Register

What is the oldest thing in your larder?

For all refugees from the old Beeb Food Boards :-)
Chill out and chat with the foodie community or swap top tips.
NOTE: CHATTERBOX IS IN THIS FORUM

Moderators: karadekoolaid, THE MOD TEAM, Stokey Sue, Gillthepainter

User avatar
Posts: 1205
Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2012 3:19 pm
Location: Essex

What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby Binky » Tue Mar 16, 2021 7:48 pm

We are usually reliable about tossing foods well beyond their use-by date, so I was surprised to find a glass jar of Polish blackcurrants dating back to 2008. They were lurking at the back of the cupboard. I don't think they're even OK for making jam, despite the boiling required.

What's the oldest item you have found in your kitchen cupboard?

Posts: 2211
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:26 pm
Location: North West Leicestershire

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby WWordsworth » Tue Mar 16, 2021 7:59 pm

My bottle of Tabasco is dated either 2003 or 2013, can't really read it.

Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:29 am

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby carrotdill » Tue Mar 16, 2021 8:12 pm

i once found jar of jam or preserves
that was behind set bowls in my mums
house it was from 1979 it was rediscovered
in 2003.

User avatar
Posts: 8629
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:02 pm
Location: Stoke Newington, London

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby Stokey Sue » Tue Mar 16, 2021 8:17 pm

I don't have to look - it's a jar of black cherries in brandy syrup, I bought them I think for Christmas 1998, I certainly brought them here on January 11th 2000 when I moved in

There are a couple of cans of Grace salt cod that they haven't sold in the UK for year, I should open one then probably dump them both

I think if the jar has no leaks and there is no sign of fermentation the Polish blackcurrants with be safe, but probably mushy and not very nice

Posts: 140
Joined: Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:16 pm

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby Linnet » Tue Mar 16, 2021 8:48 pm

I dread to think, moved here in 1982, but will probably find out when I clear ALL the cupboards when I downsize later this year!

User avatar
Posts: 4598
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2020 4:02 pm

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby herbidacious » Tue Mar 16, 2021 8:56 pm

Me too (shudder to think.) I did move house last 11 years ago but I think things that predate that will have been chucked out by now in one of my periodic culls.

When Great Auntie E died in the '80s, there were jars of homemade jam from the '50s in the pantry.

User avatar
Posts: 2581
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 1:40 pm

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby karadekoolaid » Tue Mar 16, 2021 9:25 pm

Oldest thing in my larder?

Me, probably. :gonzo :gonzo

I´ve got a tin of Heinz Spaghetti from 2001. I bought it for my rabidly Italian BIL, who was horrified :lol: I keep it there just as an historical artefact 8-)
Otherwise, I fished out a tetrapak of whipping cream the other day - Use-by-date sept-2015. It was ´orrible!

User avatar
Posts: 5297
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2020 11:58 am
Location: Wiltshire

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby Earthmaiden » Tue Mar 16, 2021 10:07 pm

Some of the things in my spice drawer are probably pretty ancient. The oldest is curry powder which I think was purchased circa 1980. I see that Schwartz was taken over by McCormack in 1984 and there is no mention of them on the label so I am probably right. I just keep it for fun now, there is no smell from the contents at all any more. It shows how often I use curry powder as I haven't got a newer one!
20210316_195124_resized.jpg
20210316_195124_resized.jpg (86.96 KiB) Viewed 3254 times


Everything else has been turned out and mostly used since the first lockdown. DS is a stickler for dates having been responsible for supplies in a fast food store with high standards so I try to keep up in case he looks. I was glad the other day that I could find no date on a box of posh sugar lumps for coffee which come out for rare coffee mornings (very rare now!).

Wondering if the tin of pineapple dated March 2020 would be ok. It used to be the rule that you had to be more careful with acidic things but I think tins are lined and seamless now so it doesn't matter so much.

