Have I mentioned—more than thirty times—that this is not a food blog? But maybe what I am writing about here doesn’t count. Folks on the Interwebs have differing opinions on this (as with everything else) so let’s not wait around.
The appearance on the market of Coca-Cola flavored Oreos (good stuff) and Oscar Mayer Popcorn (haven’t tried it yet) has led some commentators to claim we are headed for the Apocalypse. I suspect these people don’t wander down the aisles of the grocery stores the way I do. And as a dealer in pop culture, in book and postcard form, I know that the fascination with innovation in food is not limited to our own generation. I was among those who sent suhhestions to the Lays folks when they were soliciting new flavors for potato chips: a blip on food marketing which grows smaller in the rearview mirror (during on of the last years, I tried to check whether one of my new flavor suggestions—was it liver and onions?—had already been suggested, and found that Lays listed over half a million suggestions JUST from my state JUST in one month. I think I understand why they stopped asking us.)
So I have prepared one of those “Not Really!” quizzes. Here is a list of products, by brand name or by concept. Your job is to answer the simple question “Did this really exist?”
1.McDonald’s grilled pineapple sandwich
2.Korn Kinks
3.Crapola
4.Gluten Globs
5.Protein Elbows
6.Bone Broth
7.Tomato Jell-0
8.Campbell’s Oxtail Soup
9.Mushroom Jerky
10.Pickled turkey gizzards
11. Pork-flavored turkey
12. Pickled beet potato crisps
13.Canned bread
14.Canned hamburgers
15.Canned red velvet cake
ANSWERS
1.Yes, let’s start with an easy one. This was the Hula Burger, for those observing Lent; not available now for some sixty years, but for curiosity’s sake alone….
2.Yes. Not a great moment in American marketing, but the mascot of this 1920s cereal had her own line of postcards and a LOT of attitude
3.Yes: a high fiber granola blend I used to find in the cereal aisle
4.No, alas, I could not find this anywhere. There ARE products with added gluten, but this ame is still available
5.Yes. This is a high protein macaroni with a catchy name
6. Yes, you can see this everywhere for people on a keto diet
7.Yes. Jell-O was used in so many salads that several vegetable flavors appeared
8.Yes. And no, you did not find a whole cow’s tail inside
9.Yes: you can find several types for those who have gone vegetarian but miss the jaw workout jerky can provide
10.Yes; available in various brands. Is the demand for giblet gravy dropping that low?
11.Yes, this was touted as a kosher pork product
12.No. At least, I couldn’t find it on the Interwebs. I remain convinced it’s out there somewhere
13.Yes. This has been eaten as a necessity, but also won over a lot of fans who PREFER their bread out of a can.
14.Yes. People have been coming out with these since the 1950s and there are several brands on the market, including a couple of canned plant-based cheeseburgers
15.No. Or at least not so far. Canned cake is apparently sweeping Japanese vending machines, and as soon as some American company thinks of a way, red velvet cannot be far behind.
Blogsy Babbles 