My paternal grandmother kept a record of many of her luncheon and dinner party menus on 3x5 cards. Not the recipes, but rather what she served and who was there. I have cards ranging from the late 1930s through the early 1960s.
Congealed salads or aspics and the like were disproportionally represented. They almost completely disappeared from cooking today, but these types of foods were incredibly popular in my grandparents’ day.
Is it because Jello was a popular and well known brand that sponsored radio and television shows? I think that’s part of it. But that’s not particularly Southern.
I’m guessing what made these things so popular for Southern hostesses was two factors, the first, that they could be prepared in advance, which, if you’ve ever thrown a luncheon or dinner party, can be the difference from feeling like a hostess or a waitress.
Southern women have long prided themselves on their gracious hostessing abilities. New Yorkers take you to the hottest, newest, hippest restaurant. Southerners entertain at home.
And, it must be noted, foods made in gelatin like aspics didn’t heat up the kitchen very much. Gelatin is prepared relatively quickly on the stove, not in an oven, and in pre-air-conditioning times, this would be a huge convenience.
Nice ladies should never sweat.
I also think there was something “aspirational” about congealed salads of various kinds. There was some kind of art to them, often. Exotic fruits, bright colors, unusual shapes or garnishes… There was a chance for a woman to show off a little bit. She wasn’t just making fried chicken.
My grandmother NEVER served fried chicken or greens or “Southern” foods to dinner or luncheon guests except for occasional biscuits (but she often made rolls). I think that’s kind of interesting, as these days we seek to get back to old fashioned Southern things to remember that what might be considered true Southern cooking wasn’t, at least in the mid to late 20th century, the food one would serve company.
(Source: sparklesandpretending)
