For those who are old enough to remember - enjoy.
For the rest - it's a history lesson...!!
Very surprising how time and memory has taken its toll.
Have things really changed this much in our time?
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EATING IN THE UK IN THE FIFTIES
Pasta had not been invented.
Curry was a surname.
A takeaway was a mathematical problem.
A pizza was something to do with a leaning tower.
Bananas and oranges only appeared at Christmas time.
All crisps were plain; the only choice we had was whether to put the salt on or not.
A Chinese chippy was a foreign carpenter.
Rice was a milk pudding, and never, ever part of our dinner.
A Big Mac was what we wore when it was raining.
Brown bread was something only poor people ate.
Oil was for lubricating, fat was for cooking
Tea was made in a teapot using tea leaves and never green.
Coffee was Camp, and came in a bottle.
Cubed sugar was regarded as posh.
Only Heinz made beans.
Fish didn't have fingers in those days.
Eating raw fish was called poverty, not sushi.
None of us had ever heard of yoghurt.
Healthy food consisted of anything edible.
People who didn't peel potatoes were regarded as lazy.
Indian restaurants were only found in India.
Cooking outside was called camping.
Seaweed was not a recognised food.
"Kebab" was not even a word never mind a food.
Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days, and was regarded as being white gold.
Prunes were medicinal.
Surprisingly, muesli was readily available, it was called cattle feed.
Pineapples came in chunks in a tin; we had only ever seen a picture of a real one.
Water came out of the tap, if someone had suggested bottling it and charging more than petrol for it they would have become a laughing stock.
The one thing that we never ever had on our table in the fifties .. was elbows!
We used to have curried mince, with raisins added, with rice in the fifties. I remember the first time I had yoghurt - it was Ski in 1968. Agree with most of the rest, although we certainly had bananas regularly, including with custard. We only ever had grapes after the Harvest Festival service.
Golden Syrup was the big treat at tea. Wind it around the knife and then spread it on your bread and butter. And being in Devon, real clotted cream thickly spread on bread. :) :) :)
Love it :).
Was the person who originally compiled this living in a hole somewhere?
Sorry to be politically incorrect (it's an age thing) but what I really miss is mothers/wives & women in general that can cook at home. That want to, and have the time to make delicious meals without resorting to ready made alternatives.
I know that is an over generalisation but these days the skills are not so wide-spread among modern women, and they don't have the time or just do not want to do it.
I am not trying to say how women should behave. I am saying what I miss. I cannot help how I was brought up. I cannot help remembering going to friends and aunties houses and being presented with a delicious meal as normal within 10 minutes of arriving. I cannot help being spoilt by my mothers cooking.
How I miss home made bread and butter pudding, lemon meringue pie, jam tarts, butterfly cakes, apple crumble, rhubarb pie, rice pudding with a skin on it, proper Yorkshire pudding, pancakes, strawberry flan, mashed potato with milk and proper butter, fry ups, bubble and squeak, and dare I say it home-made dripping on toast.
Cheers, Rob :)
You could always make it yourself.....
IanS
There's no great mystery to cooking, despite what the burks on TV might seem to insist. Get some recipes, some ingredients and follow the instructions. after a while some recipes become second nature. More often than not these days it's less a case of can't and more a case of can't be arsed.
Pasta, in the form of mac 'n' cheese, was a staple; curry was a treat; a takeaway came from the fish & chip shop; a pizza was something we got at my auntie's; bananas and oranges were staples of the fruit bowl along with apples, most crisps were plain, flavoured one a treat; pudding rice was a milk pudding, "long" rice went with curry; wet was what you got when it was raining ( :) ); brown bread was good for you - eat it up; oil for cooking meant you'd been somewhere "furrin" probably during the war or you were a foreign war bride; tea was made in a teapot using tea leaves except at my auntie's where it might be Earl Grey or Gunpowder Green (both of which I still drink with great relish); Camp Coffee was kept in the kitchen for the dire emergency of vistors when we'd run out of the real thing (coffee granules); cubed sugar was on the table for the evening meal and found in cafes; Heinz made baked beans that weren't as good as homemade Navy Beans in Tomato Sauce; fish did indeed have fingers in those days and they regularly formed part of lunch though fish was never eaten raw; yoghurt were things the Mongols lived in ( ;) ), food was something you ate or you didn't leave the table; people who didn't peel potatoes were called fathers; Indian restaurants were only found in the local big town; cooking outside was an invitation to midges to eat YOU; seaweed was fertilser not food; "Kebab" was not even a word never mind a food; sugar was "pure, white and deadly"; prunes were breakfast, prune juice was medicinal; surprisingly, muesli was readily available, it was also breakfast, though only at my auntie's; pineapples came in rings in a tin; we had only ever seen a real one at various posh relatives houses; but water did indeed come out of the tap, if someone had suggested fluoridating it they would have become a laughing stock.
