Why was a glass of orange juice a starter?

[NutellaEllaElla]

I learned this recently. Is it true? What don't I know that might help me understand this?

Yes. Those were the choices.

Or half a grapefruit with a glacé cherry in the middle!

I was in posh resort in the Caribbean over the summer. Devilled eggs on the buffet every morning...holiday treat for me!

Or if you were really posh, half a grapefruit with half a glacé cherry placed in the centre

I suppose it was because orange juice was expensive and therefore a treat.

I remember going on a school exchange trip to Germany in the 80s. My host family drank orange juice rather than squash (which we - and everybody I knew - drank at home).

It seemed rather exotic and I thought that they must be loaded.

Black forest gateau or a banana split!

Yes I remember having orange or tomato juice as a starter in the late 60s and 70s. My mum used to think she was very posh and used to buy little round cartons of frozen Florida orange juice concentrate and we were allowed to have a very small glass for breakfast every day. I don't remember ever seeing fresh orange juice on sale in the shops in those days.

I believe the idea was that something tart would get your gastric juices flowing.
No one in the 60s or 70s would have a starter of a pile of barbecued chicken wings or loaded potato skins followed by a main meal then a pudding.

Hardly anyone was overweight.

Eating out was much more occasional than now and ordinary people didn’t have starters at home. The whole idea of a starter was unusual to us.

Well, this is Mumsnet so ... a glass of orange juice is incredibly filling but we have lost sight of normal portion sizes because everyone in 2024 is a greedy-guts fatty blah blah blah ...

But actually, fresh orange juice was much more of a treat 40-50 years ago because it wasn't something the average Joe would have at home.

If its the place I'm thinking of, definitely a bit behind the times 😅

My mum and mother in law did all the catering for our wedding in 1980 and the centrepiece was a huge cheese and silver skin onions/ cheese and pineapple hedgehog, covered in silver foil. It was surrounded by prawn cocktail vol-au-vents 😆😆. But they did us proud and every last bit of food was eaten.

It is a bit like bread as a starter and gives you a massive sugar spike so you get hungrier and buy more food.

Yes, Rise and Shine!! God only knows what was in that.

As I was reading the thread that's what sprung to mind!

Just honest to goodness powdered chemicals... 😋

It wouldn't have been freshly squeezed in most places. It would've been out of a carton or bottle.

My beloved grandmother served a melon boat with a sprinkling of Demerara sugar as a first course. Or her legendary soup. There were always napkins in the table and tiny Denby butter dishes that I inherited and use regularly. Bread in a basket. I might start doing the melon boat first course and see what the children think. I should maybe get a nice basket for the bread instead of using a plate.
I'm not sure what veggie options were available in the 70s but cheese and pineapple on sticks and primula on ritz crackers are a staple in our house. Well they were until ritz changed the recipe. Edna at uni put a pickled onion on her primula on ritz. A Scottish thing apparently.
Was never a fan of Black Forest.

We rarely had orange juice growing up. Had oranges, but never juice.

Occasionally we had juice that was really sharp and came in a glass bottle with dimples on it (Libby's??) but not very often.

So if you were in a hotel or restaurant orange juice as a starter was a special treat, and perfect if having a bigger starter would leave you too full for your main.

And the black Forest gateux came on a trolley with the other desserts...happy days having Sunday lunch out with grandparents. And yes to juice, grapefruit, melon slice or soup as starter. And for real luxury Parma ham wrapped around the melon. Also remember prawns in half an avocado in a Marie rose sauce.

The black forest gateau was usually part of a dessert trolley. My mother always asked for a little bit of everything.

Should have read to the end before posting about the trolley😀

I dont remember the melon having real parma ham on it until much later.

Your 70s and 80s melon didnt have a blanket if I recall.

I miss corn on the cob as a starter

I worked as a waitress in the late 70s/early 80s.

The starters we served were soup, pâté and toast, egg mayonnaise, prawn cocktail and fruit juice (small Britvic bottles of orange, pineapple, grapefruit or tomato juice).

I don't remember that we ever bought fruit juice at home when I was a child, but occasionally, when they were in season, my mother used to buy oranges and grapefruit and squeeze them.

It was a different world. Here's a bit of dialogue from Fawlty Towers, the episode called Waldorf Salad.

Mr Hamilton: “What the hell is that?”
Basil: “Vodka and orange juice.”
Mr Hamilton: “Orange juice?”
Mrs Hamilton: “I'm afraid it's not fresh.”
Basil: “Isn't it?”
Mr Hamilton: “No.”
Basil: “We've just opened the bottle.”
Mr Hamilton: “Fresh means it comes out of an orange, not a bottle.”
Basil: “You'd like freshly squeezed orange juice.”
Mr Hamilton: “As opposed to freshly unscrewed orange juice.”
Basil: “Leave it to me. I'll get chef onto it straightaway.”
Sybil: “Sorry about that. A lot of English people are used to the flavour of the bottle.”
Mrs Hamilton: “It's all right. It's just that back home, fresh orange juice comes like running water.”