Sorry if it’s come up already as I haven’t read the whole thread but Blancmange isn’t the same as “Milk Jelly” (as my family call it). Blancmange tastes a bit more like a custard, we buy packets of the Pearce Duff’s Strawberry Blancmange mix in Booths. It’s also available on Ocado for less than £1. You can serve it hot, which is basically just like peptobismol coloured mildly strawberry flavoured custard or let it set and serve cold. They sell the chocolate, vanilla and butterscotch ones too but my favourite flavour was peach as a child in the 90s and I don’t think they do that anymore in a packet.
I miss old fashioned Cafeteria style restaurants like the ones BHS, John Lewis and Debenhams or our local market, or independent coffee shops where you’d have a variety of “old fashioned desserts” in a display fridge or wheeled over on the dessert tray…right up until about 2000. Lemon Meringue Pie, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, little dishes of Jelly and Cream or arctic roll, fresh cream meringues or Bavarian Slices. Roses Lime Cordials and “Milky Coffee” which was much nicer than the lattes of today. Bread and butter was often sold on cling filmed covered plates by the till and always tasted better than at home. Prawn Cocktail and “Open Sandwiches” like Roast Chicken and Stuffing or Cheese Ploughmans with Branston Pickle in a little silver dish on the side.
They’d also do epic style breakfasts…Littlewoods Cafe in our town was 5 items for £2, including fried bread, black pudding, white pudding or dumpling in the Scottish stores.
I know you can still get a lot of these dishes individually but it was the sheer variety, great taste and how readily available everything was. Now it seems like everything takes ages and for less variety.
There are very few cafes in my town that just do the basics anymore like (Fried, Scrambles or Poached) Eggs, Cheese or Beans on Toast, Hotpot, Macaroni etc. It’s all sweet chilli panini, Avo on Sourdough, Ramen bowls etc even in the smallest independents. And I’m an Asian Milennial complaining…goodness knows how the Boomers who like traditional food feel!