Food memories

Been indulging in a bit of tasty nostalgia this morning… There’s a new programme coming out on TV next week called “Back In Time for Dinner” in which a family from London have their house transformed back in time – to the Fifties, then the Sixties, Seventies, Eighties and Nineties. Not only are they required to live according to those times, but to shop, cook and eat appropriately. That means going back to the days of the kitchen with no fridge – and eating the National Loaf (do you remember?), bread and dripping for breakfast and cow-heel pie for dinner. And what about the Sixties, with the advent of Kellogg’s cereals, the tv dinner and Vesta beef curries and chow mein? The Seventies, a decade so well known for its total lack of style, heralded the age of the Pot Noodle, The Pop Tart and fondue parties.

Did you realise that the average British family got their TV before their fridge? Most of us had elementary tellies by 1958 but didn’t get our fridges till the mid Sixties. And what exactly was the appeal of the eye-level grill? I guess it was just so you could watch your bacon sizzle without breaking your back. And whatever happened to potato Smash and Angle Delight? Are they still around? And more to the point, should they ever come back? I never thought I’d ever see a Sodastream again in my life, yet they’re now selling like hot cakes. And I even hear rumours that the hostess trolley and the Teasmade are making a return… I just wonder what exactly will be the nostalgic food of our decade?