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Food

Revisiting food from your youth.

(170 Posts)
Daddima Wed 09-Aug-17 18:42:01

Tonight, I cooked a Fray Bentos pie, of which I had fond memories from my youth. It was awful.
I also remember enjoying Heinz Cream of Tomato with macaroni for Friday Kafflick lunch at my granny's in the 60s. Also awful.
Another favourite " quick tea" was tinned hamburgers with processed peas, served with chips. I have tried a couple of brands of burgers, to no avail.
Is it, as some have said, that the taste buds have died, or that the manufacturers have greatly reduced the salt and sugar content?

grannyticktock Fri 11-Aug-17 21:34:47

Oh yes, Cremola Foam! Big favourite for my brother and me. You could get lemon, orange or raspberry flavours.

gagsy Fri 11-Aug-17 22:16:41

Honeycomb mould, sandwich spread and Fry's chocolate spread. My mum used to make wonderful peppermint lumps with National Dried Milk! Happy days

grannybuy Fri 11-Aug-17 23:15:31

Got married on a Friday, 1969. No honeymoon, so did a quick shop on the Thursday - which included a Fray Bentos pie and a Vesta curry! How unhealthy! We probably thought we were very 'with it' !

Daisynance123 Sat 12-Aug-17 00:08:10

Does anyone remember Instant Whip,the predecessor of Angel Delight?
Made the same way but more substantial. My brother,sister and I adored it.
In the 50's, way before the modern,soggy,sliced loaf,bread didn't go mouldy it just dried out thus making it possible to save all the crusts from the loaves over a week or so and make a huge, glorious bread pudding!
Soaked in cold tea then mixed with eggs,sugar, dried fruit and mixed spice mum would bake a roasting tin full of it. Served hot with custard or cold,sprinkled with more sugar.
And what about pork dripping on hot toast. If you were really lucky mum would give you.some of the meat jelly as well. My goodness, according to the present day 'food police' we should all have been stone dead long ago!!

Coco51 Sat 12-Aug-17 00:09:07

Still love the Heinz tomato soup we always had for Saturday lunch - I thought it was because we liked it so much. Only much later did I understand it was because we couldn't afford anything else!

merlotgran Sat 12-Aug-17 00:23:27

An Oxo cube crumbled in a mug of boiling water was my relief from car sickness.

Even better with a slice of dry bread to dunk.

Cornishgirl777 Sat 12-Aug-17 08:30:14

Mazgoli......I grew up having Thunder and Lightning.....but I fear the approach of scone wars 2,as we put the cream on top. Still on the menu in tea shops in Cornwall. Don't think I could manage to eat it now,though.

DanniRae Sat 12-Aug-17 08:49:36

When I was at school I used to go home for lunch and one of my mum's standard meals was Heinz tomato soup with boiled potato in it. It was quite nice actually but don't think I would enjoy it now. She also put custard powder in her boiled rice pudding and that was lovely. I am just beginning to realise what a right little Delia Smith she was!!

Witzend Sat 12-Aug-17 09:01:46

I must be in a minority, but I don't think Fray Bentos tinned pies are too bad at all. We have one very occasionally when I am too tired/lazy to cook. Though 99% of meals in this house are from scratch.

I used to love Vesta Paella, not that we ever had it at home. It was a treat for myself now and then when I was an impoverished student.

I always found Angel Delight pretty foul, but then I don't like anything very milky.
Never care much for Spam, either, ditto tongue, which my mother would buy now and then.

I had a student landlady who once gave me some cold meat that looked like tongue, but paler. I didn't think it was very nice, but ate it anyway.
'Do you like that, dook?' she asked.
'Yes', I fibbed politely. 'What is it?'
'Udder.' !!!!!!

vampirequeen Sat 12-Aug-17 10:31:30

I used to love the liquid that came with tinned peas. Mam would drain it into a cup so I could drink it.

We only had tripe and onions once. We had to eat it because there was nothing else but even mam had to admit it was foul and we never had it again. Also it was the only time she let me smother food in tomato ketchup. Anything to mask the disgusting flavour lol.

Dad used to like chittlings (intestines).

We ate a lot of offal esp. liver both at home and at school. I hated it but had no choice but to eat it. I never eat offal now.

