How do you define trashy?

585076 How do you define trashy? Sun Jan 04 17:33:26 -0800 2009 161 31 Home Cooking 0 4295860 A post here made me wonder: how do you define trashy? As in White trash cooking? Or do you have another definition? Do you think it is a good thing, a bad thing, or sometimes sorta fun? A share or two of a favorite recipe or meal (or a tale oof woe) is also greatly appeciated! Sun Jan 04 17:33:26 -0800 2009 61669 Quine 1 4295868 I was wondering the same thing. Now I definitely have to watch this post to see where it goes. Sun Jan 04 17:35:05 -0800 2009 4295860 171195 kayEx 1 4295917 For me "trashy" signifies a dish made entirely or almost entirely from heavily processed and/or mass-produced convenience foods. A tale of bemusement rather than woe...Once we attended a potluck holiday party where the hit of evening (for everyone except my partner and me) was a dessert composed of layers of crumbled Oreos, Jell-O brand chocolate pudding, and Cool Whip. Everyone at the party marveled at the fact that we actually made the delicious hummus we brought, but the pudding dish was by far the crowd favorite. Despite high scores for technical proficiency, the hummus couldn't overcome the style points awarded to the pudding...um..."casserole". Sun Jan 04 17:52:48 -0800 2009 4295860 86822 hohokam 2 4296694 I have had that dessert at a potluck too. It was definitely a huge hit made by a teenage girl. I grew up in lower South Carolina eating white trash style. I love catfish stew and probably that is as white trash as you can get as it costs almost nothing. If our tomatoes were not ripe enough, we fried them green and fried those catfish instead, using cornmeal to dredge both. I will NOT eat crawfish to this day though. I remember seeing them crawling up our driveway during heavy rains. Now THAT would be white trash cuisine. Mon Jan 05 02:37:58 -0800 2009 4295917 240293 Lewes17266 3 4296820 I'd consider everything you mentioned low-country, not trashy, cuisine... Mon Jan 05 06:06:25 -0800 2009 4296694 224238 Caralien 4 4298783 me, too.. low-country and absolutely delicious. low country: made from scratch hot biscuits and bacon fat / sausage white gravy trashy: biscuits from a can topped with gravy from a jar that's more food coloring and flour than anything else for the record, i love some trashy food -- green bean casserole, tater tot hotdish, etc...! Mon Jan 05 16:07:35 -0800 2009 4296820 64215 cimui 5 4301721 Borderline: biscuits made from mix, gravy from a mix. I have a pouch of white-gravy mix sitting in my cupboard waiting for me to have a weak moment... I was aghast when I raved over the cookie/pudding/Cool Whip dessert and Mrs. O took me aside and told me what was in it! Our hostess was so proud of it she told everyone but me. Is tuna-noodle casserole trashy? Count me in! Tue Jan 06 14:22:55 -0800 2009 4298783 11478 Will Owen 6 4303714 gravy from a mix? i'd eat that, especially if there're nice chunks of something fatty and delicious mixed in. biscuits and gravy from a mix only save you about two steps from making these totally from scratch! re: cookie / pudding / cool whip... if it's the same thing as "refrigerator cake", boy, i like that stuff, too. a slice of it goes for something like $5 at a bakery down the street from me. trashy? yes! delicious? yes! cheap? no way. Wed Jan 07 08:20:03 -0800 2009 4301721 64215 cimui 7 4303843 Which is trashier, making a pie following the recipe on a store bought bottle of 'key lime' juice (juice, sweeten condensed milk, eggs, store bought crust, food coloring (optional). Or combining frozen limeaid concentrate with coolwhip (r) and putting that in the crust? One is an authentic key lime pie (or close to it), the other a 'fake' one. Or do I have to add another option - pick your own limes, crush your own store-bought crackers? Wed Jan 07 08:53:32 -0800 2009 4303714 12139 paulj 8 4304143 and lay your own eggs... paulj, i'd say that both are mildly trashy. the second is definitely trashier (trashiness is a sliding scale). that's not to say they wouldn't both be delicious. Wed Jan 07 09:55:51 -0800 2009 4303843 64215 cimui 9 4304169 ...and grow your own chicken feed which you irrigate using rainwater that you collected in your cistern and/or pumped from your hand-dug well ;-) Wed Jan 07 10:00:01 -0800 2009 4304143 86822 hohokam 10 4304195 while you're at it, you should just make your own rain, too. ;) Wed Jan 07 10:05:16 -0800 2009 4304169 64215 cimui 8 4777516 How is store bought key lime juice (which you have in quotes, but is actually key lime juice) trashy or inauthentic? How many people have a key lime tree available to them? It would take about 50 dubious store bought key limes to produce a single pie while a fresh from the tree lime amount would be maybe 15. Store bought graham cracker crumbs are somehow more trashy than graham crackers you crush yourself? The mere act of commercial crushing spells trash? Pshaw. Tue Jun 16 08:39:38 -0700 2009 4303843 137755 Sal Vanilla 5 4304561 Awesome thread :) lol Wed Jan 07 11:26:55 -0800 2009 4298783 84784 food_eater79 5 4344452 I second that - it sounds delicious! :) how about this for trashy: mini hot dogs, canned sliced meats, chips of all sorts (if you could call them that), some unknown mayonnaise concoction, white, pasty bread and more white pasty bread, canned ham salad with miracle whip and so forth ... this was a wedding reception "feast"... I could not believe my eyes ...the memory still haunts me ... happy eating, oana Wed Jan 21 09:44:08 -0800 2009 4298783 256715 oana 6 4348870 oana, that really does sound bad! Thu Jan 22 14:58:25 -0800 2009 4344452 240335 njchowgal 3 4316351 Oh, no, that's not trashy! That's wonderful food! Sun Jan 11 12:04:55 -0800 2009 4296694 222865 FoodChic 3 4716648 White Trash cooking would be more like making that Stew with canned catfish meat, instant tomatoe soup & crushed Lay's potatoe chips. Tue May 26 15:41:01 -0700 2009 4296694 42572 Eat_Nopal 4 4716675 canned catfish? Where is that sold? Seriously--I've only seen it fresh or frozen, but would probably try it from a can, particularly if it were from Spain (I love the canned seafood from that country). Tue May 26 15:50:07 -0700 2009 4716648 224238 Caralien 2 4297010 My five yo neice and 7 yo nephew make the jello/oreo dessert, and are so proud of themselves when they arrive- their mom ( my SIL) is a fabulous cook and baker, and uses these recipes that are fun for the kids to make. Though I will say, these kids also make amean homemade pizza and great homemade garlic bread! Another "trashy" food that my family loves is "cheesy potatoes" ( sometime call funeral potato casserole). It consists of ore ida frozen home fries or hash bronws, melted butter, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, lots of shredded cheddar, topped with crushed corn flakes and baked. have to make at least two panfuls when we serve it! Mon Jan 05 07:36:51 -0800 2009 4295917 11057 macca 3 4297045 There was a time when every party had to have two gigantic pans of the potato casserole, alongside hot dogs/hamburgers and green beans from the garden (boiled until they tasted like canned green beans, of course). Mon Jan 05 07:50:34 -0800 2009 4297010 88792 jazzy77 4 4297123 And if you want to make a one dish complete "trashy" meal, just add cubed ham and broccoli! Mon Jan 05 08:20:19 -0800 2009 4297045 11057 macca 5 4299259 Oh I have to disagree there! Broccoli has that dangerously healthy good-for-you factor, ;) Mon Jan 05 19:00:10 -0800 2009 4297123 61669 Quine 6 4300326 Ha! I've actually heard more than a few people from where I grew up say they were allergic to veggies - all of them. Tue Jan 06 08:06:52 -0800 2009 4299259 88792 jazzy77 3 4348875 that sounds good Thu Jan 22 14:59:15 -0800 2009 4297010 240335 njchowgal 2 4300035 There's a charming version of the "casserole" you can serve around Halloween, always a hit, called "Graveyard Pudding". In rectangular dish, put down a layer of chocolate pudding. Sprinkle on the "dirt" - crumbled Oreos. Put some vanilla cookies here and there like tombstones. Dot with some blobs of Cool Whip (ghosts). Serve remaining Cool whip on the side in original plastic tub. A perfect dessert for old people, by the way --I mean it's easy to eat. Tue Jan 06 06:01:13 -0800 2009 4295917 211115 neverlate 2 4315037 Sorry hohokam, but really, is hummus really much more difficult to make than that pudding oreo dessert? I've made hummus