Instant Snackisfaction
Rachel Toy shares her childhood memories of convenience foods
Aa a child of the 1970s and 1980s, it is fair to say my diet consisted of a large amount of convenience foods. I remember meals out of the freezer, as well as the sugary instant desserts of the day. The most fascinating for me, however, was the packets of dried ingredients that would magically be turned into a meal just by adding hot water.
None of these were particularly healthy, but they served a purpose for families like mine with a working mother. In those days, it was still seen as the “woman’s job” to cook and shop for food, even though they went to work too. For women, this meant getting the dinner on the table as quickly and easily as possible at the end of the working day. Food manufacturers soon recognised this, and convenience foods were born.
By the time I was a child, convenience food technology had evolved from the early days of Vesta curry and Spam fritters, and the range of frozen foods available was increasing. It was essential to have a freezer in the home, so that you could stock up with a whole range of dinners ready to go.
One of my favourite frozen foods was Findus Crispy Pancakes. These little breaded pancake parcels came in basic flavours such as minced beef, chicken and bacon, and ham and cheese. All you needed to do was take them out of the freezer and pop them in the oven and they would be ready in less than half an hour. This was quite a revolutionary thing in those days.
I loved their crispy topping, but the fillings were really hot, and you had to wait until they cooled down to avoid burning your mouth. This new food kept us children happy anyway, and seemed much more interesting than the boring old meat and two veg dinners that our parents and grandparents ate.
In our house, Findus Crispy Pancakes were usually served with Smash instant potato or oven chips with frozen peas. More instant food that needed no preparation or chopping. I vividly remember the Smash TV advert with the alien robots laughing at us earthlings because we still mashed our own potatoes. This was a modern food for modern people.
Smash is one of those convenience foods made by adding water to the powder in the tin, creating supposedly fluffy mounds of deliciousness. In reality, it was off-white slimy goo that tasted of powder and looked like the flour and water glue you used to make at school. It is still available in supermarkets, and I am sure today’s version is much improved. However, the things we were prepared to eat in those days still amazes me now.
After instant dinner, there was instant dessert in the form of Angel Delight, again still around today. My favourite flavour was strawberries and cream. It is made with powder and milk to form a light fluffy mousse that tasted like heaven. Although I am sure, especially in the 1980s, that it was full of sugar and additives.
Another dessert would be ice-cream from the freezer in a block or tub. My
favourites were Neapolitan or raspberry ripple. There was also a fabulous chocolate topping called Ice Magic, which magically turned from syrup into hard chocolate once it came into contact with the cold ice-cream. I loved the crunch it made with the spoon, and I wish you could still buy it today.
One of the added benefits of convenience foods was that older children could even prepare them on their own, while their parents were out at work. Pot Noodle was my favourite for this, as all it required was boiled water from the kettle poured straight in the pot. Unsupervised children cooking their own snack dinners may seem outrageous now, but in those days it was fairly normal.
Tinned foods were also a quick way to get something to eat if your parents were not around. The new microwave technology that became popular in the 1980s also meant the contents could be heated up quickly, remembering to decant the contents into a non-metallic container. Tinned ravioli with mounds of melted cheese, spaghetti hoops on toast, and beans with sausages were all favourites that my brother and I would prepare for ourselves. Probably much to the dismay of my mum who would come home to all the washing up.
Now I eat much more healthily, preparing meals from scratch and sharing the task with my husband. Convenience foods are also much better, with a wider range available. The old ways are still entrenched in me however, and the pull of classic convenience foods calls me now and again. When it does, I can’t resist a little walk to the local shop to buy a good old Pot Noodle as a comforting, retro snack.