1930s Cookbook Recipe Portion Sizes were Smaller

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

I stayed in Paris for about a month this past summer with a very good friend of my family's. We went to his parent's house every weekend or so for their version of a cookout.

This is how the meal went:

Champagne
Amuse Bouche
White Wine
Sausage (plain, served as an appetizer)
Red Wine
Steak
Red wine
Salad
Red wine
Cheese
White or Red Wine
Dessert

Don't tell me the French are exercising portion control, because they ain't. Everyone at the table ate at least twice as much as me (I had tomatoes instead of sausage and fish instead of steak) and were much slimmer than me. I chalk it up to metabolism and smoking.

 

[Paisley]

They might not eat like that every day.

 

[dhermann1]

"Smoking" Good point.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

They might not eat like that every day.

Certainly not. But even once a week a feast like that would (and did) fatten up this girl. lol Additionally, that family once had that meal for lunch, then about 4 hours later the EXACT same thing for dinner. I didn't understand how they did it!

Generally for dinner no an average night it was wine, bread, steak, and greens, with a big slather of herbed butter on top. I didn't really witness my friend eating breakfast or lunch too often. I did witness many business people eating lunch however, and generally they were large lunches eaten over an hour or so, with wine.

 

[Paisley]

It sounds slightly like Body for Life. You get one free day every week (you eat anything you want) and the rest of the week you eat six small meals a day (a portion of carbs, a portion of protein, and at least two portions of vegetables per day). And you spend about three hours a week working out.

Depending on portion sizes they eat most of the time, and how much exercise they get, I can see them staying reasonably fit on such a diet.

A few advantages of a weekly feast: it may tell your body it doesn't need to go into starvation mode (i.e., lower its metabolism). It also reminds you how you feel when you stuff yourself. Yesterday I had a pizza, three plates of nachos, a root beer, two bowls of ice cream, taco salad, a cheese stick, green salad and half a grapefruit. I enjoyed it, but I won't even tell you what it did to me.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

It sounds slightly like Body for Life. You get one free day every week (you eat anything you want) and the rest of the week you eat six small meals a day (a portion of carbs, a portion of protein, and at least two portions of vegetables per day). And you spend about three hours a week working out.

Depending on portion sizes they eat most of the time, and how much exercise they get, I can see them staying reasonably fit on such a diet.

No exercise, 3 big meals a day. Smoke copiously.

 

[Paisley]

My sister smokes like a beat-up car, and I'm sure she doesn't follow any diet or exercise program. She's thin as a pencil, but she looks like the crypt keeper.

 

[Queue]

My guess would be in two parts: red wine is good for you (in fact I think I'm going to just drink a bottle of cab sav instead of going to the gym from now on) and they, at least in my reading and experience, there is not much intermeal snacking and this whole feast affair is conducted over several hours which aids in digestion and boosts metabolism.

 

[H.Johnson]

Friesling? Burgerdy? I'll stop now.

I'm sure there are other factors, but I suspect the French are just like the rest of us: if they eat bigger portions of unhealthy foods, they'll get fat. If they eat smaller portions of healthy foods, they'll be more fit.

I'm sure you're right - but with respect, 'fitness' relies on exercise and diet, not just diet. Food has the role of preparing you for that and enabling it to take place. If you could get fit by just eating surely athletes and sports people would train in restaurants...

 

[Paisley]

I'm sure you're right - but with respect, 'fitness' relies on exercise and diet, not just diet. Food has the role of preparing you for that and enabling it to take place. If you could get fit by just eating surely athletes and sports people would train in restaurants...

Wow, you learn something new every day.

 

[H.Johnson]

I thank you for your sarcasm.

 

[Paisley]

I don't appreciate being talked down to.

If you'll re-read my post, you'll find that I didn't say that diet alone was responsible for fitness.

I'm not a fitness expert, but I take an active interest in it. Over the years, I've done weightlifting, yoga, dance, step aerobics, taekwondo, gymnastics, the Navy Seal workout, running, and probably a few others. I've studied how exercise, diet and weight gain or loss affect various aspects of health. Recently I had to take a year off from exercising due to injuries from a car wreck--and I put on weight. So yes, I'm well aware of the benefits of exercise and don't need to be told that I shouldn't train in a restaurant.

However, all this is off topic from the subject of portion sizes in the 30s v. today. Let's move on.

 

[Undertow]

Well...anyone up for the Gut Buster Challenge at Ryan's Steakhouse? :essen:

 

[lazydaisyltd]

Refrigerators are bigger. Plates, drinking glasses, serving dishes, pots, pans, silverware and other utensils are bigger now. Fruits and vegetables are bigger, chickens are bigger. Cartons of ice cream are smaller, though.

I recently read a book called "The 9-inch Diet" by Chuck Porter. Porter cites evidence that restaurant dinner plates have increased from 10 to 12 inches since 1970, and that our calories consumed have increased proportionately. It's very interesting...and, erm...possibly a great validation for buying vintage luncheon-sized (9 inch) plates! Not that I need a reason for hunting down vintage china, but it's handy when the boxes from Ebay start piling a little high...

 

[LizzieMaine]

Very interesting -- I'd never thought of plate size before, but this prompted me to go out and measure. I eat off Caribe China diner plates date-coded 1951 -- and none of them are larger than nine inches in diameter. The only modern dinner plate I have in the house, left here a couple Thanksgivings ago by my mother, and bought at Zayre's in the '80s, is 12 inches in diameter. It's not something you'd think about unless you look at the plates side by side, but it certainly would have to make a difference in the amount you pile on at meal time.

 

[tuppence]

I understand about the vintage plate sizes. I had to wait till my husband left home to get out my vintage crockery sets. He wanted a 'real plate'.