Friday, February 11

1985 and American cuisine

Looking back



As I have mentioned in earlier posts, moving to the US in the mid 80's was quite a shocker, no less so when it came to food. We went from the open-air markets of Lima, to a world of processed food and chain restaurants. Yes, it was the era of Ronald Regan and Princess Di, MS-DOS and IBM, McDonald playgrounds (the first PlayPlace was opened in 1986) and the microwave. There were good things, and there were bad.

The surplus and decadence of the decade fed the growing popularity of nouvelle cuisine, spurred the rise of TV food stars, and allowed the slow food movement to bloom.  It was also an era that marked the growing influence of fast food.  In that decade the first Olive Garden opened, Chili's went national, and Denny's, Red Lobster, and Roy Rogers (to name just a few) reached their height as fast-food franchises.

But what of the American home-cook?

A few years ago, getting off work in the Meatpacking district, I came upon a discarded cookbook.  It was the 50 year anniversary edition of the Culinary Arts Institute, printed in 1985, including over 4,000 "kitchen-tested recipes from all over the world".  After looking through it several times, and testing some of these "kitchen tested" recipes, these are the conclusions I've come to:

Ring Molds

Beermato Aspic: not technically a ring mold



Apparently ring molds were very popular in the 80's.  Recipes ranged from cheese mousses to Beermato Molds (yes - you got it - a beer and tomato jelly mold). I find these retro shots somewhat amusing, if not necessarily mouthwatering.

Ham mold....what?










Beef, Pork and Sausages

Lots of meat, all the time.  My particular favorite is the Potato Volcano - which is actually found in the vegetable section of the book. The recipe is included below should you wish to test it.  Personally, I couldn't convince anyone - not even Jeremy or Mike - to swear that they would taste it in the hypothetical chance that I made it at home.


An explosion of bacon and sausage!

Fish Preperation





Fish prep was heavy handed and most of the recipes call for some kind of white fish either baked, broiled, grilled whole (as seen above) or in some kind of stew.  Forget pan-seared steaks like tuna. Forget tuna for that matter.

Hungry yet?

I'm also thinking that cooks in the 80's must have had quite a penchant for Basquiat.  Is it just me, or is there an eerie similarity going on here?


The Microwave



By 1986, 25% of households in the U.S. owned a microwave oven.  It was at this time that cookbooks started to include sections on microwave cooking. This edition of the Culinary Arts Institute offers a section "of special interest to microwave owners:" recipes from "appetizers to beverages" to make "your oven especially useful."

Who knew that fish could be done in the microwave?
Baking

Ahh the Doll Cake, what birthday party would have been complete without it?






Apparently there was a lot of baking and it wasn't that bad (doll cakes included).  The book has a huge array of breads, pies, cakes and more (in fact, a third of the book - that's some 250 something pages out of 790 - is dedicated to baked goods and desserts), some of them with beautifully kitsch photographs. 


All in all, I'd like to think that the 1980's were the start of something new.  Thirty years on we've acquired foodies, food blogs, Top Chef, the Naked Chef (yes, please!) and a first lady that champions healthy and fresh eating. We worry about the health of our children as childhood obesity becomes a growing concern, but I have to believe that we are on the road to an era of more educated consumers and cooks.

Mmmm, peach pie.

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