Strange food you ate as a kid

[DawnHRD]

Does anyone have any memories of things they used to eat as a kid, but the idea of them turns your stomach, now? Mine was sugar or syrup sandwiches (white sliced bread, margarine and sugar or golden syrup). Euch!
Alternatively, was there any food you ate as a kid that you really miss, now?

[STEVE G]

I remember being made to eat some strange things at school back in the sixties that I have never seen since.
I particularly remember a desert made out of cornflakes and marmalade on a base of pastry, baked to the consistency of concrete. Also I never see pink custard anymore or tapioca pudding, which in my opinion would be ideal for torturing people, but I’m sure that would contravene the Geneva protocol.

[PeteC]

To this day I eat peanuts with the shell still on, and an occasional Milk Bone dog biscuit, when I can find them. They're great with a cold beer. Also, the Thai version of tapioca pudding is very popular here. Not really a pudding but a cold, sweet liquid with tapicoa floating in it. The Thai name escapes me. Pete

[caller]

School dinners that ended with either tapioca or semolina, can't remember which now, looked like frogs spawn and tasted pretty much the same. We WERE forced to eat this stuff. I couldn't believe teachers could be so cruel!!

On a happier note, I loved my mothers home-made pickled onions, especially in a pickled onion sandwich! Sadly, she passed away many years ago and I couldn't get the recipe right. Since found that Garners provide a pretty good substitute and from time to time I still enjoy chomping on a pickled onion sarnie!

[Bamboo Grove]

I miss kidneys the way me mum did them. One thing not being from England I've always found funny the thing called "Spotted Dick." Never tried it, though.

[PeteC]

I miss kidneys the way me mum did them. One thing not being from England I've always found funny the thing called "Spotted Dick." Never tried it, though.

When Europeans talk about "kidneys", what kidneys.... beef, pork or chicken?

I love a good dinner of liver and onions. Wandered into an English establishment over here and asked the owner if the liver they served was calves liver? He almost fainted. It's all pork liver and if I wanted calves liver I would, 1) have to import it myself or, 2) go out and kill a calf myself. He said even beef liver is rare here. I also like a good liverwurst sandwich. What they sell here is pork liverwurst, but I do believe what they sell in the States is still beef or calves liver. I think in countries where veal is popular, there is plenty of calves liver. Pete

[STEVE G]

Bamboo Grove wrote;
One thing not being from England I've always found funny the thing called "Spotted Dick."

Hi there,
This was often served as a desert when I was at school, it’s a log shaped, steamed suet pudding with raisons in it, which is where the name comes from and its served with custard. With the number of Brits running bars in HH, I wouldn’t be surprised if you found one being served somewhere.

[DawnHRD]

I'm ashamed to say I love tapioca & semolina. Haven't eaten it for years, but I've always liked it!
Pete, you've brought back a repressed memory with your Milk Bones. I'd completely forgotten that I used to eat Spillers Shapes as a kid. Especially the charcoal ones (black) & the white ones. Are you British? Is this a weird anglo thing?
Bamboo Grove, Spotted Dick and piping hot custard is lovely! That & jam roly poly! Yum!

[PeteC]

Pete, you've brought back a repressed memory with your Milk Bones. I'd completely forgotten that I used to eat Spillers Shapes as a kid. Especially the charcoal ones (black) & the white ones. Are you British? Is this a weird anglo thing?

Nope, a Yank. I was born into a household with two older sisters, an older brother and two airdale puppies. Therein lies the tale of my addiction to dog biscuits..LOL. 1 for each of them and 1 for me while sitting on the kitchen floor. Pete

[Jockey]

We used to get sticks of very strong liquorice from the chemists (not sweet shop). It was hard and about 4" long. We would fill an empty juice bottle with water and put the liqorice in. It would take about a day for the liquorice to disolve into the water, turning it a murly black / grey colour. We would then drink it. It was called "Sugar Ali"

Other unusual sweets:

Gobstoppers - huge hard balls that you stuck in your mouth and sucked for about an hour. The stopper would turn different colours as it slowly grew smaller. Parent's loved it cos' it shut us up!

Luck Bags - bought for threepence, always had a useless surprise gift, (such as a 1" plastic comb, a whistle, a luck charm, a ring, to toy gun (2"), etc...
The contents of the bag could be bought seperately for about twopence, but the thrill of not knowing the contents made it worth paying the extra penny.

Jubilee - a strange shaped block of orange ice wrapped tightly in oily cardboard making it a challenge requiring a lot of imagination on how to open and eat it!

[cole]

Tiger nuts were always good value, bought on the way home from school, they were so hard to chew that 4oz would last all the way home.
Anyone know where they come from or how they grow?

[Jaime]

Moon Dust. That weird confectionary powder that cracked and popped in the mouth when it hit the tongue. I think a kid choked to death and it was subsequently banned.

[Bamboo Grove]

Back to the topic for me. Mammi (with a Finnish a with dots), who else recognizes that? The other thing that I actually miss is called Pasha (a Russian word and a Russian word) but coming from the boarder area I grew up with this.

[mozzy]

we used to have condensed milk sandwiches and we also made the stuff that one post is calling sugar ali but we called it "spanish" water. Another thing we had was licquorice root which resembled a dried stick and you chewed the end. we would make it last for days!!

[Kraka's Dad]

Condensed milk sandwiches are lovely !!!!!
We used to call them connyonny butties !! MMMMMMMMMMmm great