Mead.
Although it’s still around, it has become a “boutique” beverage, drunk for the novelty of it. My understanding is that it used to be THE alcoholic beverage in the Middle Ages.
My wife’s family is a major importer/distributor of gourmet foods including about 2000 kinds of cheese. They supply all of the stores that you listed and you are correct that they don’t carry. I aksed her about Limburger a few months ago because I have never had it and she has never tried it either dispite having tried every other cheese on earth. They do carry it but it only sells a few cases a week to entire U.S. market. It exist but good luck finding it. OTOH, I was watching Our Gang from the 1930’s a few weeks ago and they had Limburger as a gag in some of their episodes so people really did have it around decades ago.
Mutton - lamb is easy to find but I dare anyone to find it in the U.S. It must exist somewhere but I have never seen it. They still eat it in Europe however.
So they don’t have Melting Pot restaurants where you are? We have several in the DC area, where you can dip bread, chips, and apple slices in melted cheese for an appetizer, then dip meat or seafood and a variety of veggies in hot oil or a bullion of your choice for a main course, then dip strawberries, banana slices, marshmellows and cheesecake in chocolate for dessert. Everybody I’ve taken there, from little kids to my aged parents, loves it.
We have a couple of Melting Pots out here. They sure are proud of their pots. It’s hard to get out of there for less than $50/person and you cook your own food.
Limburger cheese is readily available – I’ve bought it at Wegman’s for my
Dad, who loves it. Maybe you are looking in the wrong part of the store? It comes in a small glass jar, and is not with the specialty cheeses, but on the refrigerated shelves near the cream cheese, yoghurt, and other similar items. It does smell, but it is also tasty.
Oh yes! My mum used to make something similar. I’ll need to ask for her recipe and give it a go. Mmmmmm.
Fondue has been back in favor in the US in recent years. Not only cheese fondue, but also chocolate fondue, and meat fondue (dunked into hot oil). Just purely for the fun of it, best in cold weather, after playing in the snow.
And grilled veggies are just normal, standard food, especially in the summer. Not particularly yuppie, either. Grilled eggplant, onions, tomatoes, and peppers very common in Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Mexican cooking. (Maybe not the eggplant in the latter, but still.)
edit – whoops, others posted while I was writing this.
It must depend on location. Both oxtails and tongue are readily available here. The supermarket half a block from my house always has both in their meat section. It is not a specialty supermarket, but it does tend to cater to ethnic populations. Growing up, the regular supermarkets (Jewel and Dominick’s) usually had both, as well, although I do not know whether this is still the case, as I don’t buy my meats there anymore.
Oxtails are, by the way, simply awesome–the essence of pure, beefy goodness. Tongue isn’t bad, either, and you can hardly find a taco stand in my neighborhood that does not offer up tacos de lengua.
Go to many of the Polish groceries around here and you’ll find galareta which is very similar to the Hungarian kocsonya (I’m assuming by your screen name that you’re familiar with Hungarian.)
When I was a Shriner, a big moment in the annual luau was when four men carried in the roasted hog’s head on a litter, to the applause of all the diners. The rest of the hog was already on the table, having cooked all day over a fire pit. The head was surrounded by sliced pineapple, and an apple was in its mouth. Nobody ever ate any of it, though. I’ve heard that hog cheek meat is as delightful as the best conventional meats on a hog, but I’ve never eaten it.
After the discovery of Grumpy Ox Disease, we’ve all been warned off eating the brain and spinal cord tissue of cattle. Sheep, too, I suppose. I’m surprised that anyone is still eating ox tail dishes. I’m not put off by any “ick” factor. I just don’t understand how the medical taboo on spinal tissue doesn’t extend to the tail.
I tried turkey giblets once, but the melted plastic was hard to chew. 
Ivylad and I went there for our anniversary. There was also an odor of frying oil in the air…rather expected I suppose, but a bit off-putting for what is supposed to be an upscale restaurant.
I would have liked temperature gauges on the fondue forks as well…it was a bit dark, and I couldn’t really tell all the time if the meat was fully cooked. That, plus you tend to overeat because by God, if it’s costing me $80/person for this three course meal, I can’t let any of it go to waste.
It was fun, but I doubt we’ll go back.
Well, I could be ‘misremembering’ things…but I recall grilled veggies being especially trendy mid-80s, then getting slammed as ‘yuppie fodder’ towards the end of the decade. But the same thing happened to sushi, and that’s still pretty popular so, I take it back.
In place of that, how about wine coolers? Remember them? Hated them then, was glad when they became a thing of the past. And then there’s Zima! Remember that?
That’s odd - I just saw it at my local Whole Foods.
Good call. You never even see Mock Turtle Soup anymore. Are all the mock turtles extinct?
I was going to come in and mention wine coolers until I saw the OP was more about recipes than food trends in the supermarket. But man, when I was in college California Coolers were all the rage and you could buy them in tons of flavors and colors. Girlie drinks! I looked a couple years ago to see if any survived the '80s; apparently not.
The other thing I loved that was all the rage was sorbet. Frozen fruit! It was delish and now you can find tiny tubs of it for like $2 a pint. I freeze smoothies and it’s kind the same, but I really loved sorbet.
Bwahahaha!
I ain’t eatin’ it.
(Madeline Kahn/on) No tongue, darling!!! (Madeline Kahn/off)
Wine coolers & Zima…just what all of the teenage alkies at my high school and college drank because they couldn’t afford the harder stuff or tolerate it for that matter.
Me, when I was a drinkin’ gal, I went right for Stoli. Yup, yup, yup…and if that wasn’t available, it was Jagermeister. Boy I miss those days sometimes.