45 Weird Foods People Used to Love in the Past

Everyone has different taste preferences when it comes to food, but we have been accustomed to consider cheese as a nutritious dairy product, not something to be added to our cup of tea, right? Well, as it turns out people in the past – our ancestors – used to enjoy that. So, prepare yourself for a trip down memory lane where you’ll become acquainted with some really bizarre foods. Some look yummy, while others (most) will probably make you want to barf!

Though it feels like a stretch to consider a gelatin-based dish a ‘salad’, this dish was very popular back in the ‘60s. Today, this food is seen as retro.

The salad contains flavored gelatin, fruit, and sometimes carrots and other veggies. You could also expect to see cream cheese, marshmallows, and nuts or pretzels in this concoction. It is believed that housewives and even kids from way back were pleased by its taste.

Pork scraps aka scrapple is a dish that originated from the Mid-Atlantic states. It contains scraps of pork prepared with cornmeal. You must be scratching your head a little at the words ‘scraps.’

But back in those days, people cooked scraps as they never wasted their food. This dish is not extinct yet. Still, now, you will find the dish in California – the Mennonite and Amish communities still enjoy their scrapple. Look at it in a positive way, nothing goes down the drain!

Eel pie? Yes, you read that right. This dish consists of a sea creature molded into a pie – mmm, sounds delish! The traditional eel pie came from the Londoners in the 16th and 17th century because at the time, the Thames river was full of eels and they were cheap fish.

Want this dish to make a comeback? Let’s just leave it where it belongs, back in the old days! The thought of eating eels in a pie form truly does send shivers down our spines.

Introducing the ice cream that needs no refrigeration – put your hands together for freeze-dried ice cream. This is made possible by a freeze-drying process that eliminates most of the ice cream’s moisture. So, you can enjoy this treat that is guaranteed not to melt.

This ice cream was developed by a corporation that was contracted by Nasa for the Apollo missions. Essentially, this freeze-dried food was made so that it could be sent on long-haul spaceflights. However, in the end, it was never used on any Apollo mission.

The Pasta salad was actually invented in the 1950s at the Trattoria da Vincenzo, but the dish became popular in Australia and New Zealand during the 1990s when commercial versions made their way into their supermarket stores.

The pasta salad is basically a dish that combines basic vegetable ingredients with various different shaped and sized pasta, topped with a dressing of mayonnaise, olive oil, or vinegar. Sounds yummy to us!

This holiday salad would for sure get the attention of your party guests – this easy-to-make salad consists of tart cranberries and a mayonnaise dressing that is meant to taste creamy and fresh. Who is up to try this weird display of a holiday dish?

As you can see here, the tart cranberries were molded into a candle shape to get people into a festive mood. In addition to the berries, the ingredients consist of gelatin, walnuts, lemon juice, and half a cup of Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise.

Cheese tea has its roots in China but the drink has evolved and become more popular in Asian countries recently. The tea has a unique foam made from sweet cream cheese, whipped cream, and milk. Beverage experts recommend drinking the tea without blending the milk from the tea with the cheese foam layers.

This drinking technique will supposedly help you to taste the real and creamy texture of the cheese. Cheese tea holds antioxidants and full-fat diary which are known to offer health benefits but the drink is also high in calories.

When we say ketchup, we know where your mind goes but back in the day in the UK, mushrooms were used as the primary ingredient of this condiment, not tomatoes. So, let your eyes take a trip to the second image to understand what mushroom ketchup looked like.

In fact, several brands of mushroom ketchup were produced in the UK and some were even exported to this US. Even to this day, brands manufacture this style of ketchup as a commercial product.

That is just beastly! How could someone drink a turtle in their soup? Well, as it turns out people didn’t have much emotion towards turtles in the ‘70s.

For the aristocrats in France, Britain, and America, turtle soup was a very popular dish. They used to toast the turtles in butter and wine, making it a heavy and rich dish. We’re assuming that the wine and butter waned the taste of the turtle in the soup, but who knows?

