Favourite School Dinners From Childhood

[TheShellBeach]

I didn't have school dinners until I was eleven and went to secondary school. Prior to that I went home for lunch (lots of children did in those days).

School dinners were a revelation. I loved them. There was nothing I did not like.

My favourite dinner was mince, cabbage and mash. We didn't eat cabbage at home because my dad didn't like it. I also looked forward to school salad because there was coleslaw, which I had never tasted before.

Some of the puddings were wonderful, too. Jam tart and custard. Yummity Yum.

Gipsy Tart was everyone's favourite, though.

Did you live in Kent? I believe Gypsy tart was quite regional and not everyone had it.

YES, I did. I hadn't realised that Gypsy tart was regional.

We had porridge for breakfast in the winter with the top of the milk and a spoon of brown sugar.

I don't remember anything that I particularly liked or disliked (except school liver) but I remember luncheon meat or corned beef fritters and tomato sauce which was a sort of thick tomato soup, served with mashed potato (smooth) portioned with an ice cream scoop.
Otherwise it was generally meat or fish and 2 veg with a milk or sponge pud at lunchtime. I don't remember being served chips, even on a Friday.
My dc ate pasta at school throughout their school years. I never saw it at school at all.
I don't remember anything as interesting as mint or strawberry flavoured custard.

I was brought up in Oz where we did not have dinners just a canteen where we could order things. I loved the ham salads which always featured tinned beetroot, grated carrot, tinned pineapple and mayonnaise. Yum. Plus egg and iceberg lettuce sandwiches. Sometiems curried egg.

I briefly worked as a student teacher in Ukraine and my favourite school dinner was potato salad with diced vegetables and chopped pickled herring for a starter - followed by breaded white fish followed by some sort of pudding (which I never ate). I LOVED those.

I loved those too.
puddings work better with stodge than mains do.

You got me all excited. I've just looked on Morrison's and they don't have it here in Scotland.

Powdered tomatoey vegetable soup in a shallow bowl. A white bread roll with margarine and a slice of ham. Also a shortbread round biscuit, used to love this.

Private school meals sound similar to what's been mentioned.

I can still smell the beef stew, which was my favourite, and treacle pudding and custard. Ice cream cones as a summer treat. A sort of weak , milky coffee in cold weather with condensed milk. It would make me ill to drink now but I liked it then.

I used to love school dinners. I started primary school in the early 70s. We had goulash and rice. I'd never had rice before and thought it was wildly exotic.

Loved the shepherds pie, cheese flan, spam fritters and roast dinner. Loved that they used to bring around trays of bread and butter. And it was brown bread! With butter (which we never had at home) Again wildly exotic.

Puddings were lovely... jelly and blancmange, rice pudding and jam sauce, semolina and prunes, sponge cake with icing and sprinkles, chocolate brownies with mint custard... ooh, I could go on!

My mum was (and is a TERRIBLE cook) so school dinners were just amazing to me. I loved food as a child... loved trying anything they put in front of me. I could never understand why anyone would bring sandwiches.

The only thing I didn't like was bread and butter pudding. I wasn't used to butter, I liked it on the bread but hated melted butter. Still can't cope with melted butter... it makes me gag. And it has NO place on sandwiches!

Just remembered that school was the first time I'd ever had roast potatoes! I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!

We used to have beef stew with cheese crumble on top. Was delicious. Favourite pudding was choc chip sponge with custard

My primary school did a really excellent minced beef cobbler, but gypsy tart turned me to packed lunches as back then you had to eat everything and I hated it so much 🤮

I remember we sang (to the tune of Frere Jacques:
school dinners, school dinners
cardboard chips, cardboard chips
soggy semolina, soggy semolina
I feel sick, to the toilet quick

I don’t remember much of the mains, just that shepherds pie was a good day and liver was a bad day. I was partial to tinned baby carrots and the smell of boiled potatoes transports me back in time.

All the afters were amazing, strawberry blancmange, caramel tart and the aforementioned chocolate sponge with mint custard. Yum.

Square pizza and chips
I can taste it now 😘

My favourite was pasta bolognese and cornflake tart for pudding 😍

This was very early 90s

School dinners, school dinners
Mushy peas, mushy peas
Soggy semolina, soggy semolina
I feel sick get a bucket quick
You're too late I've done it on the plate!

Visceral.

Toothpaste cake!
(As far as I can remember a pastry base with piped marshmallow)

Cum buns (iced buns)

Cum buns? 😳🤣

Chip buttys with bbq sauce! Think they cost £1!!!
Their baguettes were amazing too. Loads of fillings to choose from and really soft fresh bread, but made my jaw ache as the crust was so chewy!

I liked mutton pie 🤢

Also jam Roly poly
Choc concrete

No favourites, but force fed butter beans and cabbage at nursery. I didn't like the above and would have my mouth held open and made to eat, resulting in vomit 🤮.

At my secondary school, all the meals were freshly cooked on the premises by a large team of friendly chatty women. The roast dinners were wonderful, roast pork was my favourite. Liver and bacon with thick onion gravy, chicken curry complete with sultanas, cottage pie, lamb stew, braised chops with gravy & mash, were all delicious.
Puddings were a delight, chocolate sponge, syrup sponge, Manchester tart, jam tart, and that Queen of all puddings, Gypsy Tart.

The highlight of the year was the Christmas Lunch, roast turkey, roast potatoes, and an abundance of sprouts. Different classes would sing a carol or two, the teaching staff would put on turns. You could be sure that any pregnant teacher would find a stork charm in her Christmas pudding, to general cheers, applause and laughter.
A very jolly time was had by one and all!

OppositeNumber ·

I remember we sang (to the tune of Frere Jacques:

There seem to be a few variations, ours was "concrete chips" and similarly to louderthan, "I feel sick, toilet quick It's too late, I've done it on the plate."

I only remember the horrible goulash with sultanas in. And the dinner ladies sending children to the headteacher for refusing to eat it.

I mostly went home for lunch or took a packed lunch at secondary. Occasionally had school dinners when something exceptional happened, like when my mum had an operation and was in hospital.

I have often wondered if chocolate crunch and chocolate custard was a figment of my imagination. It’s a recipe I have been searching for for over 30 years