“Retro food” can mean different things to different people. For today’s kids, it’s the Jell-O Pudding Pops and vintage Pizza Huts of their parents’ childhood. For Bobby Hicks, retro means tuna noodle casserole, chicken Kiev and gelatin rainbow cake—the food of his parents’ and grandparents’ heyday.
But retro recipes are more than a list of ingredients. They’re a feeling. During the pandemic, Hicks shared this nostalgia with a growing number of social media followers who watched him make these sentimental dishes, providing a much-needed sense of comfort.
And now he’s captured that feeling in a new cookbook. It’s called Retro Recipes: Vintage Dishes with a Modern Twist.
We caught up with Hicks, who grew up on a farm in Central Florida and now lives in South Florida. In this conversation, the content creator and self-taught private chef discusses how to modernize retro meals for the 21st century, staples of a vintage kitchen and which recipes should stay in the past.
Want to hear more from Bobby? Catch him in conversation with Dalia at Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg on June 30. Get event details here.
Thank you to our sponsors: Adalay Interiors