Why do some foods become fashionable?

ViceVersa

Sarnia

ViceVersa

Aveline

Whatever happened to gooseberries?We had them all the time when young. Stewed, in crumbles and best of all gooseberry fool 😋

We used to have quite a number of gooseberry bushes in our garden. It got to the stage where we couldn't even give them away - nobody wanted them, and there was a limit to how many we as a family could eat.

Gooseberries and rhubarb. The good old fashioned fruits. Those, together with a Friday night spoonful of Californian Syrup of Figs kept you very regular!!!

We do still have rhubarb, although it didn't do particularly well last year. Hopefully this year will be better - I do love a rhubarb crumble.

I would love a rhubarb crumble too but I haven't got a long enough dish. I'll get my coat..............

Quizzer

What is it with Mac’n’ cheese?? This is what we used to eat when we had no money. Now it’s become a delicacy ….really!

News to me that it’s a delicacy! - but to me it’s strictly macaroni cheese. Always a favourite in this house though, and with the Gdcs.

Now and then I make a cauli/mac cheese - two favourites together, grated cheese and breadcrumbs on top, whack under the grill, yum. I once made it for unexpected guests when I had plenty for that , but not much else.
It all vanished!

Pomegranate like grapefruit does not go well with certain medicines. I cannot eat either.

It’s not only Mac’n’Cheese that has become “gentrified” but beef short ribs too. The butcher used to throw them at you when I was growing up and, braised slowly in the oven, they were a cheap midweek meal. Then some celebrity chef made them trendy and suddenly they cost a fortune. I bought four (very meaty) pieces recently and it cost me nearly eighteen pounds.

My favourite fruit is mango- only discovered it a few years ago. It’s delicious!

I love kiwi fruit. I hardly notice the seeds, unlike passion fruit! Passion fruit are delicious, I sieve them and add to the syrup of fresh fruit salad. I hate pomegranates, always have. Strange taste and they make your mouth very dry. Never understood why anyone would bother with them.

Because someone somewhere has a huge glut of something, so ensures it gets out there that whatever it is has spesheel health benefits, or tastes fabulous, or some celebrity or other endorses it. I've noticed a lot of poeple are sheep and will follow whatever they are told is "in"

In the mid 60s as small children we lived next to a farmer's field planted up with kale for cattle feed. My mum (she probably asked but honestly I don't know) used to cut the occasional whole one and we'd eat it. She said "it's packed with iron". That's sixty years years ago when not many talked about nutrition. She cooked it up with onions. We didn't love it but we were incredibly healthy. Now it's sold as a super food. She picked rosehips from the roadside and made a cordial out of them. I don't remember broccoli at all from those days - do you? Rhubarb already made a big comeback in gin and chutney. Tomatoes even in the 80s were hard pale and tasteless imported ones back then. Luckily you could grow them yourself. The Guardian used to offer EV olive oil as a prize for winning their crossword. It was an alternative to champagne! Couldn't get balsemic vinegar way back then. Some things have changed for the better.

And as mentioned above, if a celebrity chef chooses to steal "poor"peoples food ( pigs trotters, ribs, offcuts, tongue etc etc) not only do they get to make a HUGE profit but the rest of the market follows too! Most of what was considered cheap but nourishing food from my childhood is now bloody expensive and considered a luxury food. Is likely why some folks bash those who buy ready meals etc cos when they were younger, a lot of healthy filling foods really were cheaper and easy to make , not so now ( and no I do NOT want to subsist on dahl or whatever for the rest of my days!)

I never got that from the post. There's a lot of affection about many things spouted by "influencers". It's like water off a duck's back to me.

Aveline

Whatever happened to gooseberries?We had them all the time when young. Stewed, in crumbles and best of all gooseberry fool 😋

Gooseberry fool Is my all time favourite pudding. 😋

SueDonim.

Very funny.

Yes, Olive Oil.

It certainly wasn’t something we would even considered eating as a child.
Now of course, it’s trendy. And it’s graded too on quality.

Who would have thought?

Greciangirl

SueDonim.

Very funny.

Yes, Olive Oil.

It certainly wasn’t something we would even considered eating as a child.
Now of course, it’s trendy. And it’s graded too on quality.

Who would have thought?

The thing is, most of us wouldn’t have been eating it, but the Spanish and Italians certainly would have been.

I think the reasons certain foods have become more popular is 1) we travel more and eat more foods abroad 2) more food is imported here.

I’m happy with the amount of choice and although I love some of the foods from the “old days”, I’m really happy to have so much choice of quality foods.

My mum always cooked with olive oil. She had to get it from the chemist.

I’m so glad I like avocados- they are such a healthy food. I discovered them whilst on holiday in Canada many years ago. I love them smashed with seasonings and lime juice. Delicious with scrambled or poached egg and smoked salmon!
Not for everyone but I’m so happy I love this super healthy brunch

There's some concern about the amount of water it takes to grow avocado. I'm not too keen on them

When did purple sprouting brocolli change its name to tenderstem brocolli? 🤷‍♀️

I don’t think I am much influenced by what is supposed to be trendy. I tried sourdough and didn’t enjoy it and nor do I like avocado. Perhaps I’m just set in my ways.
I’ve just picked and cooked my first serving of rhubarb. Delicious. I have some unhappy memories of gooseberries, which my dad loved, but were too sharp for me as a child. I wonder if I would appreciate them more now? I once lived in a house with a Victoria plum tree in the garden. Nothing I have ever eaten compares to the absolute heaven of biting into a perfectly ripe, fresh from the tree plum. No room in my garden for trees now.
I love blueberries, usually in yoghurt, but cooking them (no added water but a splash of Vimto) brings out the flavour.

Another vote for mashed avocado on toast, topped with strips of fried bacon. Delicious. Also as part of prawn cocktail. We really are spoiled for choice with all the different food available.

narrowboatnan

When did purple sprouting brocolli change its name to tenderstem brocolli? 🤷‍♀️

They’re surely two different things? Any tenderstem I see is all green. Purple sprouting is green and purple!

I've been eating things like panettone and fresh pasta ever since I met my husband's Italian family in the 70s Then all of a sudden they were fashionable. My husband used to love pomegranates, but I couldn't see the attraction. Didn't like Kiwi Fruit either, just a tasteless hairy fruit with lots of seeds.

I always think there's a lot to be said for a slice of good bread and fresh butter.

I agree!

Cossy

Mashed or sliced avocado, with a squeeze of lemon, and a sprinkle of chili flakes, on thick buttery dough dough toast is my absolute favourite breakfast and to make it a special brunch I add a poached or scrambled egg and smoked salmon, with ground black pepper.

Yummy!

My favourite breakfast and healthy

I too like mashed avocado on toast but I also have it as a pudding mashed with honey. I do like the variety of food that is available in the supermarkets