Foods From The 1960s That Are Weirdly Making A Comeback

No one can deny that the 1960s introduced America to a wide variety of novelties and oddities that just don't make sense to eat in the 21st century. A wave of new ingredients and a shift towards convenience cooking all resulted in some seriously weird foods that never made it out of the decade (via VICE). Some items — like the tuna-berry sandwich, ham basted with 7-Up, and ham-banana rolls — vanished with the '60s, but other items that should have seemingly faded away have made a comeback, So Yummy reports. A variety of classic foods, like deviled eggs, sloppy joes, scotch eggs, and more have re-emerged and found their way into meal rotation at homes nationwide (via Vocal).

According to The Daily Meal, childhood nostalgia and curiosity in vintage cooking have revived some of these meals and introduced the strange concoctions to a new generation of home cooks. If you ever wanted to check out what your grandparents indulged in back in the day or feel like hosting a retro dinner party, the time has finally arrived to break out the classics. 

Thanks to a flurry of newfound popularity, a ton of recipes for each of these comeback retro items have hit the internet, and you can enjoy them in their original glory, or with some modern twists.

Jell-O salads had a hard time making it past the 1980s, when the gelatin novelties filled with savory or sweet fillings sharply divided consumers. According to Serious Eats, our great grandparents regularly dined on aspic, a savory gelatin, while more elaborate gelatin desserts remained available only for the wealthy and those with kitchens properly equipped to handle the challenge of making them, as they were loaded with creams, nuts, fruit, and more. And thus, when Jell-O entered American markets at the turn of the 20th century, the burgeoning middle class couldn't wait to get their hands on it.

Thanks to a marketing campaign, Jell-O was linked to a perfect image of femininity and multiple recipes sprung up detailing all the creative ways one could whip up what was once seen as a delicacy reserved for the rich. Jell-O salads eventually reigned supreme, and 1960s cookbooks document savory Jell-O salads like Molded Avocado and Tuna. In fact, Julia Child even devoted a section to "The Joy of Cooking" to Jell-O salads.

The meal fell from popularity in the 1980s thanks to health trends, but it never completely disappeared in the South. Savory Jell-O salads have also seen a resurgence in Utah (via Serious Eats). A new generation of home chefs have tried their hand at bringing Jell-O salads to the 21st century, and many have even experimented with the new vegan Jell-O in their recipes, concocting a new set of Jell-O salad classics (via Retro Housewife Goes Green).

Tell someone that they have to have Spam for a meal and you might face a backlash like you've never seen before. This square-shaped mystery meat that features six ingredients first came into production back in 1937, but it really made waves in the 1960s as American GIs, who had to eat the meat in World War II and absolutely despised it, started to accept Spam when cooks began to use it as an ingredient in sandwiches and as part of egg scrambles (via Eater).

The meat especially took off in Hawaii thanks to government sanctions against Japanese-run fishing businesses. Eventually, Hawaiian restaurants helped lay the groundwork for the modern revival of the Spam, helping the meat regain some of its street cred. Starting in the early 2010's, fine dining embraced the ingredient, and chefs started including Spam on their menus. Los Angeles' Roy Choi served up Spam musubi and rice bowl specials with Spam at his restaurant, Chego, while Asian-inspired food trucks across California started serving up trendy meals with Spam as a starring ingredient. 

The ingredient's recent resurgence thanks to trendy chefs and food trucks has led Hormel to roll out new flavors of Spam for different regions across the United States. In the Southwest, you can pick up Spam sold with jalapenos, while other regions feature hickory-smoked Spam. Nowadays, you can even find Spam as a sushi ingredient and as a star player in experimental cuisine at some of the finest restaurants (via Gothamist).

Some of the weirdest 1960s treats making a comeback got served up with the help of a cocktail shaker. Mix together equal parts creme de menthe, creme de cacao, and cream, and you end up with a pastel green cocktail known as a grasshopper. 

