Another pointless thread

^^ I'll add one to this.. I've taken them on hikes before....

Bret

I used to like the Vesta Paella..... sad really!!

They were great for scout camping trips, just add hot water and apply to scout!

I agree with Tony on the nutritional value - cook it then eat the box, But I suggest they were not totally without merit.

Going back to the sixties they were probably the first introduction for a lot of people. Possibly a clue that there was more out there than just fish and chips.

Actually fair comment Oggy - I remember in the late 50s my grand dad who was a chemist/pharmacist used to sell "curry powder" - certainly not available at the local grocers store.Before Elizabeth David I doubt many people had heard of Courgettes or Aubergines or Capsicums ( peppers ) , and garlic was foreign muck along with smelly cheese and wine !
Foreigners had long loaves called French sticks and the only Chinese restaurants were in places like Duke Street in Liverpool - and they were frequented only by the Chinese or "well off" people like my dad and us.The Italians arrived in Liverpool in the 60s with some disgraceful excuses for their National cuisine - most of them knew nothing of food or hospitality but were prepared to start off businesses for the "hungry" Brits.Only the advent of Package Tours and Spanish holidays broadened our outlook and - in some cases - matured our palates.
Interesting that now our national dishes seem to be curries or kebabs and the good old fish & chips are sold in the main by Chinese,Greek and other Europeans..........................

Tony

HOORAY - things are on the up

Sadly no men to do the new boiler [ saw then at someone who's disabled - so that's fair enough - he takes priority.

BUT most of the snow from the garden has gone - I could get into the caravan and bring out the other fan heater and 2 fleece blankets

I got Freda out , and bless her little cotton socks after one press of the button she was away so we went and bought a few more things to stock up the cupboards [ including more salt ] .

10 mins after I had got her back into the garden ans was waiting for the garage door to go up - what went past but a gritter and it was working Doesn't look good for temps tonight

Interesting post Tony I can't understand how Yorkshire
people like chips that are cooked in dripping!
Harry Ramsden's stinks of it!

Harry Ramsdens is not a yorkshire company, at least not now.

They used to do the best fish and chips in the world (slightly biased view there!) but an American company bought them, ruined the product and then abandoned them to their fate.

Now the best food in Yorkshire seems to be the curries served hot and spicy, a million mles away from the bland cardboard Vestas of the '60s.

I retired Friday, so no work tomorrow or the next days...... weeks ..... years

Trouble is I have/had man flu headache for 3 days, and the daughter in law was hit by a car yesterday, a great way to start my retirement.

Daughter in law is OK, and I do not have a headache today, things are on the up

I remember distinctly while I was at Uni going for a fish teacake and chips deliberately to the "store" (more like a shed) which used lard / dripping. It really did taste good.....then down to the pub for some correctly-kept John Smiths ... nom nom!

Bret

OOOOH Colin - that was a bad start

Glad things are on the up now

One thing Raymond and I did enjoy - watching all the workers rushing off to work in the morning and we sat back with another cup of coffee and the papers - and watching the squizzies playing up and down the trees

Don't you find you miss the holidays though.

Congratulations on your retirement Colin. Sorry it got off to a bad start - things can only get better now.
Enjoy yourself, and get lots of photos.

My other half was due to be out of a contract on December 31st - all contractors out, but they have extended his contract by three months to get the current projects finished.
I was looking forward to seeing a bit(a lot!) more of him, but instead he will be spending the next three months travelling practically every week.
He isn't out of work if he doesn't have a contract - he still gets paid for sitting at home, but a contract is obviously better for him. Not that his company will sack him if he doesn't get a new contract. It is cheaper to have him sit at home on full pay until he retires than it is to pay his redundancy under Dutch law.

I'm surprised curry took that long to catch on, given the long colonial history in India. That's definitely why we have much more variety in food now than the rest of Europe does - large numbers of immigrants from former colonies.

British food isn't the problem, it's shoddy ingredients and poor preparation. Too many alleged cooks who thought that boiling the living daylights out of it was an acceptable method of cookery and turned everything into bland mush.

Ah Matt

I know what you mean there. I'd been brought up as a war baby, by my mother teaching me how to cook simple good food - mince was browned quickly and then some good stock added to it and the heat turned down till it was just bubbling occasionally and it was left to cook for about 2-3 hours with a careful eye kept on it - the flavour when we ate it was wonderful and she insisted I learned to cook it the same way. It wasn't grey and in lumps due to fast boiling . I was horrified when I was in someone's house and she said she had to put the mince on for the evening meal - it was 6pm so mince was dropped in the saucepan , cold water added [ no stock cube or even decent stock ] and heat up high till it boiled and then left like that for 30 mins . She occasionally stirred it - it looked awful to my eyes