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Do you remember the strange and crazy food of the 50s and 60s?

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Flicking through some of the old recipe books of the 50s, 60s and 70s brings back a lot of memories. Back then, our mums didn’t care much for perfecting the presentation, but did like to dabble in some interesting recipes.

While most of the old recipe books have some classics like roast beef, sponge cakes and Ginger biscuits, there are many surprising reminders of how we ate in those far-off days without thinking of heart disease or obesity.

Lard, strange soups, gelatine and meat were all used interchangeably – it was the first type of fusion food!

 

Below are some other weird recipes from those days….

But first, here’s something we were passed on and just had to share! In the 60s…. 

  • Brown bread was something only poor people ate.
  • Pasta was not eaten in Australia.
  • Curry was a surname.
  • A takeaway was a mathematical problem.
  • A Pizza was something to do with a leaning tower.
  • All potato chips were plain and the only  choice we had was whether to put the salt on or not.
  • Rice was only eaten as a milk pudding.
  • Milk was delivered in bottles and the bottles recycled.
  • Cream came from the top section of the milk.
  • Calamari was called squid and we used it as fish bait.
  • Oil was for lubricating, fat was for cooking.
  • Fat was drained from cooking and kept in bowls and reused.
  • Tea was made in a teapot using tea leaves and never green.
  • Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days and was regarded as being white gold. Cubed sugar was regarded as posh.
  • Fish didn’t have fingers in those days.
  • Eating raw fish was called poverty, not sushi.
  • None of us had ever heard of yoghurt.
  • Healthy food consisted of anything edible.
  • People who didn’t peel potatoes were regarded as lazy.
  • Indian restaurants were only found in India.
  • Cooking outside was called camping.
  • Seaweed was not a recognised food.
  • “Kebab” was not even a word, never mind a food.
  • Prunes were medicinal.
  • Surprisingly, muesli was readily available, it was called cattle feed.
  • Water came out of the tap. If someone had suggested bottling it and charging more than petrol for it, they would have become a laughing stock.

 

Grocery shopping

Dinner time!

Dinner spread 

Curried fish in rice ring

Image Source: Buzzfeed.com 

Image Source: Buzzfeed.com 

Bean bake

Image Source: Buzzfeed.com 

Spinach and egg mold

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Canned veg meal 

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Bavarian cream 

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Spam

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Lime walnut cake

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Any guesses what this is?

 

Feature Image: Huffpost

 

Tell us, what are your memories of strange foods from the 50s and 60s? 

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