This drink started making the rounds in the 1950s, despite coming into existence as early as 1919, reports Eater. By the '60s, grasshoppers had made their way into many cocktail parties, serving up a sweet way to enjoy some niche liqueurs (via Gunther Toody's). An iconic spin of mixing the cocktail with ice cream also popped up in Wisconsin, a state that never forgot the grasshopper.

These after-dinner beverages started to disappear with supper clubs, but grasshoppers made their way back to the forefront of the bar scene thanks  their 100th birthday. Savvy bar goers embraced the sweet drink's vintage coolness and style as well as its obscurity. 

Many people's parents didn't drink grasshoppers, and the latest generation of drinkers have claimed the cocktail as their own, thanks to its lack of associations. In fact, some bars in in New York City sell upwards of 50 grasshopper cocktails a night, and some trendy spots even spice things up by editing the original recipe with a splash of mezcal (via Eater). The beverage has even inspired competitions on who can make the best grasshopper, with traditionalists and mixologists testing their mettle to see who can continue the grasshopper trend with the most success (via Punch).

When it first emerged in the 19th century, few things represented culinary luxury like ambrosia salad. But thanks to the popularity of the marshmallow, this mixture of orange slices, pineapple chunks, maraschino cherries, coconut flakes, and marshmallows eventually got associated with events like church potlucks, according to Serious Eats.

While our grandparents may have loved this vintage treat, anyone born in the 50s and later might not have felt the same about ambrosia (via NPR). For many baby boomers, this dish that maintained wide popularity until the 60's had sickly associations with a food you had to force down, and many avoided making it when they finally came of age (via Foodtribe). But as of late, ambrosia has seen a revival thanks to a curious new wave of home cooks who want to rediscover its sweet flavors.

Some have decided to reclaim ambrosia and make sure it sees a proper comeback. According to Serious Eats, multiple chefs have worked on standardizing a fixed ambrosia salad recipe, as some vintage versions call for flavored gelatins, different kinds of fruits, and more. Restaurants have also poured a ton of effort into revitalizing the food as a pillar of Southern cuisine. While this century old dish once called for canned fruits, modern chefs insist on using fresh produce whenever possible, taking ambrosia salad to the next level and making it more palatable to a new generation of home cooks (via Alabama Chanin).

Nothing looks or tastes cooler than an exquisitely baked cake filled with ice cream. According to Houston Press, the baked Alaska came into existence during the 19th century, and really entered the American culinary world in the 1950's and '60s. This dish featured an ice cream center baked inside a meringue shell and the pastel colors of the dessert mirrored the aesthetics of the era. Eventually, ice cream cakes fell out of vogue, and this elaborate showstopper disappeared from tables after the '60s came to a close.

Thanks to Ina Garten, home cooks rediscovered the time-tested dish (via Bon Appetit). After experimenting with the recipe 15 times, Garten finally narrowed down the recipe to the basics so anyone can tackle the dish at home, making it an easy go-to whenever a home cook needs to whip out an elaborate dessert. This recipe now appears in her signature cookbook and we have her to thank for the resurgence of this decadent ice cream treat.

At one point in time, you couldn't go to any restaurant and avoid seeing Cherries Jubilee on the dessert menu. According to Houston Press, this iconic flambeed dessert had its heyday back in the '60s, but when American diners grew tired of watching their food set aflame in front of them, the interest in this retro dish started to fall off. The simple recipe has stuck around and made a resurgence thanks to home cooks interest in theatricality. 

According to Land O' Lakes, this simple dessert requires a minimal amount of ingredients — cherries and liqueur. The combination of food flambees in a hot pan and gets served straight to the diner. The dessert, thought up by Auguste Escoffier in honor of Queen Victoria's Jubilee in the late 1800's, has once again started trending at restaurants and home menus nationwide. While this iconic dish fell out of favor at the end of the '60s due to everyone trying to tackle it, chefs looking to embrace retro recipes and rediscover classic flavors have revived this time-tested treat (via Fork + Plate). Try out this simple combination of ingredients at home to see why this vintage classic has started trending again.