What an off-putting name despite how yummy this pastry looks in the pictures! These fried-dough pastries are made with whole wheat flour and are shaped in a way that resembles a beaver tail but back in the day, the name spoke for itself…

Remember the fur trade boom during the 17th and 18th centuries? Beaver meat and tails became quite popular in those days. The people described its taste as “gamey”. As you can imagine, the tail was fatty and rich in taste.

Whale poop is actually the intestinal slurry that a whale emits from its body after eating squid-like creatures. The poop then hardens in cold water after the whale’s back end secretes it. Mmm… we just love potty talk!

You would be disgusted to learn that people loved whale poop in their foods back in Early Modern Europe. In fact, the whale’s secretion became a luxury element in people’s ice cream. Could you imagine asking an ice cream server to add a topping of whale poop? No, thanks!

Ever imagined onion nuggets? Well, our ancestors sure did, and in 1975, McDonald’s introduced this cross between onion rings and McNuggets to their menu. This was their attempt at pleasing their vegetarian customers but unfortunately, onion nuggets were unsuccessful.

By the ’80s, this dish was discontinued leaving some fast food fans unhappy. Apparently, people did not like this food because they were not convinced by the variation to the traditional onion ring.

After toasting a loaf of bread, our ancestors would submerge it in water for one hour till it reached a brown color. Then they would strain the water simply, and gulp it down. Why you might be asking? Apparently, it was a nutritious drink given to sick people who couldn’t digest solid foods.

Does this seem weird to you? We’re very put off by the idea of this but there’s only one way to find out if it’s drinkable or not… Come on guys, you only live once, and once is enough if you do crazy things like trying out toast water!

Frog legs are a delicacy of both the French and Chinese cuisines. And just an interesting fact for you all – as of 2014, Indonesia is the largest exporter of these frog legs!

Wondering what it tasted like? Well, frog legs have a combined texture and flavor of fish and chicken, so how’s that for a surf and turf meal? To this date, frog legs are still cooked in many countries around the world, even it is contested as an issue of animal rights. 

While banana, candle, and salad are separate entities that are not known to be mixed together, this vintage fruit salad was actually a very popular dish in American from the ’20s to the ’60s. The salad is normally a combination of lettuce, pineapple, banana, and cherries.

It is basically a banana placed inside a pineapple ring. And here’s the kicker – for the finishing touches, it’s drizzled with some mayonnaise.

Even imagined glitter in your cup of latte? Thanks to our predecessors, sparkly coffee is actually a thing. And even though all that glitters is not gold, glitter coffee sparkly is indeed an old and gold idea. With that being said, the edible glitter was not so healthy to drink.

The tradition has modernized over the years and now people add shimmer to their coffee because, despite the glam element, doctors do not recommend eating glitter.

This dish circa 1974 consisted of a frozen block of cottage cheese with blue cheese, buttermilk, and of course, broccoli florets were incorporated to decorate the sides. There was another secret ingredient added to this but we bet you’ll never guess it…

Who would have thought that Barbeque sauce was drizzled onto this meal? Actually, the taste variations are so bizarre here that adding another odd flavor to the mix isn’t so shocking!

Phew, people in the past had some eccentric choices! Next up we have the Tuna and Jell-O pie. This odd concoction was also known as a summer salad pie.

Mixed with the sweetness of lemon-flavored Jell-0 and bananas, this pie takes on a different taste once the tuna, green olives, and tomato sauce dressing are added. No, we did not make this up and yes, it sounds gross! Maybe don’t try this one at home folks.

Dirt was eaten by the homo sapiens way back in the day and since then, it has been adopted into a more edible meal. But, no matter how good they can make this dish nowadays, who wants to eat dirt?

You can now find recipes along for garden salads with edible dirt or dirt cakes but to be honest, we’re not interested in bringing back this ancient and unappetizing dish. Who agrees with us?

This donut burger is also known as a Luther burger. This is essentially a ham or cheeseburger with a glazed donut replacing the bun. While the origins of this meal are disputed, one thing is for sure – the calories of it will set you back.

If you have the cannolis to try this blend of a sweet and savory dish, get ready to eat between 800 and 1,500 calories. To be honest, we’re up for the challenge. We’re big lovers of donuts and burgers, so how bad can this really be?

