1970s THE FUTURE made meals sed our lives

Today’s 2000 1980s sensation

our Indian products, and She was a housewife who recipes handed down by ly.” et Shehzad Husain, who h a wicker basket full of THE Vesta range, launched back in 1962 by Batchelors, was, for many, their first taste of Indian and Chinese cuisine. It was also Britain’s first attempt at the TV dinner.

Over the years, the growth of eating out and the arrival of a broader range of exotic world cuisine such as Mexican and Thai took the edge off homemade dishes in 1983, the two went on to work together for 15 years.

Today Cathy is still expected to have her finger on the pulse but sometimes, she says, consumers are not always ready for her radical introductions.

Although Mexican food is the fourth biggest UK sales. Vesta’s boom time was in the 1970s, when it became a staple of student larders throughout the land, says company spokeswoman Helen Park.

She adds: “We enjoyed a steady and loyal following, notably among former students who then introduced the brands to their children.” ethnic cuisine sector in the UK – after Indian, Chinese and Thai – she tried and failed several times to launch a successful ready-meal line.

She has travelled over the world looking for inspiration, from barbecue joints in Texas to Japan’s sushi bars, but is constantly drawn back to Italy for her own holidays. And she never stops experimenting with different dishes.

But with more celebrity chefs dominating the book charts, do ready meals have a future?

Cathy said: “There is an ever-growing interest to reflect restaurant quality food in the home. And street food is getting a lot of attention.

“It takes a lot of effort to prepare all the different dishes. Most customers don’t have the time. The ready meal is evolving according to the

BOIL-IN-THE-BAG trends. We’ll see people being able to serve several plates but without the hassle.”

Does that mean chicken kiev is history? Apparently not. Today it is enjoying a revival in smart restaurant menus thanks to the trend for retro dishes. Star chefs including TV favourites Tom Kerridge and James Martin have all made space for it in recent recipe books.

While the history of chicken kiev is turbulent – its contents and cooking were squabbled over for decades by the Russians, Ukrainians and French – its future here is firmly set.

And Marks & Spencer developers are busy introducing mini kiev, buffet-sized mouthfuls which could be the Christmas hit of 2018.