View Full Version : How we used to eat...
Posted by Bushwhacker, one of my forum members, it sort of sums up my early life, and those of many others I suspect, to a tee :cool:
* Pasta we did not think had been invented.
* Curry was an unknown entity.
* Olive oil was kept in the medicine cabinet
* Spices came from the Middle East where we believed that they were used for embalming
* Herbs were used to make rather dodgy medicine.
* A takeaway was a mathematical problem.
* A pizza was something to do with a leaning tower.
* Bananas and oranges only appeared at Christmas time.
* The only vegetables known to us were spuds, peas, carrots and cabbage, anything else was regarded as being a bit suspicious.
* All crisps were plain; the only choice we had was whether to put the salt on or not.
* Condiments consisted of salt, pepper, vinegar and brown sauce if we were lucky.
* Soft drinks were called pop.
* Coke was something that we mixed with coal to make it last longer.
* 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.
* A microwave was something out of a science fiction movie.
* Brown bread was something only poor people ate.
* Oil was for lubricating your bike not for cooking, fat was for cooking
* Bread and jam was a treat.
* Tea was made in a teapot using tea leaves, not bags.
* The tea cosy was the forerunner of all the energy saving devices that we hear so much about today.
* Tea had only one colour, black. Green tea was not British.
* Coffee was only drunk when we had no tea….. and then it was Camp, and came in a bottle.
* Cubed sugar was regarded as posh.
* Figs and dates appeared every Christmas, but no one ever ate them.
* Coconuts only appeared when the fair came to town.
* Salad cream was a dressing for salads, mayonnaise did not exist
* Hors d'oeuvre was a spelling mistake.
* Soup was a main meal.
* The menu consisted of what we were given, and was set in stone.
* Only Heinz made beans, there were no others.
* Leftovers went in the dog, never in the bin.
* Special food for dogs and cats was unheard of.
* Sauce was either brown or red.
* Fish was only eaten on Fridays.
* Fish and chips was always wrapped in old newspapers, and definitely tasted better that way.
* Frozen food was called ice cream.
* Nothing ever went off in the fridge because we never had one.
* Ice cream only came in one flavour, vanilla.
* None of us had ever heard of yoghurt.
* Jelly and blancmange was strictly party food.
* Healthy food had to have the ability to stick to your ribs.
* Indian restaurants were only found in India .
* Cheese only came in a hard lump.
* A bun was a small cake that your Mum made in the oven.
* Eating out was called a picnic.
* Cooking outside was called camping.
* Eggs only came fried or boiled.
* Hot cross buns were only eaten at Easter time.
* Pancakes were only eaten on Shrove Tuesday –and on that day it was compulsory.
* Cornflakes had just arrived from America but it was obvious that they would never catch on.
* We bought milk and cream at the same time in the same bottle.
* Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days, and was regarded as being white gold.
* Prunes were purely medicinal.
* Surprisingly muesli was readily available in those days, it was called cattle feed.
* Turkeys were definitely seasonal.
* Pineapples came in chunks in a tin; we had only ever seen a picture of a real one.
* We didn't eat Croissants in those days because we couldn't pronounce them, we couldn't spell them and we didn't know what they were.
* Garlic was used to ward off vampires, but never used to flavour bread.
* Water came out of the tap, if someone had suggested bottling it and charging treble for it they would have become a laughing stock.
* Food hygiene was only about washing your hands before meals.
* Campylobacter, Salmonella, E.coli, Listeria, and Botulism were all called "food poisoning".
* However, the one thing that we never ever had on our table …. ELBOWS"
Rare Bird
22-02-2013, 11:16
[I]* Pasta we did not think had been invented.
Do you remember the April fool Hoax from the late 50's Dave :eyebrows: with the Spaghetti growing of Trees :D
I do now you have reminded me, that was a classic... :lol:
prestonchipfryer
22-02-2013, 13:21
Remember the Channel Islands milk with the thick cream on top? My old man used this for his tea.
Had an Aunty Ada and she sold 'Pop' for 1d a glass.
Beef dripping on a slice of bread.
Roller skates.
:)
Nothing like a trip down 'memory lane'. Happy Days :rolleyes:
Rare Bird
22-02-2013, 15:36
You would prefer todays way of life then?
You would prefer todays way of life then?