Just the mere thought of stewing those beautiful white swans makes us sick but as it turns out, this was indeed a cuisine. Originating from England, it makes sense that this was a famous dish since the Thames river is graced with many swans.

We can’t seem to get past seeing these beautiful creatures being boiled in a pot to later be eaten. Are we alone in this disgust? Perhaps we’re being a little biased because of their beauty but hey, we’re only human!

Compared to other dishes on this list, this seems like a safe bet. After the advent of Indian spices in America, American people started to integrate spices into every dish. So, it makes sense that it reached even the sweet foods.

Can you imagine your toddler grabbing a bite from this cake? Oddly enough, everyone used to love it, and as we previously said, compared to all the other bizarre foods we’re seeing, this cake actually looks appealing.

Hedgehog meat was eaten in Ancient Egypt and there are recipe books from the Late Middle Ages that feature them. To this day, Romani people still eat this delicacy, either boiled or roasted. They believe that the hedgehog’s blood and fat have a medicinal value.

Apparently, these little animals taste like a stronger version of pork and with a different texture. While the meat is known to taste good, there isn’t a lot of it per animal due to its size. This makes the preparation process very long.

Say hello to another vintage creation that needs only six ingredients. This lime cheese salad requires lime-flavored gelatin, crushed pineapple, milk, mayo, cottage cheese, and walnuts. So, what do we think of it?

While we like the look of it in the pictures, the mix of the pineapple and the dairy products is not working for us. Surely these ingredients don’t go well together? It’s hard for us to believe that this used to be a holiday dessert favorite.

It’s now clear to us that people in colonial times were not empathetic towards adorable animals. No wonder their hands didn’t shake whilst killing them…

Otter meat appears to be dark red, moist, and tender. When it is cooked properly, its taste resembles that of roast pork. While we love us some pork, who is actually up for eating this marine mammal?

In East Asia and Japan, this delicacy is favored. Apparently, tuna eyeballs taste like boiled eggs and they can increase the cognitive ability of those who eat them. Who is up for the challenge?

Today, you can find tuna eyeballs in Japan’s izakayas and after-work bars that serve hors d’oeuvres and drinks. It is customary that the cooked eyeballs are served one or two at a time.

This drink was a real crowd-pleaser back in the day. Be it with snacks, alight meal, or dinner, the Jellied Tomato Refresher could be served at any time and with anything.

Combined with gelatin, this drink was refreshing to gulp down. The blood-red color and the icy feel made the drink a nice and fresh palate cleanser. No wonder it’s still enjoyed to this day!

The Baked Bologna Jubilee was considered to be a more versatile version of Spam but in our opinion, the only redeeming quality about this recipe is that it looks simple. Why one would mix fruit with bologna, we’ll never understand.

This dish also consisted of whole gloves, orange and lemon juice, cinnamon, and butter. While these ingredients alone don’t sound so bad, when you add in the bologna sausage and fruit, you probably want to barf, right?

An easy go-to salad for people back then was the Monterey Soufflé salad. It’s got all the goodies one could think of wrapped into one: lemon, gelatin, salad greens, and of course, tuna. All we can say is thank goodness that this went out of style.

We don’t care how adventurous you are, this weird creation looks like something we wouldn’t even want to try if all other foods on earth ran out!

This dish is as bizarre as it sounds but believe it or not, in India they serve brain in a curry-styled dish. Stirred with onions, garlic, ginger, and cumin, this meal is known to be very easy to cook.

It is also expected to melt immediately after entering the mouth, as brains apparently taste like soft-cooked eggs. This gooey textured curry is still prevalent in countries like India and Bangladesh.

Probably, one of the decent-sounding dishes on this list, this pineapple upside-down cake got its name because it is baked in a single pan with its toppings at the bottom.

If pineapples are not your speed, apples, cherries, or peaches can also be chopped and placed on top. Wow, this really does sound delicious to us and probably not so hard to make. Let’s all give this one a try!

Rat meat or rat stew is a local delicacy in Mexico, particularly in the Mexcian state of Zacatecas. While this may make you want to barf, the traditional rat stew, Caldo de rata, has been served there since the colonial days.

