# Your favorite retro/forgotten/by-gone foods **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [January 4, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611 "2024-01-04T21:56:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/41 "2024-01-05T22:42:58Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Reptiles in general taste a lot like chicken, just more rubbery. Since turtles are aquatic, I suspect they have a hint of fish too, like amphibians. The first time I tried frogs’ legs, I was surprised at just how fishy they were. I had always been told they taste like chicken, just a lot more expensive. Have you tried any reptiles? You cite only tasting an amphibian. I found frogs to be rather chickeny myself, with no real fishy element. Whereas my experience with eating turtle is very different from my experiences with eating other reptiles. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/42 "2024-01-05T22:43:05Z")
Huh. I’ll have to give turtle a try sometime. Does alligator/crocodile taste like beef too? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/43 "2024-01-05T22:44:08Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Does alligator/crocodile taste like beef too? Alligator was like fishy beef, not my ideal combination. But it wasn’t a great cut, just some gator bites and bits. I want to try a decent cut done by a decent chef sometime. Rattlesnake actually made me think of rabbit. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/44 "2024-01-05T22:49:32Z")
Rabbit I’ve had. Don’t think I’ve tried reptile yet. I’ve just always heard it tastes like chicken, which makes sense in light of their common ancestry. Some chili recipes include rattlesnake, which I’d like to try sometime. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/45 "2024-01-05T22:52:35Z")
Never had turtle soup; doesn’t sound too appetizing. I just listed it as an example of a restaurant meal no longer widely available. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/46 "2024-01-05T23:54:48Z")
The one time I had rattlesnake, it was battered and fried, so it tasted like chicken to me. It had a lot of bone, and not much meat, so it’s not something I would seek out on a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/47 "2024-01-06T05:28:26Z")
@WildaBeast I’ve always wanted to eat at the Russian Tea Room and haven’t been to a Carnegie Hall concert in years, so should try for that combo in the not-too-distant future, especially since I live less than an hour away from there. I just looked at the menu of my favorite Ukranian restaurant in Manhattan and they don’t have Chicken Kiev. @Thudlow_Boink I’ve had the frozen Chicken Kiev and it’s OK, but I’d like to see what a good restaurant can do with it. I love fondue and haven’t had it in years either, should look for it at Trader Joe’s. As for Chicken a la King, my mom taught me how to make it when I was 12. As an adult I used to make it for parties, served in toast baskets, but haven’t done it in 20+ years. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/48 "2024-01-06T06:29:24Z")
Chicken Kiev is easy to make. Graham Kerr, the Galloping Gourmet, walked viewers through the process on his TV show back in 1969 or thereabouts. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/49 "2024-01-06T06:48:06Z")
I made bread pudding at the cafe where I was a baker. It was so easy. If we had not sold all of our cinnamon rolls or sticky buns I chopped them up and froze them until I had enough for a pan. Mixed egg and milk was all I needed to add because the sweetness of the dough, the nuts, cinnamon and sticky stuff was already in it. Pop it in a greased pan, bake it and voila! ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/50 "2024-01-06T07:14:48Z")
Pureed peas apparently used to be an elegant side dish in fine hotels (sorry, don’t have a cite handy, although I know that’s what I’ve read). It makes sense, in a pre-blender/food processor era. Running large quantities of peas through a strainer to make a puree would be labor and time intensive, not something for the home cook to make in the blink of an eye. So, a luxury item in the past. Now, the peas are a piece of cake, so to speak. I recently made them by throwing a bag of frozen peas into boiling water, and putting the fully cooked results into the food processor with lots of butter, some salt, and some seasoning. The result was both extremely easy and delicious. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/51 "2024-01-06T07:47:40Z")
