Food you don’t often see anymore

[BigJanette]

What dishes did you used to eat, but don’t really see around anymore?

I’ve just remembered a M&S ready meal I ate quite regularly in my student days (this would’ve been in the mid 90s) but haven’t seen since.
Smoked haddock kedgeree.
Anyone else remember it?
I used to make it every so often, but haven’t done in years.
I think it’s time to remedy that and get it back on the menu.

Any easy recipes welcome!

Loved gooseberries blood oranges as well not seen them for years. I wouldn't eat them at first I thought there was real blood in them.

Vesta Chow Mein with Crispy Noodles

I love greengages but they're increasingly difficult to find now. Morrisons stopped doing them a few years ago and even independent greengrocers rarely stock them.

It’s on every pub chains menu, Marstons and Whitbread pubs for certain, and probably many more - you pay about £12 - £14 for the usual gammon, pineapple, egg, chips, peas.
Decent meal if the gammon not too salty.

Blancmange. You can buy it online but I don't know of a supermarket that stocks it.

I make kedgeree with smoked mackerel sometimes, it's far cheaper than haddock and also if you heat the fish in the pan, the oil comes out and you can fry the onions in it.

Farmers' markets?

I make kedgeree with smoked tofu
And yes still occasionally make corned beef hash

Steak and kidney pies have all been replaced by steak pies. I miss the kidneys!

We used to have Bernard Matthews roasts on a Sunday. A cylinder of processed meat, with a circle of more fatty processed meat on the outside, wrapped in plastic. I think you boiled it to cook it, still in the plastic. Ew.

Waitrose and farm shops sell gooseberries when in season
Also quite easy to grow but bushes have wicked thorns

Tripe is definitely something you don't see much.

I have found it on online grocery/butchers but I'm not sure how many people buy it.

I don't like it. My brother loves it (40s so not old and a bit of a food snob so only loves it in restaurants in Italy).

We never had tripe as kids but I do remember going to a old fashioned pub in the mid 90s where tripe and chittlins were cooked and put on the bar on Sundays.

And my Mum cooked a whole beef tounge once in the late 80s. I'm not sure anyone ate it though. And she cooked pigs feet a few times for events but again, not sure they were that popular 😀

I'm late 40s and love liver, pork scratchings and fatty meats which have become more unpopular I think but can still be bought mainstream.

Oh do they

Oh yes! I loved this, very tasty probably due to all the additives.

We have a greengage tree, they are lovely and always put a basket out for passers by to help themselves before the wasps get them.

Amazon do them by the box 😃

Dripping! Used to have it on toast when my granddad bought it. Not seen it in a long time!

I always put kidneys in my steak pies, although it’s a bit harder to find pigs’ kidneys in supermarkets now. I was quite shocked when I was in a huge sainsburys recently - there was hardly any plain meat in the freezers - 95% of the non vegetable items were all ready meals or other processed foods.

Thankyou so much!

Get berry picker. I harvested nearly 10kg in one hour with minimum injuries.
Lifted branch by the tip and slid the picker underneath.
Topping and tailing them took a good while longer (freezing seems to work well on currants)

My heyday was the 1970s, and I remember that long spaghetti. The only alternative to tinned.

Considered to be too 'foreign' by mainly elderly people.

My granny used to serve tinned cooked celery with a white sauce with Sunday dinner! And my mum would have done boiled (whole) onions in white sauce which I loved. Some of my granny's other creations were a tuna savoury custard and a cabbage crumble (not good).

My grandfather used to make a crabapple jelly (like a jam but very gelatinous). I haven't had it in years but still very clearly remember the smell and taste. Would love to have it again.

I sometimes put spam in fried rice (and serve with a fried egg on top) but it's very salty - delicious every once in a while as a treat.

I do Kedgeree as my signature dish.

Back in the early 90's in Iceland store we used to buy these cod and prawn crowns things called bistro bakes, two in a pack & they were so delicious, just a puff pastry crown with cod and prawns in a sauce in the centre , but they they weren't very popular and soon got discontinued sadly .
Can anyone remember caramel cookies ? Just a brown square -ish caramel shortbread biscuit. I think they were made by peak freans, they seemed to vanish along with with kwiksave, but you use to be able to buy them everywhere and they were cheap too. I miss them a lot but nobody else seems to remember them!

You can still buy the Vesta meals. I always remembered the beef curry as being really delicious when I was about six and tracked some down last year. It was probably one of the most revolting things I’ve ever eaten 😆

Supermarkets sell them frozen, Hollands, what my Dad called 'babby's head', served with chips and mushy peas, gravy in a hole poked in the top!