Childhood Memories of Ethnic Processed Food

**shoiji** · 10-11-2009, 12:56 PM

Well, I grew up here on the eastcoast. I was just thinking about what we considered ethnic food. Which came out of a can, jar, bag, or box.

La Choy Chow Mein in a can - that was either chinese food or hawaiian depending on how it was served. Plus is was more "special" since we didn't eat it often.

Ragu in a jar - that was italian or mexican depending on what it was made with.

Pizza - came out of a box. It was italian. We always had the box with three slices in it that you had to break apart before you baked it in the oven. Seriously, I didn't have "real" pizza till I was a teenager and went to the pizzeria. It wasn't until my twenties that my parents actually brought a "real" pizza home.

A jar of dried curry powder made curry. That was indian. Curry was only made maybe once a year when I was growing up. Not sure how long that same curry bottle was in the house.

While I realize that my mother was taking into account cost and time when feeding a family of six, I can't help buy laugh at what the food was and how I saw food as a kid. As an adult I enjoy making meals from scratch or knowing how it is made.

Are there any processed foods from your childhood that you thought was really ethnic?

**monkeywrangler71** · 10-11-2009, 01:14 PM

Taco kits, but I was a teenager before we had those. I don't even think they were available when I was little.

My father is a good cook, he went through a Chinese phase and made all kinds of stuff from scratch.

That's as ethnic as it ever got in our house.

**inneedofhope** · 10-11-2009, 01:46 PM

LOL We had the canned Chinese food here and there, but my mom considered processed foods a luxury, and take out was a huge treat. Both my parents were fabulous cooks and my mom grew as much of our food in the back yard as she could (the only house in town with stalks of asparagus and rows of corn lol). We were also a family of six, but my mom found cooking from scratch to be more economical, even when she was working nights to support us.
I envied the kids who got happy meals and boxed mac and cheese. What was I thinking??

**zakity** · 10-11-2009, 01:48 PM

Yep, I remember that canned Chinese food.

**HandyMom** · 10-11-2009, 02:25 PM

We had LaChoy too, with Minute Rice (UGH!). Appian Way Pizza (box mix) but that was because take-out pizza was too expensive back then.

I didn't think I liked Chinese food at all until we did go to a Chinese restaurant but that was when all the kids (all 4) were pretty much old enough to order for themselves.

**Pemberleyan** · 10-11-2009, 03:43 PM

I know this isn't ethnic at all, but it just brought back a memory. We used to eat Chef Boyardee macaroni and cheese in a can. We loved that stuff! I don't think it exists anymore.

**dmarie** · 10-11-2009, 03:56 PM

few weeks ago my kids seen the canned chinese food and begged me for sweet and sour chicken lol i told them only if they put back the ice cream and pretzels i was buying for the weekend. they did and after the first fork full they asked me to reminded them never to ask for it again.

**Contrary Housewife** · 10-11-2009, 04:07 PM

Well, I grew up overseas so I have a different view of it than most people, I suppose. A lot of the foods I had grown up with just weren't available in the US when we moved back here. It's only in the last 10-20 years some of these things have been available.

I vaguely remember the La Choy kits, I don't think we liked those very much. My mom made friend rice the way she learned in Japan, using what she could get here.

I remember tacos, hard shells, ground beef, and cheese. And the introduction of "nachos" in the 80's: chips and that rubbery orange cheese paste. Fajitas in the late late 80's, they still make them wrong everywhere north of the Red River. I'd never heard of a burrito or an enchilada until I went to college.

**shoiji** · 10-11-2009, 04:08 PM

dmarie - pretty funny about the kids

Handy mom - your description about the box kit to make pizzas brought back memories. I had forgotten about them. I remember the plastic packets of tomato sauce that you would spread on.

Pemberleyan - I still come across those cans of macaroni and cheese. We hardly ever had that in the house. One thing mom did make from scratch. I always thought it was amazing how she could just whip it up without directions. Wasn't until I was in my twenties that I saw the recipe on the Muellers pasta box. lol

**Ceashels** · 10-11-2009, 04:20 PM

Also here on the east coast and I love Ragu. I bought some not too long back and i brought back that old familiar feeling. And I remember cans of La Choy sitting on our shelf as well. We would make pizza from a box kit and Mom would stretch the dough into half a sheet pan so the crust would be maybe 2 millimeters thick when baked. LOL. We loved it.

**Nishu** · 10-11-2009, 05:10 PM

My dad made pretty much everything from scratch. Ethnic processed food was for rich people in my young mind.

**Ssindi** · 10-11-2009, 05:26 PM

Pizza in a box,Chinese kits,and tamales from a jar,were part of our Saturday lunch rotation. I can't remember what else we had. I was not fond of the tamales at all. Of course I never said so. In those days you ate what was put in front of you or went hungry.Mom always cooked from scratched so these were "treats" for us. LOL But all 7 of us grew up well and happy.