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Memory Lane was a disappointment

(31 Posts)
Wibblewobble Mon 04-Aug-25 20:21:42

Mum was a hopeless cook so as a child I was often fed on tinned stuff like Fray Bentos steak & kidney pies which I loved. Happened to see them last week while shopping and decided to buy one for old times sake. I normally cook from scratch but had it for dinner today and what a let down it was. My fault for not noticing on the tin that it said mince - not steak - of which there was roughly just 2 tablespoons of what was passed off as mince and which had a strange synthetic taste. Even the pastry wasn't as good as the pie from my childhood memories. Have you ever been disappointed going back to something from your past?

Oreo Mon 04-Aug-25 20:27:46

Well, they say to never go back don’t they? I think there are loads of things that disappoint from the past.We often have rosier memories of something as we were different people at the time.
In your case with the pie, that was different as it now really is a different pie from that in the past.I do remember those steak pies and they did have very nice beef and gravy in them.Now they are made from inferior ingredients.

pably15 Mon 04-Aug-25 20:36:16

chips, when we were at school we'd go to the cinema and on the road home we'd stop at the chip shop for a bag of chips 3d
three old pennies...they just don't taste the same,, they were probably cooked in solid fat...not oil.

petra Mon 04-Aug-25 20:46:44

pably15

chips, when we were at school we'd go to the cinema and on the road home we'd stop at the chip shop for a bag of chips 3d
three old pennies...they just don't taste the same,, they were probably cooked in solid fat...not oil.

We never use cooking oil for chips. We use lard which is a pure food unlike oil which is stuffed with additives 🙁

M0nica Mon 04-Aug-25 21:09:40

Fray Bentos pies are a staple on every holiday. The steak pies, not the mince pies. Usually plenty of meat and gravy and a pastry that is special to Fray Bentos. I have never eaten the mince version.

hollysteers Mon 04-Aug-25 21:26:02

The Cotswold village of my long childhood holidays with my aunt and godmother.
On returning, the cottage by the stream with roses round the door and a proper kitchen garden had been turned into a Spanish style hacienda, smooth lawn etc. No more visits there for me😢

Babs03 Mon 04-Aug-25 21:36:29

Chips really aren’t the same, not only are they too oily I think the smell of the salt and vinegar soaking through the newspaper added to the flavour. Loved Fray Bentos steak and kidney pie, but won’t try to relive that memory, or the memories of dandelion and burdock pop bought in a big glass bottle from the chippy, the head on it meant that my sister and I would pretend it was beer. Tried some dandelion and burdock bought recently at an artisan foods market, it was over priced and tasted awful.

ClicketyClick Tue 05-Aug-25 05:53:22

Dandelion & Burdock - the same.

RosieandherMaw Tue 05-Aug-25 06:16:52

As they say “Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be”
(I’ll get me coat)

Astitchintime Tue 05-Aug-25 07:06:35

Yes…..some years ago a work colleague had visited a traditional sweet shop and brought her purchases into work to share. Amongst her haul were cherry lips and floral gums, neither of which tasted anything remotely like I remembered. Actually, both sweets tasted identical, it was just the size and colour that varied, it was so disappointing. Can’t comment on the rest of her purchases as I didn’t try any of those.

Witzend Tue 05-Aug-25 08:16:21

I usually keep a couple of FB tinned pies in, for the odd occasion when I absolutely just CBA to cook. We have one each, just with frozen peas.
Dh likes the steak and kidney, I usually just have chicken. TBH we find them fine.

dalrymple23 Tue 05-Aug-25 14:10:02

All that talk of a Fray Bentos S & K pie makes me want one now! It is probably just me being inept but I could never ever
get the pastry to cook all the way through. Why?

Earthmother9 Tue 05-Aug-25 14:30:47

Chips were always cooked in Beef Dripping back in the day.

JaneJudge Tue 05-Aug-25 14:33:57

dalrymple23

All that talk of a Fray Bentos S & K pie makes me want one now! It is probably just me being inept but I could never ever
get the pastry to cook all the way through. Why?

I don't think it does. It's always sort of crisp and risen on top and wet underneath. I find it the perfect combination tbh and now also want a FB steak and kidney pie grin

Lizzies Tue 05-Aug-25 14:35:10

DH’s mum went away leaving him and his brother home alone just before we were married. Fray Bentos pies were about the only things they ate until she came home! Interspersed with chippy teas.

Allira Tue 05-Aug-25 14:54:27

Not food but I once took DH to see my Grandma's and Grandad's house and there it was! - gone shock

Allira Tue 05-Aug-25 14:55:59

Do they still make Fray Bentos proper steak pies, as well as the mince ones? DH and I used to have one occasionally, probably full of additives and palm oil but still delicious!

Allira Tue 05-Aug-25 14:59:34

They're two different pies, Wibblewobble!

There's just 14% of beef in the mince version but only 11% beef in the steak version.

Oreo Tue 05-Aug-25 15:06:43

I think I’ll give them a miss!

knspol Tue 05-Aug-25 15:53:12

My mother was a great cook, everything was always home made but as children we loved the very unusual occasions when we would have a shop bought Fray Bentos pie and sometimes even a bought chocolate cake - such a treat!

Marmin Tue 05-Aug-25 16:00:25

I had a Tunnock's Caramel Wafer last week. It was dreadful. The chocolate was tasteless and the biscuit was lacking in crunch and substance.

Eddieslass Tue 05-Aug-25 16:20:43

We occasionally have Tesco steak and kidney flaky pastry pie (not tinned). I often freeze one but always defrost the previous day. It is tasty but the instructions say to cook defrosted for 30 mins at190. (That’s from guesswork as I don’t have one in at present) The pastry gets burnt long before that so I now know to put foil over it half way through!

valdavi Tue 05-Aug-25 16:31:56

Fried bread - we always had it with a cooked breakfast & it was my favourite bit.
Occasionally I'll cook some, hoping to recapture that pleasure, but it's not anything special at all.
I used to love mashed potatoes too & they taste as good as ever.(butter & pepper & not too sloppy)

Gogo84 Tue 05-Aug-25 16:42:25

Torquay, Mousehole, I could go on. In fact any seaside town I remember from my chilhood. But then there were hardly any cars and a much smaller population.

Crossstitchfan Tue 05-Aug-25 16:48:01

pably15

chips, when we were at school we'd go to the cinema and on the road home we'd stop at the chip shop for a bag of chips 3d
three old pennies...they just don't taste the same,, they were probably cooked in solid fat...not oil.

My friend and I decided to have fish and chips the other day. One piece of fish, a sausage and two (described as ‘small’) bags of chips came to more than £20.00!! I couldn’t believe it and, had I been on my own, would have told them to put them back!