Five foods out of fashion

[thom]

[A sideline when he's not touring with Primal Scream I assume. Not many olive groves in Manchester though are there?

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Au Contraire! Manchester, with it's sunny climes, is perfect for a spot of olive-growing.

The architect for Manchester's Beetham Tower (the tallest residential tower in the UK no less) is so besotted with his creation he has taken two of the uppermost floors for himself, and in it he has created an olive grove of mature trees shipped in direct from Southern Italy.

He hopes they will fruit and intends to produce his own olive oil. As well as wearing rimless glasses and black clothes and driving a Saab of course.

If I could work out how to post an image I'd post a pic of the grove itself.

Cheers

Thom

[Mandarin]

Liquorice Braised Tripe with Larded Jellied Eels and Sauce Salad Cream - there you go, right back at the top of the list of any self respecting gourmet's list of 100 things to eat before you die.

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Actually I think that's on the menu at Juniper!

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Nice one.

[Corinna Dunne]

Is iceberg lettuce still doing the rounds in the UK? It still makes quite a few very unfashionable appearances over here in Ireland.

And there have been a few dreaded coleslaw outbreaks, frequently in the company of something with frozen corn kernels… which used to make their way into a lot of things, including a "meals in minutes", chicken casserole abomination; made with Campbells mushroom soup and chicken pieces (leftover from the roast bird for a cooking with leftovers delight). Hmmm... and gamon steak. No recorded sightings of this - with its customary pineapple ring - for a long time.

And now that goats’ cheese has been completely ruined for most by the plethora of substandard excuses served up in concrete tartlet cases, will it follow the sundried tomato onto the culinary has been heap? It’s sad, because a good grilled crottin on interesting leaves makes a great salad. And how’s the sell by date on balsamic vinegar and all its reduction dots?

And… would someone please put truffle oil into Room 101? The one experience I had with good truffle oil in no way makes up for the synthetic poison that’s doing the rounds in a lot of mashed (crushed?) potato at the moment. Or is this attack just regional?

[offcentre]

as we are unfortunately in the time of the salad bag, iceberg is about the only actual lettuce you can buy in Tesco.

what in gods name has the world come to.

[Carlovski]

Boil-in-the-bag cod steaks. Bland fish, in white sauce, in a plastic pouch. Dear God, could anything have been more utterly revolting. It looked, when hot, like recently used horse condom.

Thanks Tim - take me a while to get rid of THAT image.

I used to like them when I was a nipper (Butter sauce one please - doubt it had ever seen any real butter, but tasted ok to me)

What about dried peas - the sort that come with the little tablet of some sort of chemical to make them edible, every supermarket seems to sell them, but I've no idea who buys them - even the packaging still looks like it's from the 50's.

[naebody]

For a more analytical approach to the question, we can consult the economists at ONS, who compile the average UK shopping basket each year in the interests of the dismal science.

For 2006, the ONS dropped muesli, coleslaw, minced lamb, the small brown loaf, frozen cakes, chocolate biscuits, flavoured milk, frozen roasting chickens and Ovaltine. Sparkling wine was also cut, to be replaced by champagne.

In 2005 we said goodbye to tinned corned beef and Slimfast drinks. 2004 saw the passing of frozen turkey, cheese slices and gin.

(If I ever go on Ready Steady Cook, all the above items will be in my basket.)

Edited June 6, 2006 by naebody (log)

[pigeonpie]

1. Butterscotch Angel Delight. A petrochemical by-product which uncannily pre-dated 'Molecular Gastronomy's' foams by at least two decades. Utterly, utterly revolting. Capable of clinging to the teeth and ruining meals for the next two weeks.

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OMG, I'd forgotten all about that stuff. I loved Angel's Delight as a child, and butterscotch was my favourite flavour. I also loved the way it would thicken before my eyes as I whipped the white powder - which 'magically' changed colour as it hit liquid - into the milk. I'm not sure I want to think about what was in it and, I have to say, I rather doubt I'd be quite so enamoured of it now.

But when I was eight ...