As far as the variety of food available today is concerned - yes.
Haha - love it, Dave... However, I can refute almost 100% of that, given the food culture and experiences I grew up with!! ;)
Marco.
walpurgis
22-02-2013, 20:26
Some very accurate observations there. Reminds me of my childhood.
(I'm now going through my second childhood, having got too long in the tooth to be the oldest teenager in town)
Covenant
22-02-2013, 20:35
Bubble and squeak on a Monday evening made with the leftovers of the Sunday roast fried up and covered in thick gravy. Mmmm I can still taste in now!
Jerry??? Now you just stop right there young man, that was below the belt :lol: Ah, the memories... :drool:
The Grand Wazoo
23-02-2013, 00:10
We often still make bubble on a Monday - I can promise you, it still tastes great, y'know. What's stopping you?
Dave, that list sounds like Utopia to me
Cheers,
Keith
Indeed. Gotta ask this, were any of you given toast and dripping by your parents? Winter Sunday evenings in our house would consist of us all sitting down to listen to the Top40 countdown on Radio 1 (with Tony Blackburn) whilst toasting bread over the hot coals of the fire and then liberally spreading the dripping from that days beef roast all over the toast... Very bad for you but absolutely scrummy.
Jerry??? Now you just stop right there young man, that was below the belt :lol: Ah, the memories... :drool:
Proper 'bubble and squeak' included the left-over Brussel sprouts. It stank the kitchen out when made, but tasted delicious! Happy days. :)
Absolutely Barry, I cooked some epic Bubble & Squeak with Sprouts over the Christmas period however mine will never be a patch on my mums God bless her... :)
There where only 2 choices when I was growing up.
1.) Birdseye
2.) Swanson
I was lucky to get Swanson it was the better T.V. dinner of the two.
Ok, just as a bit of fun, I'll go through Dave's list individually and comment how an Italian upbringing made things a little different from you guys...
Pasta we did not think had been invented.
We used to eat this every day, and my mum always made her own pasta and sauce from scratch!
Curry was an unknown entity.
Slightly different here, as of course we weren't Indian. However, I had my first proper curry, in a restaurant in Glasgow, in 1978 (when I was 13), and from then on ate it on a reasonably regular basis, mostly with take-aways. My mum rarely made it at home, as Italians aren't traditionally known for their love of spicy food.
Olive oil was kept in the medicine cabinet
That, of course, was a staple in our diet from day 1!
Spices came from the Middle East where we believed that they were used for embalming
Some spices, such as paprika and dried chillies, and of course fresh black pepper, were used in Italian cooking.
Herbs were used to make rather dodgy medicine.
No meal would've been complete without the use of fresh herbs from our garden and/or greenhouse, from fresh basil for the pasta sauce, to rosemary for the roast potatoes!
A takeaway was a mathematical problem.
I ate take-away Chinese and Indian food from the late 70s onwards.
A pizza was something to do with a leaning tower.
Mum used to make home-made ones all the time - and when we went to Italy on holiday, well..... ;)
Bananas and oranges only appeared at Christmas time.
We ALWAYS had fresh fruit in the house, of all descriptions. I find it weird that anyone wouldn't... :scratch:
The only vegetables known to us were spuds, peas, carrots and cabbage, anything else was regarded as being a bit suspicious.
Ha - that's definitely a British thing! We always ate a wide variety of fresh vegetables, including spinach, broccoli, courgettes, peppers - ALL sorts!!
All crisps were plain; the only choice we had was whether to put the salt on or not.
As my dad owned a fish and a chip shop, he sold whatever varieties were being produced at the time, and I can remember having tomato sauce flavoured crisps (whatever happened to those?) pickled onion, cheese and onion and all sorts of different varieties, from primary school onwards.
Condiments consisted of salt, pepper, vinegar and brown sauce if we were lucky.
Apart from those, we used to use Tabasco, Lee & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, Heinz tomato sauce, and mum always made her own dressing for salads.
Soft drinks were called pop.
Up in Scotland we called it 'juice', or simply by its name, Coke, Fanta, Cresta, Meri-Mate, or whatever. My dad sold them all in the shop.
Coke was something that we mixed with coal to make it last longer.
That's a strange one - never heard of that before, although we had a coal fire. Coca-Cola was for drinking!