and it's terribly easy, not sure your hummus was all that much more "homemade" than the oreo dessert unless of course you grew the beans, dried the beans, made your own tahini etc. Otherwise you're just opening a can of chick peas, some tahini, some olive oil and a few other things and dumping it in the food processor. Sat Jan 10 18:46:30 -0800 2009 4295917 15507 Rick 3 4316150 If one actually cares about the flavor and texture of the end product, making hummus takes a bit more than just dumping ingredients into in a food processor and pressing a button. I tend to taste things as I go along and adjust seasonings until I get what I think is right. Of course, in fairness, I should allow for the possibility of the pudding person devoting hours to producing test batch after test batch, each time tweaking the proportion of Cool Whip to pudding and the size of the Oreo crumbs. Sun Jan 11 10:44:48 -0800 2009 4315037 86822 hohokam 4 4344763 Hohokam, come on, not like I don't taste and adjust before finishing the hummus, but still, not really difficult. Certainly not a high degree enough of difficulty to act like you brought something far superior to the cool whip, pudding, oreo person. Wed Jan 21 11:05:41 -0800 2009 4316150 15507 Rick 5 4344817 I wasn't trying to make a point about differences in "degree of difficulty". I just don't happen to think layering crushed Oreos, Jell-O pudding, and Cool Whip is the culinary equivalent of thoughtfully composing a hummus made from whole foods. My preference is for dishes more akin to the latter than the former. If your preferences don't happen to run that way, that's fine. The "more difficult" = "inherently better" argument is not one I was making here and not one I would ever make. I eat plenty of simple foods with as much (or maybe even more) gusto as I do with complicated dishes. The difficulty issue is a red herring IMO. Wed Jan 21 11:23:11 -0800 2009 4344763 86822 hohokam 6 4781254 maybe not more difficult, but certainly less processed and definitely less white trash. Wed Jun 17 09:48:47 -0700 2009 4344817 266222 raygunclan 2 4345123 The choco pudding/cool whip dessert was brought to our New Year's Eve Party! "Barf in a Bowl" -yuck Wed Jan 21 12:47:32 -0800 2009 4295917 182357 jillybean38 1 4295921 I've always thought it meant using some sort of processed food product...i.e., spam, velveeta, lipton onion soup mix, etc... Personally, on occasion, I love me some spam musubi, nachos with cup o' cheese, and a good ol' lipton onion soup meatloaf... But I'm asian, so it's yellow trash when i eat it! :o) Sun Jan 04 17:55:02 -0800 2009 4295860 56183 soypower 2 4298791 yellow trash, heh! love spam musubi. this also brings to mind the threads about hong kong fusion cuisine: spaghetti with ketchup, pork chop with ketchup, etc... my grandma's open faced sandwiches made by grilling a slice of white bread spread with mayonnaise and chives until the mayonnaise "melted" and browned. yucky! and yet so yummy... Mon Jan 05 16:09:21 -0800 2009 4295921 64215 cimui 3 4299448 what is it with asians and ketchup? we've taken my dad to some of the best steakhouses in the country and without fail he must have his ketchup with his steak! i like that open face mayo sandwich idea. i can completely understand how it can be yucky and yummy at the same time. Mon Jan 05 20:15:13 -0800 2009 4298791 56183 soypower 4 4299968 Steak without ketchup? Like pudding without Cool Whip! I love 'trashy' or 'dirty' recipes. So what is the Oreo casserole recipe? It sounds delish. Tue Jan 06 05:32:35 -0800 2009 4299448 11104 dolores 5 4300227 Literally, you crush up some Oreos and lay them in the bottom of a baking dish (or other receptacle), cover that with chocolate pudding, and then add a layer of Cool Whip. Top with more Oreos. It's like a parfait. Sometimes, I used to get all banada pudding-ish about it and just place the whole Oreos in the bottom of the dish, cover with pudding, and then let it sit for a couple days to allow the Oreos to get soft. This was the epitome of gourmet when I was a kid - and my brother and I used to fight over the leftovers. Tue Jan 06 07:37:37 -0800 2009 4299968 88792 jazzy77 6 4726428 i don't know where i got this "recipe" from, but when i was a kid, i made this dessert called "on top on top", which consisted of 2-3 layers of nilla wafers and cool whip, all topped with colored sprinkles at the end, then chilled to soften the wafers and set the "cream". my sister still rolls her eyes to this day whenever i mention it! this, of course, was before i learned how to make whipped cream from scratch. once my mom and sister hand whipped cream and placed it in the fridge for chilling. being young and wanting to help out, i took the bowl out of the fridge and did some final whipping. they were so mad when they saw i turned their lovely thick cream into liquid. oops! Fri May 29 16:11:09 -0700 2009 4300227 95845 lschow 7 4726473 Substitute lady fingers for the nilla wafers, and pastry cream for the cool whip, and you have the start of a trifle. Fri May 29 16:29:09 -0700 2009 4726428 12139 paulj 8 4730103 haha that just goes to show that trashy can be just 2 steps away from classy! Sun May 31 10:59:07 -0700 2009 4726473 95845 lschow 9 4731372 amen to that. Sun May 31 20:27:58 -0700 2009 4730103 64215 cimui 4 4714647 Ketchup is said to have originated in China. According to Wikipedia, the word is supposed to from the Fujian dialect in southeastern China: "kôe-chiap" (in the Xiamen accent) or "kê-chiap" (in the Zhangzhou accent), meaning a brine of pickled fish or shellfish. Tue May 26 04:47:07 -0700 2009 4299448 39701 browniebaker 1 4295954 Anything based on Bisquick or Jiffy, tubed food (dough or cheese), yellow cake mix, onion soup mix, canned fruit in heavy syrup, Velveeta, Dinty Moore Beef Stew, leftover packets from Chinese takeout (sweet & sour goo, metallic mustard, salty soy sauce), hot dog casseroles/stews, anything involving road kill... Is there a time and place for it? Sure. I've sliced hot dog buns into mini toasts, baked them, cut up hotdogs into pieces, and served them with yellow mustard dipping sauce for my neice, who loved it. Made Twinkies from yellow cake mix+water with a can of frosting. I'm still tempted to make a Frito-Pie on the engine manifold if I'm ever severely dehydrated, although my '88 VW would probably impart a better flavor than our Prius. A recent one I heard of was "Granma's 5 can soup"--Cream of Mushroom, Vegetable Beef, Tomato, MInestrone, Rotel. Barbie Salad (recalled fondly by my father, from his Aunt Barbie, served during the 50's in LA County): Jello with marshmallows & fruit cocktail with a sour cream & Cool Whip/Jello base, made in a ring mold. Similar to pistachio pudding blended with Cool Whip and molded. Similar post: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/307870 Sun Jan 04 18:07:56 -0800 2009 4295860 224238 Caralien 1 4295995 The word is, IMO, misused in the post you refer to. The common definition of "trashy" includes synonyms like cheap (not as in inexpensive, but as in lesser quality) or inferior or having little or no value. Some might even say low class or without merit. If the chicken dish described in that post is "trashy" I guess I'll have to admit on growing up on trashy food and learning cooking basics with recipes that produced trashy food. I wouldn't use processed food ingredients or "quick" anything today, unless there was no other choice (like being snowed in and having to make do with what's on hand) but I applaud those who choose to use those methods in the spirit of adventure while traveling through the wonderful world of culinary experience. Sun Jan 04 18:20:51 -0800 2009 4295860 203621 todao 2 4471062 I agree with your comment, todao, but I have to laugh...you say you wouldn't use anything processed unless there was "no other choice (like being snowed in and having to make do with what's onhand)", but how would anything processed be "on hand" in your kitchen if you never used it otherwise.....? (BUSTED! LOL) Tue Mar 03 18:06:28 -0800 2009 4295995 271356 TAGcaves4me 3 4713676 Because if you know that there is a possibility of being snowed in/stormed in/whatever, then it pays to have an Emergency Stash in the pantry, and processed foods last forever. Plus if they don't taste particularly good then you're not going to break into the stash unless it really IS an emergency! Which reminds me, I just gave away the last of last year's