> [@Neidhart](#): > > Turtle soup. A stereotypical “rich people food” from ca. 1900. Nobody makes it any more. There’s a damn good reason for that as most sea turtles are endangered. However, some places make it with snapping turtle, etc. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > How does this taste? I had some sea turtle soup in Mexico in the 1970s in a small fishing village on the Sea of Cortez. They dont go after turtles but if one is caught and it is dead- they eat it, since they need the food (hand to mouth living, we gave them most of our catch, saving one Mahimahi per day for us). Their soup was Mexican style in a large war surplus kettle. The meat tasted kinda like beef. What I miss is those good Shrimp cocktails, with huge jumbo shrimp. > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Have you tried any reptiles? Rattlesnake does taste a little like chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Deanna\_D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@Deanna\_D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deanna_D)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/52 "2024-01-06T08:04:37Z")
OMG, I remember those! Now I kinda want some, because I need to know if grown-up me (who has actual cooking skills now) would still enjoy them. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/53 "2024-01-06T08:17:44Z")
If you deploy with US forces, it’s initially MREs (Meals Ready to Eat). As things get more permanent with a mobile field kitchen and cooks; you graduate to T-Rats (tray rations) for at least the evening meal. Pre-package/cooked trays with multiple servings. Chicken Cordon Bleu is a staple (and well liked after the MRE diet). ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/54 "2024-01-06T08:32:45Z")
The grocery store I work at carries frozen chicken cordon bleu. We don’t carry the chicken Kiev from the same brand, but other stores in town do. Stouffer’s still sells a frozen creamed chipped beef. You have to supply your own toast. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2024, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/55 "2024-01-06T13:15:31Z")
Regarding reptiles, I’ve had stewed iguana several times in the Caribbean. They catch a wild iguana off the beach, gut and skin it, chop it up and stew it in a sauce. There’s very little meat, You have to gnaw it off the little bones. It tastes like disappointment. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/56 "2024-01-06T16:13:22Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Now, the peas are a piece of cake, so to speak. I recently made them by throwing a bag of frozen peas into boiling water, and putting the fully cooked results into the food processor with lots of butter, some salt, and some seasoning. The result was both extremely easy and delicious. I have two cans of these in my pantry, plus a couple of boxes of the dried kind. [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSwHNk-l8wiJ6l5ZSXhbttBkPbkMrCqOZ59c67y9_c9Yx-ACjBBJha22r84RrISf84tTz0&usqp=CAU) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSwHNk-l8wiJ6l5ZSXhbttBkPbkMrCqOZ59c67y9_c9Yx-ACjBBJha22r84RrISf84tTz0&usqp=CAU) ---
**Author:** ![TXRebel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6de8d8/32.png) [@TXRebel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TXRebel)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/57 "2024-01-06T16:19:52Z")
We get it regularly at little cafes down here in the south. I eat liver & onions with bacon just about every other week. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/58 "2024-01-06T16:25:43Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The grocery store I work at carries frozen chicken cordon bleu. We don’t carry the chicken Kiev from the same brand, but other stores in town do. The local Food Basics has the cordon bleu with ham and Swiss cheese, cheddar cheese and broccoli, and cheddar cheese and bacon. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/59 "2024-01-06T16:42:58Z")
Other than Stouffer’s [frozen version](https://www.goodnes.com/stouffers/products/turkey-tetrazzini/), I’ve never seen turkey tetrazzini anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611/60 "2024-01-06T16:52:27Z")
You are obviously not stationed at Pituffik AFB Greenland. > **[Buy Cold Weather MRE #4 -Turkey Tetrazzini](https://epidemicproof.com/products/2022-cold-weather-mre-meal-4-turkey-tetrazzini)** > > MCW Menu 4 -Turkey Tetrazzini: Turkey Tetrazzini (diced turkey, mushrooms, asparagus and spaghetti noodles in an awesome savory sauce.) Crackers, Chocolate Peanut Spread, Chocolate First Strike Bar, Mocha Cappuccino Drink Powder, Tropical Punch Drink... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-retro-forgotten-by-gone-foods/995611.md?page=4)