SC - Miracle Whip OOP (was Re: Sweet and Savory)

[Philip & Susan Troy]

grizly at mindspring.com wrote:

> Kraft bathtub caulk may well be reviled as a depression food.  Many food preferences are based down through generations, and we have several in our family that are related to depression era empoverished menues.  Miracle Whip may be the same thing . . . families had to use it then, and when money eased up, the people swore they'd never have to use it again.  Just a generalization of some other food aversions handed down to me (but often resisted).
> 

Hmmmm. Interesting idea. I'm trying to think of another example of the
kind of thing you're referring to. Maybe my father's near-life-long
dislike of lamb, the result of _his_ father's trip home across the
Pacific after the Boxer Rebellion on board a slow steamer with, he
claimed, nothing on board to eat but mutton. Never mind that Dad ate and
enjoyed lamb on numerous occasions, under the impression it was beef. I
believe my mother finally told him the truth when he was in his 60's.

I don't know what, if any, changes to my family's eating habits resulted
from the Depression, but I certainly wasn't brought up with any sense of
"We don't eat Miracle Whip," -- I just don't care for the stuff, and am
perplexed by some people's religious adherence to it. It's one thing for
people to like it, but then there are the people who really, really like
it, and who really, really hate mayonnaise.

I know that, as a child, I had a very sensitive palate and had a problem
with that slightly sulfurous, egg-yolk taste mayonnaise can have (a
taste lemon juice can mask, and vinegar often doesn't), and wouldn't eat
the stuff for years. Could another aspect that causes some to favor the
Kraft Product be the sweetness? I'm noticing that there seems to be a
geographical division among the people who either can't stand the stuff
or are dedicated fans. With exceptions, as always, the majority of MW
fans seem to be South of the Mason-Dixon Line, where sweetened iced tea
(and religious adherence thereto) and salads containing pineapple,
Jell-O, and little marshmallows seem to be somewhat prevalent. Does the
South have a sweet tooth (cornbread excepted, perhaps)?

Interestingly enough, with regard to the mainstay of PA Dutch culinary
culture, the seven sweets and seven sours, I've gone through Dover
Publications' "Pennsylvania Dutch Cookbook", by J. George Frederick,
with a fine-toothed comb, and note that A) there is no cole slaw recipe
in it at all, and B) of the many salads and salad dressings therein,
virtually none contain any sugar (except for a dressing specifically for
raw dandelion greens). Doubtless this is an aberrant, renegade
publication, and pure coincidence that it is the first one I picked up.
Just found it interesting. But then there's Betty Fussel's hot slaw
recipe in "I Hear America Cooking", which also lacks sugar (and this,
remember, is how we got into all this). I wonder what the Rombauers say
about coleslaw and sugar? Something to check on...   

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com