hurricane stash to the food pantry and it's time to restock the shelf. I give it away before it expires and let somebody who really needs it have it. Mon May 25 16:01:31 -0700 2009 4471062 67657 Kajikit 1 4296116 I think that it describes foods or dishes that purport to be faster/simpler/less intimidating versions of the real thing--e.g., using canned condensed soup instead of making bechamel. Cool Whip and Velveeta also fall into this category. Bisquik doesn't allow you to make anything you couldn't make from scratch, just as quickly and easily...and don't get me started on those "impossible pies" that are supposed to be just like pot pies! However, I figure, Jell-O is Jell-O--well, OK, back in the day, it was invented as a way for everyday folk to make the kinds of fancy jelled desserts that up till then, only rich people with lots of servants could have (all that boiling of calves hooves, yum). A Jell-O salad can't be made with ingredients that are lower on the food chain. On the other hand, a Jell-O poke cake is a version of a cake that's supposed to have some sort of fruit glaze on it. And Spam musabi--it was never made with a good cut of meat, and if you tried, it would just be pretentious. I'm probably overthinking this by a whole lot. I personally think that trashy food, no matter how you define it, is fun--every now and then, and if you don't mistake it for the real thing. I adore Kraft mac 'n' cheese and always have a box or two in the cabinet, for comfort food emergencies. A family member is fond of making meatloaf and wrapping it in those crescent rolls that come in a tube that you have to smack against the counter. She mashes the perforations together and serves it as Beef Wellington. Sun Jan 04 18:57:04 -0800 2009 4295860 164177 Erika L 1 4296398 I suggest an alternate definition; consider the "mud pie" or "pudding casserole" above. To me, truly "trashy" would be making the same recipe, but without using higher-priced brands such as Jello, Cool-Whip, or Oreos. Instead one would use generic pudding (also, it would have to be instant), something like Sunshine "chocolate and creme" cookies (or a cheaper equivalent), and a generic brand whipped topping (probably the store brand). It would also need to be served in a light green plastic bowl that has seen better days and served with an old slotted "spaghetti" spoon that must have come from the 80s. I'm not sure that I would called any food in particular "trashy" - I mean, I'm just as comfortable eating at the chef's table of a fine restaurant as I am dipping Fritos in a crock pot full of Velveeta, salsa, and sausage. But, the main difference is the fact that "trashy" dishes use lower-quality, often cheaper ingredients than what the recipe calls for, ending in a dish that isn't as good (and is at least two steps below what would be considering optimal). Sun Jan 04 20:52:53 -0800 2009 4295860 88792 jazzy77 2 4297068 Hmm...I'm not sure I agree with the store-brand/generic vs. name brand distinction. Would using Newman-Os be even less "trashy" than using Oreos? And where would Trader Joe's Joe-Joes fall on that spectrum? Is Kozy Shack pudding from the cold case more "trashy" or less "trashy" than Jell-O pudding mix? I don't pretend to be above eating "trashy" foods (see my post in the recent "Dirty" dishes thread), but I do tend to distinguish between dishes made from scratch/whole foods and those made from manufactured products. My point was that if someone used the word "trashy" to describe a dish, I would assume they meant something like a sandwich made from Wonder bread, Miracle Whip, and Ruffles (or store brand equivalents). Yeah, I made and ate more than a few of those when I was a kid. I don't use the word "trashy" to describe food, but when someone else does, (I think) I know what they mean. Mon Jan 05 07:58:31 -0800 2009 4296398 86822 hohokam 3 4298496 All goods points - I think my point in that post was to be able to exclude those products that were routinely served to me and my parents as children by people who learned to cook in the 50s, and honestly believed that these foods were healthy for people. However, having grew up in the very rural midwest (many of my father's students proudly claimed to be related to the Hatfields or the McCoys), the line of demarcation between high-end and low-end was the brands in one's cabinets, not the actual recipes in the cookbooks. Mon Jan 05 14:37:03 -0800 2009 4297068 88792 jazzy77 4 4299271 LOL yes what s good for you has certainly changed in the the last several decades. I seem to recall that frozen veggies were considered trendy not good for you at first, canned and boiled to death so much better. he he he. I recall rumors of waxed milk containers (OMG!!! only glass) causing almost instant cancer (hey I was 5 year old and it was the late 50's) Mon Jan 05 19:04:48 -0800 2009 4298496 61669 Quine 5 4302806 I grew up in rural central Ohio, right at the mouth of Appalachia. Ohio is considered the eastern-most state of the midwest. Now, I never asked anyone to provide documentation of their lineage to the Hatfields or McCoys, but whomever said it was very proud of that claim, which gives more insight into the local color of the area rather than actual historical fact. However, a lot of people in that area have ancestors/family who lived in either West Virginia or Kentucky as well, including myself, so those types of stories are fairly common. Tue Jan 06 20:45:36 -0800 2009 4299271 88792 jazzy77 4 4301783 Jazzy, I wouldn't call eastern KY or WV the rural "midwest." Appalachia is more descriptive of where the Hatfield McCoy feud took place. Where did you grow up? Tue Jan 06 14:41:02 -0800 2009 4298496 24126 amyzan 5 4302816 I grew up in rural central Ohio, right at the mouth of Appalachia. Ohio is considered the eastern-most state of the midwest. Now, I never asked anyone to provide documentation of their lineage to the Hatfields or McCoys, but whomever said it was very proud of that claim, which gives you a little insight into the local color of the area. A lot of people in that area have ancestors/family who lived in either West Virginia or Kentucky as well, including myself, so those types of stories are fairly common. Tue Jan 06 20:48:43 -0800 2009 4301783 88792 jazzy77 2 4298659 Jazzy, I have that spoon, it's indestructible avocado plastic right??? I also always have a box of Mexican Velveeta on hand, makes great mac & cheese, chili relleno casserole, potatoes au gratin, grilled cheese and cheese burger on those days you feel like slumming. . Mon Jan 05 15:25:23 -0800 2009 4296398 218554 BeefeaterRocks 3 4300241 That's exactly the spoon! What is Mexican Velveeta? Is it better than regular Velveeta? Tue Jan 06 07:42:04 -0800 2009 4298659 88792 jazzy77 4 4300443 Mexican Velveeta has Jalapeno peppers added, I used to buy hot but can only find med. anymore so I usually add addl jalapenos. Tue Jan 06 08:43:02 -0800 2009 4300241 218554 BeefeaterRocks 5 4300957 Ooooh...that does sound good. We have a local pizza place here that takes the salsa/velveeta/sausage combo and stuffs it into jalapenos, coats the jalapenos in potato flake/panko, and fries them. They are the best poppers I've ever had. Tue Jan 06 10:58:22 -0800 2009 4300443 88792 jazzy77 5 4781101 So you boil pasta and then just put cubed velveeta in til it melts? Wed Jun 17 09:00:35 -0700 2009 4300443 132739 lilmomma 1 4296674 For me it was the white trash food I grew up with, Tomato soup instead of of pasta sauce, pork chops braised in mushroom soup, the big dish of bacon fat next to the stove that everything was fried in. Though I did have what I called a white trash feast a short time ago, Fried Pork Chop in a potato chip coating, and Tater-tot blue cheese casserole. (Both courtesy of Alton Brown) Mon Jan 05 01:33:25 -0800 2009 4295860 192103 mindsoup 2 4296715 I think everyone has forgotton that the convenience products that are now considered "trashy" were a big deal when they were first introduced. They were labor saving and "modern". This was about the same era (50's) when breast feeding was considered old-fashioned and something only ignorant poor people did. I'm a mother who let her child enjoy Chef Boyardee products. They were quick lunch fixes and boxed mac 'n cheese was the first thing our always hungry teenager learned to cook. Eventually we figured out that cooking from scratch was better and more healthy. Friends now avoid things with high fructose