10-02-2013, 09:45 PM
1
Eating in the uk in the fifties
* 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 in the fifties …. ELBOWS
10-02-2013, 11:09 PM
3
Re: Eating in the uk in the fifties
That's about it Uncle Joe, except for the pasta, eggs and rice and fish - we ate quite a lot of fish.We also ate fresh spaghetti. Eggs were still rationed and were extended to go round everybody by beating them up into mashed potato (I loved it). We also had dried egg in tins which made omlettes. Rice made a tasty rissotto together with any leftover cold meat. My grandad, who we lived with, was a chef at The Dorchester and was quite inventive with his recipes (as well as with stuff he bought home).
We also lived in Brixton right on the market, so had the opportunity to try all sorts of new and wonderous foods that were arriving into the country.
11-02-2013, 12:37 AM
4
Re: Eating in the uk in the fifties
Originally Posted by Nobaggage
->
My mum use to put olive oil in my ears every sunday ...warmed by the fire , never knew why ...never asked she just said i had to .... Have always had good hearing ..so maybe it worked
We used to have curry regularly (if you can call it curry). My mum had gone out with a musician before the war, and, for a short while lived the high life in the West End. Her boyfriend, Maurice took her on one occasion to Veeraswami's (the first Indian Restaurant in London - est 1926) where she enjoyed her first curry. As a result, she used to try to recapture this exotic experience by making a standard British beef or lamb stew, then adding curry powder and sultanas (for that exotic eastern touch). It was foul and I was astounded when I had my first real curry in 1967 and instantly fell in love with it.
11-02-2013, 06:09 AM
5
Re: Eating in the uk in the fifties
When I first arrived here there were a few italian restaurants around and I loved the food so much that I decided to make a spaghetti bolognaise myself from a recipe I was given which I followed to the letter.Well! it smelled atrocious and tasted even worse, I made the mistake of using the whole garlic bulb thinking it was like an onion
( I'd never used it before then!)
11-02-2013, 08:36 AM
6
Re: Eating in the uk in the fifties
Originally Posted by Nobaggage
->
My mum use to put olive oil in my ears every sunday ...warmed by the fire , never knew why ...never asked she just said i had to .... Have always had good hearing ..so maybe it worked
11-02-2013, 10:02 AM
8
Re: Eating in the uk in the fifties
Originally Posted by Uncle Joe
->
* 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 in the fifties …. ELBOWS
We had oranges every day of the week. My mother gave us freshly squeezed orange juice with our breakfast. We had bananas at least once a week. We had fresh pineapples from time to time. We also ate prunes.
We were given a large variety of vegetables, not always to our taste, admittedly. But I loved asparagus, my Mother would make very delicate asparagus sandwiches, the bread was rolled around it, YUM, YUM.
We had mayonnaise as well as salad cream. We did have yogurt. We also had a good variety of different cheeses. We always had the best quality butter and cream no marg.
Herbs and spices were used in our cuisine.
We ate muesli of the homemade variety. We always had Cornflakes, Rice Crispies, Weetabix and a variety of other cereals.
We always ate brown bread as Mother thought it healthier than white.
The only 'pop' we drank was Coke.
We would eat rice from time to time with a curry. My Grandmother made a delicious one.
I am sure we had a Chinese meal from time to time in the 50s. I think there was an Indian restaurant as well.
11-02-2013, 10:07 AM
9
Re: Eating in the uk in the fifties
Originally Posted by Willow
->
I would agree with only veryfew of those statements.We had oranges every day of the week. My mother gave us freshly squeezed orange juice with our breakfast. We had bananas at least once a week. We had fresh pineapples from time to time. We also ate prunes.
We were given a large variety of vegetables, not always to our taste, admittedly. But I loved asparagus, my Mother would make very delicate asparagus sandwiches, the bread was rolled around it, YUM, YUM.
We had mayonnaise as well as salad cream. We did have yogurt. We also had a good variety of different cheeses. We always had the best quality butter and cream no marg.
Herbs and spices were used in our cuisine.
We ate muesli of the homemade variety. We always had Cornflakes, Rice Crispies, Weetabix and a variety of other cereals.
We always ate brown bread as Mother thought it healthier than white.
The only 'pop' we drank was Coke.
We would eat rice from time to time with a curry. My Grandmother made a delicious one.
I am sure we had a Chinese meal from time to time in the 50s. I think there was an Indian restaurant as well.
Well bully for you Willow darlin' - most of the things you had as a child were way beyond our parent's financial circumstances to provide.
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