When I was young, mom would go in that cupboard in the wall (odd thing, next to the pantry, in the space above the ceiling over the stairs to the basement) and take out a box of Appian Way, which contained the dough mix and a can of sauce (perhaps also some parmesan, I forget). It always had sausage that had been fried up loosely and cheddar on top. I cannot remember much else that went on it.
We also always had balloon bread: frozen bread dough that got left to rise most of the day, forming big fat loaves. I had minimal exposure to grocery store bread, and even got sneered at one time in school for my sandwich being on homemade bread.
I grew up (in the sixties) eating bland food. I grew up in New York City, so of course we were aware of the existence of pizza and takeout Chinese, and we’d have it once in a while, but mostly we ate what my mother cooked for dinner. Which was almost always bland. I mean, boiled chicken? Why would you do that? And various boiled beef dishes. Hamburgers. All perfectly good food, but I was pretty much unaware as a child that there was a huge variety of tastes out there.
But coffee - I guess my parents were some kind of early adopters. They would buy whole bean coffee. Beans that couldn’t be had at the local supermarket. My father would pick up a pound or two of beans at someplace not in the neighborhood on the way home from work.
There was a real burr grinder in the kitchen, and they’d grind the beans they needed to make a pot of coffee. And then boil water and pour it over the ground coffee in a cone with a filter.
Strange that their care in the making of, and enjoyment of, coffee didn’t spill over into food.
Yes, even here in sunny California. Sure we had citrus year around, but there was a company called Mission Pack, where you’d send a box of oranges to your family or friends in some less sunny clime- and they were appreciated.
We had strawberry season- like 2 weeks, maybe a month. Lucious small berrys, got squished easy and had little shelf life. Now we have giant hard strawberries almost half the year.
I have had mexican food outside the border states, and I was not impressed. I can only imagine it in the UK.
Indeed, American food until fairly recently was bland. Over-boiled and under-spiced. I grew up on canned vegetables. Except for corn on the cob and Jersey tomatoes (which I hated until decades later), fresh vegetables were a rarity in our family. Even frozen vegetables were deemed exotic. As an adult, when I was introduced to fresh veggies, I didn’t like them at first. They seemed too colorful and crunchy. I thought vegetables were supposed to be soft, colorless and tasteless.
I believe those cheap, bland mid-to-late last century meals were influenced by the Great Depression and WWII food rationing on both sides of the pond.
Mom was a fine cook, but she (a WWII British war bride) always pinched pennies, even when they didn’t need to be pinched.
My paternal grandmother, despite the rule that grandmothers must be great cooks, was a terrible cook (except for her lemon Junket—that was bland, but excellent). Dad (who enlisted in WWII) said he was one of the few guys who actually loved army food. “It sure beats what my mother makes.”
What Nana lacked in culinary skills, she made up for in the humor department. When she felt Pop Pop was hanging onto a pair of pants too long, she’d cut off one leg and wait for him to get steamed the next time he dressed. Pop Pop was never the social butterfly Nana was and he lounged around their apartment in his underwear. When the doorbell rang he’d slip into the living room broom closet, expecting Nana to dismiss the callers quickly. But, more times than not, she’d invite them in for a long afternoon tea and cookies, while Pop Pop stewed in the closet. She was a hoot.
I’m only 48, and I remember fruit and produce having a distinct seasonality. I mean, you could always get stuff that could be stored for a long time like some citrus, potatoes, cabbage and apples, but other things like watermelons, cantaloupes, grapes, peaches, pears, tangerines and berries were always seasonal fruits- there were no Chilean grapes in March, for example.
I also recall there being a lot more variability- stuff like pineapples, coconuts rhubarb, etc… weren’t always available- they weren’t even seasonal, just occasional.
Some fruits still have a distinct seasonality, at least in the Northern Hemisphere (and for some reason aren’t imported during the rest of the year) . Try to get Concord Grapes (or other Labrusca grapes)outside of the August-October period. Pomegranates are definitely a Fall fruit. I never see them in supermarkets outside their season.
I definitely knew what a bagel was, but my frame of reference was severely warped by only knowing the shelf-stable kind from the grocery store (specifically Lenders, usually plain or on special occasions ONION! woo!)
It wasn’t until St Louis Bread Company (now Panera Bread) started expanding into our area that I experienced something … well, it’s still probably not authentic, but it was fresh and flavorful with a chewy-crispy crust and SO MUCH BETTER than the stuff at the grocery store.
So much better, in fact, that I found myself eating bagels 3x a day. Obviously I didn’t understand much about eating healthy meals back then either
Heck, I didn’t hear of eggs over easy until I was in college. When I was growing up, options for breakfast eggs were sunnyside up, over hard, scrambled, or soft-boiled. I was astonished one day when my father made poached eggs. My mother never attempted an omelet at home. Croissants were unheard of.
I’d settle for better corned beef sandwiches (Katz-like), Philly cheesesteaks and Italian hoagies.
Good Philly soft pretzels are surprising easy to make: rolled/shaped pizza dough, boiling baking soda bath X 1-min, course salt, 400°f X 14-min. Made a batch this evening. All gone.
We do have good liverwurst. That with American cheese, a thick slice of Bermuda onion and spicy mustard on a Kaiser roll is one of life’s better things.
In the 18th century, it wasn’t immigrants but English people returning from the Sub-Continent that started the addiction to Indian cuisine. A cookery book in the mid-1700s included recipes for pilau. Chicken Tikka Masala has now overtaken fish and chips as the English national dish.
omg jack in the box mystery meat tacos are something of a legend but not considered “real tavos” …no one knows what exactly there made out of and no we don’t ask but and no one says there good tacos but people scarf them down by a dozen … there the white castles of the taco world … Have you tried the “loaded” mini tacos yet?
I remember living in Indiana taco bell was Mexican food to a lot of people … then i moved back to ca and was quickly taught how wrong that is …
I grew up in a white bread, lamb chops and 3 veg town. Moving to a capital city led me to discover such exotica as garlic, pizza and even hamburgers. Never saw a zucchini in my childhood, only fish and chips, that was our take-out delicacy.
