121 Disgusting Vintage Recipes That Prove The Dishes Of The Past Were Really Bizarre

If you were suddenly transported way back in time, Pandas, how would you feel about the food? While the classics like various stews, roasted meat and veggies never truly went out of style, certain gastronomic trends from the past have the uncanny ability to turn our stomachs and put us off eating for days at a time. We’re talking, of course, about disgusting vintage recipes. Funnily enough, there’s a Facebook group that goes by that exact name.

The ‘Disgusting Vintage Recipes’ community does exactly what it says on the tin and horrifies people with some truly bizarre dishes from bygone eras. It’s a celebration of all that’s weird and strange that’s come out of the kitchen. You’re about to step through a time portal and see, sniff, and taste food like you never have before, Pandas. Banana dipped in lemon juice and garnished with anchovy? That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Listen beautiful relax classics on our Youtube channel.

Beware because what you’re about to see should never be witnessed by mortal eyes! Make sure that you’re not snacking on anything (you’ll lose your appetite, almost guaranteed) and that there are no other victims errrr people seeing you scroll through this list. Let us know which of these dishes terrified you to your very core, tell us which ones you’d be brave enough to taste, and open up about what actually seems yummy to you. We won’t judge you. Promise! Oh, and don’t forget to add some 7-Up to your milk.

Bored Panda had a friendly chat about vintage recipes and how they might make a comeback with world-famous pie artist and culinary expert Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin. “Long before social media, influencers, and mass media, food corporations had a very clever method for getting their products front and center in the minds of new consumers: the free recipe booklet. Handed out at grocery stores and arriving free in the mail, these delightfully bizarre mini books contained instructions for incorporating the ingredient in question into every meal, whether it made any damn sense or not,” she explained to us. Scroll down to learn more, Pandas!

#1

Image credits: Janice Fenk

Pie artist Jessica, the author of ‘Pies Are Awesome,’ told Bored Panda that these food corporations would even hire professional chefs to invent these “culinary desecrations.”

The chefs really did showcase pretty much everything, from “how ketchup could be incorporated into dodgy mousse desserts, how 7-Up could be used as the perfect roast ham glaze, and how gelatine could be used in, well, everything,” Jessica said.

“Presented alongside glossy illustrations of upwardly-mobile nuclear family types and swinging singles, the wacky dishes were portrayed as the height of sophisticated fare. Hot dog weenies trapped in jell-o were given dubiously lofty captions like ‘delicate sausage segments enrobed in gleaming aspic.’ Was anyone fooled? Check out the party buffets in the background of photos from your great aunties, and you tell me,” the pie artist pointed out that, yes, a lot of people were totally taken in by the marketing.

#2

Image credits: Erik Royek

#3

Image credits: Kirsty Grace

Jessica believes that these vintage recipes might once again be popular today, in 2022. So long as “the corporations were successful in manufacturing a sufficiently ‘authentic-feeling’ viral sensation around their ingredient.”

However, there’s the so-called ‘half-life’ of these fads to consider. Things are changing far more rapidly these days in the past. This also applies to trends.

“Because of the speed with which information is disseminated today, we tend to get bored of trends far more quickly than we did before social media took over our lives. But that also means that we are hungry (pun intended) for an ever-accelerating stream of new food fads… Keep your eyes peeled for that ‘gleaming aspic’ on a table near you soon—it’s making a comeback!” the culinary expert shared her thoughts about a possible future where vintage recipes leap from the page and into our kitchens.

#4

Image credits: Erik Royek

#5

Image credits: Catherine Guidry Pilie

Listen beautiful relax classics on our Youtube channel.

#6

Image credits: Levlovelev Bklyn

Jessica told Bored Panda that as a society, we go through phases, and everything that’s old is new again. “One month, giant glitter-covered cupcakes with frosting piled to the ceiling are all the rage. The next, carbs and artificial colors are ‘out’ and growing your own hydroponic lettuce in your kitchen is the de rigueur pastime,” she said.

