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Retro food

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Re: Retro food

Postby Kacey » Thu Oct 28, 2021 7:20 am

Oh Herbi, so does mine! She stocks up by the box load when they're on offer somewhere.

My ex-OH had a very sweet tooth and always wanted a pudding, when we were first married I used to cut a thick slice of artic roll, smother it in meringue and give him my cheats version of Baked Alaska! We were married in 1979 when I was only 19, that's my excuse!

On retro sweets, I used to love Spangles in the Old English flavours, Mint Cracknel and the Milk Tray Bar - in the years when it had the lime barrel. Who remembers 'I'll risk it for a Swisskit'? My brothers could never understand why I liked Swisskits.

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Re: Retro food

Postby halfateabag » Thu Oct 28, 2021 8:32 am

Lovely thread, it's bringing back all sorts of memories....

Does anyone remember Junket ? Similar to blancmange but it seemed to 'slide apart'

Sardines on toast for Sunday night supper and still tasting them the next morning...

Mum used to make Tuna (tinned) risotto. It was one of my fave. meals.

Dad was partial to welsh rarebit with mustard, I was not fond of the mustard element.... my tastebuds were still undeveloped !!

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Re: Retro food

Postby Busybee » Thu Oct 28, 2021 8:47 am

Kacey wrote:
Mint Cracknel and the Milk Tray Bar - in the years when it had the lime barrel. Who remembers 'I'll risk it for a Swisskit'? My brothers could never understand why I liked Swisskits.


Yes to both the lime barrel and the Swisskit. I know I liked the Swisskit but find I can’t really remember what was in it. I still use the phrase I’d risk it for a Swisskit.

Living in York, and having a neighbour who was quite senior at Rowntrees we were often given prototypes sweets/chocolates to try, some going on to be staples others never to make it to production. This happened even up until the late 90’s - different contact but still given stuff to try.

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Re: Retro food

Postby Kacey » Thu Oct 28, 2021 9:10 am

A Swisskit was a bit like a cereal bar but covered in chocolate. Much nicer than the hard dry cereal bars of today.

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Re: Retro food

Postby Pepper Pig » Thu Oct 28, 2021 9:33 am

My OH would live on ice cream given half a chance. But he doesn’t do lollies.

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Re: Retro food

Postby aero280 » Thu Oct 28, 2021 10:50 am

I worked with a man whose son was a sales rep for Mars. The stock level in some small local shops was determined by Mars. The deal was that any unsold stock that was past its best-before date was taken away by the sales rep. A lot of this ended up in his father’s office and was offered to anyone around at the time!

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Re: Retro food

Postby smitch » Thu Oct 28, 2021 1:38 pm

Like BB I often had Rowntrees and also Terry’s chocolates as a kid thanks to family and friends working in the York factories. I remember Kit Kats minus the biscuits and random trials of stuff. I have a vague memory of going to the factory shop around the time Nestle took over.

Never did like Milky Bar or Caramac, they were always left in the cupboard for ages.

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Re: Retro food

Postby Badger's Mate » Thu Oct 28, 2021 1:44 pm

I used to love Caramac and always had a Milky Bar Easter egg. Haven't really got a sweet tooth nowadays.

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Re: Retro food

Postby Stokey Sue » Thu Oct 28, 2021 1:44 pm

Many years ago I remember a colleague whose partner worked for Rowntree brining in a massive box of then brand new Orange KitKats - perfect except they were labelled in Arabic, and apparently there was something wrong with the labels (translation I think)

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Re: Retro food

Postby Busybee » Thu Oct 28, 2021 2:00 pm

Stokey Sue wrote:Many years ago I remember a colleague whose partner worked for Rowntree brining in a massive box of then brand new Orange KitKats - perfect except they were labelled in Arabic, and apparently there was something wrong with the labels (translation I think)



Lots of Arabic labelled stuff ended up at home via the staff shop. Also different products and recipes used for different markets, I remember some huge praline filled snail shell type things - similar to Guylain, that were absolutely delicious but not destined for the UK market, Arabic again.

The best things are the actual waste, Kit Kat’s with no wafers so just chocolate, after eights all stuck together in one gooey sweet mess. It’s not the same now it’s Nestles.


My friend has access to Mars staff shop and always has a drawer full of Galaxy.

