10 Dishes From the '60S and '70S That Vanished From History

AUTHOR: Veronica Booth

While people often talk about fashion trends from different periods, food goes through trends, too! Dinner tables in the '60s and '70s featured some peculiar and unfamiliar foods that many of us today wouldn't recognize or want a bite of. Check out ten vintage dishes, sides, and ingredients from the 1960s and 1970s that have since fallen out of fashion.

1. Creamed Vegetables

Sure, you might see creamed spinach on a menu occasionally, but creamed vegetables used to be a staple at most meals. People used to cream every veggie they could get their hands on, including carrots, broccoli, peas, corn, Brussels sprouts, and more. It was probably a decent way to get kids to eat their greens.

2. Spam

Spam hasn't necessarily vanished, but many people turn their noses up at this canned ham product nowadays. But people in the '60s and '70s used it for everything. They'd add chopped Spam to salads, and bread slices and fry them, add it to chili, mix it into peach cups, and other atrocious uses.

3. The Ladies' Special

This dish was often featured on diner menus throughout the US, and it sounds terrible. It's a meal featuring a grilled hamburger patty, a small bowl of cottage cheese with some type of canned fruit, and a sad side salad. I suspect this depressing and strange meal has something to do with the many weird diets of the time.

4. Canned Chinese Food

We should all be grateful to be living in a time free of canned lo mein. Apparently, canned Chinese food used to be the main way people enjoyed this cuisine. Everything from chow mein to orange chicken to spicy beef could be found in a can, but this unappetizing product is practically nonexistent now.

5. Liver and Onions

In the '60s and '70s, people tended to utilize more organs than we do today, and liver and onions was one of the most popular dishes. It's simply a piece of liver, grilled or sauteed, topped with caramelized onions. It looks like a steak, but it has a much softer texture and gamier flavor.

6. Aspics

Aspics were a dark time in culinary history. They're a meat jelly or savory gelatin dish that can consist of anything from oysters to ground beef to carrots to boiled eggs, all disgustingly encased in gelatin. This dish seems abhorrent, but they were common because they were a great way to use leftovers or food that was about to spoil.

7. Cheese Logs

You can sometimes find cheese balls or logs at the grocery store, but they are not nearly as popular as they once were. A zesty cheese log or flavorful cheese ball would be made of soft cheese coated in nuts or other crunchy ingredients, and people would dip crackers or bread into it. This used to be the equivalent of a cheese platter or charcuterie board at parties.

8. Ambrosia Salad

Ambrosia salad was often considered a luxury dish reserved for special occasions, as the ingredients were rather exotic and pricey. It's a "salad" typically made with canned fruit, marshmallows, cream (sour or whipped), and coconut. This strange dish has essentially been erased from American cuisine, thank goodness.

9. Fondue

Fondue is definitely still around, but in the '60s and '70s, people were positively obsessed with it. Both cheese and chocolate fondue were all the rage, and people would dunk anything they could get their hands on into the yummy goop. Nowadays, fondue is a rare treat, and most people don't own a fondue pot or plan fondue nights with their neighbors.

10. Pineapple Meatballs

Frankly, people in the '60s and '70s were all about pineapple. It's been available in the US for centuries, but an interest in Hawaiian culture in the mid-20th century made this sweet, acidic fruit wildly popular. Pineapple meatballs were a sweet and savory meal that, honestly, sounds delicious. But they would also often add pineapple to chicken and pork dishes!

Source: Quora.

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