A few weeks ago I needed to read a specific book for my course, they say it was provided in PDF form but I couldn't find it so I was googling for an alternate source and found that it was available on Scribd.
My son Liam uses Scribd for music and gave me his user details quite a few years ago, allowing me to access an entire online library for free. At that time I was a bit lost as to what I might like to read and never really took advantage of the service but since reacquainting myself and of course with this long lockdown, I've used it quite a bit. It's a bit of a treat to have so many books at my disposal, no going out to get them, no storage woes, no guilt if I don't like it, just move on.
Last night I started Richard Glover's "The land before Avocado". It takes a look at life in Australia in the 60s and 70s and is although I remember many of the things it talks about, it's shocking to read some of it 50 years on.
Anyways, the chapter on food talks disparagingly of the food we ate back then and yes, some of it is best relegated to the past but there are other classic 70s foods I still very happily eat:
- jellied salad - a Christmas tradition was a lemon jelly with vinegar, grated carrot and pineapple added (I'm sure there were other ingredients but thats the idea) and I still love this dish.
- tinned pineapple - whats to argue with about tinned pineapple?
- condensed milk mayonnaise - currently enjoying a cult following in the younger generation but never left my list of faves
- marshmallow style desserts - orange marshmallow was one of mums stapkes when she wanted the wow factor, grated chocolate and cream topped it of and it looked pretty in a glass. Apple snow was a later addition that I may have liked even better.
- black forest cake - I didn't even know this was a 70s classic, I just thought it was a constant like apple pie. I requested black forest cake for my 50th this year and it did not disappoint.
- apricot chicken - my kids love apricot chicken and they aren't even old!
I grew up having the lemon jello, carrot, crushed pineapple stuff. My mother loved congealed "salads" but as soon as I became old enough to revolt, I did. I don't like anything congealed.
ReplyDeleteBut I will admit I love a classic meatloaf. It is like a step back in time, but, if I see it on a restaurant menu there is a good chance I will order it. I may or may not have made one for our dinner tonight!
I've never managed to make a good meatloaf, I do like it though. I hope you enjoyed yours
DeleteRice pudding. It is years since I have had it, and I am salivating at the thought.
ReplyDeleteYou really can't beat a nice rice pudding. I used to make a slow cooker full and the kids ate it for breakfast as well as desserts while it lasted!
DeleteJello salad was on the table for every holiday or celebration--one small box of strawberry-banana Jello and one of black raspberry, chopped apples, sliced bananas, and fruit cocktail from a can. We all loved it and still do.
ReplyDeleteI like all the foods my mother served except okra and peas, well, I am allergic to peas.
I am not sure which of them would be a cult classic.
I've never had a jello salad with that many fruits in but we often had cantaloupe or banana in jelly.
DeleteI like okra. It's not very well known here so it's expensive and I think I was the only one who liked it so I haven't cooked it very often at all
I recall Prawn Cocktails being very big back then - every dinner party started with a prawn cocktail. Fondues were all the rage for a time as well, along with quiche. I also remember mum getting a Breville jaffle maker in the 70s and we made toasted cheese sandwiches all of the time. And then there was something mum called Chop Suey that was basically mince, cabbage, onion, frozen mixed veggies, curry powder and stock - nothing remotely Chinese about it, but we all thought it was exotic at the time. And who could forget getting a Chiko Roll at the fish and chip shop?
ReplyDeleteI still adore both Tuna Mornay and Pineapple Chicken that everyone else thinks is naff and old fashioned. They are comfort foods from my childhood that still speak to me :)
Ay yes, the old prawn cocktail! I still love them. I still love a cheese toastie and tuna mornay, We never had chop suey but it sounds like a quick and easy thing with no difficult ingredients
DeleteCongealed salad????? Erm????
ReplyDeleteMarie's recall is similar to mine - Prawn Cocktail being the height of sophistication. I also loved the Breville sandwich maker.
As a kid I loved Toad in the Hole - [sausages in a batter-like Yorkshire pudding], and then my mum discovered she could put anything in the Hole. Thank goodness she stopped making trifles.
Sx
Well congealed isn't the best word for it! Toad in the hole is so English, I am thinking it might be a little like a battered sav :)
DeleteI still love trifle
I've always liked macaroni cheese and apple crumble. As a kid I loved tinned pineapple, couldn't get enough of it. Somewhere along the line I abandoned it and went for fresh fruit instead.
ReplyDeleteTinned pineapple doesn't make your mouth hurt like fresh does so I'm still a fan. Macaroni cheese is a classic comfort food. A friend of mine made apple crumble with macadamias, that was next level!
DeleteYou are unlikely to be familiar as it is an Indian dish but, give me Idli with Sambaar and coconut chutney any time.
