Depression-Era Foods That Are Weirdly Making A Comeback

foods that were once popular in the great depression are making a comeback in 2020 as bear store shelves and panic buying have forced people to get creative in the kitchen here are some of the depression-era foods like meatloaf that are weirdly returning to many american dinner tables dinner couldn't get simpler than old-fashioned baked beans beans are low-cost filling and can be bought in bulk baked beans are also super easy to make on the stovetop navy beans are a staple at barbecues but are great year-round when you're looking for a simple home-cooked meal celebrate boston explains baked beans go back as far as the first pilgrims cook the night before the sabbath to avoid cooking on the holy day the secret to truly flavorful 1930s boston-style baked beans is the addition of bacon honey and molasses the beans aren't fussy so you can soak your own and start from scratch or use canned beans you can even put your own spin on the depression-era food if you don't have the sweeteners or if you run out of bacon or fat back you can add spices such as cayenne or splash of beer or you can add hot dogs in the 1930s vegetable stand started offering the depression sandwich a hot frankfurter on a roll with fries and a rotating selection of vegetables on top this working class hot dog also made its way onto dinner plates at home as a cheap meat that many could afford at the local butcher home cooks paired weiners and beans as a hearty meal that could flavor the meat and fill up the whole family mixing in vegetables seasonings and onions are also easy ways to stretch out the humble hot dogs into a more filling main dish chocolate cake from the depression era might have pared down ingredients but it doesn't skimp on flavor recipes were close to what many chefs have recently embraced as vegan variations ann arbor news explains that milk eggs and butter were scarce or rationed in the depression so home cooks became inventive this time around i know what i'm fighting for oh yeah what's that jimmy milk the today show spoke to culinary expert tracy wilke about how many cakes that originated during the era such as red velvet used oil instead of butter to stay cost-effective in a typical recipe butter keeps cake soft and tender thanks to its fat content this prevents the gluten and flour from making the dessert tough in this wacky variation on chocolate cake vegetable oil is often recommended but any neutral oil will work as a butter substitute the oil doesn't need to be refrigerated and is dairy free this cake recipe also removes the eggs which normally serve as an agent to make the cake rise and take shape instead of eggs the wacky cake uses a combination of vinegar and baking soda to cause a volcano effect the idea to use graham crackers for pie crust during the great depression was partially because of nabisco's marketing efforts wbur reports that presbyterian minister sylvester graham educated the public about the importance of fiber and unprocessed grains in the 19th century graham railed against the evils of bakers using white sugar and whole wheat he felt food should be homemade not mass-produced in response bakers in boston started making cracker-shaped cookies they called graham crackers the minister surely would have hated these treats for their processed ingredients and commercial producers the same boston bakers formed a coalition that would one day become the national biscuit company known today as nabisco to avoid a drop in sales during the great depression nabisco created newspaper ads disguised as editorials they called cracker cookery claiming science proved the health value of the crackers the ad showed the crackers could be used as a cheap and simple pie crust made without flour sugar or rolling pin depression-era bakers around the country updated key lime pie and cheesecake recipes among others to be made with graham cracker crusts and many bakers still turn to those recipes today baking bread during the 2020 quarantine has become a social media phenomenon for those who could find the ingredients anyway for many finding yeast was a fool's errand as shelves were emptied from panic buying delish reported online searches for useless bread recipes went up by a factor of 44 and phrases like no egg cake recipe and canned ham recipes started trending worldwide a depression era quick bread recipe using peanut butter and no yeast originally appeared in the five roses cookbook from a canadian flower company in 1932 that peanut butter bread resurfaced during the pandemic on reddit as some people found they had more time to play at home in the kitchen quick breads lend themselves to dense dessert style recipes today found the total cooking time can be cut in half thanks to baking powder peanut butter bread likewise doesn't require kneading the bread or waiting for it to rise peanut butter bread is a make do recipe that feels as relevant today as it did when food shortages and rationing became common in the 1930s meatloaf is an affordable and hearty meal that seems to go in and out of style its obvious main appeal is its ability to stretch out meat with as much filling and flavor as possible the savory loaf transforming a bit of ground beef into a main dish is one of the reasons meatloaf became a popular depression-era food the oxford companion to food found meatloaf first mentioned in the u.s in 1899 the view of meatloaf as comfort food stems from its frequent appearance on dinner plates in the 1930s warm and filling meatloaf still provides a cheap and nourishing meal when wallets are thin the secret is using otherwise tough cuts of beef like chuck or rump that become tender after grinding small amounts of beef or veal are stretched out by adding fillers such as crackers quick cooking oats tapioca and breakfast cereal throw on some ketchup to maximize flavor without a hefty cost for many who grew up eating this dish it's returned to dinner plates is a reminder of what comfort food really is hey mom the meatloaf that same plant that's threatening your pristine lawn it's a nutritional food source mother earth news found harvesting wild dandelions has long been a springtime tradition dandelions have been vilified as a weed in the u.s an estimated 80 million pounds of pesticides are used each year to eradicate dandelions and other plants that are perceived to be invasive but the plant's benefits are many and some savvy home cooks are turning back to the land for inspiration clara canucciary the depression-era chef who lived to be 98 learned how to make a dandelion salad by harvesting the