Bouffant Hair and A Palate That's Silver: Nostalgia about the Era of Excess
Did you grow up in the 80s? The HH and I met in the late 90s, both (fairly) fresh out of other relationships, but it was the 80s during which our adult selves were formed.
I’ll save the story of how we met for another time, but suffice to say there were coincidences aplenty involved. In fact, the HH often declares that we were “fated” to meet because of those selfsame coincidences. Me? Not so sure.
What follows is a reminiscence about that decade before we met and some of the most well-known pop culture events and celebrities from back then, adapted from an introduction to my remake of a famous recipe from that era. See how much you recognize.
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It's a truism when discussing the era of flower children and Woodstock to say, "If you remember the '60s, you probably weren't there." When it comes to the 1980s, however, those of us who lived through it are more likely to lament, "I remember it all too well--if only I hadn’t been there!" Still, the Era of All Things Excessive (also known as the "Me" Decade) did have its touchstones.
Let's see: if you (a) know what a "social X-Ray" refers to; (b) can name the performers who sang "Ebony and Ivory"; (c) own one of the original Cabbage Patch Dolls; (d) know where Expo '86 took place; and (e) have seen the only movie in which Julia Roberts was actually any good, then you, like I, were most likely cognizant of the 1980s--like it or not.
And yet, I can't help but feel nostalgic for those times. I mean, how can anyone forget the heady 80s, with their typical Yuppie motto of "More is More"? As a PhD student on her own in the Big City of Toronto, it was in the 80s that I finally became comfortable perceiving myself as an "adult."
Working as both a don in residence and a teaching assistant at university, I supported myself while studying and carrying on an active social life, as only someone in the early throes of adulthood can do. With a built-in social network (three of my close friends from childhood had already moved here years before) and PhD seminars filled with interesting new classmates (not to mention the occasional crush), I was happy to spend my time memorizing Beowulf by day, then taking on the town by night.
80s urban professionals were regularly amused by showy sportscars, massive parties, both private and public (modern-day raves made their first appearance in the 80s), big hair (remember Boy George?), big fashion (ah, yes, Amazonian shoulder pads) and even bigger earrings. I recall encountering a colleague in the hallway at work one day, feeling pretty snappy, bedecked as I was with a pair of my favorite gold-wire earrings.
He took one glance my way and sniped, "Wow, how'd you get those hamster wheels to stay attached to your earlobes?".
Ah, yes, pretty much everything from the 1980s was excessive and self-indulgent. And the food? Oh, my, the food. . . .
The 1980s were epitomized by everything rich, from Gordon Gekko to Double-Chocolate-Hazelnut-Caramel-Cream Cheesecake.
Foods were elaborate and multi-layered, and nobody ever worried about saturated fat, cream, too much red meat, organic, or whether the tiramisu was made with gluten-free ladyfingers. No one had ever heard of Omega 3s, let alone ingested them, and restaurants were just getting their fingers wet with the new food architecture that mandated aesthetics over taste.
In those days, I'd spend hours cooking and baking for dinner parties, multiple courses and desserts that could, on their own, drain the stock of an entire dairy farm for a day.
One of the best-selling cookbooks of the time was The Silver Palate Cookbook, by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. Two regular New York gals who'd made a name for themselves by operating one of the most successful little gourmet shops in the city's history, these women finally collaborated on a cookbook and were instantly rewarded with an overwhelming, almost cult-like following.
Like most of my friends, I possess a well-worn copy of the maroon and white-covered tome, its edges fraying a little and pages splotched with grease stains. From the side, my book appears to have donned a jagged, fringed winter scarf, as little strips of sticky-notes, marking recipes I wished to try, peek out from almost every page. One in particular, Chicken Marbella, was cooked so many times that I had to replace the sticky note on more than one occasion.
A few weeks ago, I found myself reminiscing about that darned Chicken Marbella. Maybe it was the HH sipping on a glass of red wine, a rarity these days; or maybe it was the container of fresh kalamata olives that sat, waiting, on the counter. Whatever the catalyst, I wandered over to the kitchen bookcase and pulled out my trusty copy of The Silver Palate. Then, I set about adapting.
The original recipe turned out to be slightly different from what I remembered (in my idealized version, it was aromatic with a variety of Moroccan spices, rather than the lone oregano it does contain), but it was still alluring. Certain that quinoa would partner perfectly with the other ingredients, and after a little tinkering, I came up with my own recipe.
I must tell you, it was astonishingly good. Next time, I'll begin with a little more quinoa and chickpeas, as the original marinade was aimed at 4 chickens (and my version contained zero). As in the original dish, the unconventional combination of baked prunes and olives is spectacular, and the quinoa provides a perfect base to soak up and then showcase the flavorful marinade. Even if you're not normally a fan of prunes, I think you will enjoy them here.
I love this dish as a main course casserole, but still yearns for the chicken and prefers this as a side dish. He ate it, sighing, wishing aloud that if only we'd met in the 1980s when I was still throwing elaborate dinner parties with dishes like Chicken Marbella or some excessively rich cheesecake, he could have sampled the "real" recipe.
But of course, that would never have happened. Even if, by some weird karmic commingling of our (then) diametrically opposed lifestyles, we had actually met back then, the HH would have taken one glance at my bouffant hairdo, while I took one glance at his erstwhile "business associates," and we would both have run screaming in opposite directions.
It wasn't until the end of the 90s, after having both matured considerably, that fate ultimately brought us together with a coup de foudre. . . followed, inevitably, by our current calm, somewhat predictable, and rather domestic existence.
Amazing, isn't it, what changes just one decade can bring?
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