My grandmother made some good pulled pork when I was a teen, and I complimented it. She whispers to me, "the secret is a little paprika, isa little spicy"

I have a whole two nice memories with that lady. This one makes me chuckle as I load up ghost pepper sauce onto my rice.

I've read somewhere once that serving jello was a flex, because it meant you were wealthy enough to own a refrigerator. I don't know if it's true, but I choose to believe it because there has to be a reason for serving hot dogs in jello.

Grandma on my dad's side can cook. Whenever we visit(she's super out of state), my dad and I gain some weight.

Puddings, pies, casseroles, flat enchiladas, pulled pork, bbq beef, mac n cheese, steaks— You name it. Fuckin' slaps! Unfortunately, grandpa died last year at 91, and there seems to be a historical tread among grandparents to dip out once the love of their life is gone. I should call her.

The 70s were truly a foreign country

One grandma thought cooking from scratch was old fashioned, so everything came from a box or can, and the other grandma cooked 99% from a 1950 betty crocker cookbook and a USDA home canning/pressure cooker bulletin. The chain of heirloom recipes being passed down was broken a generation or two earlier.

My grandma on my father's side was a great cook (or so I heard), but she died too soon for me to remember much.

My grandma on my mother's side was a health nut, and I don't remember anything that I would classify as tasty from her. No sugar and very little fat make food taste sad.

My abuela might have left my entire family with deep seated generational trauma, but she also left us with some killer recipes. That's the average Latino experience

My gran thought putting mint in peas was the height of fancy cooking (while serving a full roast for dinner in the height of summer).

For those especially interested in this type of cuisine, I present for your review- The Gallery of Regrettable Food. https://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/index.html

Mamaw made bacon. That's all she taught us, how to make 'pop-pop', our toddler name for bacon.

Omah couldn't cook and was very proud of that lol.

Mother could cook but thought she couldn't. Dad was a line cook (for a short time) so mom compared herself to him. She was fine.

Mother and grandmother were so proud of my being a good baker. Sometimes. Sometimes mother was jealous.

Guy here, but at least one of my grandmother was the laziest and cheapest cook. She managed to ruin Goulash stews by leaving out almost all the spices other than paprika. My mother made it even worse by leaving out bullion, since she heard about star chefs trashing them for being "low class". Result: food that tastes like something you get in a hospital or similar place.

It’s true! I’m not a woman and also learned how to cook from my dad! What have we become?!

Reminded me of this guy who makes these "vintage recipes" on YouTube. He comes so close to throwing up every time:

https://youtube.com/shorts/E5QfGbh2lBE

Hot dog jello fish sounds fire unless you're a coward

Lol, my grandmothers did not have time to cook big stuff. Working full time while raising three kids gives you prioties which are oftentimes not frivoulous meals.

My grandma grew up during the great depression and the only thing I remember about her and food is that she ate a lot of cream of wheat.

My grandmother didn't know how to preheat the oven and turned everything into jerky.

American and British food living up to thé stéréotypes.

Meanwhile, i miss my grandma's food.

Baked green apples with cinnamon. Silver dollar cornbread pancakes. Thick, steaming pea soup with hot dog chunks.

Now I'm hungry and I miss my grandma :(

From what I can tell of history cooking was a job that all cultures shared nearly equally between men and women - except for a short time in the 1950s when Americans called it a woman only task.

Note that individual families didn't always share equally. Often one partner was better than the other, or the realities of how their family situation worked made one partner the better choice. However there was not gender/sex linked reason for any choice. (even the 1950s you could argue it was a primarily a woman only task because the reality of men expected to work outside the house while woman stayed home meant the reality of the situation - Men often would cook for parties held in the backyard)

Nearly all cultures had a concept of the men (and sometimes woman) going off alone for long enough that they would need to cook without the other sex. Most common this was war, but there were also religious gatherings that were sex segregated in some cultures.

Men's work and Women's work did exist in most cultures. However cooking never seems to be part of that.

Step right up, step right up folks! Gasp at the culinary horrors of mid-century WASP culture, preserved like an egg in aspic at The Gallery of Regrettable Food!

My mother was an exceptionally mediocre cook who was convinced she was a Michelin rated chef because she had a Graham Kerr cookbook.

Most of what we ate were ground beef casseroles with lots of canned tomatoes and limp zucchinis. Despite having a garden and greenhouse with fantastic tomatoes most of the year.

Also, she taught nutrition at the college level.

Yeah, the disgusting food from my grandparents (and to some extent my parents) must at least partially be to blame for me becoming a picky eater. Which is a really difficult thing to unlearn

It is a little sad from the cultural perspective of a non-WASP, my comfort foods that complete me are all ethnic foods grandma made and passed down. No jello to be found, just hearty, working-class meals :)

Boggle, boggle, pop-o-matic bubble.

That's all I have to contribute.