Bailey Tries… Hot Buttered Tomato Juice

This Land O’Lakes advertisement has been in my curiosity catalog for a while...

Could you get any more 70s than this advertisement? From the lovely tray of cheese cubes on pretzel sticks to the guy in the background wearing the happening beige turtleneck. I’d bet my next paycheck that they’re having a groovy cocktail party or fondue night. I can almost see the little drinks trolley and smell the scent of freshly laundered polyester. I can honestly say that outside of the music, movies and tv of the 70s, nothing in this decade appeals to me. The colors are horrendous. The fashion is laughable at best and the fads are borderline grotesque but it’s the food trends of this decade that have always fascinated me. What is it about a beigy tuna surprise poured atop an oatmeal colored plate with monotone gold and orange flowers that just draws me in? Truthfully, it goes back to my love of domestic history and with most of the atrocities of the 1970s, they’re cheap and readily accessible, so why not give it a go?

The moment I saw this ad when doing research for a class I teach, I knew I had to try it. I hate raw tomatoes but I love them cooked and strangely I like V8 so I figured this would be some strange amalgamation of the two. To me, it’s the concept of drinking straight butter that really drives this recipe home in a way that couldn’t be done today. Actually, when reading the recipe, it seems like someone was in the process of writing out the ingredients for soup and got distracted which is why I decided to not drink a full pot of tomato juice and butter but to use it as a soup base.

Personally, as a drink, I liked it. I was surprised by how V8 flavored it was being that it was only tomato juice without the extra add-ins and the butter, Worcestershire sauce and oregano didn’t seem to make a ton of difference. Actually, in the grand scheme of things, I don’t think there was enough of any of the “accessories” to actually make a difference flavor wise. I think you would have really had to up the amounts to change the flavor profile and as I thought, it just tasted like tomato soup so I added a variety of beans, corn and some taco seasoning to make it a soup for supper.

If you like V8, then you’d probably like this but if you’re really curious about it I suggest microwaving a class with a sliver of butter and a dash of everything else instead of going to the rigamarole of cooking this on the stove...unless you’re having a fondue party!