Jan 8th, 2023

Author: donich_admin

Nostalgia Foods

Apparently these are foods of the 1970s/1980s which aren’t eaten much any more. As a child of the 1970s I remember most of these.

1) Grapefruit. Still around but you never see them served with the traditional half cherry and sugar. They also used to be grilled. My parents saved up Green Shield stamps to get a set of knives – when they came, one of them had a bent blade so my father straightened it. It was only years later that we realized it was a special grapefruit knife for removing the segments from the skin.
2) Bubble and squeak. I still make regularly
3) Vesta ready meals – we used to have paella (horrible) and chow mein (even more horrible). It was a revelation when I had my first real paella in Spain.
4) Spam fritters had a brief resurgence about 15 years ago when you could get them in chill counters in supermarkets. We had them for school lunches and they weren’t that great – though I was interested to read that during WW2 they were considered to be the tastiest thing out there – which doesn’t say much for the rest of British rations.
5) Toad in the hole – still make regularly
6) Steak and kidney pie and pudding. Surprised to hear people don’t eat these any more. I don’t like offal so make the Scottish version – steak and sausage pie.
7) Oxtail. Was available when I was a child and was dead cheap. I remember once making soup out of it from scratch – it took hours to make and when finished it was very fatty. I believe you can still get it from fancy suppliers but it is very expensive.
8) Hot puddings with either syrup, jam or currants. We had these every Sunday. You can still buy them from supermarkets but they seem to have been largely superseded by sticky toffee pudding.
9) Tripe – my grandmothers used to make this. It was vile beyond belief – like eating fatty rubber.
10) Tomato sausages. We got these from the market in Carlisle and they were great – haven’t seen them in 20 years.
11) Last but not least – Ketchips. I loved these – don’t know why they were killed off but I am going to have a go at recreating them in our new air fryer – the ultimate fusion food.

I still have my trusty hostess trolley (so useful) with my trusty cast iron fondue set sitting on top of it.