A big thank you to those who voted for Brexit

I wonder where some people were living in 1970. (Reference to East Germany)
We married in 1970 , lived in Blackheath and our weekly shop was done every Saturday at Lewisham Sainsbury’s, but even before we were married I can remember nipping out to the Victoria Street Sainsbury’s for my future MIL from their Westminster flat.
A year later, living in Richmond I had a choice between side-by-side Safeway’s and Waitrose a short bus ride along the Upper Richmond Road from us in East Sheen.
In the 1960’s Wm Lows in St Andrews (known to us all as Wimlows) in Market Street was also a supermarket -albeit small- with a wide choice.
Come to think of it, my grandparents lived in Berlin and I visited East Berlin in the early 60’s, and no, nothing like.

gangy5

Some time ago I realised the futility of commenting on any posts concerning Brexit. I read them and it is as much as I can do to sit on my hands and refrain from posting. I knew it wouldn't be long before a 'certain someone' felt the need to spread her doom and gloom on here. Anyone with any sense cannot expect short term improvements and we were all aware that there would be initial hiccups. Optimism is lacking. My thanks to allies lemongrove and Urmstongram

I’m not commenting on Brexit but why be coy about “a certain someone” Have the courage of your convictions and name the. Or address them in person FGS.

petra

We had Chinese take aways in the 50s. Mind you, you had to take your own containers. That could be anything that would hold a curry. Ours was usually a saucepan ?

Curry? From a Chinese takeaway? In the 50's?

Where was that?

I'm beginning to think there's a bit of fantasising going on here.

It’s true!
www.britishchineseheritagecentre.org.uk/timeline/british-chinese-food
I’ve found a lot out on this thread, the history of British supermarkets and takeaways, interesting stuff.

I remember a Chinese restaurant opening in our provincial town C1960
Although the first Chinese restaurant in London was opened in 1908, the real spread of Chinese restaurants began in the late 1950s and 1960s with the influx of migrants from Hong Kong. These proved very popular

The 1960s also saw a dramatic rise in the number and spread of Indian restaurants in Britain, especially in London and the South East. During rationing it had been very difficult if not near impossible, to obtain the spices required for Indian cooking but with the rise in immigration from the Indian subcontinent and the end of rationing, this was no longer a problem and the restaurants flourished.

Curry was part of my Mum's repertoire of menus in the 1950s and 60s.

Curry? From a Chinese takeaway? In the 50's?

Have you never had a Chinese curry?

Definitely had Chinese and a Indian restaurants in the part of London I lived in circa 1963 my earliest memories of going to them as a ^treat-

GrannyGravy13

Definitely had Chinese and a Indian restaurants in the part of London I lived in circa 1963 my earliest memories of going to them as a ^treat-

I'm not querying the Chinese takeaway. I'm querying the bl**dy curry.

I have had spicy Chinese food, but never a curry. Nor, until the last 2 or 3 decades have I seen curry on a Chinese takeaway menu.

Our (i.e my home town, 60 miles from London, a commuter town) first Chinese restaurant was opened in about 1965. The food was lovely; no curry...

I am now preparing for a flame load of posts telling me of Chinese curries galore in the far flung reaches of the UK in the 1950s. I still won't believe you...

Thai curry anyone?

It's interesting - perhaps curry was introduced to HK via India and Singapore by the British then brought over to Britain.

Ellianne

Thai curry anyone?

Oh, FFS, Ellianne. ?‍♀️

Callistemon

It's interesting - perhaps curry was introduced to HK via India and Singapore by the British then brought over to Britain.

Yeah... and I suppose that Jamaican Jerk is really curry introduced by the Indian 'indentured labour' introduced to the island in the 1840s to replace those ungrateful freed slaves who wouldn't work as hard for their former masters as they had been forced to when slaves...

Who've thought that curry was so very influential on world cuisines...

Curry is not a word used in Indian, Chinese, Thai or any other Asian language that I am aware of.