better greens when she lived through the massive economic downturn the key is to avoid any areas that might be treated with pesticides clean the plants well and discard any brown leaves and flowers an expert in depression-era cooking kanuchiari demonstrated the simple and budget-friendly recipes that feel all the more relevant during the 2020 pandemic while the dandelion greens can be served fresh cup of zest recommends sauteing and wilting the greens and bacon fat the hot greens are served with bacon and hard-boiled egg to make the dish a heartier meal if you haven't used dandelion greens before look for smaller leaves thinner stalks and bunches that don't taste bitter when you take a bite no food went to waste during the widespread hardships of the great depression cook stretch meals with what little meat they could get grew their own food and foraged avoiding waste has made a resurgence in recent years by using the whole animal a method called nose to tail for its use of even lesser known cuts bone marrow and organs like liver to make delicious yet unexpected foods eating the whole plant root to leaves perhaps is a newer approach speaking to the same desire to eliminate waste depression-era potato pancakes are way ahead of the trend for their ability to transform leftovers into a new meal frying up the leftover mashed potatoes or potato scraps and oil creates a hearty pancake many chefs will recognize a potato pancake as a make-do version of lacas the buffalo news explains how the potato pancake can be personalized based on your tastes and available pantry items grate the potatoes fine or coarse or use mashed potatoes then add bread crumbs or matzo meal to make this timeless dish all your own there's a reason rice pudding is as popular today as it was nearly a century ago rice pudding is a stick to your rib style dessert that became popular out of necessity during the depression this budget-friendly snack is easy to make but can feel like a luxury it's not hard to see why this comfort food gained popularity during the 2020 pandemic you can make it with just four ingredients and the shelf stable sticky rice makes it ideal for times of uncertainty rice is typically used for risotto and sushi contain more starch and make a creamy pudding-like consistency you can heat rice with sugar and milk to make this sweet snack this is one dish that is tasty and offers many variations in ireland rice pudding is served warm it can also be refrigerated and serve cold as is common in the states you can also add vanilla cinnamon and jam to the top to bring additional flavor that might have been hard to come by during the 30s this depression-era food is ideal for anyone looking to save money or try a new recipe chipped beef was a depression-era staple thanks to its budget-friendly ingredients and surprisingly addictive taste eat this not that found that chipped beef on toast originated as a staple in the diets of members of the us military during world war one who nicknamed it sos the sos initials could mean many things including the pg version same old stuff in the depression most meat except for hot dogs cost too much or was unavailable to the general public chip beef was preserved in a can like spam or tuna making it cheaper and more widely available i can't tell you how full i am with salted meat i'd eat two more cans if i could chipped beef on toast consists of white sauce or gravy with pieces of dried beef spread over toasted bread you can also try the chipped beef gravy over biscuits potatoes egg noodles rice or in casseroles the sauce can be made similar to how you make a bechamel or gravy with flour butter and milk stir in the salty chip beef and serve over your bread of choice water pie is as simple as it gets cooks in the 1930s used water as a filler when they didn't have much of the other staples of the kitchen all you need to make this sweet buttery dessert is hot water vanilla sugar butter flour and pie crust can't get easier than six ingredients parade explains that while water is the main ingredient this dessert is far from a soupy mess it's a genuinely good sweet alternative to make if you're low on milk or yeast chilling the pie is how this thin filling keeps its shape southern plate explains the deep dish pie crust holds the magic together and makes a big difference if you want to avoid a bubbled over disaster while baking amish 365 found if you don't have vanilla on hand you can make a variation on the six ingredient pie by substituting some cinnamon according to living history farm the main foods rationed during the great depression were sugar coffee meat fish butter eggs and cheese the government rationed food items to prevent hoarding prepare for war efforts and to try to stabilize the economy panic buying became a harsh reality for people across the country during the pandemic so cooks turned to old-fashioned alternatives such as poor man's cake for a sweet dessert or a hearty snack most of the ingredients are pantry staples and raisins are the star of the show and this paired down dessert cream cheese frosting adds additional sweetness and a sour bite instead of eggs the cake calls for cheaper baking soda to get more of a fluff plan on a dense and hearty texture if you make it and spices such as ginger clove cinnamon and nutmeg make it perfect for the winter season check out one of our 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Channel: Mashed

Views: 763,114

Rating: 4.6777844 out of 5

Keywords: mashed, mashed food, depression, great depression, depression era, depression era foods, great depression era, great depression foods, baked beans, stovetop beans, stovetop baked beans, chocolate cake, wacky cake, wacky chocolate cake, graham cracker pie crust, pie curst, graham cracker, peanut butter, peanut butter bread, no yeast, no yeast bread, meatloaf, dandelion salad, salad, potato, potato pancakes, rice pudding, beef on toast, water pie, pie, poor mans cake

Id: bmJ_EPBj9xw

Length: 10min 28sec (628 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 31 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/06210311200805012006]

that's crazy because this past 1.5 years quarantined in my biodome, i started making potato pancakes, meatloaf, and rice pudding. good to know i am not a unique snowflake

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[u/dyrtdaub]

MFK Fischer wrote a book, How to Cook a Wolf, which was cooking in a post depression, WWII rationing world. She has some wonderful travel/cooking books.

[u/Far_Scientist_5082]

Wtf, this is all the stuff i grew up eating? Some of it i never stopped....