Even if they are cooked perfectly, the jungle rats would not taste good. After all, the rat has its feces in it! Excuse us while we quietly throw up in our mouths.

What happens when you put ham, frosting, and eggs together? Well, if you put that combination into our mouths you’d probably get vomited on. However, big surprise here – it’s a vintage recipe.

We’re struggling to wrap our brains around this one because the images are deceiving us. At first glance, this looks like some delicious layered wedding cake but when you hear about what actually goes into it, it changes everything.

Dating back to the 17th century, this dish was cooked as a form of entertainment that was served during a high-class meal. So, strangely enough, the pie was used to amuse guests and not to eat.

It was essentially just a pie crust on top of a dish and the live frog would jump out at random. But of course, you get those odd people who would actually cook the frog in an open fire and eat it.

Seen as a high-status edible soup, snake soup was prevalent in China for the past 2000 years. And in case you’re worrying, no, it was not poisonous.

Firstly, the flesh would be shredded into wire-like pieces, boiled with chicken, ginger, lemon leaves, fungus, and other flavorful spices. Chinese people would serve this snake soup to represent their wealth. Who would have thought snakes were so posh?

The puffin dish is a national delicacy in the Westman Islands, which makes sense because that is where the largest puffin colony in Iceland is. Smoked puffins are also a delicacy that is found in restaurants all around Iceland.

Smoked puffins are served similar to tapas, along with other Icelandic dishes. Wonder what it tastes like? People compare the taste to boiled liver. This bird can both be boiled in a milk sauce or smoked.

Remember the roasted swan from earlier? Well, this next dish bears a similar resemblance. To us, both swans and peacocks are gorgeous creatures with special feathers that should only be looked at and not eaten but unfortunately, not everyone feels the same way.

After completing the roasting and cooking, the peacock would be shrouded in its feathers and skin, making it look like an alive peacock. How shocking? We actually need to take a minute to digest this information. Be right back!

Prepared as the food of royalty, these bone marrow tarts were actually unpalatable. How could one add bone marrow in a tart? Surely those flavors don’t go together? And why does high-class society have such bad taste in food? Based on this article, that’s the consensus we’ve come to!

Even after the addition of milk and parmesan cheese, the tart would taste very bland. The only thing it would provide was aristocracy which to some, is more important than anything else.

If you are someone who fancies the calf’s foot, we are sorry to inform you that you don’t belong to this era and should go back to the 18th century. During those times, it was known to be a very popular and delicious dish.

Originally, people believed it was a remedy to cure sick people, and now since medicine is so modernized, we no longer need this dish. Plus, let’s be real – this looks and sounds disgusting!

Old-fashioned sea foam aka Sponge Candy first appeared in the ’40s in the area of Buffalo, New York. And to this day, some chocolate shops still stock this melt-in-your-mouth treat that is known for its light and airy taste.

This food just keeps on getting better because it’s super easy to make. All you need ingredient-wise is light-brown sugar, water, vanilla essence, egg whites, vinegar, and walnuts that have been coarsely chopped. Who is in the mood to start baking?

Finally, a brand that we know and love. Philadelphia cream cheese is a well-known, best-selling brand of cream cheese that was first produced in 1872 and is currently owned by Kraft Foods.

The product was a great source of marketing for dairy farming. And even today, this product is seen on family tables and is still commonly used as a spread. What do you have with your Philadelphia cream cheese? Let’s share some ideas!

Ever imagined how tree ornaments could be turned into something tasty? Well, older generations did and thought through an idea that became known as the hostess tree. This is essentially a Christmas tree paired with meat pieces which makes it perfect for the holiday season.

How it would work is that people would trim Oscar Mayer tidbits to decorate the tree for a holiday buffet. What a lovely way to serve snacks! We love the innovation here way more than the actual taste!

First hedgehogs, and now cats… did older generations not leave anything to just their imagination? If you’re a cat lover, avoid reading this item.

For the adventurous eaters out there who wonder what cat tastes like, it’s a myth that it tastes like chicken. It apparently resembles the flavoring of pork yet it’s also full of weird bones that remind people of fish bones. We’re not down to try this so we’ll leave it up to you guys!