Things We Just Learned About Foods That Used To Be Surprisingly Popular

While the dessert had been around in Eastern Europe for generations, Nordic Ware owner H. David Dalquist's 1950 invention of the Bundt pan revolutionized the cake. The Minneapolis-based Hadassah Society wanted to recreate a traditional Jewish ring cake recipe, so Dalquist created the pan to help with their project.

He  originally named the pan a "bund," the German word for "bond" or "alliance." No one really knows why, but at some point, the inventor added a "T" to the end of the name. It's possible Dalquist wanted to separate his brand from a pro-Nazi German-American group that went by the same name - or perhaps he changed the spelling so he could trademark his invention. 

Sales were initially low. But when a chocolate Bundt cake won second place in the annual Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1966, every baker wanted to recreate the prized pastry. At the cake's height of popularity, Dalquist's Nordic Ware produced an average of 30,000 Bundt pans daily.

The origin of fondue is complicated. Although the recipe first appeared in a French cookbook in the 18th century, it called for Gruyère, a distinctively Swiss cheese. Supposedly the version people recognize today, which includes melted cheese with pieces of bread for dipping, came about in Alpine farm communities around the same time. To make the best use of ingredients, people melted the harder blocks of cheese and used stale bread as a filler to prevent waste. 

Printed recipes from the 1600s that originated in modern-day Switzerland exist, but the steps call for scrambling eggs and adding them to melted cheese, creating more of a soufflé than a dip. No matter who claims the rights to the cheesy invention, it became the national dish of Switzerland and all the rage at parties in the 1960s and '70s. 

By then, Americans were throwing complete fondue parties, usually serving up heaping scoops of melted cheddar or Gouda cheese and sometimes using beef for dipping along with the traditional bread. Dessert fondue consisted of melted chocolate with fruit, cookies, and marshmallows for dipping. The trend died off after the 1970s, but made a brief resurgence in the 1990s and early 2000s.

From upscale Los Angeles celebrity hotspots like Urth Caffé to the local Panera Bread chains, everyone was selling paninis in the early 2000s. Evolving from the Italian panino or "rolled sandwich" that's been popular in the country since the 1600s, Americans took on the creation and added about six times more meat and cheese to make it a Y2K foodie favorite. 

The fad began in New York in the 1990s, when restaurants like Il Bambino began serving customers the grilled sandwich filled with meats, cheeses, and sometimes vegetables pressed between griddle-marked bread slices. Soon, the sandwiches were famous everywhere, which may be why they fell out of vogue almost as quickly as they became famous.

Before long, it seemed every gas station and fast food chain had a version of the panini - only the ingredients weren't the premium cuts of meat and cheese that people had grown to expect. What once signified a unique and fancy snack quickly became a played-out word for anything served on toasted or grilled bread. Restaurants known for their paninis shifted the wording of their menu items to "toasted sandwiches," or just removed the items completely. 

No one knows precisely when Baked Alaska first appeared on the American table. It's rumored that Thomas Jefferson served a version of it during his time at the White House, and meringue-encased desserts were all the rage in the early 1800s. Famed Delmonico's in New York claims it added the dessert to its menu in 1867 after the US purchased Alaska as a territory. Still, the name didn't appear in a cookbook until 1896.

Although its origin remains unclear, Alaska's admittance as a state in 1959 made the dessert wildly popular in the mid-century US. The original version includes a brownie base with 10 cups of softened ice cream (usually two types), all encased in a thick egg white meringue that's torched right before serving. After 1962, other simpler desserts replaced Baked Alaska as Americans' favorite fad dish.

Fro-yo first hit the scene in the late 1970s and early '80s, when low-fat, low-carb diets were becoming popular. The trendy dessert hit a slight decline in sales during the 1990s and early 2000s, but then made a grand reappearance in the 2010s. 

The resurgence in popularity started in Seoul, South Korea, when Dan Kim opened his shop, Red Mango. Kim made headway by combining the creamy softness of Italian gelato and soft-serve ice cream with tangy-tart flavors. Celebrities loved it, and soon Southern California had its claim to fame with a similar design - Pinkberry. Leonardo DiCaprio was rumored to have a Red Mango in his office, and stars like Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton were often photographed with a Pinkberry cup in their hands. 

Along with celebrity endorsements, the treat became popular again in the mid-2000s, mainly for the same reason that it first appeared in the 1980s. Dieters who still wanted a sweet treat loved that they could get something marketed as “guilt-free.” Because yogurt is full of probiotics (beneficial bacteria), and many fro-yo businesses claimed to serve low-fat and fat-free products, many customers believed they were getting all the joy that traditional ice cream desserts gave - but with a healthy twist. 

However, numerous frozen yogurt stands and shops fell under scrutiny for not having live bacteria cultures in their products, and the plethora of sugary toppings (like gummy bears, chocolate chips, cookie dough, mochi, and sprinkles, to name a few) often negated any potential health benefits consumers believed they were getting. 

As new Instagram-worthy dessert options hit the market, the frozen yogurt trend slowly melted down. In addition, most shops closed temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic; many that reopened amended their business protocols so that dispensing, topping, and eating the treat was as sanitary and safe as possible. However, the International Frozen Yogurt Association still exists, and many fro-yo lovers remain hopeful the dessert it will keep its trend of rising to the top again, soon. 

Sun-dried tomatoes have been a staple in Mediterranean cuisine since the 1500s. As Americans became increasingly obsessed with dieting in the 1980s and '90s, the Mediterranean diet became one of the healthiest meal planning options. Restaurants and home cooks alike began using the imported, olive oil-soaked dried fruit in everything from salads to pasta. 

It wasn't long before American farmers picked up on the trend, except they found a cheaper and more profitable way to make sun-dried tomatoes accessible for every cook. Instead of drying the tomatoes out in the sun, tomato growers placed them in large, industrial dehydrators. 

Soon, the market was oversaturated - restaurants were putting the less flavorful American products on every dish imaginable, and grocery store shelves were filled with sun-dried tomato-infused bagels, crackers, and even tortillas. As the Mediterranean treat transitioned into an American everyday item, its popularity in restaurants and recipes quickly dried out.