Chow Mein and Chop Suey both evolved in America.

Cuisines change as the population moves around the Globe, folks taking a little bit of their home culture with them and incorporating it with the food culture of the country they have arrived in.

The Supermarket part of this thread is really interesting. We lived in Liverpool in the early 70’s. The only really big supermarket was Tesco, but also within walking distance we had quite a large Co-op, Fine Fare, Axelrods, Hargreaves and an early Kwiksave. I don’t remember if Fine Fare had fresh food, but the others certainly did and Axelrods had an amazing variety of foods, possibly because it was in a largely Jewish area.

MawBe

I wonder where some people were living in 1970. (Reference to East Germany)
We married in 1970 , lived in Blackheath and our weekly shop was done every Saturday at Lewisham Sainsbury’s, but even before we were married I can remember nipping out to the Victoria Street Sainsbury’s for my future MIL from their Westminster flat.
A year later, living in Richmond I had a choice between side-by-side Safeway’s and Waitrose a short bus ride along the Upper Richmond Road from us in East Sheen.
In the 1960’s Wm Lows in St Andrews (known to us all as Wimlows) in Market Street was also a supermarket -albeit small- with a wide choice.
Come to think of it, my grandparents lived in Berlin and I visited East Berlin in the early 60’s, and no, nothing like.

so we were almost neighbours Maw. I lived in Isleworth, Roehampton and Putney. I remember the choice of breads- it was white sliced or white sliced, or white sliced a bit thicker. Vegetables were seasonal, and that is good in so many ways, but the choice was very limited. I loved British cheeses, but the choice was very limited. Very limited to where I grew up and nearby France. Same for wine, Liebfrausmilch and Mateus Rosé were all the rage. The East Germany mention was tongue and cheek- but I did spend some months there just after the wall came down- and it did come to mind often.

That's strange Biba because in our small Surrey village we always had granary and other brown bread and that was in the 1950s. My mother would never eat white bread.

At the baker's or local Coop? I was desperate for any bread that was not white sliced. I only shopped on foot or by bus, so perhaps my access to better shops was limited. And yes, I think we could get brown bread at Cullen's in Weybridge when we visited my OH's parents.

Ellianne yes we do still get the publicity via the postbox but it is greatly reduced in quantity. Some comes via email too.

The first Chinese I saw was in Soho in the late 50s and the first time I tasted it was at a restaurant owned by Freddie Mills (the boxer) and run by a famous Chinese man of the time who played all the Chinese men in the films of the day!

The baker Biba. Our village was much too posh for a Co-op. ?

I lived in Isleworth, Roehampton and Putney. I remember the choice of breads- it was white sliced or white sliced, or white sliced a bit thicker.

You should have moved to Devon biba!
In our village there were two bakers and a bakery in our supermarket too.
What a pity I was allergic to their delicious nutty granary bread.

Same for wine, Liebfrausmilch and Mateus Rosé were all the rage. and Piat d'Or
Oh yes. The wine situation has improved somewhat.

This brexit thread seems to have morphed into "shopping in the 1950s/ 1960s/1970s.

Maybe that topic deserves a threadof its own - it's hardly "news and politics"

I went to Veeraswamy's in an alley off Regent Street when i was a child in the 50s. It's the UK's oldest Indian restaurant,opened i 1926 and still going. Actually I'm surprised that it's still there because the premises must be worth a fortune.

Does anyone remember Madame Maurer's in Greek Street? I went there with a colleague in 1966 or 67. Old established, cooking German food.

Just writing this reminds me how wonderful Central London was when i first moved there in 1966. I actually moved in on the day England won the World Cup. Staying in a hostel in Gower Street and watched the tv in the afternoon to see the match.

Agreed.

However back to the one point, that even if British produce can be amazing (and I'd be the first to agree)- it is nice to have a wider choice- and without it coming from the far corners of the world.

Talking of German restaurants, who remembers Schmidt’s in Charlotte Street?