Where did you live and what did you eat growing up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you were white it doesn’t matter where you grew up, you were probably eating the same variety of bland church cookbook food mentioned in the last 2 pages. American cuisine was shockingly uniform. Food Network really opened up people’s eyes to better ways of eating and trying different cuisines.

Not really. I'm as white as they come and grew up in NYC with tons of different cuisines and parents who ate everything and were into food. My first "solid" was palak paneer (parents had been vegetarian and ate and cooked a lot of Indian food). They were shopping at natural and "ethnic" markets long before the days of Whole Foods and I don't even recognize a lot of church cookbook food. We didn't ever even have white bread in the house, Wonder Bread was like some kind of crack to 6 year old me I only ever saw other kids eat.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Detroit and ate lots of delicious Lebanese, Italian, and Greek food: schwarma, tabbouli, homemade pastas, tender, well-marinated beef baked and held together with toothpicks, greens, so much zucchini, fava beans, fagioli, tomatoes, ricotta on fresh bread, rappini …

I was confused when other kids got excited for mac and cheese from a box.

I don’t recall ever having an avocado or sushi until I was in college, except for some guac from Xochimilco!

[Anonymous]

Ohio, nice suburb of large ..for Ohio..city. Food was not good at all.

Chicken Romanov -called rolled up chicken, chicken ala king, baked chicken, Campbell tomato soup and grilled cheese, steak Diane -overcooked and drowned in sauce, sloppy joes, stuffed green peppers, scalloped potatoes, baked potatoes, corn, or salad which was iceberg with thousand island dressing from a bottle.

Eating out was Godfathers pizza, country club brunch or dinner usually surf and turf, Bobs Big Boy, Olga’s if we were in the mall, or Wendy’s.

Entertaining people would involve a hollowed out bread bowl with a cream cheese/chipped beef spread, water chestnuts wrapped in bacon, chip dip made with onion soup packets.

The only ethnic restaurants were Chi Chi’s and one Chinese place that was very bland.

[Anonymous]

Grew up in the USSR so I was 17 when I first tried many things broadly considered American.
My mother was a terrible cook and I wasn’t too spoiled with good food, so I embraced everything I was exposed to at 17 when I came to the US.
I am now a pretty adventurous eater and certainly not picky, but still my comfort food is EE (Polish, Russian, Ukrainian), with some central Asian and Georgian (the country) cuisine thrown in. I try to always visit Brighton beach when I am in NYC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you were white it doesn’t matter where you grew up, you were probably eating the same variety of bland church cookbook food mentioned in the last 2 pages. American cuisine was shockingly uniform. Food Network really opened up people’s eyes to better ways of eating and trying different cuisines.

Not really. I'm as white as they come and grew up in NYC with tons of different cuisines and parents who ate everything and were into food. My first "solid" was palak paneer (parents had been vegetarian and ate and cooked a lot of Indian food). They were shopping at natural and "ethnic" markets long before the days of Whole Foods and I don't even recognize a lot of church cookbook food. We didn't ever even have white bread in the house, Wonder Bread was like some kind of crack to 6 year old me I only ever saw other kids eat.

You grew up in NEW YORK CITY, that comment would pretty obviously not apply to someone like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you were white it doesn’t matter where you grew up, you were probably eating the same variety of bland church cookbook food mentioned in the last 2 pages. American cuisine was shockingly uniform. Food Network really opened up people’s eyes to better ways of eating and trying different cuisines.

Not really. I'm as white as they come and grew up in NYC with tons of different cuisines and parents who ate everything and were into food. My first "solid" was palak paneer (parents had been vegetarian and ate and cooked a lot of Indian food). They were shopping at natural and "ethnic" markets long before the days of Whole Foods and I don't even recognize a lot of church cookbook food. We didn't ever even have white bread in the house, Wonder Bread was like some kind of crack to 6 year old me I only ever saw other kids eat.

Wow! Yes, you are definitely the standard, everyday American. And you have no narcissistic traits at all!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grew up in the USSR so I was 17 when I first tried many things broadly considered American.
My mother was a terrible cook and I wasn’t too spoiled with good food, so I embraced everything I was exposed to at 17 when I came to the US.
I am now a pretty adventurous eater and certainly not picky, but still my comfort food is EE (Polish, Russian, Ukrainian), with some central Asian and Georgian (the country) cuisine thrown in. I try to always visit Brighton beach when I am in NYC.

I think Russian and north Slavic foods are horrible, tbh. Yugoslav foods are a world away and so, so much better than Russian food. When I moved to the U.S. people tried feeding me Polish and Russian food, and I was like, eh, no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grew up in a very small nothing town in upstate NY with amazing Italian American food, and Greek and Polish.

So very good pizza/calzones/pastas like stuffed shells were always available. My dad was a huge buffalo wings fan so every once in a while that would show up in our house. Tangy.

Birthday dinner for everyone in the family was always at "Symeons" Greek restaurant, where we always ran into other people we knew also having birthday dinners. Very very yummy.

People in that town are also obsessed with a food called "Chicken Riggies" so that was a common party food. (A kind of pasta with chicken and a spicy creamy sauce. It's good.)

I swear, there is nowhere in DC that comes close to the level of pizza and Greek food. Maybe Greek Deli in Dupont.

My parents are Indian (Bengali) immigrants, so my mom cooked extremely delicious Bengali food throughout the week -- Dahl, chicken curry, puris, fried fish, etc. They also had lived in Scotland for a decade so they made a lot of British/Scottish food, like sausages rolls, "mince and tatties (ground meat and mashed potatoes)", a big breakfast with eggs and baked tomatoes and beans. She also grew to like chicken with barbecue sauce and potato salad? And filled in lots of meals with frozen chicken tenders or chicken patties. Also lots of homemade french fries.

