Childhood dinners that made your heart sink?

[Harveypuss]

A lighthearted post!

Do you remember any childhood meals, that when you asked your mum (or dad) "what's for dinner?", their answer made your heart sink?!

Mine was Lamb's hearts. My Mum cooked these often, presumably it was a culinary delight and was probably cheap, but I hated them (this was back in the late 70s so you ate what was given or went hungry). I don't know what she did with them, but they were as tough as old boots and really chewy. I'm sure offal like that is probably quite delicious in some top-end restaurant but dear Mum didn't cook it like that! I'm in my 50s now and I've only just told her I hated that meal. She was mortified!

We have this with our son now, aged 17. He hates pasta and when we have a family pasta meal, I cook him something different. He's off to Uni next year, so don't know how he's going to manage as I'm told all students live of pasta as it's really cheap...!

What was your least favourite childhood meal...?

New potatoes. They always seemed waxy.

Not sure what the difference was, but considering he was in one of Stalin's gulags and food was at a premium at all times, there must have been a reason.

Not sure what the difference was, but considering he was in one of Stalin's gulags and food was at a premium at all times, there must have been a reason.

@zukiecat

That reminds me of a descriptive paragraph from One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

He eats slowly and

He eats slowly and carefully, even when he is very hungry or when the food is not very good, and he eats the eyes of the fish in his soup, but only when they are still in place, not when they are loosely floating around in the soup.

Tripe and onions. A northern specialty in my childhood My mother and sister loved it. Mother was a very good cook.

I hated the smell, the texture, the taste of tripe. Completely unable to stand it in my mouth.

Decades later long after mother was dead, I felt ghostlily obliged to offer tripe to my children. I could hear her voice in my head praising tripe. So nutritious, so tasty, easily digested and cheap.

So I cooked i tripe and onions in milk for my dear children exactly the way Mother used to, and guess what, it was still just as repugnant as I remembered; the smell, the texture, the taste. Bleugh.

Tripe and onions. A northern specialty in my childhood My mother and sister loved it. Mother was a very good cook.

I hated the smell, the texture, the taste of tripe. Completely unable to stand it in my mouth.

Decades later long after mother was dead, I felt ghostlily obliged to offer tripe to my children. I could hear her voice in my head praising tripe. So nutritious, so tasty, easily digested and cheap.

So I cooked i tripe and onions in milk for my dear children exactly the way Mother used to, and guess what, it was still just as repugnant as I remembered; the smell, the texture, the taste. Bleugh.

Tripe and onions. A northern specialty in my childhood My mother and sister loved it. Mother was a very good cook.

I hated the smell, the texture, the taste of tripe. Completely unable to stand it in my mouth.

Decades later long after mother was dead, I felt ghostlily obliged to offer tripe to my children. I could hear her voice in my head praising tripe. So nutritious, seasily digested and cheap.

So I cooked i tripe and onions in milk for my dear children exactly the way she did and it was still just as repugnant as I remembered; the smell, the texture, the taste. Bleugh.

Tripe and onions. A northern specialty in my childhood My mother and sister loved it. Mother was a very good cook.

I hated the smell, the texture, the taste of tripe. Completely unable to stand it in my mouth.

Decades later long after mother was dead, I felt ghostlily obliged to offer tripe to my children. I could hear her voice in my head praising tripe. So nutritious, easily digested and cheap.

So I cooked it for my dear children exactly the way she did and it was still just as repugnant as I remembered; the smell, the texture, the taste. Bleugh.

@Harveypuss

Mum cooked these once for us. Even the cat turned her nose up!

Rice pudding. Even a lump of jam on top didn't take away the horrible taste or texture

Rice pudding. Even a lump of jam on top didn't take away the horrible taste or texture

I never particularly liked meat. We always had the cheap stuff. The liver with the tubing in it, the cheap fatty meat. I hated stew so mum used to make it with minced beef!

Mine was pork chops, we had it every single week and i used to die a little inside every time!