syrup. Convenience foods are still useful but I think a person becomes a "trashy" cook when that is all they use. They don't care enough to cook better meals for their family even though they may have the time to put more effort into trying new recipes and spending more time in the kitchen. I will never ever consider the jello salads the elderly aunts used to make as "trashy" food. They were special recipes made for family get togethers. Years ago a neighbor volunteered for a foods and nutrition program for low income families. She was shocked that young mothers considered convenience foods to be the kind of food they should feed their families. They had fallen for the notion that the manufactured food was "better". Perhaps I don't like the use of the word "trashy". I think "retro" would be more appropriate. I grew up on cheap food available in suburban supermarkets. Gardening was old-fashioned. Casseroles made with canned soups used to be modern recipes a loving cook made for her family. Herbs and special spices were unheard of. My grandmother still canned green beans but I remember my mother thinking they were probably full of botulism. The tins from the market were safer and supposedly healthier. Lots of us fell for the sales pitches from big business. Now we know better. Mon Jan 05 03:53:52 -0800 2009 4296674 13546 dfrostnh 3 4296931 I really agree with you. I have an older aunt who still makes the same layered jello concoction, and would not be averse to serving wienies in a blanket if called upon. She is a product of a certain era of middle-class consumption (that not all engaged in - witness my mother who always cooked from scratch and who used fresh veggies from our large gardens). To use a word like trashy to describe my aunt's food seems unnecessarily critical. For me, when my aunt shows up with the famed jello salad, it is an affirmation of the social nature of food and of how family traditions tie people together across space and time (though I still go for the Italian pastries for dessert!). Mon Jan 05 07:06:11 -0800 2009 4296715 186923 Cachetes 4 4296958 Beautifully expressed, dfrostnh and Cachetes. My wife has made a special layered jello salad with strawberries, pineapple, bananas and sour cream for Christmas for the past fifty years. She didn't make it this year and the entire extended family expressed disappointment. "Retro" - I like that. "Trashy" gave me the impression that I grew up in a low class neighborhood. "Retro" is cool .... I feel better now. Mon Jan 05 07:19:01 -0800 2009 4296931 203621 todao 5 4297530 I also appreciated dfrostnh's and Cachetes' posts. I think they did a good job of noting some of the reasons processed foods grew in popularity and hung around in this country. Because there were many reasons for it. First of all, technology made its preparation, packaging, storage and distribution possible. I don't think we can overlook the role that the United States' post-World War II scientific orientation played in this, the fascination we had with being able to send astronauts into space and sustain them with things like Tang and freeze-dried ice cream, and the romantic view we held at the time of our own technological prowess. More women returned to work, long hours, outside the house, and the habit of many strictly middle class homes having a housekeeper who did the cooking, or helped with it, disappeared after the 1940s. So, I don't think it's historically accurate to refer to processed foods, even the most ooey-gooey, petroleum-based, sodium-sodden ones among them, as "white trash" food. I don't think a lot of this stuff knew many class boundaries, in its heyday. I'm not going to dance around this. I wish the terms, "trashy", and, especially, "white trash", could be wiped out this instant from both the cooking vernacular, and, of course, the social one. Now, I understand that most people aren't using the words in *any* way to denigrate a certain groups of Americans, but that--the communication of a certain contempt and, as you mentioned, todao, a judgment of "lesser value"--IS the pedigree of the term "white trash". It is a class slur, even though I do understand nobody here is trying to use it in that way. But, in 2009, do we find it acceptable to speak about "[insert any of the well known ethnic, racial or class slurs here] Food" when discussing pizza or tacos or collard greens? All those things mentioned, that a lot of us who are fortunate enough to have a choice in the matter don't really like to eat that much, or sometimes look down upon in our food snobbery, are really just processed food, and as for processed food in general, to answer Quine's original question, it has its place. Erika pointed out the role that Jell-O played in the evolution of our food history, and I suppose we could say the same thing about Knox gelatine, without which, I don't know how most of us today would make an elegant Persian cream, a Cabinet de Diplomat, a chiffon pie or Charlotte Russe. I'm not sure how my MIL, who will be 90 years old next month, would feed herself. She spent decades standing on her feet all day in the kitchen, cooking elaborate, delicious, nutritious meals from scratch for her large Italian family. Now she can't cook much for herself, but refuses to give up what little independence she has, and makes her suppers out of prepared soups she never would have used before, a can of apricots or peaches, and a little slice of Entenmann's, whose ingredient lists can be absolutely appalling. I don't know how, in certain circumstances, we'd move modern armies in the field without MREs, which, from what I hear, may be some of the most dismal facsimiles of real food, but I can imagine one might look pretty good to a tired, hungry troop out in the bush when he finally has a few minutes to sit down. We all use processed items from time to time, whether it's prepared mustard or ketchup or pasteurized milk or Ben & Jerry's ice cream. So, I can't stand the term, but, to answer Quine's question about these types of foods, I think you pretty much covered it, Quine. Sometimes it's good, in the sense of useful and expedient and long shelf-lived, sometimes it's bad and when carried to extremes it can be downright destructive (of our health), but, yeah, in moderation, it can be lots of fun. Mon Jan 05 10:16:18 -0800 2009 4296958 244717 Steady Habits 3 4297180 Bravo! Those guilty pleasure ingredients like Velveeta, Miracle Whip, and cream of mushroom soup were standards 40-50 years ago. Most homes didn't have more than a couple of cookbooks, and housewives looking for something new were likely to try the recipes in the ads in women's magazines, where such products were heavily promoted. Grocery stores were quite small compared to today, and the limited selection roughly equivalent to what you'll find in a modern convenience store. Those meals became the comfort and nostalgia foods of the baby boomers. Home gardens and canning were passe - the "modern" thing was to buy canned/frozen, and the wherewithal to do so was a sign that you were financially successful. The first thing I learned to cook, in 7th grade "home ec" in 1961, was Tuna Noodle Casserole. My German-immigrant mom, a meat-and-potatoes cook who had never made a casserole, rather liked it (or maybe it was just that having me make dinner gave her a rare reprieve from the kitchen). I rarely think of it today, other than when Garrison Keillor makes a reference to "hot dish". I wouldn't make it but if I encountered it at a potluck I'd have some and I'd enjoy it, probably more for the memories than the flavor. I'd reserve "trashy" for the high-fructose corn syrup/preservative/hydrogenated-fat/salt-laden processed "foodstuffs". Today's trendy dishes will doubtless be the nostalgia foods of the nest generation. Mon Jan 05 08:34:42 -0800 2009 4296715 159317 greygarious 4 4298538 Yes, great point. A couple of years ago, I received my great Aunt's recipe box after her passing so that I could compile a family cookbook for everyone to share. Imagine my shock when about 90% of the recipes in the box were from newpaper articles, food can labels, and food boxes! In the end, it made a lot of sense, but a lot of the ingredients in her recipes used processed ingredients that haven't been around for decades. Mon Jan 05 14:47:56 -0800 2009 4297180 88792 jazzy77 4 4304581 It is amazing how far we've come though, using the same old ingredients forever, as far as