Old seventies menu,when melons were gondolas

[ChrissyShenkle]

This was posted on my local Facebook from a hotel that's now closed
Hard to believe that fruit juice was a starter, and what the hell are eggs indienne?

My Mum had this and I remember pouring through it as a kid looking at the pictures.
Wish she’d kept hold of it but I remember it being fairly battered and stained as the years went by.

Who else remembers chicken being a relatively expensive ‘luxury’?

Of course I’m talking of the days before battery chicken farming.
You’d get a more expensive young bird for roasting - the older ones were ‘boiling fowls’.

Absolutely, chicken was a treat in my childhood. My grandma would boil the fowl for stock, then finish it in the oven as a roast. I cannot remember what it tasted like, but she was a decent cook for her day.
Beef was everyday in my childhood. My mum could do something with pretty much every cut, although she did draw a line at tripe, thankfully .

The house smelt lovely aromas of roast chicken, bloody tasteless now.

I remember one Christmas in the 70's our hamper contained a whole cooked chicken in a TIN.

My mum could do something with pretty much every cut, although she did draw a line at tripe, thankfully .

I wish mine had - we were always made to try everything, unfortunately tripe was one of those things and I still can taste and smell it now! 🤮 as well as winkles, kidneys, tongue and without fail the obligatory liver and onions too.

In at least one novel* by Barbara Pym (set either shortly before or not long after WW2) she writes of boiled chicken ‘smothered in white sauce’ being served as something special for a vicar or curate.

*Either Crampton Hodnet (very funny) or Some Tame Gazelle, also a lovely read.

LUXURY!!

It looked like a little alien, and none of us kids would touch it! Think my dad made it into sandwiches.

@BasiliskStare Oh my god - I've got that! Gosh. Maybe I can sell it for £200!

In the 70s does anyone remember having a chest freezer and getting half a side of beef ( pretty much half a cow ) , some chopping by butcher , but mother and granny chopping it up further to go in the freezer . Freezer was in the garage which I do not have but it was A Thing then I think. They then shared the proceeds.

I have a few favourites I still make from that M&S Cookery Book. It is very battered.

Milk jelly in our house.

Someone asked about the mince. I'd be willing to bet that was just braised mince and onions, not something like steak tartare.

It really was hard being a vegetarian in the 80’s even. I got offered an omelette or nothing. There was just no catering for veggies at all.

I have this too!

Yes, that was us. Side of beef; whole pig; whole lamb; all bought when at their best market price .
I remember bagging it up with my mum; the butcher lent us his tape machine.
That and those frozen ‘mousse’ deserts and some artic rolls from Farmfoods kept us for the year 😂

I remember that. It had tinned mandarins in my version though.

Having a little trip down memory lane here!

My Mum had this Marguerite Patten cookery book, which I absolutely loved. I don't think she has it now, sadly. The pages were divided into three sections and it was spiral bound, so you could flick through the top thirds looking for a starter, the middle thirds for a main course and the bottom thirds for a pudding/dessert, so (literally) making a menu. Genius!

I also have this book, it was my mother's. I remember MIL having a copy too.

Pilaf anyone? I still have the mould. I used it for jelly when the children were small!

I might make this again!

I must have been very posh - Chauteu Briande anyone ? Served only for two . Black Forest Gateux for dessert

@ASighMadeOfStone @Eyesopenwideawake also used to go shopping in Nottingham as a child once every couple of months and go to the Savoy (I’m from around the Newstead Abbey end of Notts) as a special treat. We used to go for birthdays as well and eat in the restaurant. It felt very grand as a child.
Do you remember a restaurant that was similar in the city centre, I think it was near the square, possibly called The White Knight? Had my first trout covered in toasted almonds there.

Chateaubriand and black forest gâteau. Classics.

In the St Michael Make More of Vegetables book, there is a recipe for vegetable suet pudding with Leek, Carrot and parsnips. I can't remember veggie suet being available in the 70s!

My mum was quite adventurous and would make delicious home made chicken kievs for dinner parties. They were scrumptious and very unusual. To make 8 required 4 chickens. You couldn't buy just breasts then. Not in the sticks any way.