S/O: What explains the Midwestern palate?

[Anonymous]

I’ve lived all over the country and understand some of the threads of seen here about Midwestern in laws. But why? I understand that when our grandparents were raising their kids, canned vegetables were common, and then convenience foods exploded. But there are plenty of older folks and rural areas in the coasts. And plenty of money and wealthier enclaves in the Midwest. Yet with a couple of exceptions like maybe Chicago, the Midwest seems very different to me. And even in Chicago and near Chicago, most places heavily emphasize simple carbs and meat. I don’t think it’s a matter of money or education or age, because like I said, I’ve been to rural/urban/suburban areas all over with a mix of all ages. What do you think?

[Anonymous]

And not just meat and potatoes and bread, but the lack of spice. Why? Isn’t Penzey’s originally from the Midwest? Yet most people I know from the Midwest have significant food aversions compared to people from the coasts.

[Anonymous]

Maybe cause the main countries of origin of folks from the Midwest are Germany, Ireland, Sweden, etc. Have you had food from there? Those are the foods people grew up with and passed on to their kids.

I don't think it's food aversion as much as lack of access.

[Anonymous]

Please do tell me more about the “Midwestern palate.” Does that mean my hometown in Indiana that has a Tibetan restaurant, or one town over that has a Japanese restaurant that works with local farmers and uses organic produce? Yes, both these towns have chain restaurants, too, but they also each have tons of different cuisines from around the world, many owned by local families. I don’t understand your premise.

[Anonymous]

Have you never been to the Midwest? People there eat all kinds of food, including "spicy" or "exotic" food native to other countries.

There are plenty of restaurants too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe cause the main countries of origin of folks from the Midwest are Germany, Ireland, Sweden, etc. Have you had food from there? Those are the foods people grew up with and passed on to their kids.

I don't think it's food aversion as much as lack of access.

OP here. That was my theory! Different immigrant populations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe cause the main countries of origin of folks from the Midwest are Germany, Ireland, Sweden, etc. Have you had food from there? Those are the foods people grew up with and passed on to their kids.

I don't think it's food aversion as much as lack of access.

Many people from the Midwest have to go back multiple generations to find their German ancestors. They aren't passing on recipes from generations ago for daily meals.

[Anonymous]

Apparently there are lots of Reddit threads about this phenomenon.

“ So, in the 1800s there were two big things that moved people towards eating bland food in the Midwest. The first was a little xenophobia. There were a lot of eastern and southern Europeans moving to the US at this time. The paler, and more importantly Protestant, descendants of English and German settlers looked at these new comers as sensual slaves to the pope and to their own bodies. Prejudice against Italians was high on the east coast, and that extended to the way they cooked. Highly spiced dishes were thought of as unrefined and likely to heat the blood too much.

The next and arguably bigger deal was a religious movement that swept the nation in the 1800s. People were going to revivals constantly to renew their faith. These preachers were very strict about the pleasures of the flesh. They weren't very keen on any pleasures outside of reading the Bible and occasionally having children. Food was a big deal for these people. Several of the religious sects that showed up after the great disappointment in 1844 (the Seventh Day Adventists being the largest and longest lasting) had tons of guidelines about what to eat.

Ellen White the prophet of the Adventist Church declared even black pepper to be bad for you as she considered it an irritant. She recommended a vegan diet with very few spices. She believed that animal products, tea, coffee, powerful spices, and basically anything other than seeds, beans, and fruit, would be both physically and emotionally unhealthy.

John Harvey Kellogg, another Adventist, also advocated lots of bland foods, mostly whole grains and plain yogurt. He invented the first breakfast cereal as a bland sort of grain bar that shattered into little flakes in the oven. He even recommend yogurt enemas, though sadly this practice did not catch on in the Midwest at large nearly as well as extremely bland cereal did.

The inventor of the Graham cracker made it bland on purpose as well… Basically, all of these strange extremely Protestant religious movements swept through the Midwest for the better part of 100 years preaching anti worldly pleasure messages and telling everyone bland foods were the best thing you could eat.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apparently there are lots of Reddit threads about this phenomenon.

“ So, in the 1800s there were two big things that moved people towards eating bland food in the Midwest. The first was a little xenophobia. There were a lot of eastern and southern Europeans moving to the US at this time. The paler, and more importantly Protestant, descendants of English and German settlers looked at these new comers as sensual slaves to the pope and to their own bodies. Prejudice against Italians was high on the east coast, and that extended to the way they cooked. Highly spiced dishes were thought of as unrefined and likely to heat the blood too much.

The next and arguably bigger deal was a religious movement that swept the nation in the 1800s. People were going to revivals constantly to renew their faith. These preachers were very strict about the pleasures of the flesh. They weren't very keen on any pleasures outside of reading the Bible and occasionally having children. Food was a big deal for these people. Several of the religious sects that showed up after the great disappointment in 1844 (the Seventh Day Adventists being the largest and longest lasting) had tons of guidelines about what to eat.