From another perspective in 10-15 years times i can imagine my DC answering this question with DC1 stating that chicken roast dinner and curry were the meals from hell and DC2 saying anything i put on the plate!

I'm not a bad cook honest they are just both soo soo fussy haha.

@Weedsnseeds1

My mother's signature "stew". We actually bought good quality meat, directly from the abattoir and butchered and frozen at home ( this was a thing in the 80s). "Stew" was diced beef, still frozen, dropped into a pan of boiling water, with maybe an onion or carrot added. If you were really unlucky, it would have something like runner beans or beetroot thrown in. Seasoning of any kind, other than maybe a squirt of ketchup directly into the rapidly boiling pan of horror, was strictly verboten. The entire, repulsive, rubbery mess was "enriched" and thickened with instant potato flakes before serving, to a semi-dollapable consistency. Most of her cooking was (and still is) vomit inducing, but that particular delight was the absolute nadir.

Christ, that sounds hideous 😂

Boiled cabbage at school 🤮

Watery marrow stuffed with slimy, gristly, grey mince.
Pigs trotters.
Broad beans were our staple veg.
At school one of our puddings was jelly that could have been used as a bouncing ball, with a very small dollop of horrible artificial cream.
My grandmother used to completely ruin my grandad's delicious homegrown peas, which I would eat by the fistful straight from the pod, by putting sugar in with them when she cooked them!

Shepherd's pie. Watery mince and slimy onions topped with lumpy mash. My Mum is a good cook but she just could not (probably still can't!) make a nice shepherd's pie.

mince and potatoes.
I gagged every time. bleh.

My mum cooked beef and lamb long enough for it to taste like boot leather. Her mum, my gran, used to serve a fabulous roast, I don't know why Mum never picked up any tips.

Again, Liver, kidneys, any offal. My husband loves it. I tried it again as an adult, still gross.

Belly pork

Blancmange

Turkey burgers with the cheese inside from Bernard Matthews

My dad's oven chips.

Didn't believe in preheating the oven, so they went in frozen on high until they were burned at the ends and still cold in the middle.

Yum.

Thought of more:

Marrowfat peas in a tin
Potatoes in a tin
Pease pudding
Shepherds pie using the frozen mince. Watery and yuck.
Mum's cheese pie. It's like a Greek cheese pie but with heavier pastry, cheddar cheese, no herbs or discerning spices, no greens...in fact a cheese pasty. Mum served it once to my daughter, husband and I and it smelled like week-old socks and tasted of them too. No salad or veg on the side either. We got on the phone to the chippy soon afterwards.

Liver. Disgusting.

Dried up chicken leg, jacket potato, peas. No sauce or gravy or anything. Totally tasteless and plain.

@Weedsnseeds1

Popcornbetty simple prose cannot describe the reality of her cooking. Evenwhen following a recipe, her substitutions are hair raising. "I made lamb tagine, I couldn't get preserved lemons or dried apricots, so I used bananas and canned peaches instead, it was delicious and X (taste bud dead bloke she has hooked up with after my father died) loved it".

I'm sorry @Weedsnseeds1 but I laughed so much at this

Kidneys
Stew (just a plate of water with fatty meat and veg floating in it)
Roast dinners (veg boiled to mush)
Anything with veg to be fair ....

Another one here with the liver and neck of lamb stew dislike .

I remember some days I'd get back from school to the smell of onions frying and I'd think 'mmm burgers' but 9 times out of ten it was liver and onion .

The neck of lamb stew we had nearly every Saturday lunch time. It was my dad's favourite meal and mum would have it cooking on the stove while she did the housework .

Actually I disliked lamb done any ways really and haven't eaten since leaving home .

At school I hated the lumpy custard with the skin on it. There would be some children would particularly ask for the skin but the thought of it made me feel sick, still does .

Also the beetroot which made everything on your plate purple .

Some other meals mentioned , fish in parsley sauce , cauliflower cheese, macaroni cheese are my favourite meals .