I've wondered if this was a uniquely Mormon thing or if it was more widespread.

Growing up casseroles were everywhere in the LDS church. Any potluck event would see a whole ton of them everywhere. At my sisters' and brothers TBM wedding receptions there was an entire table of them.

To me most of them had a terrible taste and very suspect for nutritional value. Some pasta and a strange collection of canned goods seem to be the norm. They all smelled of Cream of Mushroom soup. I generally avoided them for the sake of my health.

Since I have left the LDS, I have never made one. I've never see them at any restaurant. I've traveled around the world more than a few times and never been forced to eat them. The only time I've seen them at my LDS relatives house.

Is this a strange phenomenon driven by tons of long meetings and a pantry full of slowly spoiling food storage?

I think you kinda nailed the "one pot" meals. The church steals all of the members time/money...so yes they're going to have a lot of casseroles. Think about a family with 6 kids; you're not going to be able to feed them steaks, fish, veal every night for a family of 8.

The problem I have is with what you described, they're all Soup, noodle based. I think this is because recipes are passed down and around over and over. Most of the BIC in the Moridor come from Scandavian or English descents. So not a real spice palate. I mean the spiciest or most tastiest is probably meatloaf with ketchup or adding oregano to the spaghetti. There's not a lot of tamales, enchiladas, fried rice, lasagnas, etc... But more tuna casseroles and breads. The few exceptions seem to be those "women" who did serve missions in foreign countries do learn a few dishes like Jamabalya, Hop'N'John, etc...

I think casseroles are big in the midwest, too. I remember seeing a cookbook from Wisconsin or somewhere that was mostly casseroles and ever single one was smothered with a nice, thick, greasy topping of melted cheese.

Yeah, Garrison Keillor jokes about the tuna casseroles in "Prairie Home Companion". Most of the people back there are from Norway, Scandinavian countries also.

In addition to his regular "sponsors," among them Mournful Oatmeal, Guy's Shoes, and Powdermilk Biscuits, I recall Church Supper brand canned casserole filling.

The latter wasn't for nothing, of course, but like any dish that's poorly executed the casserole can be a disaster or--in the right hands (like my mom's)--well prepared, tasty, nutritious, and economical.

BcE

I lived in Minnesota for 3 years and had a lot of beer based recipes but not casseroles. Beer can chicken on the BBQ is delicious. I've also spent a lot of time in Wisconsin and Michigan in rural area's and never ran into it.

Tunafish casserole is vile. My mother made me cook for a week when I as eight years old because I refuse to eat it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/2015 04:16PM by the1v.

Casserole is the fancy French name for hotdish, which is ubiquitous in the upper midwest. But crockpot recipes are more popular now because they stay hotter if there is a nearby outlet.

Ahh.. French.. That makes sense.

I have forgotten how many times I've been to France. I spent 10 years working for a french owned company. I generally hated the food there. They always tried too hard with everything. Some really weird flavor profiles like many casseroles in mormonland I had to pack snacks when I went there.

With the exception of England all the areas around France have great food.

Our neighbors were born again xtains and once went to a party there... Sure enough, casseroles... Hamburger Helper casseroles... So it could be worse. This was in Seattle.

Bear in mind, they hoard food in cans, so cream of mushroom soup is always in the cupboard.

Every damn thing the Mormons make seems to be cream of mushroom soup based.

I know for a fact, I'll never go to another mormon potluck.

Things like funeral potatoes are a Mormon thing, but casseroles aren't just a Mormon thing. I've heard it's a Midwest thing, as well as being common in other churches that have potluck dinners on occasion. My mom grew up in the midwest, and not only did she have tuna casserole, but she had other casseroles as well. In fact, one thing we in my nevermo family love is a potato casserole with ham and cheese.

Tuna casserole was also popular for Catholics, since before Vatican 2, they had fish every Friday, and not just during Lent. My ex-Catholic dad doesn't really like tuna casserole because he had to eat it most Fridays. It was either that, or fish sticks so the only way my dad will eat fish is if it's not fried.

My grandma had a variation on funeral potatoes that she got from some magazine in the 50's, which called for cream of mushroom soup and a packet of onion soup/dip mix. She called it scalloped potatoes, and used sliced raw potatoes so they would cook while the casserole was baking. To her, it was just another way to feed 6 boys and at the holidays, it was a cheap side dish to feed those boys, wives, and us grandchildren.

Anytime we've had an office luncheon, I've made those funeral potatoes.

I haven't been able to sample them as they are all gobbled up by the time I make it thru the serving line.

I don't think there is a big population of Mormons in this part of western Washington.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/2015 10:12PM by tumwater.

Tumwater, my brother just mentioned the other day that they had an office pot luck. They are up close where you are and the coworkers are up the cheesy potatoe casserole they brought. It's a huge calorie intake,but a few bites are well worth the treadmill for 30.

Coworkers.. Gobbled them up..dumb default.. :0

Casseroles are easy meals to fix for large families. Mormons have very Midwestern sensibilities, despite being way out west, so it's not surprising that they eat a lot of casseroles.

My mom made a lot of casseroles, especially in the 70s and 80s. We liked them well enough, and they kept well for leftover lunches or dinners.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/2015 04:58PM by axeldc.

