Food fads are fascinating. One minute, a particular food or a specific way of preparing it is all the rage. The next minute? It’s old news. In today’s hyper-connected world, these trends can explode overnight thanks to social media. But food fads aren’t new. They’ve been around for centuries! Let’s dive into ten memorable food fads that rose to fame and eventually faded away.
Syllabub (1750s)
Picture Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, in the mid-18th century. After dinner, folks were all about syllabub. This dessert consisted of wine, an acid (like lemon juice), and heavy cream. Colonists would whip the cream by hand, then mix in the other ingredients. After lots of whisking, the mixture thickened. Then, they poured it into glasses and chilled it overnight in an ice-filled chest.
The cool temperature allowed the mixture to set and separate, creating the perfect syllabub! It became a trendy treat for Williamsburg residents, with its popularity peaking in the 1750s and lasting for decades. Would you try making syllabub today?
Congealed Salad (1930s)
The Great Depression was a tough time. With little money and scarce food, families had to be creative. Enter: congealed salad, known today as Jell-O. These were concoctions of mixed ingredients that jiggled on the plate. Recipes included “Oriental Compote” (peaches, rice, and Jell-O) and “Spanish Jell-O Salad” (pimentos, cabbage, and lemon Jell-O).
Families could use whatever they had on hand. These treats brought joy during a difficult time. Congealed salads became incredibly popular, offering a small bit of happiness during the Depression.
Grass (1950s)
Before wheatgrass shots, there was just plain grass. In 1956, Ann Wigmore founded the Hippocrates Health Institute. She believed that raw foods were the best for health and could cure diseases. She promoted wheatgrass as a health food, claiming it had healing powers.
Americans weren’t as knowledgeable about nutrition then, and Wigmore’s teachings caught on. She became a well-known health expert, falsely claiming wheatgrass healed soldiers’ broken bones during World War I. She even called it the “manna” from the Bible. Though her claims were unfounded, her wheatgrass push became a major fad among health enthusiasts.
Freeze-Dried Space Food (1960s)
In the 1960s, food fads went to space! As the Space Race intensified, Americans were fascinated by astronauts’ lives, especially what they ate: freeze-dried food. Marketers capitalized on this, selling vacuum-sealed foods as “out of this world” options.
Freeze-drying had benefits like economy and long shelf life. The association with space made it trendy. Everyone wanted to be like the astronauts. While freeze-dried foods still exist, the space-related marketing has mostly faded. It’ll never be quite like the ’60s, when everyone wanted to eat like an astronaut.
Dirt (1990s)
Yes, you read that right. But it wasn’t literal dirt. In the late 1990s, Chef René Redzepi at Noma in Copenhagen experimented with dried malt charred with beer. He brushed it into a terracotta pot and called it… dirt. It looked exactly like dirt!
Redzepi used it as a garnish on farm-to-table dishes. He’d already gained attention for serving hand-picked flowers and locally hunted game. Food media jumped on the “dirt” promo, and diners flocked to Noma. This trend helped popularize the farm-to-table movement we see today, all thanks to a chef serving “dirt”.
Cheese Tea (2000s)
Before boba took America by storm, there was cheese tea. In the early 2000s, vendors in Thailand whipped cheese and put it on top of iced tea. Some drinks included matcha, oolong, salt, milk, whipped cream, and even cream cheese. Some added chocolate, green tea, fruit, and Oreo cookies.
Cheese tea spread from Thailand to Singapore, China, Japan, and Malaysia, eventually reaching the U.S. and the U.K., though it never fully caught on. Variants exist globally, like “kaffeost” in Finland and Sweden (coffee with a cheese cube) and “chocolate santafereño” in Colombia (hot chocolate with cheese).
Naked Sushi (2000s)
This trend was about service, not the food. In the 2000s, some Japanese restaurants served sushi on naked models, a practice called “nyotaimori” (“female body arrangement”). Guests would eat sushi off a completely naked, still woman.
“Nyotaimori” didn’t take hold much outside Japan, though some high-end restaurants in Europe and America tried it. It remains a unique, boundary-pushing trend from the early 2000s.
Deep-Fried Everything (2010s)
While naked sushi was happening in Japan, the U.S. embraced deep-fried everything. It wasn’t just Southern staples like fried chicken. State and county fairs sold deep-fried crocodiles, starfish, and tarantulas.
The internet helped fuel the trend. Media outlets covered weird, deep-fried creations, driving more people to try them. Deep frying is simple, and pretty much everything tastes good deep-fried. Even TV shows dedicated episodes to the fad, signaling its eventual decline.
Freakshake (2010s)
The freakshake emerged as one of the most over-the-top foods ever. It’s a milkshake on steroids, filled with cookies, chocolate, cake, candy, waffle cones, whipped cream, and sprinkles.
Surprisingly, it originated in Australia. These messy shakes were made more for social media photos than actual consumption. The economy was briefly propped up by these damn freakshakes! Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, but this fad was pretty wild.
Glitter Cappuccino (2010s)
Glitter cappuccinos swept across social media in 2017. It started in coffee houses in Mumbai, India, with Coffee by Di Bella leading the charge. Social media helped spread the fad worldwide, with people wanting glitter sprinkled on their coffee.
Baristas created intricate designs with gold and silver glitter. The presentation was cool and Instagram-worthy. However, concerns arose about the safety of drinking the glitter. Food scientists warned that the glitter might not be safe, making it a potentially dangerous trend. We’ll pass on this one!
Which of these food fads do you remember? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
