Chicken what!
09/08/07 12:02 Filed in: Personal
It's always nice to be nostalgic. Don't get me wrong, I'm very much 21st century man. But occasionally it's fun to remember those cultural things that, for better of worse (usually better) we have left behind for good.
Growing up in England in the 1970's (I was born in 1970) was an interesting experience mainly because so many things have changed over the last thirty years.
Let me give you some brief examples.
At one point in time, I think pre-1985, it was the height of cultural sophistication to serve 'Prawn Cocktail' as a starter at dinner parties. Actually, dinner parties themselves are something of a dying breed these days. Most groups tend to go to a restaurant together or at best all slum around 'the barby'. I digress.
The prawn cocktail consisted of a small bowl (usually a glass stemmed type thing) with lettuce, lots of lettuce, and the odd prawn covered in either Rosemarie OR Thousand Island dressing. To accompany this tiniest of starters came a thin slice of brown (and ALWAYS BROWN) buttered bread.
Quite who the heck invented the the Prawn Cocktail and for what reason is not fully known. But I suspect it's a chef with low amounts of sea food, lots of lettuce and a brown loaf that needed using. Also, why is it a 'cocktail'? Maybe it's because the serving bowl was usually shaped like a large glass. That's my theory.
Next up in the meal of the 1970's was 'Steak Diane'. Nothing to do with the ill fated namesake. More to do with a pounded flat bit of meat cooked with cream and brandy. Actually, I sometimes miss "Steak Diane". But not that much.
Finally, if you where somebody in the 1970's.. desert would consist of Black Forrest Gateaux with fresh (had to be fresh) whipped cream.... and that was it.
Except in my home. Long before the cultural revolution my Mum would cook us traditional Italian foods all the time. Then she migrated into Indian cuisine and finally Chinese food. Fact of the matter is, people would come to our house to basically stare at what we were eating. Even in 1975 pasta dishes were something 'odd'.
But....
One thing I did miss, event wise, was the point when chicken pieces or bites turned in Chicken Goujons. CHICKEN GOUJONS! Like 80% processed chicken and who knows what, combined with bread crumbs somehow doesn't conger up images of the best in French cuisine.
Growing up in England in the 1970's (I was born in 1970) was an interesting experience mainly because so many things have changed over the last thirty years.
Let me give you some brief examples.
At one point in time, I think pre-1985, it was the height of cultural sophistication to serve 'Prawn Cocktail' as a starter at dinner parties. Actually, dinner parties themselves are something of a dying breed these days. Most groups tend to go to a restaurant together or at best all slum around 'the barby'. I digress.
The prawn cocktail consisted of a small bowl (usually a glass stemmed type thing) with lettuce, lots of lettuce, and the odd prawn covered in either Rosemarie OR Thousand Island dressing. To accompany this tiniest of starters came a thin slice of brown (and ALWAYS BROWN) buttered bread.
Quite who the heck invented the the Prawn Cocktail and for what reason is not fully known. But I suspect it's a chef with low amounts of sea food, lots of lettuce and a brown loaf that needed using. Also, why is it a 'cocktail'? Maybe it's because the serving bowl was usually shaped like a large glass. That's my theory.
Next up in the meal of the 1970's was 'Steak Diane'. Nothing to do with the ill fated namesake. More to do with a pounded flat bit of meat cooked with cream and brandy. Actually, I sometimes miss "Steak Diane". But not that much.
Finally, if you where somebody in the 1970's.. desert would consist of Black Forrest Gateaux with fresh (had to be fresh) whipped cream.... and that was it.
Except in my home. Long before the cultural revolution my Mum would cook us traditional Italian foods all the time. Then she migrated into Indian cuisine and finally Chinese food. Fact of the matter is, people would come to our house to basically stare at what we were eating. Even in 1975 pasta dishes were something 'odd'.
But....
One thing I did miss, event wise, was the point when chicken pieces or bites turned in Chicken Goujons. CHICKEN GOUJONS! Like 80% processed chicken and who knows what, combined with bread crumbs somehow doesn't conger up images of the best in French cuisine.