EATING IN THE FIFTIES

  • Pasta had not been invented.

  • Curry was a surname.

  • A takeaway was a mathematical problem.

  • A pizza was something to do with a leaning tower.

  • Bananas and oranges only appeared at Christmas time.

  • All crisps were plain; the only choice we had was whether to put the salt on or not.

  • Rice was a milk pudding, and never, ever part of our dinner.

  • A Big Mac was what we wore when it was raining.

  • Brown bread was something only poor people ate.

  • Oil was for lubricating, fat was for cooking.

  • Tea was made in a teapot using tea leaves and never green.

  • Coffee was Camp and came in a bottle.

  • Cubed sugar was regarded as posh.

  • Only Heinz made beans.

  • Fish didn’t have fingers in those days.

  • Eating raw fish was called poverty, not sushi.

  • None of us had ever heard of yoghurt.

  • Healthy food consisted of anything edible.

  • People who didn’t peel potatoes were regarded as lazy.

  • Indian restaurants were only found in India.

  • Cooking outside was called camping.

  • Seaweed was not a recognised food.

  • ‘Kebab’ was not even a word never mind a food.

  • Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days, and was regarded as being white gold.

  • Prunes were medicinal.

  • Surprisingly, muesli was readily available, it was called cattle feed.

  • Pineapples came in chunks in a tin; we had only ever seen a picture of a real one.

  • Water came out of the tap; if someone had suggested bottling it and charging more than petrol for it they would have become a laughing stock.

  • The one thing that we never ever had on our table in the fifties…. was elbows!