Retro Food Fiascos: A Collection of Curious Concoctions

After reading this book I realized that one of my favorite sandwiches is tame by far (peanut butter toast with taco meat and cheese). I'm not brave enough to try some of the recipes but there are a few that I want to give a go.

I thought Retro Food Fiascos was nothing more than a blatant ripoff of James Lileks's "Gallery of Regrettable Food". The cover art, the typeface, even the design of the book, are very reminiscent of Lileks's oeuvre, and I expected it to be nothing more than a tired retread of the Lileks book with the same dull wit and the same snide, sardonic comments. I was wrong. This book is so much better! The comedy of the food itself far surpasses Mr. Lileks's sarcastic comments. What's more, this book includes recipes and even tips on preparing the food. I mean, what do you do with dried beef, canned potatoes, or pressed lamb if by some strange course of events you are presented with such? Retro Food Fiascos has the answer. As for Jellied Moose Nose: that recipe comes from the very useful and humorous "Northern Cookbook", and has been made a number of times by cooks in northern Canada, although with mixed results. But, God forbid, should you be left with nothing in the kitchen but a moose nose, isn't it useful to know what to do?

I was prepared not to like this book, because it is very similar in theme, approach, appearance, and even some of the specific recipes featured, to James Lileks' The Gallery of Regrettable Food. Very similar. Very. Two things set this title apart, however. One is that there is generally less commentary on the recipes here, and I tended to find Lileks' ironic tone a little tiresome when taken in large doses. Here, though, it was much easier to sit down and digest, so to speak, much of this book all at once. A second difference is that author and chef Kathy Casey (go Seattle!) apparently actually gave some of these recipes a try, which I'm not sure, or can't remember whether, Lileks ever did. That bravery on her part gives her commentary a bit more personal insight. As with Lileks' book, the overwhelming conclusion the reader comes to after flinching his way through these cringe-inducing recipes, is, "How in the world could they eat this stuff?" Also: What was the deal with all the gelatin? I do, however, have to call B.S. (as the saying goes) on a couple of the recipes here. Short of seeing primary documentation, I absolutely refuse to believe that Jellied Moose Nose (p. 67) is a real period recipe [edit: I've since been informed that yes, it is]. And I have my doubts about Gingersnap Tongue (p. 80) and Heart With Apple-Raisin Stuffing (p. 88) too. But apart from them, I mostly marvel at the twisted and/or desperate minds that could come up with things like Veal-Oyster Loaf (p. 70), three words that should NEVER appear in sequence, or the magnificent Crown Roast of Frankfurters (p. 75), which I believe, again, is in Lileks' book too. Who knew the dry heaves were such a good abs workout? I'm looking forward to tracking down other books in this Retro series, because they, presumably, will be charting some newer ground in the ironic-look-back-at-times-less-cool-than-today genre. As far as this title is concerned, be prepared to see things you may have seen before -- in this case, flashing back to 2001, not 1954.