“The one thing that will never go out of style? Redefining ourselves by making fun of the things we used to think were cool!”

The ‘Disgusting Vintage Recipes’ Facebook group has grown to 66.5k members in the 3+ years since its founding in the early spring of 2019. In that time, the members of the community terrified and amazed each other with some real gastronomic gems. Gems that probably should never have been unearthed and stayed firmly in history.

#7

Image credits: Patsy Bauer

#8

Image credits: Lydia Kaplan

#9

Image credits: Catherine Guidry Pilie

At the same time, no matter how disgusting the pics might look, they’re also utterly fascinating. These aren’t just random recipes: some people used to make these dishes. They’d be served at parties to impress and wow the crowd. And it’s got us thinking a lot about what current recipes might look utterly alien to folks from the future, a few decades from now.

The ‘Disgusting Vintage Recipes’ community only has a few rules that its members need to abide by. Rule number one: the food posted in the group has to be disgusting. That one’s pretty straightforward, isn’t it, Pandas? The content has to match the mission of the group.

#10

Image credits: Faith Aye

#11

Image credits: Evan Scott

#12

Image credits: Shari Hoggart

What’s more, the food has to be vintage. So you shouldn’t be posting about bizarre current trends (though they might really be super weird). Focus on the past, ignore what’s recent.

Members of the community are also asked to be kind to each other. There should be no discussions about politics, current events, or anything that might cause an argument. Moreover, there’s absolutely no tolerance for bigotry or racism.

#13

Image credits: Erik Royek

#14

Image credits: Suzanne Harman

#15

Image credits: Contessa Bathory

Something else to keep in mind is the context of a particular dish. For instance, if something’s still eaten to this very day, it doesn’t count as a disgusting vintage recipe.

A while ago, Professor Nathalie Cooke, from McGill University, explained to Bored Panda that dishes may look very peculiar to us as we move from decade to decade. However! Actually tasting these dishes would reveal that many of them have flavor profiles that we’re familiar with in the present day.

#16

Image credits: Tobi McCullough

#17

Image credits: Stephanie Chapman

#18

Image credits: Erik Royek

“The taste combinations—savory and sweet (tuna waffles, ham and bananas) or sweet and sour (mayo with lime) are surely very familiar,” she explained to us that really bizarre food combos can taste well, once we get past the psychological ‘ick’ factor.

#19

Image credits: Janice Fenk

#20

Image credits: Harry Graves

#21

Image credits: Melanie Sisoyev

Professor Cooke, from McGill University, noted that some gastronomic trends were actually driven by “corporate marketing departments.” In short, some recipes didn’t arise naturally, there was manufactured hype.

Of course, what this means is that this type of marketing led to some really weird food combinations, like main courses having marshmallows in them. Something that seems really bizarre (and frightening) to us in 2022. Well, at least, to most of us… we hope.

#22

Image credits: Erik Royek

#23

Image credits: Lydia Kaplan

#24

Image credits: Brian Ross

In our previous interview, Bored Panda asked the professor to share her thoughts on what the future might hold for food. Here’s what she had to say: “Perhaps that we try to ‘eat’ food without any taste at all—in the form of vitamin pills? Or drink it—in the form of smoothies? That we replicate the animal kingdom and encourage children to consume it—as gummy bears, cracker fishes, dinosaur eggs in oatmeal? That we continue to be mystified by the miracle of bread and milk?”

#25

Image credits: Andrew Calabrese

#26

#27

Image credits: Erik Royek

So, dear Pandas, which of these recipes scared you the most? Have you actually tried any of these before at a party or an event before? Which dishes look the most and least appetizing to you? Share your thoughts with us and all the other Readers in the comments! Oh, and let us know what you’re having for dinner tonight. Please tell us it’s not salmon avocado mold!

