Tasty Tidbits About 11 Staple Foods Of The 1990s

To combat rising meat prices and a general lack of meat supplies during the 1970s, companies like Betty Crocker developed ways for consumers to make their meat stretch, so to speak. One method was to mix it up with noodles and other affordable carbohydrates. Hence, Hamburger Helper was born.

Hamburger Helper, as the name gives away, was a way to literally help hamburger stretch further, but it offered additional perks. Hamburger Helper was convenient and easy to prepare, and also offered enough variety to keep meals interesting. Yet another perk was that it only required one pan, making cleanup a breeze, too.

The initial five Hamburger Helpers were Beef Noodle, Potato Stroganoff, Hash, Rice Oriental, and Chili Tomato. Currently, more than 40 varieties exist.

Salisbury steak is often associated with cafeteria lunches or TV dinners. The gravy-covered meal originated, however, as a way of curing digestive issues during the 19th century. 

Dr. James Salisbury was an American physician during the 19th century who sought to cure chronic diarrhea among troops during the Civil War. He developed a diet comprised of broiled meat and clear liquids but devoid of fruits, vegetables, and acidic additives. He first found the diet reduced bloating and diarrhea when he gave it to test subjects, and later when distributed among members of the military.

Salisbury didn't serve his ground beef plain, but rather covered in butter, salt, pepper, and gravy. He published a book on his diet and attracted dedicated followers. Salisbury steak, as it would become known, was a staple for the military well into the 20th century. It was reportedly first included in the Cookbook of the United States Navy in 1904, albeit listed as “Hamburger Steak.” This was apparently considered too “German” sounding, so it was later named after Salisbury.

It's not entirely clear who invented the Sloppy Joe, but according to New York restaurant owner Diane Ghioto: 

Sloppy Joe's was a bar in Havana in the 30's owned by a guy named José García… The bar got its name because his place was always a mess, and the ropa vieja sandwich served there came to be known as a sloppy Joe. As far as I can tell, the American version is a bastardization of that sandwich.

A traditional Cuban ropa vieja sandwich (whose name means “old clothes”) is made with stewed beef, bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes. In contrast, what goes for a Sloppy Joe to many Americans includes ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and other seasonings, alongside some ingredients found in a ropa vieja. 

Both sandwiches are, in fact, sloppy, so they have that in common as well. 

Another version of the sandwich's origins extends into the American Midwest. A cook named Joe from Sioux City, IA, may have developed a Sloppy Joe as a type of loose meat sandwich during the 1930s. Manwich, a brand of popular canned Sloppy Joe sauce, offers both as theories on its website.

Now called SunnyD, Sunny Delight was invented in 1963 in Florida, but didn't take off globally until the 1990s. This was especially true in the UK, where the citrus drink was, in the words of Jane Bainbridge from Marketing magazine, “a phenomenon. This product came from nowhere and went in as the 12th best-selling grocery product.”

Marketed as a fruit drink, Sunny Delight promoted as “like orange juice” and “healthy.” Consumers later discovered it was akin to soft drinks, but that wasn't the most unnerving realization as more and more kids imbibed the bright orange beverage. 

The additives that give Sunny Delight its characteristic hue were so intense, a toddler in Wales who drank it in large quantities began to turn yellow-orange in 1999. The skin color alteration was due to high levels of beta-carotene. A spokesperson for the company stated at the time:

The child apparently drank 1.5 litres per day. That would be more than the total daily fluid intake of a child of that age and you would expect a mix of different drinks, not just one type… The condition is harmless, there is no health risk and skin will return to normal in a few weeks.

Bologna - pronounced more like “baloney” - has a long history that actually traces back to Italy. The origins of the pressed meat are intricately linked to the traditional Italian sausage called mortadella.

It originated in Bologna, Italy, and is made of pork. Like many other types of cured meat, mortadella was popular by the later Middle Ages, and during the 17th century, counterfeit versions appeared. As a result, making mortadella was officially tasked to a guild associated with the meat. Anyone else who made mortadella could reportedly be stretched on the rack and issued a fine.

Bologna is similar to mortadella, but differs because it is made of chicken, pork, beef, or other animal products. It's technically a sausage like mortadella, and likely why the name carried over to North America. Exactly how this jump from Europe took place is still debated.

According to some observers, Italian immigrants brought bologna  to the US. Others identify German influences, but that may be due to the popularization of the lunch meat by Oskar Mayer (who later changed the spelling of his name to Oscar).

Mayer and his German family arrived in the US when he was a teenager and, alongside his brother, he sold bologna at a meat shop in Chicago during the early 20th century. Because bologna was more affordable than other cured meat, it was especially popular during the Great Depression. With the invention of sliced bread in 1928, the creation of the bologna sandwich became a convenient and cheap way to eat.

If you'd never heard of molten chocolate cake prior to the 1990s, there's a good reason for it - it was only about 3 years old. That's according to some people, anyway.

Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten is credited with creating the chocolate cake with a saucy inside in 1987. When he introduced it, however, it was a dessert created by accident.

There were predecessors to the molten lava cake that resembled Vongerichten's - specifically one created by chef Michel Bras of France as early as 1981. Vongerichten's cake was the result of underbaking, however, while Bras developed a type of cookie dough with chocolate in the center. 

Other potential molten chocolate cake ancestors include the Tunnel of Fudge Cake made by the second-place finisher in a Pillsbury bake-off in 1966, and a more recent creation by chocolatier Jacques Torres in France.