100 YEARS OF AMAZING FOOD TRENDS

Big birthdays tend to make all of us long for the good old days. To mark our first 10 years, we looked back at the past 100 — and some unforgettable crazes.

1. 1920s
OUTRAGEOUS SANDWICHES

Wonder Bread hit shelves in 1921, ushering in a new era for the humble sandwich. Suddenly, Americans were putting everything imaginable between bread, and hostesses began serving whole loaves filled with deviled ham or tuna salad and frosted with cream cheese to look like cake. These spectacles were the best things until...sliced bread, which arrived in 1928.

2. 1930s
JIGGLY SALADS

During the height of the Great Depression, colorful Jell-O molds- fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood suspended in flavoured gelatin - brought bright spot to American tables. At about 10 cents per packet, gelatin was an affordable way to strecht ingredients, which he helps explain why about a third of cook book recipes at the time featured it.

3. 1940s 
CAN-TO-TABLE CUISINE

As the government started rationing meat, cheese and other staples during Word War II, home cooks had to make the most of what they had on hand, even if the resulting dish seemed unthinkable - like Mystery Cake, made with condensed tomato soup.

4. 1950s
FOOD IN A FLASH

The advent of the space age called for whiz-bang foods and instant versions of everything: Dehydrated potatoes, Cheez Whiz and Tang were invented or popularized during this time. The new products came in handy as Americans rushed to install bomb shelters and stock up on shelf-stable
food in case of nuclear attack.

5. 1960s
TIKI TIME

Hawaii became a state in 1959, and the 1961 film "Blue Hawaii" sparked a wave of enthusiasm for the tropics. Hosts handed out leis and served scorpion-bowl cocktails along with Polynesian-seeming dishes like soy sauce - glazed ribs and pineapple upside-down cake.

6. 1970s
HUNGRY, HUNGRY HIPPES

Hippies weren't going to fuel the counter culture by eating the processed food their parents ate. They turned to natural foods, like whole grains and organic produce. The problem: many of them didn't really know how to cook! Questionable food resulted, including nut loaf (a baked nut-mushroom mixture), sprout sandwiches and carob brownies.

7. 1980s
MICROWAVE CUISINE

The microwave oven was invented in 1945, but decades passed before the technology became accessible to most home cooks. In the 1980s, a quarter of US households had one, and companies were hurrying to bring microwave specific products to market, including General Mills with the first patent for bagged microwave popcorn, in 1981.

8. 1990s
LEAN TIMES

Consumers started turning away from fat in the late 1980s, and by the ’90s, a fat backlash was in full effect as we gobbled down low-fat cookies and bagels. The trend culminated in 1998 with the release of Wow chips—made with olestra, a fat substitute that the body can't absorb or digest. Sales grew quickly, but so did concerns about gatrointestinal side effects. The chips and the low-fat trend, soon faded.

9. 2000
SALT FOR ALL

Post-Y2K, America went mad for salted caramel thanks in part to San Francisco chocolate-maker Michael Recchiuti, who started selling chocolate-covered salted caramels around 1999. Pastry chefs across the country helped fuel the trend, adding salt to sweets with pretzels, chips and, of course, bacon.

10. 2010s
BRIGHT IDEAS

Soon after Instagram launched in 2010, “viral” food became a good thing, and everyone started making food that would pop on camera. Avocado toast became a social media darling around 2011, followed by unicorn cookies, outlandish milkshakes, rainbow bagels, mermaid toast and other colorful creations.

WHAT'S NEXT

Here are five things we predict will be future must-haves for every home cook.

1. METAL STRAWS

There's no place for plastic straws in an eco-friendly kitchen, and metal straws are a good alternative: "They keep drinks extra cold on the way up. We predict they'll become a standard utensil and that people will start carrying one wherever they go.

2. ELDERFLOWER SYRUP

Floral flavors are popping up everywhere (not just in Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding cake!), and we expect to see elderflower liqueur and syrup in more home kitchens soon.

3. ZA'ATAR

Home cooks are experimenting with new flavors like never before, and za’atar is at the top of the list. The Middle Eastern seasoning blend of sumac, marjoram, thyme and sesame seeds is great on hummus and salads.

4. BUTTER AND MORE BUTTER

Fat is back, and so is butter. We expect people will start stocking more than one type. In demand lately: higher-fat European-style butter and ghee, toasted clarified butter that’s great for sautéing because of its high smoke point.

5. VEGETARIAN "MEAT"

New-wave vegetarian meats, made with pea or wheat protein, will become increasingly popular now that they offer the experience of eating real meat: Faux sausage sizzles in the pan, and burgers “bleed” thanks to beet juice or other natural colorings.

In "Food Network Magazine", USA, September 2018, excerpts pp.39-40. Digitized, adapted and illustrated by Leopoldo Costa.