Like fashion, technology, or TV, what we eat changes throughout the generations. Sure, you have your evergreen foods, like the hamburger, but other foods that were once popular now make people raise an eyebrow. For example, our grandparents ate some pretty weird things. I try to be empathetic about it; these meals often are rooted in The Great Depression or World War II or were just trends at the time. In 50 years, they’ll be mocking us for our avocado toast. Wait, they’re already doing that. Anyway, here are 28 foods that make us wonder what our grandparents were thinking. And if you grew up or enjoyed these foods, then keep eating them!
#1: Aspic
A fruity bowl of Jell-O can taste great in the summer, but meat doesn’t belong in Jell-O! Yes, during our grandparents’ time, Jell-O was used for savory dishes, including for preserving meats and other foods. But even when refrigerators were commonplace, aspic meals were still typical at dinner parties in the 1950s and 1960s. It felt all fancy at the time. Now, I think about chewing through a wall of savory gelatin to get to my pot roast and feel like throwing up.
