FOOD NEWS
What Dinner Looked Like The Year You Were Born
By Brian Boone
To give you an idea of what Americans were feasting on the year you were born, we've looked at the most popular dinners through the end of the 20th century, starting in 1970 with quiche. Made of eggs, cream, and veggies built upon a flaky crust, quiche became a fashionable, European-inspired option.
1970: Quiche
In 1971, one of the most popular and elegant dishes was Beef Wellington, an old-fashioned British favorite. It consists of a steak swathed with mushrooms and/or a chicken liver paté wrapped in flaky pastry and baked before being sliced and served alongside mashed potatoes and gravy.
1971: Beef Wellington
Fondue is heavily associated with the early 1970s, as many were skewering pieces of meat, bread, and vegetables and dipping them into a hot pot of cheese sauce. Fondue setups and at-home kits were popular gifts that could include hot oils for entrees or chocolate fondue.
1972: Fondue
Chicken tetrazzini is a baked casserole with diced chicken, mushrooms, a creamy sauce, and noodles. Pitched as a way to use last night's chicken, it peaked in popularity in the early 1970s after appearing in the bestselling cookbooks "The New New Can-Opener Cookbook" and "I Hate to Cook Book."
1973: Chicken Tetrazzini
Mashed potatoes have long been a staple in the U.S., but they were a huge hit and marvel of food processing technology in the 1960s and 1970s. With a long shelf life, instant mashed potatoes don't require a lot of cooking, chopping, or stirring, making them a viable weeknight dinner side dish.
1974: Instant Potatoes