The things that we never ever had in the fifties were choice, quality and unadulterated food ... thank god I don't still live then!!
Agreed there was some shortcomings but then again so is there today.
"Convenience food" where there are more lies and chemistry involved are a matter of today, not the past. Although being one of the more junior members here do argue "the old ways" of having a garden and grow your own stuff.
Only way to be sure.
Quote from: Dour Puritan on 02 July 2014, 11:19:50 AM
There's no great mystery to cooking, despite what the burks on TV might seem to insist. Get some recipes, some ingredients and follow the instructions. after a while some recipes become second nature. More often than not these days it's less a case of can't and more a case of can't be arsed.
The mystery lies in getting it right - any fool can cook, but is what they cook always edible? Fish is the prime example. Equally, is turning out a perfect medium steak something anyone can do?
Yes. Never had a cookery lesson in my life, but always willing to give it a try. If it goes wrong give it another go. Too many blokes still unwilling to embrace equality.
Experimentation is the key...Couldnt be bothered going to the shops one day so tin of chopped tomatos made into a masala sauce with added spices and a tin of sardines in tomato sauce added to it ...with a side dish of wrapped vines leaves and some crusty bread it was lovely
Agree with all of them on the list. My old man was a squaddie and had various postings around the globe, so I've had a rather eclectic culinary upbringing (although my first taste of 'curry' was a Vesta boxed version). One of the best meals I ever remember was boiled fish and boiled rice made by our maid in Hong Kong, plain but stunning. Even now I am quite happy to boil up some rice and open a tin of sardines. My mother's bread or rice puddings were to die for and her pastry...I'm salivating just thinking about the taste of it.
Like Fenton I will experiment, if it works then great, if it doesn't then don't make it again. My son will go to the fridge and cupboards and after 2 seconds will announce we have nothing to eat; I will go to the same places and pull out a tin of tomatoes, chopped bacon, mushrooms and some pasta and ten minutes later we have a meal. Fortunately, I really enjoy cooking foreign food, especially Indian, Chinese, Italian or even Tunisian/Moroccan. Plus some of the combinations I have eaten and still eat on occasion get a rousing chorus of Yeuchs from everyone else. I mean, have you ever tried mash, cabbage, fried bacon and fried egg with the oil poured over your mash? Stunning stuff.
Back in our day, home cooking was the order of the day and recipes and techniques were passed down from mother to daughter. Nowadays, with a lot of women/wives/girlfriends working there is hardly any time to cook even if they felt inclined to do so; it's a real shame that these skills are slowly being lost and the takeaway or fast food joint is king.
I will always try and but the fresh or at least raw ingredients because these ready meals have got so many 'E' numbers, preservatives and chemicals in them I'm convinced a diet of that stuff promotes illnesses and maybe even obesity.
Anyone remember faggots? No sniggers please! I seem to remember even Birdseye produced them, before hamburgers were even thought of? And I remember Salami being available from our local butcher, and it was a bright rose red colour! Also, all salad consisted of hard boiled egg, sliced in a mandolin, lettuce, luncheon meat, a slice of tomato, and Heinz salad cream. It took me twenty more years to find out that it was not set out in holy writ.
Mollinary
Luncheon Meat!!!!!!
BLEUCH!
Had it so often as a runtling that I can't stand the stuff now. (Involuntary shudder)
Faggots were a regular menu item in the student canteen at Aberystwyth. It says something about the catering that they were one of the more palatable options!
Growing up in the 70s I think we were the only family I knew that had spaghetti bolognese.
Few years ago we were going to be visiting my parents one Saturday, and my mum said "What would you like for lunch?"
"Can Dad do Liver and bacon with boiled potatoes, peas and thickening?" was my immediate reply. My wife does a lovely liver and bacon casserole, but sometimes I want North London working class food. Miss my nan's bread pudding, with the raisons sharp and the crust like concrete stopping it from drying out.
Liver and bacon, mash, peas and onion gravy. Good stuff! Strangely, one of the best I've tasted was in an English bar in Palma Nova on Mallorca.
I also like faggots although not so keen on the commercial west country ones but the cricket ball sized ones from the Black Country Museum are the mutts. When Ma Subs found out they had offal in them I had to eat hers as well!
Rabbit is another favourite as is steak and kidney/steak and ale pie/pudding. My problem is that I am the only one in the house that will eat any of the above so I haven't had rabbit since I've been married (1979) and if ever we have pub grub it's always the steak pie/pudding option.
Quote from: Subedai on 03 July 2014, 08:44:08 AM
I also like faggots although not so keen on the commercial west country ones but the cricket ball sized ones from the Black Country Museum are the mutts.
