Interesting that no one has mentioned fried liver as a depression era meal. Mom told me that during the depression, her local butcher handed it out for FREE.
When you have to stretch canned salmon: Clipped from The Argus-Leader Sioux Falls, South Dakota Oct 30, 1931
I wonder if I can still send away for that recipe booklet. Those always have good recipes in them. They left off the Zip Code.
When my Grandmother was going to school the kids all carried their lunch in a bucket, usually biscuits and sorghum syrup. She was born in 1907 so things were really different then. She always loved going to the movies because when she was young and the silent movies began she never had the money to go. When I was going to school my favorite sandwich was the real vienna sausages not these knock offs you see on the store shelves today. I had a hard time getting Grandmother to buy them because they were like 15 cents a can and to her that was living too large !!! So I ate bologna sandwiches but I have to admit back then everything was so much better than today. Since I don't cook any longer I haven't had a squash or spinach or cabbage or a turnip in years. Today's cabbage is terrible and it has no taste at all. .
THE STOMACH-TURNING RISE AND FALL OF LIVER "Inherent in the question, "What am I, Chopped Liver?" .is the belief that liver is of inferior value to most other items of a similar purpose. "At the onset of the 20th century, liver’s reputation suffered more from the social stigma attached to it as much as its often sour, mineral-heavy flavor. Many of us can remember when beef liver was so worthless that the butcher shops gave it away; only poor folk were willing to eat it. "During the Depression, calf liver gained a reputation as a delicacy, but beef liver and pig liver declined in value, and once again gained an association with impoverished living. Consumption of Liver was promoted as patriotic behavior during the food-rationing period of the World War II era, and newspapers were rife with articles encouraging homemakers to add liver to their shopping carts. "Americans did their duty during the war, which resulted in a skyrocketing price for liver, ... however, interest in liver began to decline yet again once the war reached its conclusion, accelerated by the rise of multivitamins and the advertised infusion of those vitamins with liver concentrate." "A 2014 survey comparing changes in the rate of liver consumption in the U.K. found that the average per-person consumption of liver dipped from 50 grams per week in 1974 to only five grams per week in 2014, leaving many people scratching their heads in amazement that some folks were still eating five grams of liver meat every week." . .
I don't know what the issue is with people, except for the concept of eating "liver." If I gave someone a tongue sandwich and referred to it as Bolivian Luncheon Meat, they'd come back for seconds. I will say that he last time I had liver, I made chopped liver with the leftovers. I rarely throw food out, even if I don't like it. That nasty stuff went into the trash.
I love recipes from the days where it was assumed everyone had basic kitchen skills. "Make a thick cream sauce." damn right
Yeah, I thought the same thing. They do that now occasionally. I had to look up the definition of roux only a couple years ago. Then there's this. When you have to stretch your scrapple to make ends meet?.... Everyone knows how to make cornmeal mush. Right? And an "oxo cube" is a boullion cube (brand name OXO). The Winsor Star (Winsor, Ontario) 1942
I think I first heard of roux on cooking shows. I used to keep some pre-made in the fridge because plain flour can dilute the flavor of sauces & gravies. Regarding OXO...yeh, I know what that means. Interesting that Canadians do/did as well. I like that recipe for quick scrapple. I've always preferred scrapple to other breakfast meats because it is mostly corn meal, so is way lower in fat. I might have to try that recipe. Given what a healthy diet should look like, that might be just the right ratio of grain-to-meat.
I want a CheeseBurger with Lettuce Tomato and Onion, nix the pickles. That's an old fashion meal for me.
I just had that yesterday at a local diner. And onion rings. And an unsweet tea. The bill came to $16. Talk about your Depression Meals.