When revolutionary upheavals occur in society and it is covered with total poverty, and products become a luxury item, then it appears on the tables - a cult food. This food does not serve its function of saturation, no. This food shows a person's belonging to a particular social stratum. And the deeper, the more total poverty, the more there are those who use the availability of certain products.
In recent history, the closest period, the one that we remember, with similar attitudes is the nineties. You can scold the "damned" scoop as long as you like and tell that the pathetic "Olivier" was made there on holidays, but to compare it with the nineties - and the USSR becomes a country of abundance, rivers of milk flowed in the bark between jelly shores.
It's a paradox, especially since in the nineties the range of products in stores became much wider - who can argue. But what products and at what prices!
Incomprehensible sausage and sausages instead of "soviet"
A fashion has appeared: at least for the holidays, at least a little, but serve suspiciously red sausage on the table - that very "Salami Gold". It cost more than raw smoked sausages of old, respected domestic factories. Which then were already in the consolidated sale.
I remember the taste of this salami - there was no meat in it, and there was no meat smell in it either. Salt, spices in huge quantities and... a strange "graininess". People did not have the habit of looking at the composition, and they did not even know what "mechanically deboned poultry meat" was.
By the way, chicken sausages of the level of those that are still sold at a price of about a hundred rubles were also considered a delicacy. After all, they were vacuum packed and produced abroad.
Amaretto, cream liqueurs, Royale and other horrors (sometimes even in iron cans)
They say there was no good wine in the USSR. I don’t know, I don’t know, during the period of the “hardcore USSR” I was not interested in wines due to my age. But the period of counterfeit alcohol was found.
I still remember several cases at a party when adults, sitting down at the table, joked - wouldn't we all end up in the hospital after drinking delicious imported drinks?
However, they drank and - praised.
I remember that "Italian" liqueurs were considered special chic - they were bought by gourmets who snorted with contempt at "Polish" ones. And also - "French" wines. All vineyards in France did not produce as much wine (especially elite varieties) as they were sold in all kinds of stalls and stalls.
But putting a beautiful bottle on the table was considered cool, it was an indicator that the host of the feast was successful, “could afford”.
Imported assorted candy boxes
In the nineties, we all (well, almost everything) learned: Soviet chocolate is bad chocolate. Therefore, beautiful assorted imported sweets were put on the table. I don't remember the brand that filled all the counters then, I remember the boxes - huge in appearance, with bouquets of flowers, for the most part, on the lids. Inside there was a plastic insert with a dozen candies - and the candies were clearly not tasty (sorry).
A box of such candies cost more than five hundred grams of normal, familiar assorted (then still produced).
No, I didn’t write all this with the intention of cursing imported products. In those days (and now, for the most part) we were supplied with the cheapest low-grade items. But we ourselves succumbed to temptation and staged a cargo cult of food - in the hope that if we have a piece of "luxury" on our table, then we ourselves will live like in advertising ...