techniques and how to put the ingredients together. Wed Jan 07 11:31:56 -0800 2009 4297180 84784 food_eater79 2 4305536 mmmmm pork chops braised in cream of mushroom soup. Haven't had that since I've been an adult Wed Jan 07 15:46:49 -0800 2009 4296674 109905 laliz 3 4316361 I ask my mother to make this for me whenever I go home. It was one of my favorites as a kid. She cooks hers in a cast iron skillet. Makes some mashed potatoes....oh so good. But I never make this. My DH wouldn't eat it and there are far more intersting things I prefer to spend my time cooking. Sun Jan 11 12:09:47 -0800 2009 4305536 222865 FoodChic 3 4345985 Yum. I made pork chops with rice in CoM soup for my Italian BF...he knew it was from a can, but he thought it was great. Wed Jan 21 17:29:04 -0800 2009 4305536 74905 jaykayen 1 4296723 Food is innocent. There is no trashy food. Mon Jan 05 04:06:35 -0800 2009 4295860 36661 Sam Fujisaka 2 4297579 Bravo. Mon Jan 05 10:28:09 -0800 2009 4296723 244717 Steady Habits 2 4299793 I'm inclined to agree with you=) Tue Jan 06 00:38:59 -0800 2009 4296723 229028 marietinn 2 4301789 Thank you for saying it so well. I wasn't sure how to put this opinion and you summed it up quite succinctly. Tue Jan 06 14:42:49 -0800 2009 4296723 24126 amyzan 2 4304590 Good point. It's what you want to do with it that makes a meal. Some people don't mind "trashy" food, and some are fussy about everything, but it all comes out the same in the end. Pun partially intended. Wed Jan 07 11:33:54 -0800 2009 4296723 84784 food_eater79 2 4345905 Exactly right. Wed Jan 21 17:03:23 -0800 2009 4296723 12213 jillp 2 4347550 I bow down :) Thu Jan 22 09:27:40 -0800 2009 4296723 256715 oana 1 4296919 Tater Tot Hot DIsh Fry a pound of ground beef. Stir in a can of cream of mushroom soup. Pour into a casserole dish. Cover with a layer of velveeta Add a layer of frozen tater tots Bake for 20 minutes at 350 Mon Jan 05 06:58:38 -0800 2009 4295860 130031 Shane Greenwood 2 4299292 I was hoping someone would post this! Thank you! Do we have more recipes? That Funeral Potato dish, is this it? Mon Jan 05 19:08:41 -0800 2009 4296919 61669 Quine 3 4300304 The name is the recipe: Minute rice mixed with cream of mushroom soup. You could probably add some Lipton's Onion Soup Mix to this if you want to get kicky with it. Someone from where I grew up invited me to her house for dinner and served this next to Shake and Bake pork chops and boiled, canned green beans. Honestly, the whole meal wasn't bad.... Tue Jan 06 08:02:24 -0800 2009 4299292 88792 jazzy77 2 4299362 I have a vague memory of some well respected chef who had nice things to say about tater tots, but can't recall who, or what he did with them. But just as you can make a green bean casserole from scratch, I'm sure you could make a fine tasting dish hot dish around tater tots. For example a turkey tetrazini (tarragon flavored bechamel) using the tots instead of noodles. Mon Jan 05 19:38:02 -0800 2009 4296919 12139 paulj 2 4315274 Tater Tot Casserole, Variation Cover browned grown beef/cream soup concoction with package of Tater Tots, *then* shredded cheddar cheese. And bake 350 for 20-30 min. Sat Jan 10 21:18:00 -0800 2009 4296919 68466 vickib 1 4297120 Id say trying to pass off any store bought prepared food, frozen foods, or processed food as homemade is "trashy". aka "pulling a Sandra Lee"... eg. using velveeta, bisquick, canned soup , etc as part of a recipe. Other foods I think fall into this category: Kraft Mac-n-Cheese, box cake mixes, frozen dinners. Mon Jan 05 08:18:40 -0800 2009 4295860 26725 swsidejim 2 4297157 How about using store bought cookie dough to make the base of a strawberry tart? http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/584933 Mon Jan 05 08:28:44 -0800 2009 4297120 12139 paulj 3 4297169 "trashy" is such a strong word being used in this thread, so I will calirify my answer, buying store bought items, and incorprationg them into a recipe is just something I wouldnt do. I feel I can make a superior product at home vs a store bought item. One with less chemicals, and preservatives as well. I dont condemn others for this practice, but they should come clean that they have "cheated". Mon Jan 05 08:32:13 -0800 2009 4297157 26725 swsidejim 4 4297402 May I make an appointment for confession? I use store bought items all the time in my cooking. I can't remember the last time I used something I grew or gathered myself. I've even used bisquick (or the TJ equivalent) to make a 'crustless' quiche. I just bought a tub of peeled garlic cloves, and toasted sesame seeds, despite the fact that I could have peeled and toasted my own. I cooked frozen meatballs (TJ minis) in hard cider for a Christmas eve tapa. And stuffed jarred piquillo peppers with store bought salad shrimp (frozen, cooked, peeled). And served canned membrillo paste with store bought cheese at Thanksgiving. Today I made a tortilla with crushed potato chips and deli ham (and imported mushrooms). Mon Jan 05 09:47:19 -0800 2009 4297169 12139 paulj 5 4297452 its all good, I dont hunt or gather myself, but prefer to make as much as I possibly can. Mon Jan 05 09:56:54 -0800 2009 4297402 26725 swsidejim 2 4716703 When I opened Encyclopedia Brittanica to Volume 23, page 575, section "White Trash Cuisine" it simply lists this URL: http://www.foodnetwork.com/sandra-lee/recipes/index.html Tue May 26 16:00:21 -0700 2009 4297120 42572 Eat_Nopal 1 4297200 Well, I think "trashy" is too loaded, so in the thread I recently started, http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/577088 I used the word "dirty", which to me describes a recipe that uses processed ingredients and has little-to-no nutritionally redeeming value. But, as I noted in that thread and has been mentioned here, people are suckers for these recipes. Mon Jan 05 08:41:37 -0800 2009 4295860 10027 Chris VR 1 4298323 Any savory dish with Marshmallow Fluff (sans Fluffernutter---Fluffernutters are comfort food. Fluffernutters were my pregnancy craves. Fluffernutters are haute cuisine) Any recipe off of the back of a Ritz Cracker box. Any recipe with Spam Lipton Onion Soup/Sour Cream Dip Any vegetable dish with marshmallows (even candied yams) Green Bean Casserole (YOU know--the one everyone makes for the holidays) Balls made of chipped beef and cream cheese. Any dish made with Cheez Whiz Slumgullion--THAT has to be the number one trashiest dish of all time! Mon Jan 05 13:44:27 -0800 2009 4295860 239703 jarona 2 4298349 we have "white trash mocha" when backpacking - coffee (or instant coffee) with off-brand hot chocolate packet. mmm... perfect for camp though. trashy is cheesewiz, margarine and pressed meat things. and oh! meat from a can... Mon Jan 05 13:54:55 -0800 2009 4298323 133265 jeniyo 2 4781223 What is slumgullion?!?! Wed Jun 17 09:39:00 -0700 2009 4298323 132739 lilmomma 1 4298727 I must be a white trash girl :-) Make that a 50 year old white trash woman haha I personally call it cooking country, I am proud to call myself a briar! I make homemade meals everyday for my family and will continue till I can't. I might be an old fart in this forum but I bet I can make some suppers that would make ya slap ya mama hahahahha Pamela Mon Jan 05 15:51:39 -0800 2009 4295860 34588 pamelakrest 2 4299298 Love Ya Pamela! Your post made me giggle and hope you have many more years of cooking! Have some recipes you want to share? Mon Jan 05 19:11:33 -0800 2009 4298727 61669 Quine 1 4299328 A good number of posts and thoughts here point back to the famous BestSelling cookbook _White_Trash_Cookbook; which is what I think of when I see trashy used in reference to cooking. However, some years seemed to have gotten between the time of publishing that book and now and perhaps some meaning. While many of those recipes used "store bought" prepared items, perhaps at that time these were sort new trendy? And I do think that poor, rural and potluck/community/bible-meeting just plain sharing with one's community are also defining factors. What cha think? Mon Jan 05 19:22:04 -0800 2009 4295860 61669 Quine 2 4299394 It was that cookbook that came to mind when I saw the thread title, though I have only looked at the cover, not the recipes. Mon Jan 05 19:49:13 -0800 2009 4299328 12139 paulj 3 4299437 It's a great read! Look at some of the reviews. The photographs are great. And there is one possum recipe that is to die for funny! I recommend this cookbook as a great read, fun to