#28

Image credits: Harry Graves

#29

Image credits: Michelle Sanchez Downie

#30

Image credits: Erik Royek

#31

Image credits: Anne Tanner

#32

Image credits: Lydia Kaplan

#33

Image credits: Erik Royek

#34

Image credits: Lydia Kaplan

#35

Image credits: Erik Royek

#36

Image credits: Erik Royek

#37

Image credits: Lydia Kaplan

#38

Image credits: Lydia Kaplan

#39

Image credits: Kevan Mericle

#40

Image credits: Abigail Andrew

#41

Image credits: Evan Scott

#42

Image credits: Katy Monthei

#43

Image credits: Erik Royek

#44

Image credits: Erik Royek

#45

Image credits: Erik Royek

#46

Image credits: Stephanie Chapman

#47

Image credits: Andrew Calabrese

#48

Image credits: Levlovelev Bklyn

#49

Image credits: Erik Royek

#50

Image credits: Tobi McCullough

#51

Image credits: Brenda Mullinix

#52

Image credits: Lauren Firnstein

#53

Image credits: Lydia Kaplan

#54

Image credits: Andrew Calabrese

#55

Image credits: Nancy Adams

#56

Image credits: Harry Graves

#57

Image credits: Stephanie Chapman

#58

Image credits: Diana Hoffman

#59

Image credits: Christine Hodgson

#60

Image credits: Harry Graves

#61

Image credits: Lydia Kaplan

#62

Image credits: Andrew Calabrese

#63

Image credits: Erik Royek

#64

Image credits: Kathleen Enloe Athy

#65

Image credits: Stephanie Chapman

#66

Image credits: Brenda Mullinix

#67

Image credits: Gwen Hansson

#68

Image credits: Stephanie Chapman

#69

Image credits: Nesheda Caldero

#70

Image credits: Lydia Kaplan

#71

Image credits: Stephanie Chapman

#72

Image credits: Chanté Tyson

#73

Image credits: Paul Christianson

#74

Image credits: Benjamin Zelman

#75

Image credits: Jessica Ballester Nieves

#76

Image credits: Erik Royek

#77

Image credits: Robyn Valenzuela

#78

Image credits: Erik Royek

#79

Image credits: Scott Brandie Miller-MacArthur

#80

Image credits: Lori Nielsen

#81

Image credits: Lydia Kaplan

#82

Image credits: Lydia Kaplan

#83

Image credits: Erik Royek

#84

Image credits: Brenda Mullinix

#85

Image credits: Erik Royek

#86

Image credits: Erik Royek

#87

Image credits: Erik Royek

#88

Image credits: Lee Barnard

#89

Image credits: Tobi McCullough

#90

Image credits: Chanté Tyson

#91

#92

#93

Image credits: Erik Royek

#94

Image credits: Tobi McCullough

#95

Image credits: Anne Tanner

#96

Image credits: Erik Royek

#97

Image credits: Lee Barnard

#98

Image credits: Tobi McCullough

#99

Image credits: Erik Royek

#100

Image credits: Erik Royek

#101

Image credits: Rivers Peterson

#102

Image credits: Jen Floberg

#103

Image credits: Jenny Runyon Selle

#104

Image credits: Martin Refsal

#105

Image credits: Erik Royek

#106

Image credits: Ilyana Kawena

#107

Image credits: Carolynne Angy

#108

Image credits: Erik Royek

#109

Image credits: Suzanne Harman

#110

Image credits: Carol Stephens

#111

Image credits: Vilma Itäniemi

#112

Image credits: Erik Royek

#113

Image credits: Lori Biletnikoff

#114

Image credits: Lydia Kaplan

#115

Image credits: Patti Milheron

#116

Image credits: Jen Zatoth

#117

#118

Image credits: Roxanne Orman Luckman

#119

Image credits: Erik Royek

#120

Image credits: Lydia Kaplan

#121

Image credits: Russell Helton

Source: boredpanda.com

No votes yet.
Please wait...
Loading...