Retro Dinners Timeline

The 1950s were all about the fusion of comfort food with convenience, with casseroles and quick dishes like Chicken a la King and Welsh rarebit dominating the decade's top recipes. The 1950’s presentation consisted of food being brought to the dining room on silver trays, where vegetables and starches are presented separately, Americans starting their love affair with grilling and outdoor dining at home.

Electric kettles became very popular in the 1950s, dishwashers became common in many households, Deep-fat fryers made a huge impact and were very popular with creating many filling foods but one of the most popular kitchen gadgets that was essential to every household was non-stick pans. Women were the main predominantly cooks the only way a man would cook is if it was a ‘manly meal’ like hamburgers.

Buffets, barbeque, fondue, ethnic cuisine, French and haute cuisine, and cocktail parties were popular 1960s food trends. In the 1960 people started to place vegetables on the same plate as the main meal. This trend often used time as a guide for plating, with proteins going on at 6 a.m., starches at 9 a.m, vegetables at noon and the garnish at 3 p.m.

The 1960s were very focused on healthy eating so the pressure cooker was a very big thing back then, but the use of microwaves and an appliance called teasmade which was an automatic tea maker was also very important appliances in the 1960s. Traditional gender roles in the 1960s emphasised male breadwinners and stay-at-home moms would cook for the family each night, the feminist movements of the 1960s challenged traditional gender roles, and a rise in male cooks occured.

While some culinary trends, such as fondue, Jell-O, and practically anything made from a mould, remained well into the 1970s, new recipes also entered the fray. Fresh fruit and vegetables were prioritised more in the 1970s compared to the 60’s.

Portion sizes shrink tremendously. Food is served in what many would consider miniature portions. As the creativity of the chef becomes a significant component of the eating/dining experience, strange food combinations are tried, despite their terrible flavour.

As women entered the workforce it became more popular to have slow cooked dinners as it was able to be put on in the morning and be ready to serve by night, hot and fresh. The women were still the main cooks but the level of men cooking rose dramatically. The men now sometimes had to be the ‘wife’ of the family.

Home-cooked dinners went from the stove to the microwave during the 1980s. The popularity of microwave dinners, frozen foods, and out-of-the-can and out-of-the-box meals is a result of the rising desire for quick, simple, and convenient cuisine.

Dishes are adorned with "roses" formed from wrapped tomato skins and other types of adornment as decorative garnishing becomes incredibly popular. In the year of 1980 sodastream became extremely popular as soda became more popular. Another kitchen utensil was the salad spinner as they were still very health conscious in the 1980s. While women where still the main cooks of the family more male celebrity chefs began to cook making it much more in-trend for a male to be cooking.

Tuna tartare, Caesar salad, molten chocolate cake,The American food culture of the 1990s was essential. The most influential foods of the decade deviated from traditional Continental cookery in favour of cuisine that drew inspiration from throughout the world: "Fusion" and "authentic" were popular at the time. The main plating technique involved sprinkling herbs, dry seasonings, powdered sugar, or cocoa powder on the rim of every plate.

The 1990s is also the time where we see meat, starch, and vegetables piled in the centre of the plate in no specific order. The best and latest thing in the 1990s were breadmakers which was an electric oven specifically for bread, George foreman grills and coffee pod machines. Women are still the main cooks of the household but only in 70% of the households.

In the 2000’s it was a decade of culinary contrasts, there were many fruit smoothies, organic salads, and dieting food made while we were also completely fixated on cupcakes and cake pops. The sprinkling of food and plate rims transitions to the heavy use of squirt bottles and the "drizzling" of sauces both on the plate and over the food.

The 2000s where all about the latest trends such as dieting in ways such as juice cleanses which brought the rise of juicers and electric steamers as healthy ways to eat and cook food. Home cooking is increasing, especially among men, though women still cook much more than men.