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Re: Retro food

Postby herbidacious » Thu Oct 28, 2021 2:27 pm

Thorntons...they have gone right down hill now. Inedibly sweet. But back in the day... I used to go and buy my mum treacle toffee or occasionally about 5 Continentals from the little shop on Chapel Row in Sheffield. The factory was near our nearest big supermarket.

Drifting off retro food a bit, there...:)

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Re: Retro food

Postby Seatallan » Thu Oct 28, 2021 5:43 pm

My BF still loves Thorntons Treacle Toffee.

As for spam fritters... :yum :yum :yum ... I made some for my dad not long before he went into the nursing home and he loved them. As did me and Mr S. Still adore spam.
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Re: Retro food

Postby Seatallan » Thu Oct 28, 2021 5:44 pm

Mr S has a secret love of Frey Bentos pies and puddings. One of those 'dare not speak its name' loves. I'm similar with tinned ham in jelly.
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Re: Retro food

Postby Kacey » Thu Oct 28, 2021 6:36 pm

I'll own up to loving those TUC cheese sandwich things. It would seem that no matter how crappy and processed it is, if its cheese flavoured I'll eat it!

Bought a couple of bags of these recently https://www.lovepubsnacks.co.uk/ploughm ... -544-p.asp they were the guest snack at one of my locals, not tried them yet though, they seem ever so slightly scary!

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Re: Retro food

Postby Earthmaiden » Thu Oct 28, 2021 7:02 pm

They look alright, Kacey! Like those Dairylea snackable things. A hunk of real bread would be better!

I tried a Fray Bentos pie in more recent years. What little meat there was was quite unpleasant I thought but that lovely crisp then soggy pastry coverd in gravy was still pretty good!

Love the tales of towns with well known factories. A work colleague brought up near Slough had had an endless supply of Horlicks tablets throughout his childhood (remember them?!).

I bought TUC cheese sandwiches as a treat for GD yesterday. She didn't like the middle!!!! My low carb diet is being put to the test ....

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Re: Retro food

Postby liketocook » Thu Oct 28, 2021 8:58 pm

I used live near the Terry's factory in York, the factory shop used to sell big bags of mis-shapes very cheaply. :yum
I'm not so keen on the TUC cheese sandwich biscuits but adore the plain TUC biscuits, Ritz crackers etc.
I'm partial to a slice of Vienetta , but will pass on the artic roll. I used like the wee tubs of mousse that you could but that you could eat as is or freeze.
I remember corner shops with the meat slicers and being sent to buy a 1/4lb of thinly sliced whatever when really quite young to one just down the street from us. They ran a "tick" system so you didn't have to pay at the time and my Mum would settle the account when my Dad got paid. In the area I lived in within there were at least six within a small area. The one nearest to us sold most everything and was a reasonable size but others were not much more than a front room in a house.
Spam fritters make me think of school dinners and Guide camps, with hindsight I'm not quite sure why frying something in batter on a wood fire with bunch of 11-14 year olds seemed like a good idea :shock: but those and buckets (literally)of Instant Whip always seemed to feature!

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Re: Retro food

Postby Earthmaiden » Thu Oct 28, 2021 10:28 pm

Our best Guide camp food was bananas sliced lengthways to make a pouch (so not divided completely into two) with chunks of Cadbury Dairy Milk tucked into the pouch and each banana wrapped in foil and tucked into the embers of the fire. The resulting chocolatey, banana mess was heaven!

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Re: Retro food

Postby aero280 » Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:13 am

All that talk of TUC, etc. reminds me of the Limits slimming biscuits of the 1970's. I tried them once but they didn't work.

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Re: Retro food

Postby Gruney2 » Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:09 pm

Earthmaiden wrote:Our best Guide camp food was bananas sliced lengthways to make a pouch (so not divided completely into two) with chunks of Cadbury Dairy Milk tucked into the pouch and each banana wrapped in foil and tucked into the embers of the fire. The resulting chocolatey, banana mess was heaven!


That's now right at the top of my l will do list!

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Re: Retro food

Postby liketocook » Fri Oct 29, 2021 2:50 pm

Earthmaiden wrote:Our best Guide camp food was bananas sliced lengthways to make a pouch (so not divided completely into two) with chunks of Cadbury Dairy Milk tucked into the pouch and each banana wrapped in foil and tucked into the embers of the fire. The resulting chocolatey, banana mess was heaven!

:yum :yum had forgotten about those, we sometimes used Mars Bars :yum

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