The decade that taste forgot! Hideous 1970s recipes revealed (2024)

Are you bored of seeing images of artfully-placed avocados, rainbow-coloured smoothies and gluten-free breakfasts on social media?

If so, 70s Dinner Party (@70s_party) offers an antidote to all the 'smug' Instagram snaps. Created by publisher Anna Pallai, 40, the feed features photographs of such vintage dishes as vegetables in aspic, an enormous fruit cake tower centrepiece and stuffed co*cktail grapes.

London-based Anna started the Twitter account 'for a laugh' after flicking through her mother's old recipe books and realising how 'hideous' the dishes looked.

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70s Dinner Party (@70s_party ) offers an antidote to all the 'smug' Instagram snaps, pictured,parsley pâté shaped like a Christmas tree

Created by publisher Anna Pallai, 40, the feed features photographs of towering fruit cakes and prawn co*cktail

Jellied veg, swan-shaped centrepieces and stuffed co*cktail grapes feature from the era that taste forgot

Anna's Twitter feed, which she is planning to turn into a book, is a glimpse into a lost world of hostesses swathed in chiffon, elaborate, over-the-top techniques and a love of stuffing ingredients inside each other such as prawn terrine in a lettuce or mince inside mashed potatoes.

And no meal is complete without the ever-present sprigs of parsley to give it some Mediterranean sophistication.

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With 70s Dinner Party attracting over 9,000 followers, Anna told FEMAIL: 'I'd always liked looking through my Mum's old cookbooks and the older I got, the funnier the recipes seemed.

'I started off posting pictures on Facebook but realised that my friends might not appreciate a constant stream of ugly food.

'I thought a dedicated Twitter feed would be kinder on their eyes, but really I just did it for a laugh.'

70s Dinner Party has so far attracted over 9,000 followers. Anna told FEMAIL: 'I'd always liked looking through my Mum's old cookbooks and the older I got, the funnier the recipes seemed'

The account has become a guilty pleasure for foodies. It features laugh-out-loud pictures of a prawn terrine inside an iceberg lettuce, left, and snowman fashioned out of coconut, right

Discussing the over-the-top presentation, Anna said: 'It's fairly shocking on the whole but that's not to say that people in years to come won't think the presentation today is just as awful'

One image features a chicken on a bed of grapes, topped with pastry designed to look like a dinner jacket

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The account has become a guilty pleasure for foodies. It features laugh-out-loud pictures of Seventies classics such as prawn co*cktail and cream cheese piped onto crackers.

Discussing the over-the-top presentation, Anna said: 'It's fairly shocking on the whole but that's not to say that people in years to come won't think the presentation today is just as awful.'

She added: 'And at least there wasn't seemingly the smugness attached to presentation then - certainly no clean eating hashtags.'

The collection of pictures have been taken from her 72-year-old mother Chris Payne's Robert Carrier and Betty Crocker cookbooks.

This shepherds pie fashioned into the shape of an igloo would have made a perfect winter dinner party centrepiece

The collection of pictures have been taken from her 72-year-old mother Chris Payne's Robert Carrier and Betty Crocker cookbooks

The bio for the comical Twitter account reads: 'If it's ticked, my Mum's cooked it. May contain nuts and food from other decades'

Carrots, green beans and peas are served in a hollowed out orange, which looks like a basket

Ms Payne served up similar creations when Anna was a child.

The bio for the comical Twitter account reads: 'If it's ticked, my Mum's cooked it. May contain nuts and food from other decades.'

She has also had a go at some of the elaborate dishes herself: 'One of the first things I remember making is a shepherds pie that had sliced sausages for the walls and peas for the roof.

'I think that would still be a standout dish for any Michelin star restaurant.'

Social media users have been quick to comment on the dishes.

One wrote, 'I remember some of this horrific stuff. It lasted well into the '80s in many troubled, middle-class households.'

While another added, 'If you don't follow @70s_party you will never know the meaning of fear.'

