Bored Panda got in touch with Rachel, the person behind Cursed Cookbooks, an Instagram account featuring images of the most cursed dishes, very often coming from vintage cookbooks, including some recipes guiding us on how to prepare these unique meals ourselves. The profile moderator was kind enough to share a background story of Cursed Cookbooks: “The account basically started as a joke, a few years ago I was reposting ‘weird’ retro food images on my personal social media accounts just to annoy my friends. It had the opposite effect, and people were so into it a friend suggested I create an account specifically for the content. I had also started collecting vintage cookbooks at that point. Everything escalated from there.”

Rachel’s profile is dedicated to unconventional and sometimes bizarre food combinations. We asked her to tell us about the most unusual or memorable image she shared so far, and we found out that: “I think some of the most memorable images for myself come from a book called How to Create Incredible Edibles by Florrie Paul, published in 1975. This book is the origin of the Bridal Meat Doll, a Barbie-like doll dressed as a bride but with a skirt made entirely of deli cold cuts, which I and multiple other accounts have shared. It's not so much a cookbook as a book about presentation and garnishing and contains such gems as a Liver Beehive, Eggplant Clown, and Easter Cheese Duck. The photography is, well... interesting.

I also need to mention the Holiday Lobster Spread recipe where the metal mold and finished recipe end up looking strikingly like a pe**s. It's been nicknamed C**k Lobster.”

We get an idea why aesthetic food may be so popular and why so many people are willing to please their eyes with some seamless-looking dishes. However, this time, we were wondering what, in her opinion, attracts people to all the peculiar food images. Rachel shared with us: “Bad food is universal and something people can bond over. There's also just plain morbid curiosity, did people actually eat these foods and did they taste as bad as they look? So many of the recipes are visually so unlike modern foods, especially from picture-perfect food shots you see a lot on Instagram. I've made a few of the recipes and talked friends into trying them, mostly they've been as bad as they look.”

Humor seems to play a significant role in Cursed Cookbooks’ content. We asked Rachel how she approaches adding a comedic element to the strange food combinations she shares, and she told us: “I like to keep it light-hearted and not take anything too seriously. I poke fun and joke around, but I never want to be disrespectful or overly negative. At the end of the day this is all about having fun, and maybe even occasionally learning something new or a little history. That being said, some jokes write themselves.”