[pigeonpie]

Has anyone eaten mutton lately?

To me, the word used to suggest tough, chewy, smelly meat, served with boiled-to-death cabbage, to be followed by something like semolina pudding.

I have now discovered that mutton is absolutely delicious. Seriously, it's amazing stuff. I've grilled mutton chops until just a little pink - wonderful. Then, a couple of days ago, I slow-roasted a piece of leg until just about falling off the bone. No-one spoke for about five minutes, everyone was too busy being amazed at just how good it was.

And, funnily enough, it doesn't just taste like extra-lamby lamb (as it were). It has a flavour all of its own, which is perhaps more like lamb crossed with beef.

Try some, I dare you ...

[Winot]

Yes had rolled leg of mutton a couple of weeks ago - very good and surprisingly tender.

[randalle]

Guys, guys...stop reading the Times or whatever. Stop treating food like fashion.

Coleslaw? Ever had a nice NY-style coleslaw (no cream) with a big fat pastrami sandwich on rye with a dill pickle? How about some gettin' yourself down to the southland (US) and having a plate of pinto beans, cornbread, vidalia onions AND coleslaw? Yummy. Simple. Satisfying. However, it does not belong in a sandwich or on a potato or anywhere else.

Lard? Tripe? Check out some Latin American cooking, amongst others. Open you mind, turn off Gordon Ramsey and let yourself in for another, just as valid and tasy, culinary experience. It's not shoeboots or ponchos, if it's good it will always be good.

[Corinna Dunne]

Unfortunately randalle, most coleslaw does not match your sparkling report... just as most burgers don't taste a bit like the ones you can make at home. And I love a NYC pastrami sandwich.

You'll be glad to hear that I'm off to the US soon for some of that good wholesome food you're talking about... but further up north in Maine where I will spend my days eating Maine lobster, clams and sweetcorn. And the litlle tiny blueberries should be coming into season too. This is the sort of food that will never go "out of fashion". Please forgive the fact that I will not be seeking out coleslaw!

Now... where's that copy of the Times I was reading...

[Gavin Jones]

All were served with the ubiquitous frozen pea (eGs passim) or the awful frozen 'vegetable medley' which seemed to comprise the solid elements of puke in an easy-to-serve, Kwik-heat pellet.

That would be quenelles de puke, I think you'll find.

[Sashi]

Salad Cream

In the culinary dark days of the 1970s, smearing salad cream on lettuce had an air of sophistication about it...

OK, I'm just going to ask it: what IS salad cream?

[Gifted Gourmet]

I'm just going to ask it: what IS salad cream?

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full explanation right here

Salad cream is usually made from distilled vinegar, vegetable oil, water, sugar, mustard, salt, egg yolks, modified cornflour, xanthan gum and guar gum (as stabilizers), and riboflavin (for colouring).

Salad cream was invented by the H. J. Heinz Company in 1914 and soon became popular, primarily among working class people.

In addition to its use as a salad dressing, salad cream is also commonly used as a sandwich spread.

sounds just a tad like Miracle Whip ...

[jackal10]

I like salad cream, especially as a dressing for salmon, or potato salad or coleslaw. More guts than mayo. Sandwich spread is great with peanut butter and jam on bread..

Must be Heinz orignal though. Childhood memory I guess. They key is that salad cream is made with cooked egg yolks, more like remoulade sauce. http://thefoody.com/mrsbsoups/saladcream.html

Can't make a Lancashire hot pot or Irish Stew without best end of neck.

Can't make proper Pea Soup (or London Peculiar) or even pease pudding without dried peas.

[ianpollitt]

Here's a recipe I invented as a student 20+ years ago. I recently came across it again when I met my ex-girlfriend from that time and found out she was still making it!!

Brie, green pepper, and salad cream sandwich - simple, but genius. Don't knock it until you've tried it.

[gus_tatory]

Liquorice Braised Tripe with Larded Jellied Eels and Sauce Salad Cream - there you go, right back at the top of the list of any self respecting gourmet's list of 100 things to eat before you die.

