# Truly awful haute-cuisine 60's and 70's style **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457 "2014-01-10T19:16:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/101 "2014-01-13T17:18:41Z")
At least the OP’s link leads to recipes. Lileks and the WW cards **Annie** linked to are just frustrating. (I think I have those cards somewhere here anyway, but still…) ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/102 "2014-01-13T18:26:22Z")
My mom made some kind of jello salad with walnuts and cheddar cheese and some other stuff. She just put it in a 9x13 Pyrex dish though. People liked it. I think the Jello might have been lemon. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/103 "2014-01-13T18:35:14Z")
Some day I will have to scan images from my Better Homes and Garden MEAT Cookbook from the 60’s. Edit: Never mind. [Lilek’s](http://lileks.com/institute/gallery/meat/index.html) did it already ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/104 "2014-01-13T19:25:18Z")
So much of that stuff reminds me of the after-service buffets in the ground floor of the church. Certain ladies would sneer at the bucket of KFC on the table as they put their jello, shredded-carrot, and raisin terror-salad next to it. But guess which got eaten first. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/105 "2014-01-13T19:51:47Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I have a hard time believing that these recipes were ever haute cuisine. Most of them are clearly advertisements for Best Foods and Jell-o. If you stopped to read it, they already won because the purpose isn’t to make or eat the food, but to notice the product that’s being advertised. A few recipes like that stick around (such as green bean casserole), but they’re the exception… Of course they aren’t _haute_! And the heyday began in the late 40’s, not the 60’s. Yes, many of these items were dreamt up for ads. (You can still find some questionable Kraft recipes in _Family Circle_ ads–or could, the last time I bought that magazine.) These are the dishes middle class ladies were supposed to concoct for parties–where they could impress the other middle class ladies. (I doubt the men cared for this stuff at all.) Then Julia Child happened… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/106 "2014-01-13T20:07:20Z")
#17 from that page (Chicken Confetti salad) actually _is_ in Lileks’ _Gallery of Regrettable Food_. Many of the other items look like first cousins (at least) to items in Lileks. That last mystery item, for instance, looks similar to the "Ground Beef -Horseradish Salad buried in lettuce or cabbage that appears in both Lileks’ GoRF and his _GastroAnomalies_. I have no idea why they insisted on putty blatant vegetables (peppers, carrots, radishes, broccoli, and cauliflower) in sweet, fruit-flavored Jello – it doesn’t appear to improve either the vegetables or the Jello – but they not only did in the 50s and 60s, I understand people continue to do it today, especially in the Midwest (for some reason). Seems like putting ketchup on a banana to me, but a lot of the other recipes in the OP’s link seem to come close to that sickening ideal. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/107 "2014-01-13T20:15:04Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I seem to recall some sort of jello with shredded carrots in it that may have been topped with Miracle Whip. But that could just have been a childhood nightmare. My grandma made that all the time for holidays sans Miracle Whip. > [@runner pat](#): > > [Guy Fieri eating eggs and brains](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_1Omqh2P0Y) (and almost losing it). > Too bad the uploader keeps talking over it. To be fair, Guy Fieri has said numerous times that he doesn’t like eggs so to serve him something he has never had combined with something he doesn’t like just may have pushed it a little. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/108 "2014-01-13T20:38:32Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > To be fair, Guy Fieri has said numerous times that he doesn’t like eggs so to serve him something he has never had combined with something he doesn’t like just may have pushed it a little. I know about the eggs. I’m a fan of Guy’s. It’s just that usually he tries to be diplomatic when he doesn’t like something so his reaction on the brains ‘n’ eggs was gold. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/109 "2014-01-13T20:39:56Z")
I am “proud” to announce that I have had #9. Lime Cheese Salad- many times. Many many times. I is a staple of my partner’s family’s traditions. As in, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, any other big meal. They call it simply, “Lime Jello” but the lime and jello are responsible only for the color and binding it all together as the cottage cheese and friends try their damndest to claw their way back out of your esophagus. More and more is left every year- my kids won’t even eat plain jello (not even with just fruit cocktail) as their first exposure was due to the family tradition. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/110 "2014-01-13T21:56:27Z")
The Jello mold stuff my mom made _were_ with non fruit flavors, now that I think about it. The tuna jello was a celery jello. I’m not sure if it was actual Jello brand in that flavor, or if she used something like Knox unflavoured gelatin and used boiled water from different veggies. Boil enough celery in a pot, and the water will have a celery taste. Anyone remember instructions like that? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/111 "2014-01-13T21:59:13Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > The tuna jello was a celery jello. I’m not sure if it was actual Jello brand in that flavor, or if she used something like Knox unflavoured gelatin and used boiled water from different veggies. Boil enough celery in a pot, and the water will have a celery taste. Congratulations. You have just succeeded in making it even more horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/112 "2014-01-13T22:12:55Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Congratulations. You have just succeeded in making it even more horrifying. My work here is done. My parents were Depression Era babies. You should see some of the foods they “enjoyed.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/113 "2014-01-13T22:19:32Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > My work here is done. > > My parents were Depression Era babies. You should see some of the foods they “enjoyed.” There actually was a celery-flavored Jell-o. I believe it was linked to upthread. Having Eastern European parents, savory flavored gelatins are old hat for me (and I enjoy them, although I’m not sure I would like these tuna celery Jell-O concoctions. I’m talking real meat and vegetables suspended in gelatinized meat stock. AKA “apsic.”) ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/114 "2014-01-13T22:19:43Z")
Jell-o did make celery flavoured gelatin at one time, along with a number of other savory flavors. Yummy. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/115 "2014-01-13T22:33:10Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > There actually was a celery-flavored Jell-o. I believe it was linked to upthread. Yes, it was. My internet connection is down right now. I’m posting from a dead skwirl suspended in a honeygarlic/mayonnaise gelatin. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/116 "2014-01-13T23:15:30Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I seem to recall some sort of jello with shredded carrots in it that may have been topped with Miracle Whip. But that could just have been a childhood nightmare. I was the victim of that a few times as a kid, always as a guest at somebody else’s house (my mom never did it). I always assumed it was supposed be some kind of practical joke. Dinner has been served and eaten, and now it’s time for dessert. So you plop, in front of the kid, a bowl of Jell-O topped with what, at first glance, the kid is going to naturally assume is _whipped cream_ … and then laugh sadistically at the expression on the kid’s face when he gets a big mouthful of mayonnaise/Miracle Whip. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Rahne\_McCloud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rahne\_McCloud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rahne_McCloud)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/117 "2014-01-14T06:08:18Z")
I will admit to eating a few of the offerings that have been presented, thanks to a lot of family gatherings, church gatherings and potlucks. Parents and Grand parents lived through the Depression and rationing of WWII, so they would try just about anything that was made with Jello or an easy fix meal. I remember the carrot salad, lime Jello, confetti salad, Igloo meatloaf, just about anything to do with Jello molds we had as well as the molds in copper hanging on the wall as art. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/118 "2014-01-14T07:11:05Z")
Never once had “Baked Alaska”-sounds horrifying to me. How did it ever get served in restaurants? It seems like it would be very difficult to make. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/119 "2014-01-14T07:32:27Z")
Cake and ice cream “sounds horrifying” to you? ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457/120 "2014-01-14T09:12:27Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Cake and ice cream “sounds horrifying” to you? Maybe it’s the “setting on fire” part. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-awful-haute-cuisine-60s-and-70s-style/678457.md?page=7)