Greyduster Sat 12-Aug-17 10:45:37

My mother used to buy pork chitterlings, and 'bag' (not sure what the bag was), but with vinegar salt and pepper I remember enjoying it. In those days nothing but the squeal was wasted on a pig! Never liked tripe, though my father did. I remember telling my GS about tripe - he thought the very idea of it was gross! It is actually highly nutritious.

Jalima1108 Sat 12-Aug-17 11:00:11

SunnySusie
'For Mash get Smash'

www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4MTgjNkfyI

phantom12 Sat 12-Aug-17 18:58:38

My Dad used to eat chitterlings, mentioned by Greyduster, and also he sometimes had pilchards. Yuk! I loved the Vesta Paella and Chicken Supreme. We used to make toast in front of the fire so it always tasted smokey and then spread dripping on it. Sometimes we even had sugar sandwiches! My Mum would often by Symingtons table creme in Maple and Walnut flavour. Lovely.

Leesa Sat 12-Aug-17 20:45:03

Love this discussion!
Nanna58 I do remember Mac Fisheries and eating sausage in batter (or pinapple in batter) with chips.
I hated school milk and school dinners for the same reasons others have said,lumpy smash and horrible meat.
Probably why I am veggie now
I also remember my dad always having a 'tongue' at Christmas.

Menopaws Sat 12-Aug-17 20:57:18

Sort cod roes on toast with my dad, still love it

Menopaws Sat 12-Aug-17 22:18:12

Soft I mean

Witzend Sun 13-Aug-17 12:15:43

The typhoid epidemic was in the 60s, and started in Aberdeen. My sister was a student there and she and a friend were among the first to succumb - very ill for a long time. IIRC it only came from the big catering tins of corned beef - the kind you'd buy in slices - not the small tins you buy to open at home.

Pilchards - we used to have the tinned in tomato sauce kind mashed up - skin and bones removed - on toast and put under the grill. They were very tasty.

Dairylea triangles! You still see them everywhere, but when I was a child they were a great treat - my mother never bought such things so we only ever had them when we went to a granny's for tea. Same granny always gave us Penguin biscuits and orange jelly with tinned mandarin oranges in. Height of luxury then!

After that granny died I kept the dish she used to serve that jelly in - it wasn't very beautiful but evoked so many memories - was so sad when it eventually got broken.

DanniRae Sun 13-Aug-17 13:48:17

I liked most food and, as a child, was easy to feed but I really didn't like pilchards in tomato sauce and had to be in a different room when they were on the menu!
I use most days a tablespoon that was my mum's - the edge is worn at an angle from her use - and I always think of her at the gas stove stirring away every time I use it. A very happy memory smile

vampirequeen Sun 13-Aug-17 19:01:35

It's funny how food takes you back in time and to different places. Sizzling sausages take me to my grandmas kitchen. Mashed potatoes...well it was with almost every tea. Porridge....we used to have it for tea when we'd had a day at the seaside.

mazgoli Sun 13-Aug-17 19:36:29

Cornishgirl777 - you put the cream on top of the golden syrup? Whatever next???
Just remembered also, tinned fruit with custard, served with bread and butter.
Dairylea triangles, we called them Chedlets - no idea why.

devongirl Mon 14-Aug-17 14:54:23

Cornishgirl777 - just realised I misread your previous post, I was thinking it was jam, not syrup (don't want to revisit scone wars but of course in Devon it was on top of the cream, not vice versa).

Diggingdoris Sat 19-Aug-17 10:24:16

Witzend I still make orange jelly with mandarins in especially at xmas. It's a welcome dessert when so much food is so rich .
Dairylea triangles have always been a favourite of mine because as a skinny fussy child the Dr told my Mum I should have one every day to build me up.

Auntieflo Sat 19-Aug-17 13:07:24

Menopaws, my mum loved tinned, soft herring roes on toast and so did I, but I can't get them now. I wonder why?

Greyduster Sat 19-Aug-17 17:47:29

Orange jelly with mandarins in is my DH's hmm'signature dish'! He makes it every time GS comes - which is fairly often! To be fair, I find it quite a refreshing palate cleanser, but only if there is no topping on it.

Scribbles Sat 19-Aug-17 18:05:44

Does anyone else remember Jelly Creams? My gran used to make them; I think it was basically a blancmange with added gelatine so you made it with milk but it had the texture of a jelly. I particularly liked the caramel and coffee flavours.