Ellen White the prophet of the Adventist Church declared even black pepper to be bad for you as she considered it an irritant. She recommended a vegan diet with very few spices. She believed that animal products, tea, coffee, powerful spices, and basically anything other than seeds, beans, and fruit, would be both physically and emotionally unhealthy.

John Harvey Kellogg, another Adventist, also advocated lots of bland foods, mostly whole grains and plain yogurt. He invented the first breakfast cereal as a bland sort of grain bar that shattered into little flakes in the oven. He even recommend yogurt enemas, though sadly this practice did not catch on in the Midwest at large nearly as well as extremely bland cereal did.

The inventor of the Graham cracker made it bland on purpose as well… Basically, all of these strange extremely Protestant religious movements swept through the Midwest for the better part of 100 years preaching anti worldly pleasure messages and telling everyone bland foods were the best thing you could eat.”

None of this has to do with meat and potatoes. Meat especially is a pretty much non-negotiable staple in Midwest.

Eating other living beings when there is access to other foods is about as wordly pleasure as one can get.

[Anonymous]

Having lived in the Midwest and DC, I encounter at least as many picky judgmental people here as there. They might have different foods they like and don’t like, but all the people here posting “gross” or “ew” about people’s food aren’t Midwesterners.

My theory is that some of the strife about the IL’s starts out with a DIL who is judgmental about what her MIL serves, which makes the MIL defensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe cause the main countries of origin of folks from the Midwest are Germany, Ireland, Sweden, etc. Have you had food from there? Those are the foods people grew up with and passed on to their kids.

I don't think it's food aversion as much as lack of access.

OP here. That was my theory! Different immigrant populations.

+1

Depends on the immigrant population/location in the Midwest. Swedish family from middle America are strictly meat and potatoes, corn. Family from coast is mostly fresh seafood, and active farming meant fresh vegetables and fruits were plentiful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And not just meat and potatoes and bread, but the lack of spice. Why? Isn’t Penzey’s originally from the Midwest? Yet most people I know from the Midwest have significant food aversions compared to people from the coasts.

Spice is traditionally used in hot climates with rotten meat. Good fresh meat like beef and chicken doesn't need spice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently there are lots of Reddit threads about this phenomenon.

“ So, in the 1800s there were two big things that moved people towards eating bland food in the Midwest. The first was a little xenophobia. There were a lot of eastern and southern Europeans moving to the US at this time. The paler, and more importantly Protestant, descendants of English and German settlers looked at these new comers as sensual slaves to the pope and to their own bodies. Prejudice against Italians was high on the east coast, and that extended to the way they cooked. Highly spiced dishes were thought of as unrefined and likely to heat the blood too much.

The next and arguably bigger deal was a religious movement that swept the nation in the 1800s. People were going to revivals constantly to renew their faith. These preachers were very strict about the pleasures of the flesh. They weren't very keen on any pleasures outside of reading the Bible and occasionally having children. Food was a big deal for these people. Several of the religious sects that showed up after the great disappointment in 1844 (the Seventh Day Adventists being the largest and longest lasting) had tons of guidelines about what to eat.

Ellen White the prophet of the Adventist Church declared even black pepper to be bad for you as she considered it an irritant. She recommended a vegan diet with very few spices. She believed that animal products, tea, coffee, powerful spices, and basically anything other than seeds, beans, and fruit, would be both physically and emotionally unhealthy.

John Harvey Kellogg, another Adventist, also advocated lots of bland foods, mostly whole grains and plain yogurt. He invented the first breakfast cereal as a bland sort of grain bar that shattered into little flakes in the oven. He even recommend yogurt enemas, though sadly this practice did not catch on in the Midwest at large nearly as well as extremely bland cereal did.

The inventor of the Graham cracker made it bland on purpose as well… Basically, all of these strange extremely Protestant religious movements swept through the Midwest for the better part of 100 years preaching anti worldly pleasure messages and telling everyone bland foods were the best thing you could eat.”

None of this has to do with meat and potatoes. Meat especially is a pretty much non-negotiable staple in Midwest.

Eating other living beings when there is access to other foods is about as wordly pleasure as one can get.

It's basically carnal knowledge.

[Anonymous]

I’m from Kansas City. Ribs, pulled pork and BBQ were staples of my childhood. Lots of stockyards, so good quality meat was easy to get. Bland and lacking spices? No way. Also ate a lot of deep dish pizza and good Italian food. My family is mostly Irish and German, but even our pot roast was very flavorful (sure, it had beef, potatoes and carrots).

When we lived overseas it wasn’t easy to find steaks and ribs. Most Europeans had never eaten ribs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And not just meat and potatoes and bread, but the lack of spice. Why? Isn’t Penzey’s originally from the Midwest? Yet most people I know from the Midwest have significant food aversions compared to people from the coasts.

Spice is traditionally used in hot climates with rotten meat. Good fresh meat like beef and chicken doesn't need spice.

This is dumb. Spices are used in areas that can grow spices and that were along the spice trade route.

A chicken killed in Finland is no fresher than a chicken killed in Nepal.