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Author Topic: US: A Square Meal – Part I: Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s  (Read 965 times)

rcjordan

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US: A Square Meal – Part I: Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s
« on: April 07, 2022, 02:14:03 PM »
Growing up in the very rural south in the 50s a lot of these were still part of the meal plan.

https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2022/04/04/book-review-a-square-meal-part-i-foods-of-the-20s-and-30s/
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littleman

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Re: US: A Square Meal – Part I: Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2022, 05:06:56 PM »
Interesting article.  I'd be down for trying those rural dishes, except for the ones with the brains -- and that's mainly because of prion diseases.  Though, my guess is that the risk of that was lower back then.
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rcjordan

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Re: US: A Square Meal – Part I: Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s
« Reply #2 on: April 07, 2022, 05:18:25 PM »
>except for the ones with the brains

We had eggs scrambled with pork brains occasionally but that was dropped fairly early --but I was old enough to remember it.  It was replaced by eggs scrambled with canned salmon. 
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littleman

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Re: US: A Square Meal – Part I: Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2022, 05:36:29 PM »
Scrambled eggs with salmon sounds pretty good to me.
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rcjordan

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Re: US: A Square Meal – Part I: Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2022, 05:42:55 PM »
> salmon sounds pretty good

It was a cheap-ish protein, I think.  It must have been the left-over scraps from the salmon-packing plants --VERY chopped, like ground beef or sausage patties.  It must have been a staple because I remember the aisle in a small grocery store having a big stock of it.  Brand was "King" salmon in a bright red can, IIRC. 
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ergophobe

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Re: US: A Square Meal – Part I: Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s
« Reply #5 on: April 08, 2022, 04:46:50 AM »
In my illustrious past, I was a "slimer" on the line in a salmon processing plant. On better days, I would get to be a grader. I don't remember the grades, but basically anything that didn't become filet had a certain amount of rotting flesh on it (salmon by the time they actually spawn have big chunks of flesh breaking off, but some start to undergo the process out at sea).
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rcjordan

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Re: US: A Square Meal – Part I: Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s
« Reply #6 on: April 08, 2022, 12:09:45 PM »
>basically anything that didn't become filet

Yeah, this stuff looked the most like cheap, watery cat food. I've chummed for fish with better looking stuff.  But scrambled into a pan of eggs, add a little sharp, musky, cheddar-ish hoop cheese and it was pretty good.

+
>cheap, watery cat food

Don't get me started on herring roe.  It is still somewhat of a delicacy around here.  My mom & dad were addicted.  Every year, when it came in season, about 10 CASES of it were put in the pantry.
« Last Edit: April 08, 2022, 12:13:07 PM by rcjordan »
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ergophobe

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Re: US: A Square Meal – Part I: Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s
« Reply #7 on: April 08, 2022, 04:34:19 PM »
>>cat food

Bingo! That's the lowest grade. You were probably one grade up from that.
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littleman

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Re: US: A Square Meal – Part I: Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s
« Reply #8 on: April 08, 2022, 05:44:26 PM »
I've had canned salmon in recent years.  It might be one of those situations where you don't want to know how the sausage is made, but I didn't mind it at all.
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ergophobe

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Re: US: A Square Meal – Part I: Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s
« Reply #9 on: April 09, 2022, 10:10:31 PM »
LM - my experience is from 1985, so things may have evolved a lot, but everything that I saw get graded for human consumption was 100% A-OK.

A lot of it was about the visuals. At the highest level, the fish gets removed from the line and specialist comes in and prepares it for a high-end restaurant at some multiple of cost. From there you drop down to things like large filets that would get displayed on ice in a fish market, then the filets that you would get in a plastic bag in the freezer section and on down.

The salmon that was starting to rot was graded for pet food and probably would not hurt you, it just wouldn't taste or look good.

Also, the plant was a pretty tough place to work for many reasons, but nothing I saw there seemed unsanitary or unhealthy or gave me any concern.

Granted, it was one plant and it was years ago. My observations may have no relevance to today. But if I were you, my big worry with salmon would be mercury, not the processing plant. Mercury is only a problem in high concentrations, but it is a consideration if you eat a lot of salmon. Guru/pitchman/whatever Tony Robbins famously got mercury poisoning when he decided to eat "healthy" and started getting almost all his protein from large daily servings of salmon and nearly died.

All that with the caveat that my one data point is Tony Robbins, who I don't consider the... uh... most reliable source on anything
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