ReplyDeleteI have heard of idli and sambaar but you're right, I haven't had it.
DeleteApricot chicken I shall try: I must order a free-range organic fowl.
ReplyDeleteWaffles I first enjoyed on a school holiday in Belgium: Easter 1966.
The Who had a big hit that year: It's My Generation.
In an Art Deco cafe in Bruges, they served waffles with fresh cream and apple sauce.
Prawn cocktail: the favourite starter in Glasgow's vanished Steak Houses.
Chicken and chips in a basket came in with the 1970s.
Scampi in a basket, another favourite.
I frequented a pub near Trafalgar Square, London, because Graham Greene mentioned it in the opening pages of his spy novel, The Human Factor. Famous for its sausages.
My mother made suet dumplings (Dough Boys) with stewed beef and boiled potatoes.
Her red pickled beef (Americans say corned beef) went with Spring Cabbage.
A well-seasoned haggis with mashed turnip and mashed tatties for Burns' Night.
My mother served us pork ribs, sans the barbecue sauce.
Her Irish grandmother came to Glasgow (pre-1914) and opened a working men's cafe, serving pork ribs in the same way. Pig's cheek + trotters were also on her Irish menu.
Soup in Scotland was lentil soup, chicken soup with barley, flank mutton soup, ham and pea and chicken vegetable: all home-made.
Potted Haugh was delicious: A cold slightly jellied beef for summer.
Cooked ham served with Caw's Lettuce, spring onions, peas, radishes grown in the garden by my father. He said radishes had a subtle peppery flavour.
Finnan Haddie fried in oatmeal left a very fishy smell in the kitchen.
Haddock served in a Bakelite dish with milk, boiled potatoes, tomatoes.
Lamb Casserole, perhaps my favourite Sunday dinner.
My brother used to frequent Schwab's in Los Angeles, the fabled drugstore diner where Lana Turner was discovered.
You can see Schwabs in the movie Sunset Boulevard.
My brother saw Roy Scheider of *Jaws* fame dining alone.
You could have breakfast at Schwab's 24/7. They pulled it down for a carpark.
My favourite meal scene in a film is in *Charlie Bubbles* (YouTube).
Albert Finney and Lisa Minelli arrive at the Manchester Hilton at dawn.
She orders a pot of coffee, orange juice, kippers, bacon, and a jug of iced water.
He is shattered, having driven all night from London.
Jack Haggerty
That's a very long list, Jack. I know many of them but not all. In Australia we call it corned beef but pork is pickled.
DeleteLiza Minelli's breakfast sounds very heavy on the fluids, I hope she's not planning to sleep :)
Radishes are, indeed peppery, like rocket/arugula.
I watched a number of Jordan Peterson Videos. He says things people don't like and his logic is flawless so they end up with egg on their faces when they argue
Too long, Kylie.
DeleteI Googled *Scottish Potted Hough* (haugh is a low-lying meadow by the side of a river) and found a more exact description of a dish I have not eaten in decades.
Corned beef in Australia must be a feast.
In American novels they rave about corned beef from Jewish delis and sandwich bars. *Boys and Girls Together* by William Goldman celebrates corn beef.
In Britain we had corned beef in a tin, a poor meal for a Monday night, but I rather enjoy it with mashed potatoes, turnip, and HP sauce.
People often cut their fingers opening the tin, the key breaks off.
In *Bridge on the River Kwai* Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) presents tinned corned beef to Alec Guinness as if it a sumptuous Sunday roast.
Lisa Minnelli ordered kippers with toast, but not I think bacon.
If you like coffee follow the videos of James Hoffmann on YouTube.
*Four London Coffee Institutions* 2017 is the place to start.
Grilled bacon I eat occasionally: my brother showed my sister how to fry bacon so that it tastes as if it is grilled, very crisp.
In Scotland we eat it with black pudding and potato scones, and my brother would also put apple rings into the frying pan.
Jordan Peterson has G.K. Chesterton's uncommon sense, as long as he never becomes a cult.
He respect the choices of people who identify as trans, but refused to use the state-imposed pronouns.
I was sad to hear of his nervous breakdown and mortal illness, but not surprised, for he is very highly strung.
Jack
I remember those jello salads that came out at parties. I'm like you love the canned pineapple over the real mccoy. I was thinking of that tiny canned shrimp salad with peas and rice and almonds and sesame also served at parties. Haven't seen that in forever.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
I don't know the shrimp salad with peas and rice and almonds but it sounds delicious!
DeleteTinned pineapple sandwiches on white bread. we would save the juice for a drink.
ReplyDeleteAnd a good old fashioned trifle, particularly at Xmas time
You really can't beat a trifle! I haven't had a pineapple sandwich but i do like a cheese and pineapple toastie. Thanks for commenting!
Delete