@Shelter Most of the best foods were created out of necessity. The ability to take cheap staples and turn them into truly flavorful things that people are happy to eat day-to-day is basic survival for the poor. Eventually the rich got a taste, realized that it was better than the "fine" stuff they were eating, and started paying attention to what the rest of us were eating.

@aspecurian @Shelter Brisket is in that category right?

I had a delicious Arby's Smokehouse for lunch.

@SECRET_ASIAN_MAN

It very much is

@aspecurian

@SECRET_ASIAN_MAN @aspecurian

Oxtails are one of the more recent.
They got jacked up.

"According to the USDA’s National Monthly Grass Fed Beef Report, beef oxtail has risen in price from a little over $9 in January 2018 to nearly $14 per pound. Most oxtail recipes involve about 4 to 5 pounds of oxtail "

https://www.today.com/food/trends/oxtail-price-gentrification-black-history-rcna72053

@Shelter @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN I can't wait to see what is next. Dried legumes are still sort of cheap; let's hope the rich don't get a hankering for 15-bean and ham hocks. We're already paying 5 times what they cost in the 90's.

@aspecurian @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN

Cheap ramen that used to be 5/$100 is now 79¢ a package at my grocery store.

@Shelter @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN I remember paying 12¢ for Maruchan, which is a step up from Nissin "Top Ramen."

I feel old.

@aspecurian @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN

Yep.
Maruchan.
79 damn cents

@Shelter @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN Capitalism ruins everything.

@aspecurian @Shelter mmmm, black eyed peas and ham hock. Yumm, takes me back to Virginia in my youth.

@SECRET_ASIAN_MAN @Shelter Black eyed peas definitely need the flavor from the hocks. Alone, they taste like dirt.

@SECRET_ASIAN_MAN @Shelter Absolutely.

Barbecue is a great example of great food coming from "less desirable" ingredients. Tough cuts of meat? Cover it in spices and cook it slowly for a day or so.