Agree. Casseroles, though, are one thing I don't regret about my time in TSCC. I raised a big brood of hungry kids on a very tight budget and casseroles were a lifesaver. Funeral potato and breakfast casseroles are, to this day, family favorites when everyone visits during the holidays. One of my daughters created a pizza casserole that we love, too.

I still make them, but I make my own versions that are vegan and more healthy. I cook a small one on the weekend and take it to work for a few weekday lunches. Ratatouille, eggplant "parm," meat-free tamale, vegan mac and cheeze, baked stuffed peppers... but never the dreaded cream of mushroom (or worse, cream of chicken) soup. That stuff is just nasty.

I didn't grow up with the weird "cream of whatever" in most dishes, though. I'm surprised you never had a "hot dish" if you lived in MN for any period of time.

Casseroles can be tasty, healthy, and easy if you understand how to cook well and incorporate the ingredients correctly. For example, I thought I had thoroughly cooked some zukes for a low-carb goat cheese lasagna and it turned into a soupy mess. Live and learn! When my schedule is about to fill up, I usually make one or more casseroles to throw in the freezer and pull out for busy weeknights.

Anything baked in a dish is basically a casserole, even the much loved lasagna and even the "higher end" paella could fall in that category as well.
http://thefoodiescompanion.blogspot.com/2012/09/food-history-casserole.html

Just an FYI, if you can make a roux, you can make a cream of soup base at home.

I love casseroles and I cook a great one if I do say so my own self. My dear Mom taught me how to make her favorite as a kid when she was dipping homemade chocolates before Christmas and needed me to cook supper for the family. I have modified it in the years since to make it my own. Growing up in a non-Mormon rural area we had plenty of pot luck dinners at our country school and everybody brought casseroles so it's not really a Mormoncentric thing, at least not in my case.

Ron Burr

I like casseroles, although I think you tended to see them more in the 60s and 70s. Nowadays it seems to me that people are more inclined to use a crock pot for hot dishes.

I like casseroles as well, and we have them at home at least a couple times a month...none have cream of mushroom soup in them though. I've been to potlucks where I grew up in the south, and everyone (non-Mormons) brought casseroles. Besides crock pot soup or something, I can't think of any easy, inexpensive alternative to bring to a potluck. What else would you bring?

I like some "funeral potatoes" as well, though I've eaten some that had more cheese than potatoes that were absolutely disgusting.

Cream of Just about Anything" soup.

I'm very fond of casseroles and crock pot stuff that doesn't take long to assemble, because it is painful for me to stand or walk for very long. Practicality goes a long way here.

Same here. Easy prep (esp slow cookers) and tasty

I have never made funeral potatoes.....nor will I. Never ate them until about 25 years ago at Mormon funeral in Hillspring, AB, near Cardston ( they are OK but I wouldn't order them in a restaurant if they were on the menu but I know plenty of nevermo's who love them). One plus to going to funerals there is they always serve prime rib...no cold cuts and/or mystery meat.

RB

Food snobs! What's wrong with casseroles? With LOTS of yummy, melted cheese on top!

My exhusband was a never mo all our married life and he loved them. Tex Mex style was his favorite, then funeral potatoes. (People who don't associate funeral potatoes with mormonism love them!)

As to why they are at large gatherings, it's because they travel well.

And they are extremely popular all over. There are tons of cookbooks and cooking magazines dedicated to hot dishes/casseroles and slow cooker meals.

Yep. I make casseroles AND funeral potatoes. Not all the time, but still do sometimes

Still to this day, I make a version of my mother's tuna noodle casserole. I don't remember if she ever took it to church, but we had it at home a lot.

Shudder, gag, even the thought of tuna cassarole makes me queezy.

Well sure, that's all "Tuna Helper" and "Hamburger Helper" was the dehydrated ingredients of what was our regular casseroles. Except tuna casserole had potato chips for the crunch.

I might have given the wrong impression, I LOVE many of the casseroles, but now that I'm getting older I need to start watching the Cream of Chicken/cream of mushroom and gravies. I'm starting to eat stuff like mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes, eggplant lasagnas as opposed to regular.

A lot of Indian foods (curry) and vegan dishes (although I'm not vegetarian) .

especially from the Midwest. As for Funeral potatoes, my mother remembers them from South Philly from when she was a girl. She said they were called funeral potatoes because they would keep while the family were away burying the stiff.

This is my testimony.. Funerals must serve re-heated hashbrown casserole for the guests. It does stand the test of time. Shaking some seasoning salt (McCormick's, of course) kicks it up a notch. Oh, and some Saratcha..yum

Campbell's ships cream of mushroom soup to Minnesota in tanker cars. (Garrison Keillor joke) The place runs on hotdish.

I love casseroles! Even pre-LDS years.
They are really good for group gatherings, family gatherings, for making ahead for work lunches.

My wife is of Cuban extraction. She has maybe three Cuban casserole type dishes that I would conplain if she didn't cook regularly. One uses leftover beef. another is a Cuban chicken stew. Another is a leftover turkey or chicken with rice meal. She also cooks a recipe with chicken and broccoli that she got from my aunt.

My mother-in-law cooks a lot of Cuban meals that probably fall under the umbrella of casseroles.She's an excellent cook and I gladly eat anything she prepares. Sometimes it's a regular meat entree, which is always quite tasty as well, but I almost like the casserole-type entrees better.