own, book, And the recipes I tried (there were a few) were yummy. Definately not totally healthy, everyday meals, but fun and good. Mon Jan 05 20:09:39 -0800 2009 4299394 61669 Quine 3 4300277 My mom bought that cookbook once as we were traveling through West Virginia on vacation. I don't remember a lot of the recipes, but there was a great recipe for caramel corn that didn't require a candy thermometer. Other than that, the recipes weren't that interesting. Also, check out the recipes page for Southern Culture on the Skids, an NC-based band who takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to the idea of "trashy living": http://www.scots.com/recipes/default.htm Tue Jan 06 07:54:10 -0800 2009 4299394 88792 jazzy77 4 4344491 Well.... if ya liked the book, you'll love the Blog: http://whitetrashcookbook.com/ Wed Jan 21 09:52:52 -0800 2009 4300277 75332 Gio 1 4299815 I am reading this thread with interest, and particularly laughed at how everyone assumed that processed food is what makes a food trashy. I am from an East coast background that is as waspy as it can possibly be, and a few years back I flipped through my mother's collection of church cookbooks, junior league cookbooks, ladies' auxiliary cookbooks, which were mostly published in the 1950s-1970s, and a very common ingredient was: canned Campbell's soup, preferably "cream of..." As in: Take a can of cream of... Add a can of cream of... Add chopped up chicken breasts Add a large helping of sherry Heat. Serve with rice/toast. Believe me, I well remember such dishes from my childhood, served by a maid on good china and sterling silver. I don't define trashy food as processed food. For me, trashy food would be country food such as raccoon, muskrat and squirrels. Kool-aid as part of the regular diet. An entire meal from the local 7-11. Tue Jan 06 02:03:39 -0800 2009 4295860 81926 Roland Parker 2 4299939 Great perspective. I think you echoed a lot of what dfrostnh had to say, and with a great example to boot! I like that you emphasize that your version of trashy food is exactly that, your version. While you think squirrel is trashy, there's probably a number of rural hunters out there who would disagree (gotta think that most of 'em aren't on chowhound), and might even think of your canned concoction as either trashy, or even possibly uppity! (I grew up pretty rural, and if I had to guess, most of them wouldn't call it either, or even bother to categorize food in this way.) As for me, I'd much rather eat something caught by a coonhound than something rotating on those scary rollers at 7-11. Tue Jan 06 05:20:41 -0800 2009 4299815 186923 Cachetes 1 4300352 This is so funny I just received a cook book made from alot of my relatives from rural Arkansas. My Cousins and I had a great laugh over Christmas reading all of these recipes. Almost every recipe calls for some kind of Creamof something soup sometimes more than one flavor and some velvetta. Even though I don't cook like that I do recall with a certain fondness looking forward to those family reunion potlucks with all those good gooey dishes and of course the Oreo pudding dessert was a favorite. I have to admit I made a verison of it for a Holiday party I did kick it up a bit I added butter to my crust and baked it off then I made a Chocolate mousse for the pudding used whipped topping and shaved Ghirradeli on top. I have to tell you everyone raved about that dessert. Thanks for the memory. Tue Jan 06 08:14:45 -0800 2009 4295860 103546 Analisas mom 2 4300506 I was just thinking that made with homemade pudding (mousse, even better!) and real whipped cream, the Oreo dessert would be just fine. Somehow Oreos transcend. Tue Jan 06 09:00:43 -0800 2009 4300352 12120 julesrules 1 4300702 My sister gave me a cookbook from the Loire valley, with recipes that were the favorites of french kings. The possum/squirrel discussion prompts me to add that one of these recipes is braised eels with prunes. Tue Jan 06 09:53:13 -0800 2009 4295860 45208 somervilleoldtimer 2 4300780 Braised eel with prunes sounds like high cuisine to me. I've hunted and cooked squirrel - certainly not a trashy dish. When I was gwoing up, one only saw opposums as road kill. Tue Jan 06 10:11:53 -0800 2009 4300702 36661 Sam Fujisaka 3 4301348 But jellied eels from the otherside of the Channel were popular pub food. Abundance and scarcity have a lot to do with 'height' of a cuisine or dish. Tue Jan 06 12:49:22 -0800 2009 4300780 12139 paulj 3 4301692 The Nov 24 New Yorker was the annual food issue - one of the cartoons shows a diner with a billboard that reads "Eat Locally - All Roadkill from 8-mile Radius". Tue Jan 06 14:13:43 -0800 2009 4300780 159317 greygarious 3 4301810 Yeah, my grandmother used to say that her parents had served the preacher possum. Grandad would interrupt her and tell her that might be so but it's not something to be telling people! I suppose it was better than serving the preacher something like greens and cornbread without any protein, but I wouldn't know, never having eaten possum. It seems like it would be kind of unappealing. Tue Jan 06 14:47:57 -0800 2009 4300780 24126 amyzan 3 4301830 And I understand that armadillos are eaten & enjoyed in certain parts of south America. Even cajuns don't eat the armadillo (and that puts it on a short list, cher.) Tue Jan 06 14:53:55 -0800 2009 4300780 12023 Hungry Celeste 4 4302071 Armadillos (their shells) are made into charangos (a stringed instrument) in Bolivia. I never saw them being eaten there. I haven't seen any here in Colombia. Tue Jan 06 16:04:08 -0800 2009 4301830 36661 Sam Fujisaka 4 4302181 What about nutria? I have a friend who is a veternarian, and if it moves and he can shoot it he'll feed it to his wife and kids. Tue Jan 06 16:43:09 -0800 2009 4301830 198541 James Cristinian 5 4302196 Smoked capybara (ronsoco) was my favorite meat in the Peruvian Amazon. Delicious. Cuy in the Andes is equally delicious! We shot a few nutria in the waterways in Central California as kids, but never ate them. They were small ones. I'd eat a big one taken from clean waters. Tue Jan 06 16:49:10 -0800 2009 4302181 36661 Sam Fujisaka 6 4303228 No one's been successful in getting nutria adopted as a table meat in south Louisiana, which is saying quite a bit about its lack of potential marketability in the States! Wed Jan 07 04:42:56 -0800 2009 4302196 12023 Hungry Celeste 7 4316264 Someone issued a challenge to Paul Prudhomme to put nutria on the table and save the marshes, but I don't think a recipe came from it. And that from the man who almost 'extincted' Red Fish. Sun Jan 11 11:30:45 -0800 2009 4303228 79896 shallots 8 4316414 Wasn't there some segment of Feasting on Asphalt, the river run series, about a stuffed nutria? Alton went on and on about it, and then learned that it wasn't what he thought it was. I don't recall if it really was a nutria, or really wasn't. Here's a source: “Wait a second, this isn’t a nutria at all." “It’s a porcupine and I’m a moron.” http://www.allaboutalton.com/FOA2.html Sun Jan 11 12:28:46 -0800 2009 4316264 12139 paulj 9 4316477 Yes, he was at a pharmacy in Memphis (I think) that had an old fashioned soda shop. There was a big stuffed porcupine, covered in dust, that he pulled down and said, "Oh, look it's a nutria." We wondered how it was even possible to confuse the two of them. Sun Jan 11 12:57:54 -0800 2009 4316414 222865 FoodChic 1 4305585 Read The Sweet Potato Queens Cookbook and Financial Planner wonderful stories and trashy recipes One I remember is smooshing (pre-made) pecan pies in an aluminum disposable pan and covering with cool whip and refrigerating Wed Jan 07 16:03:20 -0800 2009 4295860 109905 laliz 1 4305652 Just heard Jacques Pepin talk about deglazing a pan with chateau de sink. Wed Jan 07 16:32:13 -0800 2009 4295860 12139 paulj 1 4314760 No mention of Spam? As in Spam and potato chips on Wonder bread with Miracle Whip? Sat Jan 10 16:20:45 -0800 2009 4295860 113913 PutneySwope 2 4314873 Now I must admit, Spam, Miracle whip( tho' Hellman's can do ) on wonder bread is a secret eat it over the sink craving/comfort. Never thought about the chips. I'm in trouble Sat Jan 10 17:26:46 -0800 2009 4314760 61669 Quine 1 4316495 Trashy? Something thrown together without care and attention to quality of ingredients. No food is trashy if someone who has prepared it has done so with care and concern. Sun Jan 11 13:04:38 -0800 2009 4295860 10285 Candy 2 