A Chinese chippy was a foreign carpenter.
Haha - that's funny! Nope, we had Chinese take-away shops in our local village from the late 70s onwards.
Rice was a milk pudding, and never, ever part of our dinner.
Lol... Again, another British thing! Mum often made her own risotto, sometimes even with Porcini mushrooms - shock horror, how exotic!! :eyebrows:
We also used to have boiled rice fairly regularly with chicken dishes, usually when mum made chicken with red wine, fresh tomato sauce and French beans.
A Big Mac was what we wore when it was raining.
Now that I can relate to!
A microwave was something out of a science fiction movie.
Yup - we never used a microwave, even when they first appeared on the scene, and my mum still doesn't use one! She has no need for it.
Brown bread was something only poor people ate.
Lol... Don't really get that one. We ate Hovis brown bread quite a lot, or mum would make her own bread, which was sometimes the wholemeal variety.
Oil was for lubricating your bike not for cooking, fat was for cooking
Hehehe... Another British thing! Mum regularly used olive oil and sunflower oil in cooking - NEVER fat (lard)! :spew:
Bread and jam was a treat.
Another British thing: 'a piece and jam'... Lol! I used to have that regularly for breakfast. My snack in the afternoon, coming home from school, or whatever, was usually bread and salami! ;)
Tea was made in a teapot using tea leaves, not bags.
We used both.
The tea cosy was the forerunner of all the energy saving devices that we hear so much about today.
Sure, although we were never really big tea drinkers. Freshly ground coffee, especially to make cappuccino in the morning, with hot frothy milk, was our thing.
Tea had only one colour, black. Green tea was not British.
Sure, although we used to drink Earl Grey and Darjeeling, as well as 'Typhoo', etc.
Coffee was only drunk when we had no tea….. and then it was Camp, and came in a bottle.
Lol! Another British thing... We always bought fresh coffee beans from our favourite Italian deli in Glasgow, and ground it freshly, either to make cappuccino, in the morning, or espresso at lunch time.
Cubed sugar was regarded as posh.
Sure - I can't really remember us using cubed sugar much.
Figs and dates appeared every Christmas, but no one ever ate them.
Yup - I didn't like them either. My dad did, though.
Coconuts only appeared when the fair came to town.
Lol... We used to have fresh coconut occasionally, but it wasn't very often. I mostly ate it in Italy, when African guys used to sell it on beaches, cut into slices - it was yummy! We had fresh pineapple quite often at home, though.
Salad cream was a dressing for salads, mayonnaise did not exist
We had both (depending on what we were eating), along with fresh vinaigrette dressing, or extra-virgin olive oil and red or white wine vinegar, drizzled on top of the salad leaves.
Hors d'oeuvre was a spelling mistake.
Lol... We called it antipasto! :D
Soup was a main meal.
Ha - never... Unless, I fancied a snack of soup, with some bread, in between meal times. Soup would otherwise always have been a starter.
The menu consisted of what we were given, and was set in stone.
Never! The menu varied all the time, depending on what mum wanted to make and what stuff was nicest in the butcher, fruiterer or fishmonger.
Only Heinz made beans, there were no others.
Yup - I think that's fairly accurate.
Leftovers went in the dog, never in the bin.
"Leftovers", from lunch, would've been eaten later that evening for dinner, or recycled in some way, such as left-over veg would've been made into home-made soup. We never threw good food away. The cat would sometimes get a little chicken or fish that was left over, but only occasionally.
Special food for dogs and cats was unheard of.
Yup - I think that's pretty true.
Sauce was either brown or red.
Nope, we had tartare sauce (usually with scampi), dill sauce with salmon, hollandaise with asparagus - all sorts!
Fish was only eaten on Fridays.
We had fish and chips from the shop once a week on Friday, but mum would regularly make fish other times in the week, depending on what looked nice at the fishmonger.
Fish and chips was always wrapped in old newspapers, and definitely tasted better that way.
Most definitely!!
Frozen food was called ice cream.
Nah - we had all sorts of frozen food, but we mostly ate fresh stuff. Surely you must've had frozen peas?
Nothing ever went off in the fridge because we never had one.
I can't remember ever not having a fridge.
Ice cream only came in one flavour, vanilla.
Lol... My dad sold all sorts of ice-cream and ice-lollies in his shop - from mint choc chip to toffee flavoured!
