History

This week we’ve been looking at the recipes and foods that defined the past decades, starting with the 60s. Today we’re tackling the 2000s. Although they wrapped up only a few years ago, it’s interesting to look back and already see a change in food trends. The 2000s were a decade of culinary contradictions: We loved fruit smoothies, organic salads, and raw diets, but we also were obsessed with cupcakes, cake pops, and the Atkins Diet.

This week we’re looking at the recipes that defined a decade from the 1960s all the way through the 00s. Today we’re talking all things 90s. Compared to other decades, it’s hard to look at food in the 90s without talking about processed snacks like Dunkaroos and Gushers. The decade was also filled with more non-fat dishes, and bougie plates of “tall food.” Of course, regardless of what you ate it was all washed down with a can of Surge or Clearly Canadian.

This week we’re talking about the recipes that defined a decade, like the Lipton onion dip of the 60s and the popularity of quiche in the 70s. Today we tackle the 1980s. Beyond incredible dance music and neon outfits, the 80s offered up some new and sometimes surprising developments, including the rise of nouvelle cuisine and the beginning of the reign of Lean Cuisine meals. But of course, no matter what you were eating you had to wash it all down with a wine cooler.

Yesterday we talked about the recipes that defined the 1960s, and today we’re delving into the popular recipes of the 70s. While some food trends stayed strong into the 1970s, like fondue, Jell-O, and really anything from a mold, new recipe contenders also stepped into the ring. There was more of an emphasis on fresh vegetables and fruit in the 70s which corresponds to the opening of Alice Water’s Chez Panisse in 1971. What are your favorite recipes from the 1970s?

Your eyes do not deceive you. The candle salad is a banana thrust vertically into a stack of pineapple rings on a bed of lettuce leaves, with a maraschino cherry toothpicked to the tip. No, this is not some naughty bachelorette party dessert; it is an actual recipe from the 1920s. A holiday recipe. Later printed in a children’s cookbook.What on earth?

Today Beatrix Potter’s very rare personal recipe book will go on sale in London. The children’s author is most famously known for creating the Peter Rabbit stories (although there are no recipes for rabbit in the book!). The 161-year-old book recipe book is full of what were most likely family recipes, probably handed down over generations, with recipes for sponge cake, roast turkey, curry, and gingerbread.

The second series of “Downton Abbey” premieres this weekend on PBS and if you’re as obsessed as we are, you might be planning your very own viewing party complete with period-appropriate food and drink. Here’s an Edwardian-era cake that we highly recommend. It includes several ingredients you probably have in your winter larder … and don’t worry, it’s much better than Mrs. Patmore’s salty pudding!

Even growing up in Southern California, as a child the only tacos I ate were made of seasoned ground beef, chopped tomato, shredded lettuce and a sprinkling of grated cheddar cheese in a crisp, yellow, U-shaped shell. When I was finally introduced to the soft, vegetable-less, cheese-free taco truck version, I realized the tacos I grew up eating were not Mexican at all. But where did the American taco originate? And what’s with the crispy shell?

Raclette is a firm, pungent cheese from Switzerland that is the center of a popular winter social event in the Alpine parts of Europe. The cheese is made of cow’s milk and is salty, and can come in variations made with wine, pepper, and herbs.The word “raclette” comes from the French word “to scrape.” Raclette makes up a simple meal that was enjoyed by shepherds in the fields.

Recently we bought a package of dried fava beans and made this delicious recipe that goes back thousands of years in Egypt.Ful medammes is a dish made of fava beans marinated in lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. The dish is a popular street food in Egypt and is traditionally served for breakfast, smeared on pita bread slices with some hard boiled eggs. It’s very flavorful and filling.Recipe:1 lb. dried fava beans3/4 clove garlic, chopped3 tbsp olive oil1/4 c. lemon juice3/4 tsp.