Syracuse? Massena? If, yes, give me some pizza places in Massena and Watertown area, I'd love to try it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:African-American and grew up in Pittsburgh. Grew up in the 50s and 60s. Mother was a SAHM, so everything was made from scratch. Our diet ran the gamut, everything from chitlins, beans and cornbread, to steak, chicken, pork chops, hamburgers, hot dogs, leg of lamb, shrimp newburg, chop suey, matzo ball, soup, to casseroles. Most meals had a serving of meat, starch and vegetables, sometimes salad. My mother was an excellent cook and baker. We had dessert regularly. I now own a restaurant and bakery.

Can we come to your bakery and restaurant?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:African-American and grew up in Pittsburgh. Grew up in the 50s and 60s. Mother was a SAHM, so everything was made from scratch. Our diet ran the gamut, everything from chitlins, beans and cornbread, to steak, chicken, pork chops, hamburgers, hot dogs, leg of lamb, shrimp newburg, chop suey, matzo ball, soup, to casseroles. Most meals had a serving of meat, starch and vegetables, sometimes salad. My mother was an excellent cook and baker. We had dessert regularly. I now own a restaurant and bakery.

Can we come to your bakery and restaurant?

Sorry, its not in the DC area and is a delivery only restaurant. My DD is a chef and I'm a pastry chef specializing in sugar-free desserts. I suppose its okay to link to my restaurant since it's not local, just to show the range of our food. https://taraperichicken.com

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you were white it doesn’t matter where you grew up, you were probably eating the same variety of bland church cookbook food mentioned in the last 2 pages. American cuisine was shockingly uniform. Food Network really opened up people’s eyes to better ways of eating and trying different cuisines.

Not really. I'm as white as they come and grew up in NYC with tons of different cuisines and parents who ate everything and were into food. My first "solid" was palak paneer (parents had been vegetarian and ate and cooked a lot of Indian food). They were shopping at natural and "ethnic" markets long before the days of Whole Foods and I don't even recognize a lot of church cookbook food. We didn't ever even have white bread in the house, Wonder Bread was like some kind of crack to 6 year old me I only ever saw other kids eat.

Wow! Yes, you are definitely the standard, everyday American. And you have no narcissistic traits at all!

PP didn't ask for "standard, everyday American." They stated ALL white people who grew up ANYWHERE ate the same food.

[Anonymous]

Born 1961, grew up in a Boston suburb.

On the weekday dinner table growing up:
Meat of some kind with a starch (often potatoes) and a vegetable (often canned)
Meatloaf
Pot roast
Chicken breasts
Pork chops
Steak

Salads were always made with iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and bottled dressing.

[Anonymous]

Grew up in the Deep South and ate mostly Korean food growing up. I also had Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish from going over to friends’ houses and making the trip to the big cities of the south like Atlanta. I didn’t eat much southern food other than the typical fried chicken and meat and threes. Now I’m a mom w 2 kids living in the mountain west and I make a lot of different dishes at home but tend to stick to southeast Asian, East Asian, Indian, middle eastern, Italian, Californian Mexican, English/french. Every once in a while I will do buttermilk fried chicken or pulled pork, but that’s it for southern food. Except banana pudding! Love a good southern banana pudding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in former Yugoslavia and I ate lots of veggies, salads and grains, beans, rice, fruit and some meat until 20s. Later meat became more prominent meal feature, but normally one chicken fed 6 of us with rice, soup, tomato and cucumber salads.

Beans with a tiny bit of smoked ribs, salad could be one bib lettuce with salt, vinegar and a bit of oil. Stews were also a large part of our menu. Peas with no meat, type of stew was a regular menu item. Cabbage also was a staple in summer and in winter. Many, many pickled veggies during winters.
Sweets were for holidays, but grandma would make crepes or our version of donuts occasionally without a special occasion.

Almost all food I ate until 16 years old was home made. Bread was bought daily though.

I still eat that way, but with a bit more meat in meals. However, diet there has changed to include more meat today and more processed and fast food.

My family is from the former Yugoslavia too! This was exactly what we ate too (I was born here, but my mom's cooking preferences and palette didn't change). We also had lamb on holidays or special occasions.

Funny enough, I craved my grandmother's crepes/palacinke this past weekend and tried making them. Not the same!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in former Yugoslavia and I ate lots of veggies, salads and grains, beans, rice, fruit and some meat until 20s. Later meat became more prominent meal feature, but normally one chicken fed 6 of us with rice, soup, tomato and cucumber salads.

Beans with a tiny bit of smoked ribs, salad could be one bib lettuce with salt, vinegar and a bit of oil. Stews were also a large part of our menu. Peas with no meat, type of stew was a regular menu item. Cabbage also was a staple in summer and in winter. Many, many pickled veggies during winters.
Sweets were for holidays, but grandma would make crepes or our version of donuts occasionally without a special occasion.

Almost all food I ate until 16 years old was home made. Bread was bought daily though.

I still eat that way, but with a bit more meat in meals. However, diet there has changed to include more meat today and more processed and fast food.

My family is from the former Yugoslavia too! This was exactly what we ate too (I was born here, but my mom's cooking preferences and palette didn't change). We also had lamb on holidays or special occasions.

Funny enough, I craved my grandmother's crepes/palacinke this past weekend and tried making them. Not the same!

Hi there! Food was much healthier there when I was growing up than today. There is a misconception that we only ate meat, and cevapi, but that was only if we went to a restaurant and that was nor very common back then. I am eating stew for lunch right now, the same way grandma used to make it! (a little brag... I learned from grandma to make crepes!)