New BBC2 Back in time for dinner

Pooky

Loved last nights episode. Our kitchen had wallpaper almost identical to that and we had black, grey and red floor tiles to match! The splash backs were white tiles with little red cherries on (what was it with cherries in the 80's?) and I recall some sort of red trim and handles on the cupboards and drawers. Not sure the living room really changed until the 90's - stuck in a late 70's rut.

I didn't have a take away pizza (or any pizza come to that) until long after my daughter was born in 1995, we had a McDonalds open when I was 16 and had just started work. When I was dating we used to walk the 4 miles into town to go have a coke and share some nuggets before walking home again. Chinese/Indian cuisine wasn't anything that my parents would even dream of having (both are coming up 70 now and still haven't eaten chinese/indian/mcdonalds/burgers) I was 18 before I tried some Chinese at a friends.....seems inconceivable now that so many foods were around, I had no idea.

We had a huge microwave in the very late 80's but only as Dad was a repair man for one of the electrical chains and he sometimes brought home stuff they were chucking out, he'd fix it up and we'd get some use from it. I remember us all standing round watching something cook in it.

lessonlearned

Have now caught up with the whole series so far, I'm loving it, not just the food but the whole social history that goes with it.

I was born in 1951 and it's been a real trip down memory lane for me.

The dull boring dismal 50s, the swinging sixties when I fancied myself as Derbys answer to Mary Quant, first marriage in the 70s quickly followed by a divorce the same decade - partly down to my "feminist baptism" :rotfl:, partying through the late 70s and early 80s, meeting the love of my life in 1981, marriage and kids, the combining career and kids in the 90s and 2000s ........

My youngest son, now 28 watched it with me and has been fascinated.

He could remember all the gadgets in the 80s house, we had 'em all.
And I adored my pink tapestry three piece suite.........:rotfl:

I think to some extent Rochelle is being asked to play a part, hence the joke about tin foil. Although she is not an actress, I understand she is a teacher in real life, that is perhaps why she seems a bit awkward at times.

I'm enjoying her observations on the changing role of women through the decades. I think she is just voicing some of the downsides of what was perceived at the time as a relentless march of progress, downsides that perhaps we are only now becoming fully aware of.

Looking forward to the rest of the series.

FairyPrincessk

I agree Lessonlearned, I think Rochelle is not an actor and I think she seems genuinely interested in learning about the eras even if she is not a keen cook. I think the family is all quite supportive of the adventure, none of them have refused to eat anything and Rochelle often compliments the efforts of the dad or the children when they try something. I also enjoy hearing from the children in the family who all seem quite thoughtful about the experience. In a way I find it refreshing that they aren't a slick tv family but seem relatively ordinary.

I wonder how much of the awkwardness is that the vintage kitchenalia might involved tin openers which are dull and given it changes once a week she never quite gets used to the new selection of gadgets or the kitchen. Although I'm a fairly confident cook I always find it a little unsettling to cook in someone else's kitchen and I imagine it is similar each week. I also know we recently went through three tin openers in a year as they would work for awhile and then become stiff and difficult to turn and the blades seemed dull. Until I did a bit of research and spent a bit more it was a very irritating process. I wouldn't be surprised if those responsible for kitting out the kitchen went and bought the period gadgets but then didn't bother to give all of them a try. I also suspect that the instructions they're given veer on the side of modern health and safety guidelines and (as with the chip pan) may make it more difficult to guess how to use something so unfamiliar.

The only of the 80s gadgets we had in the 80s was the coffee maker, but ours was set up on a timer and the coffee was carefully measured out the night before and it would be ready at the right time. We didn't get a microwave until after the 'new' millennium, although I think we had a sandwich toaster sometime in the 90s. To my knowledge no one in my family has ever owned a soda stream although I note they seem to be making a comeback in the US. I think it is good that they give the statistics for who had these gadgets and when they got them as well as contrasting the diet of a city high-flyer with a striking miner.

It does disappoint me to think that these national food survey records are no longer being collected.

Ken68

I've stopped watching the series, the mother puts me off, she needs a good meal.

carriebradshaw

I like the family, I don't think they are miserable at all,it's probably long hours of filming and a house full of cameras taking their toll that's all and using new things to cook with every week it must be quite draining. I think they're going with the flow and entering into the spirit of it brilliantly.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

Ken68 wrote: »

I've stopped watching the series, the mother puts me off, she needs a good meal.

she needs to learn how to cook.

I think it said in the first programme that the husband does the cooking.

It would be interesting if, at the end of the series, we get to know how the varied diets and meals affected their health, weight etc.

flea72

I think for a programme on food through the ages, it would have been preferable to have a woman who could at least cook simple, everyday meals and eat it, rather than push it around the plate. And for someone whos supposed to be a teacher, she doesnt half defer to her kids for advice/acknowledgment.

Gigervamp

One of the things that got me, was that the parents were talking about things as if they weren't there in the 80s!
How old are they, 40s/50s? I'm 51 and remember the 80s as if it were yesterday.

Blue_Doggy

I watched the first episode with interest, as I remember the 50s fondly (born in '49). I don't remember the food being as disgusting as some have said, except the dreadful Spam, and the cabbage which we had at school which was boiled to death by the Maltese cook and then thoroughly peppered. I think my mum must have been a very good cook, although self-taught, because she produced tasty, filling, edible meals as well as cakes and bread.

Money wasn't often plentiful, we could tell when it was down because we had Co-op margarine, which came three qualities: Gold Seal, which was supposed to be like butter; Silver Seal, which was less "buttery"; and Red Seal, which mum mostly used for cooking. We got Gold Seal on our bread in good weeks, and Red Seal when dad's money was down. I don't remember having much real butter.

I did think it was not very "health and safety" to ask the family to use the oldfashioned lever-action tin opener without instruction, as they could be quite dangerous, both in stabbing the spike into the tin, and if not used carefully could make sharp jagged edges of the top of the tin.

moneyistooshorttomention

Ken68 wrote: »

I've stopped watching the series, the mother puts me off, she needs a good meal.

:rotfl:Guess that evens out then...as if they'd had far too many meals, then I would have switched off during the first episode:rotfl: