My grandmum was Australian and wound up living in Michigan, so like… she moved from a place where it was the norm to another one where it was the norm, lol.
best thing about living in Maryland is the "All-African Market" near me has different flavored cubes for the different cuisines. Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Nigeria, etc. All got a different flavor, it's the best, takes the rice or the stew to another level!
My mom, from the Netherlands, used them throughout my childhood. I remember sneaking them from the counter while she was cooking and popping them into my mouth. I can't believe I used to do that!
Our (embarrassingly white) family's been in the Midwest since it was the frontier, and we NEVER didn't have a container of beef cubes and a container of chicken cubes.
Yeah, my mum was pescatarian but still kept them on hand, and we sure as hell always have ‘em now- except we also keep consommé powder and Better than Bullion as well.
Consommé powder is freaking wonderful for making broth when you’re sick, but I’d used the chicken stock cubes as well. I swear it decreases how long it takes me to recover from being sick.
My mom, who could and did make amazing soups and stews from bones and vegetable scraps, also used these bc they were shelf stable and highly flavorful.
I use the jarred stuff.
I can clearly remember first buying the jar stuff when we moved to DC because the hipster tiny city grocery store near our apartment was too fancy for cubes.
My grandma taught me how to cook with a liberal helping of boullion cubes in various soups and sauces. These days I generally don't use them for homestyle American dishes -- but I do have both Chicken Pho and Tom Yum boullion in the cupboard. Delicious little flavor shortcuts!
My mother's parents also buy these a lot. My mom used to as well. I had no clue of the origins of these... since my mom's parents being a middle eastern and Mediterranean and North African mix made me assume it had something to do with one of those regions. I have no clue where some food comes from.
We had them (white, settler descendent from many years) in the kitchen though I can’t recall my parents often using them? But like many other people in the thread, I DID try to eat one as just the cube at least once.