None of us had ever heard of yoghurt.
Bizarre... I used to eat Ski strawberry yoghurt every day for breakfast!
Jelly and blancmange was strictly party food.
I always hated both!
Healthy food had to have the ability to stick to your ribs.
Yup, sure, but I had plenty of other kinds, too!
Indian restaurants were only found in India .
Nah - by the late 70s, we had quite a few in Glasgow.
Cheese only came in a hard lump.
Lol... That would've changed when mum used fresh ricotta in her spinach and ricotta cannelloni!
A bun was a small cake that your Mum made in the oven.
Nope, we had all sorts of buns, sweet, savoury or just bread, depending on what mum baked.
Eating out was called a picnic.
Loved picnics, but we used to eat out regularly in restaurants.
Cooking outside was called camping.
Sure, but we used to do barbecues, too.
Eggs only came fried or boiled.
Nah - we had poached eggs, omlettes - all sorts!
Hot cross buns were only eaten at Easter time.
Yes, that's true.
Pancakes were only eaten on Shrove Tuesday –and on that day it was compulsory.
Yup - I can relate to that, although we also used to eat savoury 'pancakes' called Crespelle (like French crêpes), filled with ham, mushrooms, spinach, etc.
Cornflakes had just arrived from America but it was obvious that they would never catch on.
Don't do cereals, as I don't like milk (on its own).
We bought milk and cream at the same time in the same bottle.
Don't remember cream ever coming in bottles, but milk certainly did. The 'cream boy' used to call round and deliver both every week, along with fresh orange juice.
Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days, and was regarded as being white gold.
Sure. Don't know about the "white gold" bit, though.
Prunes were purely medicinal.
Hate prunes, but mum and dad ate them occasionally.
Surprisingly muesli was readily available in those days, it was called cattle feed.
Lol! I'm sure that I remember 'Alpen' being around, back in the day.
Turkeys were definitely seasonal.
I honestly can't remember back then if we had turkey at any time of the year other than Christmas...
Pineapples came in chunks in a tin; we had only ever seen a picture of a real one.
Lol... Nah - we had fresh pineapple quite often.
We didn't eat Croissants in those days because we couldn't pronounce them, we couldn't spell them and we didn't know what they were.
We had croissants whenever we visited France.
Garlic was used to ward off vampires, but never used to flavour bread.
Ha - no food would've been complete without garlic!!
Water came out of the tap, if someone had suggested bottling it and charging treble for it they would have become a laughing stock.
I can't remember if we drank mineral water at home, but we definitely drank 'San Pelligrino' sparkling mineral water in Italy, and Perrier in France.
Food hygiene was only about washing your hands before meals.
Nah - back then, at home, my mum was using separate chopping boards for meat and veg (amongst doing other things), and my dad kept his fish and chip shop spotless!
Campylobacter, Salmonella, E.coli, Listeria, and Botulism were all called "food poisoning".
Sure.
However, the one thing that we never ever had on our table …. ELBOWS"
Lol - true!
Anyway, you can see that my memories were a little different from 'the norm'.... :)
Marco.
It might clarify things a little if I tell you that the guy who compiled it is in his late 70's and he did so mainly for shits and giggles, however I can relate to much of it ;)
Ah, that explains a lot and also why I can relate to very little of it! :eyebrows:
Marco.
I took the list to relate to the 50s and early 60s, your late 70s Marco is way too recent!
Sure, Clive. I agree. I just read it and didn't mentally assign the info any particular era.
I'm surprised then that someone like Dave, who's about the same age as me, can relate to so much of it.... :scratch: Some of it is virtually 'third world'. No fridge, for example... Jeez! :eek:
I suppose there were no inside toilets either?
Marco.
I can relate to much but not all of it. My memories start in the early 60s.
In the early 60's I lived in Kingston-upon-Thames and remember being dragged round the markets by mother to do the shopping. On each Monday there was a huge market at Fairfields where you could buy live chickens and it was my job to carry home this shrieking wriggling wreck upside down with a bit of string tied around it's legs. Despite her best efforts to teach me I refused point blank to wring it's neck, so I had to pluck the bloody thing totally bald instead :eek:
I remember too a small Mac Fisheries supermarket opening in Kingston market place and mother said it would be the end of the markets and small shops one day. She was right. Sainsburys at that time was still hand patting butter from a huge block, bacon and ham was sliced in front of you from the joints and they made the best cherry pies ever which a sorely lamented when they stopped selling them :( Woolworths still had wooden floors and gas lamps :eyebrows:
Rare Bird
23-02-2013, 10:15
I immediately assumed the list refered to the 50's/60's why i mentioned the Spagetti hoax.