Exactly how old were these items, and what had they been used for previously?
I used to have terrible trouble telling the difference between faggots and savoury ducks (which had no duck in them whatsoever). Both were equally delicious.
I have no trouble with a woman's taking a share of the cooking, and I know a few who are jolly good at it, but I'm very glad to live in an age my grandfathers would have found unthinkable, one in which a man can do the lion's share of food preparation. The top chefs have almost always been men, after all. Let's face it, creativity is generally a male thing.
Quote from: FierceKitty on 03 July 2014, 09:07:48 AM
I have no trouble with a woman's taking a share of the cooking, and I know a few who are jolly good at it, but I'm very glad to live in an age my grandfathers would have found unthinkable, one in which a man can do the lion's share of food preparation. The top chefs have almost always been men, after all. Let's face it, creativity is generally a male thing.
Inspired by a rather successful
panforte cioccolato I've just made. :) It looks better when cut to show all the yummy nuts etc, but anyway:
I have to say, that having read one of Ray's posts from a good few weeks back, I'm well into cooking 'stir fry' type dishes now.
Scrummy !
But.....While we're on the subject of food from days of yore.
New potatoes ?
Is it me ?......Or did they taste SO much better decades ago ?......Bloody tasteless nowadays, to what (I THINK) I remember.....Even the Jersey spuds.
(I think I've mentioned this before....So I'll just reinforce the point ! :P ;))
Cheers - Phil
Quote from: Techno on 03 July 2014, 10:17:17 AM
I have to say, that having read one of Ray's posts from a good few weeks back, I'm well into cooking 'stir fry' type dishes now.
Scrummy !
But.....While we're on the subject of food from days of yore.
New potatoes ?
Is it me ?......Or did they taste SO much better decades ago ?......Bloody tasteless nowadays, to what (I THINK) I remember.....Even the Jersey spuds.
(I think I've mentioned this before....So I'll just reinforce the point ! :P ;))
Cheers - Phil
Well done Phil .All that typing and you didnt mention leeks once :D =D>
Another point to consider; what have they done to cabbage that stops it smelling when you boil it? Walking down the streets back in the day, you could tell who had babies in the house -boiling terry-towelling nappies and who was having cabbage for dinner/tea because of the smells.
An interesting point that. Had a chat with the woman on the checkout yesterday about daily shopping back in the 50s and 60s, especially as I now hardly ever do a big shop.
Quote from: Subedai on 03 July 2014, 11:18:21 AM
Another point to consider; what have they done to cabbage that stops it smelling when you boil it? Walking down the streets back in the day, you could tell who had babies in the house -boiling terry-towelling nappies and who was having cabbage for dinner/tea because of the smells.
Having worked for Sainsburys in the past the unfortunate truth is that the British shopper wants perfect looking food, no bumps on a tomato, greener salad etc and in this case perfect white or green cabbage . The producers from overseas cater for this and send this stuff to Britain and keep the less perfect but probably better tasting stuff for the locals who dont care
I don't need to do a 'big shop' anymore. Luckily we have an Aldi (medium sized), Sainsbury's (quite large), Iceland (big enough), several bakeries and a local market for fresh produce and meat all within walking distance. So because I don't drive I exercise while I shop. Win/win.
@Fenton. I worked for Tescoplolis for a few years on their fruit and veg department but that answer never occurred to me. Wouldn't surprise me at all as I've seen fussiness in action.
Quote from: Fenton on 03 July 2014, 10:35:31 AM
Well done Phil .All that typing and you didnt mention leeks once :D =D>
As long as there's something else to add a
bit of flavour..... I find them fine, Steve.
I mean.....What are they really ?.....Gigantic spring onions ! ;D ;D ;D
Cheers - Phil
Prince of vegetables. Try 'em in Anglesea Eggs - yummy in excelsis.
Can I have my Mexicans now?
Quote from: FierceKitty on 03 July 2014, 11:50:37 AM
Can I have my Mexicans now?
NO - and changing the name don't work either......
IanS
Was I talking to you?
'Ey gringo, you gonna 'ave to wait.
Andrew
Loved faggots and still do! :)
Chad
My mum's breadpudding. Full of sultanas and covered in sugar - no wonder I'm a physical wreck. :(
My mum also used to do a belting bread pudding, which we used to call 'wet nelly.' She also did a fantastic bread and butter pudding and a superb Dutch apple pie - mind you she did have the cold hands.
Cold hands, warm heart so they say.
My mother used to bake constantly, apple pies, corned beef pies, egg and bacon pies, sausage rolls etc, etc. At Christmas she would bake at least six Christmas cakes. Still miss a slice with a cup of tea.