Findus Crispy Pancakes

[seanyseansean]

Strangely the most chavtastic food ever, Fray Bentos Pies, I can only find at Waitrose. WTF?

As a student they were ace. A meal in a can, bung it in the oven and no washing up. Steak and Kidney were the only ones to go for though.

Being older and more sofistikated I try to cook as much as I can. Unfortunately the bird prefers the pikier stuff like chips and pie, the only decent meal I make she really loves is a nice Sunday roast

[adam]

just out of interest orava, what has prompted this walk on the culinary wild side for you?

[Orava]

just out of interest orava, what has prompted this walk on the culinary wild side for you?

Always been curious about food, even bad food. And nostalgia.

Now is there anywhere you can still get Vesta Beef Curry from?

[Spoongod]

just out of interest orava, what has prompted this walk on the culinary wild side for you?

Always been curious about food, even bad food. And nostalgia.

Now is there anywhere you can still get Vesta Beef Curry from?

Yes. Couldn't say exactly where but it's still on sale, as are the chow mein and paella. Try Asda and (oddly) Sainsbury's. Remember, it's dried food so it will be with things like dried pasta or maybe cuppa soups.

[Orava]

Did I mention that when I was a student in the 90s one of my (now) wife's friends was working for Golden Wonder marketing (Pot Noodle goodness). I was never short of Pot Noodles... Strangely I have not had many since - although I am still tempted by the sweet and sour ones.

[Mark]

I was never short of Pot Noodles... .

Nobody is ever short of Pot Noodles. It's a fundamental impossibility. You can have none of them, or too many. Anything else doesn't add up.

[Portland]

Fray Bentos steak and ale ftw. Still get them at Tesco I think.

[Kelloggs]

What is is with pseudo-Pot Noodles recently? In Tesco on Saturday, I thought "I could do with a Pot", so I wondered down the relevant aisle, to be met by not only the Pot itself (or "Golden Wonder Pot Noodle", as I remember the advert stating - now A Unilever Brand). Next to them, however, was a stack of odd. Namely, "Golden Wonder The Nations' Noodle". Black pots, not white; other than that, very similar flavours. "Spirit of scientific endeavour..." I thought as I picked up a Beef and Tomato, which, bizarrely, was Quite Nice...

[Alarm]

just out of interest orava, what has prompted this walk on the culinary wild side for you?

Always been curious about food, even bad food. And nostalgia.

Now is there anywhere you can still get Vesta Beef Curry from?

IIRC, you can get them in Poundland.

[RedOktober]

How much do they cost?

[Alarm]

£1 unless you steal a packet or get a staff discount (I wonder if they get a discount).

[Orava]

A Vesta Beef Curry was found in Poundland Exeter and duly purchased and consumed.

First impressions:

1) A fairly solid product, there are not too many dodgy e-numbers in the ingredients list.

2) Oh my God, this one actually involves cooking, you cannot microwave it. You need no fewer than TWO saucepans and a colander. You need to be able to measure two quantities of water, one for the sauce and one for rice. One cold, one boiling. And wait a WHOLE 15 MINUTES while it cooks.

3) It says it has 8% beef but there is none to be seen, maybe it is atomised? Only solid chunks are bits of textured soya.

4) There is a lot of rice, which I suppose keeps the price at £1 for one person. However I think my homemade lentil curries come in a lot cheaper than £1 per person so not so sure about the value point. The rice with Vesta is not even Basmati.

5) It is carefully flavoured, a curry; yes, but not hot at all, not even slightly 'spicy'. Much improved by some spicy mango chutney.

6) I like the serving suggestion. Serve - with rice arranged in a ring on a warm plate and pour the curry sauce into the centre. Properly 70s.

This would be a nice meal on a hiking trail, although you would probably want 2x servings and some lashings of extra hot chillie sauce.

Best thing so far in Orava's experiment of strange cheapo retro foods.

What should Orava eat next?

[Portland]

Arctic roll






Or not

[Orava]

Arctic roll

Or not

Well, apparently they have resumed production of this fine dessert, so today Orava was able to acquaire one.

The usual test panel was gathered consisting of the Eldest child, eight, the middle one five and the youngest, three.

The Arctic roll was duly sliced up and served on plain plates.

The eldest daughter took one small spoonfull and declared the whole thing 'really disgusting' refusing to touch any more of it.

The middle son ate his slice with a gusto and asked for another one. After which he felt sick and needed a drink of water.

The youngest daughter ate all the 'ice cream'* in hers and rejected the cake casing which she mashed up with her drink and painted the table with.

I tried a bit and yes it is not overtly disgusting but it is the ingredients list that makes me a bit worried. How is 'raspberry' sauce made with only 10% raspberries? And when it comes to the 'ice cream' - now there was a one slice left over which completely desfrosted - it did not even in its defrosted state quite turn into a liquid - there were enough thickeners, emulsifiers and other gunk to keep the 'ice cream' in shape even at room temperature. You would expect normal ice cream to melt and turn into liquid, would you?

*=A concoction of milk powder and a lot of e-numbers.

Overall perhaps the most tasty experiment so far.

[gilesgoat]

I was never short of Pot Noodles... .

Nobody is ever short of Pot Noodles. It's a fundamental impossibility. You can have none of them, or too many. Anything else doesn't add up.

.. it CAN happen ..

It CAN even happen you manage to throw away Ramen because they are too far off their expiry date ( some years later ).

About pot noodles "Bombay Bad Boy" or "Shin Cup" and/or nothing else.

Ramen is Ramen, you won't have other Ramen than Ramen.

Ramen ( and cup noodles ) are some of those flavours that sometime you just need.

Apart from those two the only other "emergency food supply" I have a certain fondness for is SPAM and Heinz beans.