What do you call this type of meal?

[tectonicplates]

I had never heard the term "picky tea" before joining MN.

I'm talking about the kind of meal where you have some slices of bread, a selection of vegetables and dips, cheese, and often some leftovers and things so it turns out a bit random. You put all the food in the middle of the table and everyone helps themselves.

What do you call this meal in your family?

Nibbly bits or picky bits

Oh and the only thing I use salad cream for is a boiled egg and new potato salad - definitely a throwback to my childhood as we used to have it at our grandparents.

DP still has salad cream on pretty much every salad though.

Bottled mayo has been around since I was a child

Ooh, you young thing!

I had my first prawn and mayo M&S sandwich in 1983 (v early teens) and there was no bottled mayonnaise.
But maybe that was just in Wales?

tectonicplates a little plate tea is one of my most treasured memories of my grandparents.

I don't normally like salad cream but it's nice in home-made coleslaw.

Whem we were wee we'd call it an unplanned dinner. Mum would normally have spent the day lazing about the house with us then jumped up 20minutes before Dad was due home and laid out what ever was in the fridge.

It didn't happen very often normally she would spend the day cooking for us from scratch.

@LaMarschallin

I was born in 1980 and grew up in a rural part of Lancashire. The nearest M&S was in Lancaster about 40 mins drive away. I suppose my memories are from the mid 80s onwards - bottled mayo was definitely around, although salad cream was still very popular!

TazSyd

Oh and the only thing I use salad cream for is a boiled egg and new potato salad

My favourite sandwich spread used to be hard-boiled egg yolks mashed up with salad cream.

And the only pregnancy food craving I got was with elder DD - I ate loads of ham, tomatoes and salad cream.
One of my friends guessed I was pregnant (it was earlier days than I wanted to make it public) because we had a salad with lunch and I called the waiter back and said "Could I have salad cream instead of mayonnaise, please?". Apparently I couldn't .

I had avocado prawn salad cream pepper yesterday and really enjoyed it

Salad cream is a bit sharp so goes well with creamy avocado

Having said that I probably think it goes as my mum has salad cream a lot so my taste buds were brought up with it!

It's a bit 70s isn't it

We call it a 'piggy dip'

Mayo is gloopy I found it disgusting till I was about 35!

Annoys me that most bought sandwiches now seem to be full of mayo

Picky tea in our house would be bits and pieces like a buffet

@BeetrootRocks

Yes I agree. I don’t remember M&S sandwiches having as much mayo in back in the 80s and 90s as they do now. I suppose they have changed their recipes as our tastes have changed.

I like a small amount of mayo in some sandwiches (turkey or chicken salad) but I usually make them at home. That said I do like the M&S Christmas prawn sandwich with Marie Rose sauce and iceberg lettuce.

@LaMarschallin 😁 at pregnancy cravings. Mine was Heinz sandwich spread with salad (lettuce, not posh mixed leaves, cucumber and tomato) sandwich.

Nrtft so probably already been said, but I define it as food you can eat without cultlery!

Cutlery! 😂

Bits n pieces

Picky tea, the best type of meal ever!

My DM calls a meal made from fridge leftovers a “Pirate’s Supper”

No idea why though!

TazSyd

LaMarschallin 😁 at pregnancy cravings. Mine was Heinz sandwich spread with salad (lettuce, not posh mixed leaves, cucumber and tomato) sandwich.

Bloody hell!

If I'd thought about Heinz sandwich spread during those four months, it would have made sense for me to buy shares in it.

Only realising now you've said how that would have fed my craving.

I'd have shut myself into the attic with a dessert spoon and 20,000 bottles of sandwich spread.

Heinz SS. to be exact.

I can't read the thread in its entirety. I loathe picky bits or picky tea as descriptions. It conjures scabs and genitals (BIL always says "quick wash of pits and bits" to his dc). Eugh.

We mostly had homemade salad cream and mayonnaise. I'm sure mayonnaise was available in the seventies in tiny jars though but it wasn't 'real' mayonnaise - not quite sure what it was instead. What is 'unreal' mayonnaise?

MyShinyWhiteTeeth, Mmm, we didn't have such luxuries as salad cream and mayo, or probably even ketchup come to that, so I cannot clearly recall what you mentioned. I think I know what you mean though.

Nibbly bits here too.

Being from the American Deep South where mayonnaise has been the favorite condiment for decades, when I arrived in the UK many years ago for university, the lack of mayo was one of my biggest adjustments. I did, however, develop a liking for Heinz salad cream.

The lack of mayo was made up for by the presence of back bacon, which to this day, is hard to find in the US. My first taste of a bacon butty is still a fine memory. Food of the gods.

It's called a "fridge tapas" in our house. We also have "freezer tapas" when I need to finish up all the nearly empty bags of random stuff in the freezer. Kids love it for some strange reason.