Anna is planning on turning the images into a book, pictured jellied salmon and olives on a bed of lettuce

One serving suggestion for a sausage sandwich involves stuffing them inside the loaf, covering it all with melted cheese and ornamenting with tomatoes on one side and crisps on the other - with sprigs of parsley, of course

The decade that taste forgot! Hideous 1970s recipes revealed (2024)

FAQs

What was the most popular food in the 1970s? ›

You Know You're From the '70s When You Crave . . .
  • 4/11. Hamburger Helper. ...
  • 5/11. Fondue. ...
  • 6/11. Pasta Primavera. ...
  • 7/11. Fajitas. ...
  • 8/11. Black Forest Torte. ...
  • 9/11. Cheese Balls and Logs. ...
  • 10/11. Carrot Cake. ...
  • 11/11. Hawaiian Cuisine.
Feb 10, 2022

What food was popular in 1977? ›

1977: Buffalo Wings

Fried chicken wings coated in cayenne pepper hot sauce and dipped in blue cheese: Who doesn't love that buffalo stuff? The now ubiquitous bar snack was first invented in 1964 at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, though there are other disputing claims.

What did Australians eat in the 70s? ›

Despite (or because of) influences from our migrants, the 1970s will be forever remembered by Anglo Australians for the following:
  • Avocado vinaigrette.
  • Fondue.
  • Prawn co*cktail.
  • Vol au vents.
  • Lobster Mornay.
  • Oysters Kilpatrick.
  • Chicken à la King.
  • Chicken in a basket.

What was 70s hippie food? ›

The cuisine that the counterculture took to in the late 1960s, and then helped introduce to the mainstream in the 1970s, embraced whole grains and legumes; organic, fresh vegetables; soy foods like tofu and tempeh; nutrition-boosters like wheat germ and sprouted grains; and flavors from Eastern European, Asian, and ...

What was the terrifying world of 1970s party food? ›

Seafood mousse -- While going through her mother's binders of recipes, Pallai uncovered outlandish, and often nightmarish, creations such as this fish. Tomato Aspic -- Aspic, a savory jello rarely to be found on modern dinner tables, features heavily, often with meat or vegetables suspended inside it.

What food came out 1974? ›

Throwback Thursday: 5 Fun Food Ads From 1974
  • Kraft Singles. Is there anything more classically American than a grilled cheese sandwich? ...
  • Ragu Spaghetti Sauce. There are some timeless staples, and spaghetti sauce is no exception. ...
  • Kraft Squeez-A-Snak Cheese. ...
  • Kraft Real Mayonnaise. ...
  • Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese.
Feb 20, 2014

What food was invented in 1970? ›

1970: Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet Popping Corn is introduced. Agronomist Redenbacher has found a yellow corn that expands nearly twice as much as other brands. In five years, it will be the country's largest-selling brand. 1970: Hamburger Helper is introduced.

What was a typical breakfast in the 1970s? ›

1970s: What was a typical day of eating in the 70's? Most mothers had “nights”. Breakfast: Spring/ Summer Cereal with milk, orange juice, toast with butter, jam. Winter/Autumn Hot cereal, milk, orange juice, toast.

What were Americans eating in the 70s? ›

The 1970s was the decade of cool cereals, slimming snacks and show-off dinner parties. When Generation X were children, the Egg McMuffin came out, cheese fondue was fashionable, Watergate salad became a family favourite and Blue Nun was the drink of choice.

What food did they eat 100 years ago? ›

Bread, potatoes, cabbage, beans, and various kinds of cereal were the base of local cuisine. There was usually only one dish per meal on the table on regular days. On holidays, there could be several dishes served during the same meal, but they were the same as those cooked on regular days, as a rule.

What food did they eat in the 70s? ›

1970s Dishes

But there's more; prawn co*cktail served with salad cream and tomato ketchup for a dazzling party snack; sherry trifle, soggy jelly-fruit flan, cool-whip, spam, stroganoff, steak and chips, egg and chips, fondue and frozen wonders.

What were people eating in the 1970s? ›

The 1970s was the decade of cool cereals, slimming snacks and show-off dinner parties. When Generation X were children, the Egg McMuffin came out, cheese fondue was fashionable, Watergate salad became a family favourite and Blue Nun was the drink of choice.

What was a typical dinner in the 1970s? ›

Some form of breaded, fried meat (pork chops, chicken, beef), gravy, biscuits, fried or mashed potatoes, canned green beans or green peas. In the summer, add salad or other fresh, raw vegetables. Sundays were usually roast beef. I was an older teen before I discovered pasta, rice, pizza, Mexican and Chinese food.

What was the menu for the classic 70s dinner party? ›

Menu: Classic 70s dishes include prawn co*cktail starters, chicken Kiev, beef stroganoff, and Black Forest gateau. Vegetarian options could include quiche and stuffed mushrooms. Drinks: Serve popular 70s co*cktails like Tequila Sunrise, Harvey Wallbanger, and Pina Colada. Don't forget non-alcoholic options like punch.

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