast and, since it a couple weeks ahead of time, included the Peking duck. The point was the crispy skin. The meat was almost an afterthought, with hoisin sauce and wrapped in mu shu pancakes. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/216 "2020-11-03T17:02:43Z")
One of my dining rules of thumb is “Never pass up an opportunity to eat a duck.” It’s on the menu of wherever I’m eating so rarely that whenever it is, that’s what I’ll order. I’ve never, not even in the culinarily dubious Midwest, had a duckly disaster such as @eschereal reports. To me it’s like if you start with light meat chicken, then move to dark meat chicken, then keep going the same direction about 3x as far. Lots of flavor, lots of interest, lots of mouth feel. Great stuff. ---
**Author:** ![mtnmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@mtnmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtnmatt)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/217 "2020-11-03T19:58:00Z")
I was on an Air Canada flight from Tel Aviv to Toronto, business class, and the main meal was goose. My mom had tried serving goose for Christmas many years ago and I didn’t like it then. Thinking about the meals having already crossed the ocean once, and then sitting on the tarmac in IL, didn’t make me more inclined to try it as an airline meal. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/218 "2020-11-15T07:11:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > One of my dining rules of thumb is “Never pass up an opportunity to eat a duck.” Try duck fat fries. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/219 "2020-11-15T18:11:12Z")
I had chef Damon’s duck egg creme brûlée and damn was that a good dessert. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2020, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/220 "2020-11-16T02:21:50Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike1](#): > > They served fresh slices of grilled lamb (not the weird pressed stuff you get today I think that means they served souvlaki (‘skewer’), not gyros. IANAG. ``` Savor, savor, savor more souvlaki, Nowadays you got more choice than grandpa ever had ... Now I'm not saying you ou -ought ter, but maybe you could walk on wa -ater, if you savor, savor, savor more souvlaki ``` Aus song from the 70’s, not found on youtube. From back when souvlaki was grilled lamb. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539/221 "2020-11-17T08:03:31Z")
actually, monkfish is key ingredient in Bouillabaisse [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exotic-foods-from-your-childhood-that-are-common-now/922539.md?page=10)