4344414 lovely post candy! Wed Jan 21 09:33:27 -0800 2009 4316495 11854 LaLa 3 4345962 Thanks. I truly believe love, care, and concern are the best ingredients. If a cook is doing the best (s)he can with what is available and truly cares and puts their best into it, it cannot be designated trashy. Wed Jan 21 17:22:00 -0800 2009 4344414 10285 Candy 4 4348807 Thank you, Candy, I agree. Thu Jan 22 14:44:26 -0800 2009 4345962 78897 alliedawn_98 5 4712925 This thread made me add somethin that is realted but a bit OT. I have to add it. It is something to this that happened in the last week. Our shop is inside a restored building. In the back of the building is a Kelly Services office. We are all quite friendly. Bloomington, IN has very strict smoking laws, they are even trying to pass a law to make it illegal to smoke with minors. The manager came out on her way to lunch with a new employee who does not live in this town. She popped in and asked if it was legal to smoke on the street. I answered that you could....but would be tacky and trashy to do so, especially if you were walking. Sitting on a park bench would make it less so. We all laughed. Still it was something drilled into me from a young age, no walking and smoking at the same time. Mon May 25 10:18:19 -0700 2009 4348807 10285 Candy 1 4344942 Trashy = overly fatty, canned meat by-products: spam, vienna sausages, potted meat, corned beef. That said, there's no better "fill the gap" snack than vienna sausages w/saltine crackers or sloppy joe's made from canned corned beef (ketchup, yellow mustard, worchestershire, brown sugar, water (to cook down) and possibly a sprinkle of garlic and dehydrated onion). Delish! Wed Jan 21 11:56:29 -0800 2009 4295860 216999 CocoaNut 2 4346946 I once saw a guy at the supermarket, checking out with a shopping cart full of packages of dried spaghetti and canned vienna sausages. Like, a shopping cart *full* to the top of saugages and dried pasta and nothing else. I've got a feeling I wouldn't eat what he was making, but I'd *really* love to know what it was. But hey, I make a lovely barley and green bean casserole with cream of mushroom soup, and I practically lived on radiation sandwiches (= cheese + ketchup + bread + nuking) when I was 12, so who am I to judge? Thu Jan 22 06:09:41 -0800 2009 4344942 258794 tariqata 3 4348810 Vienna sausages and saltines are great to take on a day long fishing trip! Thu Jan 22 14:45:10 -0800 2009 4346946 78897 alliedawn_98 4 4349002 I prefer to mix my 'cuisines' and eat canned broiled sauries (Japanese style 'sardines') with pilot bread (heavy duty unsalted crackers). :) Thu Jan 22 15:42:07 -0800 2009 4348810 12139 paulj 4 4725899 Vienna(pron: Vye-eenee) sausages, potted meat, and saltines were *the* iconic foods of my childhood fishing trips with my dad and his friends in North Carolina. Fri May 29 13:26:02 -0700 2009 4348810 124150 Naco 5 4726839 Best trash food ever: split vy-eenie sausages lengthwise, and fold a slice of American cheese into rectangles. Put a piece of cheese onto a saltine, top with a half vy-eenie, and microwave for 15-20 seconds until the cheese melts. I can eat this, but I can't stomach potted meat. Fri May 29 19:18:12 -0700 2009 4725899 12023 Hungry Celeste 1 4346440 I was looking that the Amazon excerpts of White Trash Cooking (1986 10 Speed Press). Based on the contents and a small selection of the recipes, I'd say most of the definitions and examples in this thread have nothing in common with the small town/rural Mississippi that this book is about. The most common meat in the samples was fat back or bacon, not Spam. Yes there were recipes using canned corn and lima beans, but also ones without any canned items. Wed Jan 21 20:49:35 -0800 2009 4295860 12139 paulj 2 4347338 Paul: Whoever is writing the White Trash Cookbook blog does indeed have a number of Spam recipes: http://whitetrashcookbook.com/category/spam-recipes/ Thu Jan 22 08:28:05 -0800 2009 4346440 75332 Gio 3 4347569 I wonder if any are as good as the ones that wo\wed Tony Bourdain in Hawaii :) If 'white trash' is taken to mean small-town Mississippi (or the likes), not just your Coolwhip loving mother in law, I can see where its cooking would include Spam. I've stopped a small groceries in rural Oregon where the only meat products were either in the can, or vacuum sealed wieners. It, in effect, replaces the salt pork and slab bacon used by previous generations. Thu Jan 22 09:31:58 -0800 2009 4347338 12139 paulj 1 4346703 Maybe when the "flavor" of the food is "sweet" or "greasy." Thu Jan 22 00:13:21 -0800 2009 4295860 67706 WCchopper 1 4348311 If Ferran Adria used potato chips in a dish, would foodies call it white trash, or just brilliantly playful? http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/egg-and-potato-chip-tortilla Thu Jan 22 12:28:07 -0800 2009 4295860 10788 TheGloaming 1 4348920 growing up, i ate at a friend's house regularly, and i just thought the food was weird. i realize now that i would call it trashy- boiled hotdogs with velveeta, ellio's frozen pizza, dinty moore, and burger king were the staples. never a veggie in sight. i would define trashy food as food that is easy to make, processed, cheap, and lacking in food group representation. Thu Jan 22 15:09:48 -0800 2009 4295860 240335 njchowgal 1 4712621 one time my bf from hs invited me over for dinner w her and her husband. the main course was something called "frito surpise". she sent me home with the recipe, which has since been misplaced. i tried to find the recipe online and found something resembling a taco salad made with fritos but that wasnt it. i do remember sorta watching as she prepared and recall seeing...velveeta(melted), hormel chili, fritos, i think some pace picante. this was also made with undrained ground beef, and topped with dollops of sour cream. it was technically a "surprise" in that it was actually really good, but definitely trashy. (sorry angel) Mon May 25 07:53:26 -0700 2009 4295860 322733 yomalachi 2 4712731 And people have a way of ruining perfectly good food!!!! Here is a *&&^%^ healthy version of Frito surprise: http://www.vegcooking.com/recipeshow.asp?RequestID=835 And welcome to chowhound! Mon May 25 08:38:42 -0700 2009 4712621 36661 Sam Fujisaka 2 4716632 Frito pie is what you're referring to; I first came across it in the Bad Girl's Guide to the Open Road, with a recipe for making it on a car's manifold. Traditional: http://www.texascooking.com/features/feb2004fritopie.htm Fancy: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/frito-pie-recipe/index.html Tue May 26 15:35:43 -0700 2009 4712621 224238 Caralien 1 4712808 I don't know if this is exactly "trashy," but it's somewhere in that spectrum: I had a friend whose mother liked to compete in baking contests at the local fair, taking home several ribbons every year, but he always joked about the year she got first place in "Best Cake Altered from a Mix." Mon May 25 09:18:18 -0700 2009 4295860 198087 David A. Goldfarb 1 4714713 Local, all-organic. Tue May 26 05:35:56 -0700 2009 4295860 13819 Karl S 1 4717245 The White Trash Cookbook defines that cooking genre as defined by the use of salt meat, corn meal, and molasses. It continues that all vegetables are cooked with salt meat and corn meal is used not only for cornbread but for breading on fried foods. The roots are probably Appalachian. Otherwise, what's trashy seems subjective. I always remember a chowhound post of a man's happy memory of making "chocolate eclairs" with his grandmother. What that turned out to be was that Grandma would fill up a big dish with instant pudding and Cool Whip and the little boy would lay in the layers of graham crackers then Grandma would finish with chocolate icing. Not chocolate eclairs!--- and fairly disgusting besides---but of course a four year-old boy would love it and he had such a lovely memory of making it with his grandmother. So who's to say what's trashy? Tue May 26 19:31:07 -0700 2009 4295860 15521 Querencia 1 4718887 Oh my. I grew up eating all of these trashy foods and loving every bite. While I don't cook with processed foods now, I still love eating them when I visit my mom. Casseroles, corn meal fried everything, cole slaw, hotdogs, whatever. But the real reason I'm posting is to say that a burrito joint by my old place used to serve a "white trash burrito". Flour tortilla wrapped around white rice, pulled barbeque chicken, and cole slaw. Best burrito ever. Wed May 27 10:16:40 -0700 2009 4295860 157661 hollyd 1 4726433 Trashy is anything you have to qualify before you serve it to a group of your foodie friends. My all-time favorite is what has come to been known as the White Trash Cheese Ball. I had made it for a party, and my mom's best friend set down her Merlot and Roquefort cheese ball next to ours. I commented that ours looked like the trailer-park version, and the name stuck. Even though everyone always loves it, I feel like I have to make excuses for it, since it does kind of look like something from one of those fifties cookbooks. The sliced olives are, um, a festive touch. 