The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

ivyleaf

-taff My neighbour was given honey dressings to heal a leg ulcer, just a couple of years ago. Just "ordinary" honey, not manuka. It's amazing stuff    
I did buy a tube of manuka honey cream when on hols in NZ. It was labelled "Your first aid kit in a tube!" 

RAS

I'm remember currency controls which meant that UK residents were unable to take large amounts of foreign currency or much sterling abroad. In 1966, this was £50 foreign currency and £15 sterling. So even if Brits could afford a foreign holiday, they were very restricted as to what they could buy in their holiday location. Probably explains the development of the all-in package holiday, and the apartment/camping break largely catered for by foodstuff brought from home, both limiting the amount of cash needed during the holiday.

And people wouldn't have risked spending their currency on local ingredients they didn't know how to cook and which they didn't know their families would eat happily. So experimentation with foreign ingredients was limited.

A friend's father was asked speak at a conference abroad around that time and managed to get his fee paid into an account in that country. That meant that for two years the family were able to supplement their official allowance with money from the account. They still camped but they could now travel further and afford more than one budget meal out during the holiday. Their mum said it was more of a holiday for her.

By about 1970 however we were experimenting with herbs, some "foreign" vegetables and bolognaise sauce. Macaroni cheese was however regarded as decidedly English. 

annieb64

The only way my mother cooked macaroni was in a pudding with milk and sugar. That was also the only way she cooked rice.
I can remember  a Chinese restaurant opened in our town . I wanted to try it on my birthday so our family went. My mother made us order English dishes for our main course because if we'd  ordered Chinese and didn't  like it it "would have been a waste of money". We were allowed to order lychees for pudding.
We used to stay with an aunt in London in the 1960s. She lived in a flat in Chelsea. There was a Greek deli next door and I used to spend my pocket money on things that I had read about and wanted to try like yogurt and olives.

MrsCD

Before we met, in the early 1970's, DH worked for a well known herbs and spices company. He went into one supermarket and was told, "People around here have just moved to using pepper with salt!" Needless to say, he didn't get a lot of sales, but he did persuade them to try one or two new things.

2childmum2

I remember, back in the 70s, our first trip to MacDonalds - that was considered foreign for my mum!  Add the odd trip to Pizzaland for special occasions.  We went away once and there was fruit in a meat casserole, which my mum refused to eat. We occasionally had boil in the bag rice - but only with 'savoury' mince (not that it was very savoury - I think mixed herbs were the most exotic thing about it) and we did have ravioli out of a tin once - served with potatoes and cauliflower if i remember rightly.  We did have yogurt once I was a teenager - but only peach melba because that was the sweetest.  Our meals were very bland and all 'meat and 2 veg' type stuff - most veg was frozen.  

Nargleblast

I remember feeling all exotic and adventurous when I cooked a Vesta meal! I liked the beef risotto and the chow mein best.

Nargleblast

Zsa Zsa, regarding dehydrated foods, I would think the important thing is not to let air or moisture get to the food in the jar once it's opened. I am not an expert on dehydrating, though, but I am sure one will come along and answer your question.

LameWolf

@ZsaZsa the important thing is not letting moisture in. I keep a kilner jar of dehydrated banana slices in the cupboard for when we run out of fresh bananas, because I would definitely be in the doghouse if there was no banana at all to go with Mr LW's bran flakes. He just dips into the jar at need, and they keep like that for ages.

GaleSF63

In the late 50s and early 60s my parents used to shop at a Polish deli on Nottingham market so an early introduction for me to garlic sausage which I still like, and they did a rye bread I've never been able to get anywhere since, with caraway seeds in it, so that is what my bread maker is mainly used for. They (my parents) also used to try out recipes from the Sunday newspapers, including pizza, long before it became fashionable, and my father was a dab hand at curry. I must have had a more adventurous upbringing than I realised!

Nargleblast, I have Vesta Paellas in my cupboard now and see the beef curry is back on Amazon but getting rather expensive! A pity Poundland don't still do them. 

-taff

Vesta beef curry, blast from the past! I remember the little stringy things you had to fry to puf them up and throw on the top...