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Hope to die well before eating this

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Hope not to die as a result of eating this...

edit to add: Just saw GG's question: "what is salad cream"? Well, it's kind of like Miracle Whip, but more like a cooked dressing, i.e., it is like bechamel sauce and mayo, cooked together.

Edited June 14, 2006 by gus_tatory (log)

[davidsmc]

Corned beef and salad cream sandwich - YUM!

[erica graham]

I grew up with egg and salad cream sandwiches. Also YUM

[pen_h]

There's nothing like being away to appreciate what you always had so easily before. Since moving to New York six years ago I've managed to find some UK ingredients and substitute others. Talk of butterscotch angel delight makes me want to hop on a plane - but maybe my tastes have changed since I was six as well. And lamb neck was always one of my top treats as a student... you can barely get lamb over here, the cuts are very limited. But salad cream is something I know I've grown out of - last time I had it I asked myself what on earth I'd been craving it for? Vinegar- and artificial-stuff-flavoured miracle whip. But I have to admit, it is good mashed up with hard boiled eggs...

[Alexis]

OT - but you need to search around more - I never had a bit of trouble getting lamb in New York. The cuts are different but if you try describing it to the butcher he can get you something equivalent. Even FreshDirect has a reasonable variety, though they don't have whole shoulder.

I've never had Angel Delight (not kosher) but I have to admit I do like American packaged pudding. That at least works by understood culinary principles though (it's got cornstarch in it; bring it to a boil and it thickens)

[Adam Balic]

What on earth is wrong with lamb neck? maybe you'd like a nice loin 'medallion' instead?

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More than a little bit of snobbery on this thread, lamb neck is one of those cuts that rewards a sympathetic chef, like lamb breast or pigs trotters. I guess some people prefer fillet steak or medallions

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The truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of lamb in general. Perhaps its the sum total of a number of bad childhood experiences where the lamb was always fatty, greasy or overdone. I've usually shied away from cooking with it because I'm always afraid of getting it wrong. The concept of lamb neck totally perplexes me. A bit like ox tail. I'm not sure the end result will justify the effort.

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Lamb neck fillet then. No bone, no fat, good amount of connective tissue, excellent in a braise etc. Think best end rather then scrag.

[Adam Balic]

There are a special section for these foods in British supermarkets I have noticed. We refer to it as "The Weird British Shit Section", and this is generally where I make phone calls to the wife from in the supermarket, as nobody actually buys this stuff (it is a nostolgia display is my guess), so you are not in the way standing there.

Mostly it is tinned bomb shelter goods:

Tinned pies, corned beef (like dog food, but for people it seems), canned cod's roe (why?), mackeral with tomato sauce, cockles in acidic liquid, various tinned meat things, which are essentially lips and arseholes with sauce. I would proberly like lips and arseholes if cooked à la plancha and served with a nice green sauce, but tinned, they actually do taste like a cat's arse.

[maggiethecat]

In a calculated act of  child abuse, my school used to combine the frozen vegetable medley with the white sauce to create a 'vegetable macedoine'. So named, we supposed, because it looked and tasted like it had recently passed through a Macedonian.

Tim , I'll send you the cleaning bill -- I whizzed on the loveseat. I read it to His Handsomeness and he's still convulsed.

But none of you have mentioned the single nastiest thing I've eaten in my life: tinned hamburgers. They hadn't passed through anything as tony as a Macedonian -- more like a drayhorse. My London deb rich flatmate from McGill days in Montreal asked me to dinner in her adorable mews in Kensington (or somewhere) when I was on my Grand Tour. Sara Jane said: "After all the French and Italian food you've been eating for the past three months I bet you'd like a hamburger." She served it on Wonder-style white bread, soggy with grey water. I'm polite by nature, but I couldn't eat it. When I spotted the tin on the kitchen counter I decided that in comparison, Fray Bentos corned beef was Kobe.

Is it still possible to buy this afterbirth in a can in the UK?

[Sneakeater]

Boil-in-the-bag cod steaks.

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Wait a minute. Isn't that sous vide?