Traditional Foods Born Out of Cultural Tragedies

Weird History Food took a grim yet informative look at various foods born out of cultural tragedy that have become culinarily iconic.

Many of the Delicacies that we take for granted at restaurants food trucks and Instagram posts have seriously dark backstories and understanding the grim cultural Origins behind our favorite cuisines can help us appreciate them more so today.

These innovative foods include Frybread (created on the Long Walk of the Navajos), barbeque (Caribbean slave trade), SPAM (a Filipino recipe), Gumbo (Transatlantic slave trade), Bánh mì (Vietnamese recipe), Milk Bars (Polish post-WWII cafeterias), One-pot meals (WWII Germany), fried chicken (racism in the USA), and Monterey Jack (Mexico).

Food From Tragedies
Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.