2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese 3 oz. cream cheese, room temperature 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 3 tablespoons mayonnaise 1/4 cup chopped green olives Mix ingredients, form into ball. Roll in additional sliced olives. Serve with Wheat Thins. Stop pretending to be classy. Also, being from the South, I'm a huge fan of people calling Jello or Cool Whip-based things "salads." My favorite is the one made with orange Jello, Cool Whip, crushed pineapple, mandarin oranges, and mini marshmallows. I think the real name is Ambrosia Salad, but we just call it Moldy Jello. I could eat the entire thing. Fri May 29 16:12:34 -0700 2009 4295860 261368 Caffeine826 2 4732002 I love this stuff. Pink for bridal showers, green for baby showers, unless it's a girl, then pink, and green for christmas too, with maraschino cherries thrown in. Mon Jun 01 07:10:16 -0700 2009 4726433 157661 hollyd 1 4730734 How do you define "porn"? Similar question, with a similar answer; "I know it when I see it." One of my best food examples is desserts made with oreos, jell-o, or cool whip. Sun May 31 16:09:26 -0700 2009 4295860 13725 Brandon Nelson 2 4731371 the answer's similar in my case: only if i get off on it. ;) Sun May 31 20:27:42 -0700 2009 4730734 64215 cimui 1 4730802 I've gotta add my favorites: Green Bean Casserole Tater Tot Casserole Ramen Noodles And my all time favorite: Boxed mac n cheese with fried spam chunks and bbq sauce. Sun May 31 16:38:16 -0700 2009 4295860 154024 nimeye 1 4736035 I worked briefly in a restaurant that made a "cheese soup" using the processed cheese topping that they'd decided not to use on their nachos. Needless to say, I got out of there as fast as I could. Tue Jun 02 11:04:09 -0700 2009 4295860 277335 OffalTasty 1 4736283 It's funny how personal this is. I don't consider Kraft Dinner, tuna casserole, or Jello chocolate pudding pie to be trashy. They're not fancy by any stretch, but they're fast and tasty and (in the case of the pudding pie) traditional. Chocolate pudding pie and my aunt's jellied Waldorf salad are both very important parts of my family's Christmas festivities. But I reject any tater tot based dish out of hand. Tater tots and cream of whatever and cheese is not food. At least the tuna casserole is something I grew up on, but I personally cannot stomach the thought of tater tot casserole or Frito pie. I find Cool Whip to be foul, especially when you can buy real whipped cream in a can. (We do whip our own cream to put on top of that Jello pudding pie, though.) One thing I did grow up on, but will never eat ever again, was American Chop Suey. I don't know what it is about that dish, but it just rubs me the wrong way. Maybe because it would be every bit as easy to make a pot of sauce and some spaghetti without mixing them all together. Maybe it's the way the elbow noodles on the bottom get all fat and limp after they inevitably soak up all of the extra juice, and then they fall apart and just kind of melt... ugh. Tue Jun 02 12:20:53 -0700 2009 4295860 331127 precia 1 4751895 My aunt who lives in East Tennessee came up with Mexican Fiesta: Layer on your plate crushed tortilla chips, rice(instant), chili(hormel preferably), a nice scoop of Rotel dip(one can rotel mixed with 1/2 Lb. velveeta , melted). For a healthy boost top with shredded iceberg lettuce, diced tomatoes and green onions. Yummy and sits in the tummy like a lead bullet. Sun Jun 07 23:23:56 -0700 2009 4295860 323068 cookiekelly 1 4777529 I find it somewhat insulting that most posts here point to Southern cuisine as white trashy. Tue Jun 16 08:41:41 -0700 2009 4295860 137755 Sal Vanilla 2 4777594 You made me skim though the 149 posts. Can you point out a post that points to Southern cuisine? I couldn't find one. Tue Jun 16 08:58:36 -0700 2009 4777529 36661 Sam Fujisaka 3 4777634 Made you? Read the first ten. You will find plenty. Tue Jun 16 09:08:04 -0700 2009 4777594 137755 Sal Vanilla 2 4779397 Sal Slow down! As the OP, and as what many people here realize and know _White Trash Cooking_ is a FAMOUS cookbook. Let me cite it for you: White trash cooking By Ernest Matthew Mickler, Jargon Society Edition: illustrated Published by Ten Speed Press, 1986 ISBN 0898151899, 9780898151893 134 pages "Shares traditional Southern recipes for vegetables, meat, fish, salads, eggs, sandwiches, candy, cakes, cookies, cobblers, pones, puddings, cornbreads, biscuits, rolls, pickles, and jellies" If you find this insulting, please do take it up with the Author, I am sure he's heard it all since 1986. Please check out the references before you take insult. Tue Jun 16 16:57:19 -0700 2009 4777529 61669 Quine 1 4777820 OK, sal, posts 1-10. 1. Will watch the posts. 2. " ... dish made entirely or almost entirely from heavily processed and/or mass-produced convenience foods" and "a tale of bemusement rather than woe...a dessert composed of layers of crumbled Oreos, Jell-O brand chocolate pudding, and Cool Whip. 3. "Catfish stew, ...if our tomatoes were not ripe enough, we fried them green and fried those catfish instead, using cornmeal to dredge both." This offered by a Sooutherner talking about food growing up. 4. Another Southerner disagreeing that that food was trashy. 5. Agreement that that food is low country and not trashy but delicious: made from scratch hot biscuits and bacon fat / sausage white gravy, and that trashy would be biscuits from a can topped with gravy from a jar that's more food coloring and flour than anything else - this is not limitred to the South. Same with green bean casserole, tater tot hotdish. 6. "Borderline: biscuits made from mix, gravy from a mix" Also cookie/pudding/Cool Whip dessert and tuna-noodle casserole. 7. "gravy from a mix? i'd eat that, especially if there're nice chunks of something fatty and delicious mixed in." and "cookie / pudding / cool whip... boy, i like that stuff, too." 8. "...making a pie following the recipe on a store bought bottle of 'key lime' juice (juice, sweeten condensed milk, eggs, store bought crust, food coloring (optional). Or combining frozen limeaid concentrate with coolwhip (r) and putting that in the crust?" 9. "and lay your own eggs..." 10. "...and grow your own chicken feed" I still don't see Southern cuisine being trashed. Tue Jun 16 09:48:14 -0700 2009 4295860 36661 Sam Fujisaka 1 4779466 As a quantitative method for determining trashiness, use the pictured tool http://www.cartechbooks.com/cartech//car_care_xtra/Image8_SB2_1.jpg to determine relative levels of enfolded mayo in the salads. Tue Jun 16 17:23:27 -0700 2009 4295860 17562 FoodFuser 1 4779769 Wearing $540 sneakers to pass out food at a food bank pretty well sums up the word trashy. Tue Jun 16 19:21:33 -0700 2009 4295860 22801 bkhuna 1 4779832 The jello, pretzel, whipped cream and cream cheese concoction I was recently reminded of is totally white trash to me and I absolutely love it. Tue Jun 16 19:45:18 -0700 2009 4295860 11225 rabaja 1 4781688 In terms of food - I too think there’s a difference between trashy and convenient. Jarred olives or artichoke hearts are convenient. They are things I can’t readily harvest and prepare on my own. Little Debbie snack cakes (while occasionally hitting the spot) are trashy. They have little nutritive value, and I’d prefer making a cake or pie myself. I think it is the *diet* that is trashy, and not always the food. Of course, if my diet consisted of nothing but ready-to-heat-and-eat foods and foods with little to no nutritional value, I would consider those foods trashy as well. Wed Jun 17 12:01:29 -0700 2009 4295860 233294 cuccubear 1 4954097 In my view "Trashy" food refers to a dish whose essence relies on processed foods: frito pie, green bean casserole, etc. Mon Aug 17 15:46:53 -0700 2009 4295860 1087551 hotmexi