Most days there was some sort of meat, potatoes, vegetables and gravy followed by a pudding with custard. That was the basic idea.
Meat could be a meat pie, or braised liver, or stew or sausages or maybe roast meat. Vegetables would be cabbage, or carrots, or butterbeans, or tinned peas, or swede and carrots.
Puddings were often milk puddings (tapioca, sago, rice) but could also be traditional English puds like Bakewell tart, Manchester tart, or steamed pudding. We might also have stewed fruit or fruit crumble.
On Friday fish appeared, fried, baked or poached in milk. There would be a salad sometime although I have still never worked out why salads included cold baked beans.
Everything was washed down with water. And everybody had to try everything.
Considering we'd also had milk half way through the morning, I think it could be said that we didn't go hungry!
The one and only thing I remember about school dinners with absolute clarity is chocolate concrete and custard, flooding it with the custard so you could scrape the concrete to eat it I remember it because it was good fun and lots of giggles.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed my school days and don't have any bad feelings about it, I'm still full of curiosity at nearly 80 and love Google to check things I've found while reading. from Shirley Perth OZ.
p.s. one of my school friends also lives here and we see each other from time to time.
We always had pink custard with chocolate pudding.
DeleteWe had beetroot with our fish and chips, which turned things vinegary pink. Apparently they were obliged to serve another veg alongside potatoes. But frying the fish and chips was a faff, so cold bottled beets were the easy way out for the Kitchen staff. Brown or yellow custard, never pink. Nowadays so many schools get the meals prepared and they are simply reheated on site.
ReplyDeleteFish and chips came with tinned peas at my school.
DeleteWe never had school dinners, we always walked home at lunch time, and in senior school mum made our lunch.
ReplyDeleteHow jealous I would have been when at secondary school. At primary school I thought school dinners wonderful. Except tapioca pudding.
DeleteI always enjoyed school dinners and ate everything - and so did everyone else as there was no choice!
ReplyDeleteOur primary school dinners came in big metal containers from the next primary school 3 miles away. I can remember winter salads which were beetroot chopped small, grated carrots and cress.
Goodness knows what children would think of that now.
Yes - our palates were "challenged" at school.
DeleteI only ever had a school dinner as a treat-we walked home every day for a middle of the day meal. This depended on my Dad’s shift pattern- back shift meant a dinner but most days it was soup and something cold. Catriona
ReplyDeleteI went home when I was in the sixth form and home was across the road from the college.
DeleteThe family allowance of eight shillings a week, (nothing for the first child,) covered school dinners for the four of us. School dinners were cooked from basic British ingredients and had to meet nutrition standards for protein, as meat, fish and milk, and include vegetables and seasonal or tinned fruit. We had lots of stews, pies, and meals made with mince, lots of potatoes for energy, but no chips. With our third of a pint of free school milk, we were taller, fitter, and had better teeth than previous generations. We were measured and inspected by the visiting school doctor, dentist, and the nit nurse. Very few children were fat, most grew out of it, none were obese. We were encouraged to be outdoors, in the fresh air, running and skipping, bouncing and catching tennis balls, and joining in the many old playground games.
ReplyDeleteThat was a very familiar pattern for post war children.
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