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

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

#191

Post by justsomehnguy » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 3:14 PM UTC

martyvis wrote: post #131

justsomehnguy wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> modern packaging But the packaging itself matters, eg soda in a Al can and a glass bottle is perceived quite differently. If the milk came in a plastic bottle I have no problem drinking directly from the bottle, if it came in TetraPak... If I bothered to cut it with scissors I would probably be fine drinking milk directly, but if I just ripped the corner by the perforation then I would definitely drink from the mug…

Just an FYI, but aluminium cans are lined with a plastic lacquer - so what you are tasting isn't from metal.

I know, hence "perceived".

Still, my lips are on the can and if I fill the glass from the said can it tastes more "glassy" than "metallic".

As a sibling comment says - it's all in our heads *shrug_emoji*

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

#192

Post by bluenose69 » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 3:23 PM UTC

As a child, I remember noticing that milk would taste different sometimes. My father explained that this was because the cows had been put out to pasture. I can't explain the difference, but it was quite noticeable.

This was local milk from a few km away. It came in glass bottles, brought to our house by a milkman. I can still remember listening for his steps on the front porch, when I got old enough to be able to run to the door to get the milk.

This was the '60s and '70s, not the '20s and '30s, but it still seemed like another world, compared to today. Most food was local and full of taste, having been on a farm just hours before it appeared in the store. People knew what was in season, and took delight in what was available.

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

#193

Post by GordonS » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 3:24 PM UTC

> Even bladders were put to good use—though it wasn’t culinary. Rather, they were given to the children, who inflated them, filled them with beans, and used them as rattles.

Bladders and intestines also used to be used as condoms [0]!

My mother told me she recalls seeing her grandfather's intestine-condoms hanging outside on the washing line to dry after being washed!

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_condoms

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

#194

Post by scoot » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 3:25 PM UTC

paxys wrote: post #20

Was this a review or a reproduction of the book?

It did read more like an abridged version of the book than an actual review. It definitely felt like it would be in the wrong side of "fair use" laws if challenged.

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

#195

Post by MichaelDickens » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 3:32 PM UTC

morsch wrote: post #57

elktea wrote: post #3

Fantastic trove of information. It really shows how the modern diet with its emphasis on grains & vegetables is wildly different from how we were eating only a mere 100 years ago.

It's a fun article, but hardly a scientific analysis of the diet back then. It's all anecdotes and no numbers. Though such numbers do seem to exist for 20th century USA (Android won't render the xls, though): https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-availability-per...

I downloaded the dairy sheet out of curiosity. A few things I noticed:

- Today, people drink as much milk per capita today as they did in the 30's. - Milk consumption per capita peaked in the 50's, when people were drinking roughly twice as much as today. - Milk consumption has been more or less linearly declining since the 50's.

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

#196

Post by rootusrootus » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 3:38 PM UTC

irrational wrote: post #38

lostcolony wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Usually I see bacon on donuts. Now I’m craving a maple bacon donut.

The only good donut Voodoo ever made, and even then they generally did a crappy job of it. I'd rather just get a maple bar from the grocery store bakery and add bacon myself.

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

#197

Post by bobajeff » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 3:38 PM UTC

shaky-carrousel wrote: post #142

I was reading the article and I was thinking over and over how enjoyable was reading it. I even continued reading it after having a pause because I got distracted by something else (something that almost never happens). Then I remember how "monetized" (meaning ad-ridden) articles are full of filler to artificially keep you on the page. And reloaded the page without ad-blockers. And there it was, the page has no ads.…

That's why I like Twitter. It challenges you to communicate what you need to say in as few words as possible. That is if you don't cheat by chaining posts.

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

#198

Post by MisterBastahrd » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 3:40 PM UTC

justsomehnguy wrote: post #185

stephencanon wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also there is a thing with Americans, they just buy milk. I can't buy "just" milk. I can buy 1%, 1.5%, 3.5% and (my preferred) ~3.5-4% fat milk. Huh? A pretty typical US grocery store has skim, 1%, 2%, and whole (3.5%), each conventional or organic, and in a fancier grocery there’s generally a higher-fat organic option as well.

Of course it has a wide selection, but my point is what some part of Americans (who as beforementioned "didn't like milk", not every one, of course) don't even understand what milk comes in a different fat content selection. If that was a just a random encounter on my own I wouldn't even bother with making any conclusions, but I've seen it many times, incidentally some of them was after tasting milk in some other cou…

Huh? There are no Americans like this that I know of. You become acquainted with it in elementary school because you get your selection of milks in the lunch line and you will rue the day you choose skim milk over whole if you aren't familiar with the terms.

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

#199

Post by MisterBastahrd » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 3:41 PM UTC

jasonkester wrote: post #51

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…

Even milk from the same dairy tastes radically different in plastic than paper. I always hated plastic milk as a kid. Nobody else seemed to notice the difference though. I sometimes wonder if there’s only a small subset of the population that can notice it.

The opposite for me. I would drink the paper milk, but....

Dixie was a beer sold and made in Louisiana. Part of the process had them storing the beer in fresh barrels. It made the canned beer taste like it had been in milk cartons. Very unpleasant.

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

#200

Post by bearbearbear » Thu, Apr 07, 2022, 3:43 PM UTC

shaky-carrousel wrote: post #142

I was reading the article and I was thinking over and over how enjoyable was reading it. I even continued reading it after having a pause because I got distracted by something else (something that almost never happens). Then I remember how "monetized" (meaning ad-ridden) articles are full of filler to artificially keep you on the page. And reloaded the page without ad-blockers. And there it was, the page has no ads.…

No post body was provided.