I don't remember a lot about my early childhood - I've probably blocked it out. It was very definitely "working class", although that isn't why I have blocked it out. I do remember how limited food choices were though. I even have a vague memory of when sugar came off ration. (I was born in 1945). Before that there were no sweets & I remember being given cocoa powder mixed with sugar as a dip in a "cornet" of paper. I also remember a big treat was being able to lick out a tin of condensed milk.
My mother was of the meat & 2 veg school of cookery & the veg were not cooked unless simmered for a good 20 minutes. Consequently the idea of "bite" in veg was unknown. We always had potatoes & "proper" gravy - None of your Bisto rubbish. Chicken was a special treat for Sunday lunch, which was always a "roast", & I think we also had it for Christmas. We were used to German food, as she was originally from Germany, having arrived well before 1939 on her way to Australia. So I had Buckling (fish), & sauerkraut (cabbage) & dill pickles (gherkins). We regularly had red cabbage, which at the time was little known as a cooked vegetable. Menus tended to be repeated with little variation, on the same day every week. Always fish on Friday. Everything, needless to say, was cooked from fresh ingredients, because the ideas of "cook chill", "fast food", "take away", (apart from fish & chips), or anything "convenience" simply didn't exist - except for tinned food. We didn't have a fridge or a freezer so food was mostly bought on a daily basis.
My mother was very good at cakes & pastry, so once rationing was over we did have those. Her "pound cake" & "gugelhupf" were gorgeous. She also did fantastic pancakes with apples or plums. She did potato pancakes with jam, which sounds vile, but I loved. German cookery mixes sweet with sour quite often.When I was in Junior school & we went shopping in Birmingham, a special treat was to have a "knickerbocker glory" ice cream in a big department store called Lewis's.
When I was at college in the mid 60's & sharing a house, the fact that I could cook was very handy. The menus were more adventurous than my mother's, but still fairly limited. So we did do spag' bol' but none of the huge range of pasta dishes we are used to today. Campbells condensed soups were useful as the basis of things like tuna (tinned) bake.
Even after I got married, as soon as I left college, meat & 2 veg was probably the staple of my new status as housewife. I did enjoy cooking though & liked trying new recipes from magazines & cookery books. It was all within a very tight budget, & I can remember producing egg & chips on consecutive days when the housekeeping money ran out. I made my own yoghurt in the airing cupboard & bottled fruits & made jams & pickles.
Two things that made my cooking more adventurous were becoming a vegetarian & having 2 salaries when I returned to teaching after my daughter started nursery. By then we also had a wider range of convenience foods, so there were the delights of Vesta Curries, Angel Delight & Instant Whip for example - None of which would pass my lips today!
As a more established, middle class, married couple we also started having dinner parties which required hours of preparation for 3 course meals for up to 8 people. This required at least 2 starters, 2 mains & 2 puddings + cheese & biscuits, coffee, chocolates & liquers. Thank God for "pot luck suppers" now, & far more simple & quick recipes!
I really appreciate the plethora of ingredients & influences that we have available to us now. Cookery books are almost food porn, lavishly illustrated & simple to follow -As are some chefs TV cookery programmes. A huge variety of ingredients are available, year round, from the 4 corners of the world. (What a silly saying, the world doesn't have corners). Therfore it is mystifying to me why so many people don't cook from scratch or even eat together. We have no control over what is in food which is processed in some way. It is more expensive & less healthy than cooking from scratch.
It seems to me that we are paying the price for this laziness in the health time bomb which is ticking away. New generations won't be able to cook or appreciate the difference between mass produced & home cooked food. The joys of family conversation around the meal table have already died the death in favour of meals "on the hoof" or on a tray infront of the TV / video game. All the glossy cookery books must be languishing on many shelves & TV cookery programmes are just entertainment.
Food should be a pleasure to the eye & the taste buds. It should nourish & stimulate. Good conversation & food should go together & encourage sharing of the meal & our lives. What a shame if we lose this simple way of nourishing our soul, bodies & relationships.
My mother was of the meat & 2 veg school of cookery & the veg were not cooked unless simmered for a good 20 minutes. Consequently the idea of "bite" in veg was unknown. We always had potatoes & "proper" gravy - None of your Bisto rubbish. Chicken was a special treat for Sunday lunch, which was always a "roast", & I think we also had it for Christmas. We were used to German food, as she was originally from Germany, having arrived well before 1939 on her way to Australia. So I had Buckling (fish), & sauerkraut (cabbage) & dill pickles (gherkins). We regularly had red cabbage, which at the time was little known as a cooked vegetable. Menus tended to be repeated with little variation, on the same day every week. Always fish on Friday. Everything, needless to say, was cooked from fresh ingredients, because the ideas of "cook chill", "fast food", "take away", (apart from fish & chips), or anything "convenience" simply didn't exist - except for tinned food. We didn't have a fridge or a freezer so food was mostly bought on a daily basis.
My mother was very good at cakes & pastry, so once rationing was over we did have those. Her "pound cake" & "gugelhupf" were gorgeous. She also did fantastic pancakes with apples or plums. She did potato pancakes with jam, which sounds vile, but I loved. German cookery mixes sweet with sour quite often.When I was in Junior school & we went shopping in Birmingham, a special treat was to have a "knickerbocker glory" ice cream in a big department store called Lewis's.
When I was at college in the mid 60's & sharing a house, the fact that I could cook was very handy. The menus were more adventurous than my mother's, but still fairly limited. So we did do spag' bol' but none of the huge range of pasta dishes we are used to today. Campbells condensed soups were useful as the basis of things like tuna (tinned) bake.
Even after I got married, as soon as I left college, meat & 2 veg was probably the staple of my new status as housewife. I did enjoy cooking though & liked trying new recipes from magazines & cookery books. It was all within a very tight budget, & I can remember producing egg & chips on consecutive days when the housekeeping money ran out. I made my own yoghurt in the airing cupboard & bottled fruits & made jams & pickles.
Two things that made my cooking more adventurous were becoming a vegetarian & having 2 salaries when I returned to teaching after my daughter started nursery. By then we also had a wider range of convenience foods, so there were the delights of Vesta Curries, Angel Delight & Instant Whip for example - None of which would pass my lips today!
As a more established, middle class, married couple we also started having dinner parties which required hours of preparation for 3 course meals for up to 8 people. This required at least 2 starters, 2 mains & 2 puddings + cheese & biscuits, coffee, chocolates & liquers. Thank God for "pot luck suppers" now, & far more simple & quick recipes!
I really appreciate the plethora of ingredients & influences that we have available to us now. Cookery books are almost food porn, lavishly illustrated & simple to follow -As are some chefs TV cookery programmes. A huge variety of ingredients are available, year round, from the 4 corners of the world. (What a silly saying, the world doesn't have corners). Therfore it is mystifying to me why so many people don't cook from scratch or even eat together. We have no control over what is in food which is processed in some way. It is more expensive & less healthy than cooking from scratch.
It seems to me that we are paying the price for this laziness in the health time bomb which is ticking away. New generations won't be able to cook or appreciate the difference between mass produced & home cooked food. The joys of family conversation around the meal table have already died the death in favour of meals "on the hoof" or on a tray infront of the TV / video game. All the glossy cookery books must be languishing on many shelves & TV cookery programmes are just entertainment.
Food should be a pleasure to the eye & the taste buds. It should nourish & stimulate. Good conversation & food should go together & encourage sharing of the meal & our lives. What a shame if we lose this simple way of nourishing our soul, bodies & relationships.
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