Cooking like it's 1929: Depression-era classics like "Water Pie" and "Wacky Cake" are currently making an unexpected comeback.
As food prices soar and economic uncertainty abounds, the notion of thrity cooking is increasingly prevalent, with many people rethinking their everyday lives – and also their meal budgets.
For home cooks and food bloggers, this is an opportunity to look into the past: Cookbooks and recipes from the Great Depression are back in the public mind. Back then, people made do with few ingredients and a lot of creativity – so it's no wonder that these "recession recipes" are now going viral on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. Simple, cheap, nostalgic – and yet surprisingly contemporary.
As the name implies, "recession recipes" were originally devised out of necessity – creating meals with scarce resources during wartime or economic crisis. Creative, simple dishes were often crafted from a few inexpensive ingredients – with an emphasis on being filling and, above all, affordable. With the current cost of groceries, many are once again focusing on inexpensive, utilitarian cuisine. Combined with nostalgia and social media, this strikes a nerve with many, making these treats from yesteryear more popular than ever.
Two particularly well-known examples of this are "Water Pie" and "Wacky Cake". The former only requires water, sugar, flour and a little butter – yet manages to impress with a pudding-like, sweet filling. "Wacky Cake" is a chocolatey treat made entirely without eggs, milk or butter mixed directly in the baking mold and shows how delectable desserts can be –even with the simplest ingredients.
Admittedly, the idea of breathing new life into so-called "recession recipes" on social media is by no means new. Even during the pandemic, frugal, tried-and-tested dishes kept popping up in our feeds. A prime example of this is the American amateur chef and content creator Dylan Hollis, who attracted a great deal of attention with his charming videos about historical recipes.
Thanks to his entertaining style and the charm of forgotten dishes, he built up a considerable fan base, steadily expanding his reach. He has now published his second cookbook, in which he creatively reinterprets classic recipes from past decades.
Whether out of financial necessity, a desire for sustainability or pure curiosity – recession recipes show that good food doesn't have to be expensive. They combine past and present, creativity and utility, reminding us that, more often than not, less is more.
