As you may or may not know, about a year ago, I published a cassserole cookbook. And for the past five years I’ve been hosting a casserole competition in Brooklyn. Last night, the Fifth Annual Casserole Party descended on Brooklyn Label in Greenpoint where probably too much cheese was consumed (wait—there’s no such thing as too much cheese… anyway).

Many of the contestants went all out for their dishes; when it comes to cooking contests—especially in Brooklyn—you have to, if you want to win. But one theme I heard repeated throughout the night (and not just by those who earn the favor of the judges) was that casseroles are supposed to be cheap. In fact, casseroles were created to be a cheap way to feed lots of people. As I wrote in the introduction to Casserole Crazy:

After the Great Depression and up until the end of World War II, one-dish meals that could be made on the cheap were a necessity for many families surviving on rations, canned goods, bread, and very little meat. Mixing dry bread crumbs with beef or chicken, broth and a canned vegetable was a way to make a family’s meat ration feed more people and last longer.

Casseroles served the same purpose for my family when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s. But at some point (and I’ll take a little bit of the credit, or the blame, for this), casseroles became fashionable and, in turn, more expensive to make. Just have a look at the list of last night’s winners for proof. While I loved the duck confit casserole and the fried chicken dinner with kale bechamel, in general, I love just as much my five-dollar tuna and macaroni concoctions.

What do you think? Do confits and caviar help boost the image of casserole or just make us tuna noodle chefs look bad?

Tags: casseroles, competitions, depression era, parties