Back then we were much more naive about food. We’d see an advert on telly and go: ‘Well it must be great!’
In Britain’s Favourite Food, Simon Rimmer explores how the dishes that defined our meal times in the past were sold to us. The chef tells GEORGIA HUMPHREYS what he learned while filming the documentary
What was the starting point for the documentary?
AS a kid, I was obsessed with butterscotch Angel Delight, (pictured below) and it’s like, ‘Well, what’s actually in Angel Delight?’ And then you go into all the other things that we featured – Blue Nun, Smash, Ski Yoghurts – remembering the adverts. It’s just a very nice, nostalgic watch.
What did you learn from filming the show?
HOW much more naive we were as consumers back then. Now, we all are incredibly savvy – you get bombarded with subtle levels of advertising and promotion on your phone every single second of the day. Back then, you would see an advert on telly and go, ‘Well, it must be great!’
Do you think it’s easy to look back at the past with rosetinted glasses?
YEAH, I think so. It almost felt like a gentler age really, and I don’t know whether it necessarily was.
But now, we’re so much more concerned with what we eat, what goes into our bodies, whereas then, the level of labelling etc... none of that really came into play. [In the past], there was an awful lot of chemicals kicking around!
The show looks at wider social issues too – that must have been interesting to explore?
YEAH, that whole rise of convenience foods and working mums – all of a sudden households were no longer about one wage. It was quite a liberating time.
We see you visit your childhood home. How was it filming with your mum?
I REALLY liked the fact that my mum told me off where I’m whisking the Angel Delight, saying that I wasn’t whisking it properly!
I’ve been doing telly for 17 or 18 years and it was nice to do something with my mum. It was really sweet.
Would you like to do more of these documentaries?
YEAH, I really hope this does well and they want to do more. I love the social history surrounding all kinds of food – how food has developed our society and vice versa.
That age of my childhood does feel like a golden age for food because so many things were changing. All of a sudden, it was a very affluent time, so people had spare cash in their pocket.
What would you explore next if given the opportunity?
I’D like to do something about the social history of drinking. It’s amazing how it’s changed. One of the things we touched on in the show was Babycham, pictured right, being an incredible breakthrough in terms of women drinking, because [until then] it was very much frowned upon – women didn’t really drink.
You’ve presented Sunday Brunch on Channel 4 for six years. Do you still get nervous?
EVERY single week, Tim [Lovejoy] and I still get butterflies before we start – but they’re good ones.
We’ve been going for so long, 99% of guests who come on, they know what the show’s about, so they know what to expect and that makes it easier, I guess.
They know it’s very laid-back, they know it’s fun, they know that it’s kind of slightly chaotic and that’s part of its charm.
You also starred in the last series of Strictly. Are you still dancing?
I’M not, I’ve got to be honest. It’s not that I’ve said, ‘Right, I’m never going to do it again!’ – it’s opportunity. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. It was hard work and I was terrified, but I loved every minute. I was favourite to go in the first week, I lasted till week six, so it was win-win for me.
Following on from Strictly, have you found yourself in the public eye more?
IT does change things – having been on Strictly must be what it’s like to be a proper celebrity, where you couldn’t go anywhere without people stopping you, talking to you, asking you how it’s going.
I’ve never experienced anything like it and it’s so lovely. It’s an incredibly positive experience.
Britain’s Favourite Food is on Channel 4 on Friday at 8pm.