1960's Food

[Ned1]

I have to host a 1960's 'themed' dinner party. any suggestions about what to serve?

[ermintrude35]

..prawn c'tail..

..sirloin steak, chips with a grilled tomato..

..crepe suzette...

[Buenchico]

I was born in '53, so the second half of the 60's was when I started to notice what was regarded as 'posh food' at that time. As I recall, a typical menu would be as follows:
Starter: A choice of prawn cocktail or grapefruit (with, of course, the obligatory glace cherry pinned to it by a cocktail stick).
Main Course: Rump steak (or for the really posh people, sirloin steak - either way, overcooked), with chips, half a grilled tomato, a few mushrooms and some limp lettuce.
Dessert: Black Forest Gateau
Followed by coffee which has been standing around for far too long, served in ridiculously small cups, accompanied by an After Eight mint.
(If you want to go really, really posh, make that Irish coffee and offer a cheese board with a basic cheddar, red leicester, Danish blue, a few water biscuits and butter that's far too hard to spread).

OK, that may sound fairly cynical but it's a fairly accurate description of what was considered 'luxury' back in the 60's. For a slightly better view of things, head for your local charity shops and dig out some recipe books from that era. (Look for anything by Margueritte Patten, for example).

Chris

(PS: I could suggest an alternative way of preparing 60's food but, unless you happen to have a few cannabis plants on your windowsill, it won't help much!).

[ken c]

yes

Prawn cocktail or melon

Steak diane , coq au van or vesta chow mein if skint yuc

Black forest Gateau

[coyn]

Prawn cocktail

T bone steak with chips, mushrooms and side salad

OR that great sixties tradition Scampi and chips. Yuk.

[einsteinsdog]

How about burgers made of rubber , chips made of cardboard , peas like bullets. ? Has anything changed

[woofgang]

coronation chicken salad

fondue

cheese and pineapple on cocktail sticks

little cocktail sausages on sticks

ritz crackers with a squirt of primula cheese and shrimp or cheese and ham on

dip made with dried onion soup mixed with yoghurt (do it early and leave overnight for the onion to soften)

....actually I am getting hungry...

[Cetti]

All of the above and to add even more class to your party don't forget the other 60's essential - Tupperware!

woofgang forgot to mention that the cheese and pineapple cubes must be displayed stuck in a melon giving the appearance of a hedgehog. My mum thought this the epitome of chic...bless her!

[thikasabrik]

I've got my mum's Good Housekeeping cook book from the 60's and I have to share this gem with you. As a centrepiece for your table take a whole Edam cheese, cut the top off and scoop out all the cheese. Make shapes in the red skin with a cutter then plonk the thing in the middle of your dinner party table and see how impressed your friends are. I know my friends would probably choke to death on their food cos they'd be laughing so much. (The cook book very helpfully tells readers that the mountain of cheese you're left with can be used for other things. The mind boggles.)

[BenDToy]

If you need to work to a budget I remember starters on set menus were often a choice of soup (usually tinned tomato) or fruit juice (diluted squash perhaps!). Could anyone get away with that today?

Maybe mince (does anyone still eat mince?) as a main course with dehydrated mash and tinned peas. Or what about that dish of chicken in breadcrumbs and deep fried (Sorry I can't remember what it was called but it often appeared in Chinese restaurants for people who wouldn't eat "that foreign muck")

Dessert could be tinned fruit cocktail, or a scoop of ice cream in a metal sundae dish, with a soggy triangular wafer stuck in it. I like the fondue idea too.

[Gathorne]

Don't forget Chicken a la King: chicken, peas and sweetcorn in white sauce served with rice.

[megabitch74]

garlic potato bake with fresh hot beans corn cob with a t-bone steak covered in brown onion gravy