I was only a sprog in the 60's but my mother was very old fashioned so we were kinda eating stuff that someone in the 50's would eat.. Bubble & Squeak i loverly i still eat it now.
Nowt wrong with bubble & squeak :)
Marco.
I immediately assumed the list refered to the 50's/60's why i mentioned the Spagetti hoax.
I was only a sprog in the 60's but my mother was very old fashioned so we were kinda eating stuff that someone in the 50's would eat.. Bubble & Squeak i loverly i still eat it now.
My mum was quite traditional too André, but then her mum (my grandma obviously) was probably the most Victorian person I have ever known. She made her own butter, cheese and Jam in the scullery for example, she also cured her own hams. A real Mrs Beeton was my grandma... :)
Marco, the reference to cream and milk in the same bottle was just that. You have no memory of the milk being delivered and the cream sitting on top of the milk in't bottle?
walpurgis
23-02-2013, 11:17
Indeed. Gotta ask this, were any of you given toast and dripping by your parents? Winter Sunday evenings in our house would consist of us all sitting down to listen to the Top40 countdown on Radio 1 (with Tony Blackburn) whilst toasting bread over the hot coals of the fire and then liberally spreading the dripping from that days beef roast all over the toast... Very bad for you but absolutely scrummy.
You had to mix the brown jelly in to make it taste good though!
(I expect somebody will attach lewd connotations to this observation)
Love the brown jelly.. hehe
Sorry, the thought of that makes me puke!! :spew:
Dave,
Ah, I get what you meant now - yes! I thought you meant that cream (alone) was delivered in bottles...
Marco.
Rare Bird
23-02-2013, 11:21
You not a fan of Tripe cooking in Milk then Marco :eyebrows:
Absolutely NOT - I don't do offal of any description! :nono:
Also, the only fat I like eating deliberately is the crispy stuff around lamb cutlets, when they've been nicely grilled (or barbecued), or a VERY small amount of crackling on roast pork... :)
Marco.
Sainsburys at that time was still hand patting butter from a huge block, bacon and ham was sliced in front of you from the joints
Hence the old joke: 'Will customers please refrain from leaning on the bacon slicer as we are getting a little behind with our orders'.
Reminds me of the grocer who sacked his young lad when he caught him putting his cock in the bacon slicer.
He sacked her as well.
Absolutely NOT - I don't do offal of any description! :nono:
Also, the only fat I like eating deliberately is the crispy stuff around lamb cutlets, when they've been nicely grilled (or barbecued), or a VERY small amount of crackling on roast pork... :)
Marco.
You don't eat liver or kidney? What about liver paté? Mind you I do draw the line at tripe, lights or sweetbread.
Rare Bird
23-02-2013, 18:04
Gelatin in yer pork pies, stock cubes etc
You don't eat liver or kidney? What about liver paté? Mind you I do draw the line at tripe, lights or sweetbread.
I meant the horrible slimy 'entrails' stuff: tripe, brains, pig's trotters, black pudding, haggis - all that kind of bogging muck (especially the stench of it when it's cooking) - BOAK!!! :spew:
I wouldn't eat liver on its own either, but love it in paté. Ditto with kidneys, but love how they enrichen the flavour of a home-made steak pie, thus turning it into a steak and kidney pie (of course made with rich, buttery, shortcrust pastry) - none of yer puff shite!! :nono:
Marco.
Liver & Bacon casserole FTW :D
Gelatin in yer pork pies, stock cubes etc
I don't mind it inside stuff, where you don't really taste it - just not on its own. I don't do pork pies either. Never use stock cubes - they're just full of salt! Always make your own fresh stock (from a meat carcass and fresh herbs), which is FAR better! :)
Marco.
Liver & Bacon casserole FTW :D
Mmm... I'd rather have a nice Cassoulet. Del makes a cracker, eh Barry? ;)
Marco.
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