A Square Meal – Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s • Hacker News Board

Re: A Square Meal – Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s

#101

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 8:40 AM UTC

lostcolony wrote: post #10

Rodeoclash wrote: post #8

> We’re sure bananas would be fine served as a vegetable, or with bacon, but this is certainly not the role we would assign to them today. At least in Melbourne, Australia and Wellington, New Zealand it's not unusual at all to find pancakes or waffles with banana + maple syrup and bacon together. https://lastappetite.com/pancakes-at-fandango/amp/

Not uncommon in the US to have bananas on pancakes, but the bacon -usually- is served as a side (unless you're getting an "Elvis", which would have peanut butter, bacon, and banana, which I have seen as a waffle or pancake option). But to the article, bacon wrapped bananas, standalone, aren't things any more.

[deleted]

Re: A Square Meal – Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s

#102

Post by helpfulmandrill » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 8:42 AM UTC

Reading some of the stuff people used to eat, I have a really hard time understanding how obesity is worse today than back then.

Re: A Square Meal – Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s

#103

Post by Wohlf » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 8:46 AM UTC

helpfulmandrill wrote: post #102

Reading some of the stuff people used to eat, I have a really hard time understanding how obesity is worse today than back then.

Larger portion sizes, more snacking, much less manual labor. Only the wealthy were obese back then.

Re: A Square Meal – Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s

#104

Post by hemreldop » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 9:03 AM UTC

woodruffw wrote: post #4

This was a delightful read. Modern eating really feels like an exercise in alienation by contrast: I try to be mindful of the things I purchase, and even still I barely understand how the ingredients are formed into the final product.

My wife cooks home cooked meals everyday from fresh ingredients. She watches the salt, only uses olive oil, is light on the carbs and we always have a large salad. I think that’s all that’s needed for a healthy diet.

Re: A Square Meal – Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s

#105

Post by vintermann » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 9:03 AM UTC

Bananas wrapped in bacon, I've tried that! It's good, although it feels alarmingly unhealthy.

Re: A Square Meal – Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s

#106

Post by mytailorisrich » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 9:13 AM UTC

Symbiote wrote: post #99

idontwantthis wrote: post #9

I remember reading an account by a German soldier in WWI who had just taken an American trench and in it he found a fresh Apple Pie from Boston, and he immediately knew the war was hopeless.

I found that difficult to believe. There were refrigerated ships [2] but I don't think flash freezing methods had been invented. The pie would be mushy, and how would it be transported from the port to the front line? The New York Tribune (18 May 1918, page 3 [1]) has an article describing a much more likely process: send the ingredients to the front line, and send cooks. Apples, flour, butter and sugar transport ver…

There's a lot of propaganda in time of war.

Re: A Square Meal – Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s

#107

Post by helpfulmandrill » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 9:18 AM UTC

Wohlf wrote: post #103

helpfulmandrill wrote: post #102

Reading some of the stuff people used to eat, I have a really hard time understanding how obesity is worse today than back then.

Larger portion sizes, more snacking, much less manual labor. Only the wealthy were obese back then.

But it says that soldiers were fed 4000 to 5000 calories. Sounds pretty hard to exercise enough to burn that off.

Re: A Square Meal – Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s

#108

Post by dagw » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 9:24 AM UTC

fosk wrote: post #76

egypturnash wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s fascinating how much this can change if you find a good source for local stuff. Tomatoes go from uniformly-sized red food pellets to a huge variety of sizes and colors with a lot more flavor to them. I miss having a farmer’s market two blocks from my place with a heirloom tomato specialist showing up regularly.

As a European, food at the farmer’s market is usually cheaper in Europe because we cut the middleman and go straight to the producer. Somehow in the US, it’s more expensive instead because “artisanal”, “organic” and so on. As such, in the US, farmer markets always feel like a scam to me.

In both the US and (at least parts of) Europe you have two types of "Farmers markets". One where actual farmers sell in season produce from their actual farm, and one where middlemen buy/import stuff from all over the place and resell it in a market like setting. In both cases the first one is cheap and the second one is expensive.

Re: A Square Meal – Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s

#109

Post by CamperBob2 » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 9:28 AM UTC

camhart wrote: post #46

I can't stand "normal" milk from the US... the stuff you buy in the plastic cartons. It taste horrid. Milk from Germany? I love it. Milk from Darigold in the paper cartons? I love it. Milk from Darigold in the plastic? Tastes like garbage. Organic milk in a paper carton? Some is good, some taste like garbage. I didn't realize how different milk tastes until I spent some time in Germany. Prior to that I just thought I…

The secret to the Darigold plastic/paper dichotomy may be in the expiration dates. At least for the 1% product, the half-gallon cardboard cartons tend to expire at least one month, sometimes two, later than the plastic jugs sitting next to them. Not hard to imagine how milk that's been sitting around in a plastic jug for an extra month or two will taste worse.

Re: A Square Meal – Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s

#110

Post by pjc50 » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 9:32 AM UTC

helpfulmandrill wrote: post #102

Reading some of the stuff people used to eat, I have a really hard time understanding how obesity is worse today than back then.

Troops consuming 5000 calories a day seems reasonable for walking (and occasionally running) across Europe with a pack and a gun.