User avatar
Posts: 797
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:17 pm
Location: East Anglia, UK

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby Suelle » Wed Mar 17, 2021 12:22 am

I'm really disappointed! I had a bottle of Mad Dog Inferno chilli sauce which I had been using (very sparingly) since the late 90s - I just went to check if there was a date on it, and noticed it had dried out, so the bottom cm of sauce in the bottle has reluctantly been thrown away. :lol:

My oldest product now is probably the tin of confit duck legs which I think is dated 2013.
Traditional home baking, and more:
http://mainlybaking.blogspot.co.uk/

User avatar
Posts: 549
Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2013 12:49 am

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby Rainbow » Wed Mar 17, 2021 12:59 am

Earthmaiden wrote:Everything else has been turned out and mostly used since the first lockdown. DS is a stickler for dates having been responsible for supplies in a fast food store with high standards so I try to keep up in case he looks. I was glad the other day that I could find no date on a box of posh sugar lumps for coffee which come out for rare coffee mornings (very rare now!).

Wondering if the tin of pineapple dated March 2020 would be ok. It used to be the rule that you had to be more careful with acidic things but I think tins are lined and seamless now so it doesn't matter so much.

Sugar is one of those things that really doesn't have a use by date!! It lasts indefinitely :D

User avatar
Posts: 5297
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2020 11:58 am
Location: Wiltshire

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby Earthmaiden » Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:17 am

Rainbow wrote:Sugar is one of those things that really doesn't have a use by date!! It lasts indefinitely :D

I know, it just means I haven't got to justify it to anyone!

Posts: 456
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2020 6:59 am

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby Kacey » Wed Mar 17, 2021 8:28 am

Without emptying the cupboard I have no idea, but there is a tin of Jackfruit with a bb date of 2013. My various sauces seem to be relatively young with bb's of 2014 being the oldest that came to light. I must have a better look I'm sure 2013 won't be a personal best!

Posts: 2381
Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2018 10:14 am
Location: cyprus

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby mistakened » Wed Mar 17, 2021 8:42 am

When we moved to Cyprus among other items imported by Mother was a box of candles priced 1/11d

Moira

User avatar
Posts: 1489
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2016 6:07 pm

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby Badger's Mate » Wed Mar 17, 2021 10:50 am

There's a block of belacan in the cupboard that hasn't been opened in living memory. I suspect it came from the previous house but might have come from mine when we consolidated in 1995. It's wrapped up in several layers of plastic.

User avatar
Posts: 2042
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2013 4:35 pm
Location: Penrith

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby Seatallan » Wed Mar 17, 2021 11:41 am

carrotdill wrote:i once found jar of jam or preserves
that was behind set bowls in my mums
house it was from 1979 it was rediscovered
in 2003.


I think our respective mothers must have been related carrotdill! That sounds extremely familiar :lol:

I have some dried herbs going back to 2008 but they're still fine. I store my herbs away from direct light.
Food, felines and fells (in no particular order)

User avatar
Posts: 3919
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2012 6:33 pm

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby scullion » Wed Mar 17, 2021 12:31 pm

Seatallan wrote:I think our respective mothers must have been related carrotdill!

i have the feeling that they definitely weren't...

i think the oldest consumable thing i have, on a shelf, in the kitchen is a bottle of shrub. it was on a shelf in a cupboard at a cottage i shared in aggie in 1981 (how long it had been there i don't know) and moved with us to here. it's still tucked behind other bottles and is possibly un-drinkable although i've never tried it.

User avatar
Posts: 6058
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:19 am
Location: East Anglia

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby Suffs » Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:37 pm

I remember rootling in the cupboard and finding a bottle of anchovy essence which was very old indeed ... possibly well into the teens ... it was still perfectly useable ... in fact, nicely matured. :yum

User avatar
Posts: 1812
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2020 9:21 pm

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby aero280 » Wed Mar 17, 2021 2:27 pm

I just had to go and have a quick look. I found a packet of Knorr chicken noodle soup that we bought in France. It has a best before date of Sept 97. :oops: Being a dry product, it would have an extended shelf life, so probably bought three or four years before that.

A couple of years ago I threw out two cans of Sainsburys own brand lager with a date of Oct 89 on them.

User avatar
Posts: 2042
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2013 4:35 pm
Location: Penrith

Re: What is the oldest thing in your larder?

Postby Seatallan » Wed Mar 17, 2021 4:27 pm

scullion wrote:
Seatallan wrote:I think our respective mothers must have been related carrotdill!

i have the feeling that they definitely weren't...



:lol:
Food, felines and fells (in no particular order)

Return to Food Chat & Chatterbox

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 26 guests