1980s Food and Drink

In the 1980s the increasing number of working women helped to change the face of food in the UK. The reduction in fresh vegetables started in the 70s continued, with a marked reduction in root vegetables and others, especially carrots, turnips, parsnips, cabbages and sprouts. Out went the standard meat, potato and two veg; in came sauces, casseroles, the microwave and meals based on pasta. This was also the decade in which takeaway hamburger began to eat its way into our culture. More people were living on their own, further fuelling the market for fast food. Milk was no longer something always found in glass bottles, now it came in waxed cardboard or plastic cartons.

It was at once the era of convenience-driven microwave dinners and the newly popular global-inspired fine dining, known as “Haute Cuisine” which we remembered as lots of courses with artistically presented food, but very little on each plate. More exotic world foods gained popularity, e.g. sushi, beef stroganoff, and pesto. Vegetarian options were still limited, especially when eating out, many vegans and vegetarians built their diets around tofu, lentils, chickpeas and brown rice, with foods like nuts and homemade granola for snacks and breakfast.

Back in the sixties, my mum used to add salt to everything savoury and sugar to anything sweet, especially corn flakes and strawberries. Probably why I never add either, and cannot bear the majority of processed foods because they’re aimed at people with similarly inactive taste buds. In an effort to get kids to eat cereal, the cynical bods added sugar and used cartoon characters to appeal to the kids. Probably most famous in the UK are Tony the Tiger’s Frosties “They’re Grrrreat!” Originally billed as Sugar Frosted Flakes (basically Corn Flakes plus extra sugar) they prudently dropped the sugar when it suffered from poor press. Kellogg’s also sugar-coated Rice Crispies and called them Ricicles, and there were plenty of other examples like Sugar Puffs (subsequently changed to Honey Monster Wheat Puffs).

The artificial flavourings used in crisps such as Walkers and Golden Wonder originally only available in ready salted, Salt and Vinegar and Cheese and Onion, had branched oy in the 70s with roast chicken and prawn cocktail. The snack market burgeoned with many other corn, wheat and non-potato vegetables being used, whose texture made them a good marriage with all manner of obscure flavours such as bacon and mushroom. The 80s saw attempts at every flavour known to man from Oxo (or Bovril/Marmite), through spicy beef to good old fish and chips. These included: sweet chilli, chicken tikka, beef and mustard, tomato ketchup, pickled onion, scampi.

Here are some foods and drinks popular in the 1980s in the UK, many of which are no longer available. With some memorable slogans.
Heinz Baked Beans Pizza, Cadbury’s Smash “for mash get smash”
McCain Microchips, Birdseye Potato Waffles “waffily versatile”
Pot Noodle “just add boiling water”

Smiths Salt ‘n’ Shake Crisps, KP Space Raiders corn snacks
Cadbury Wildlife Bars, Burton’s Cartoonies (biscuit snacks filled with chocolate)
Rowntree Mackintosh’s Toffo, McVitie’s Trio “I want one now!”
St Ivel Fiendish Feet Yogurts
Bird’s Ice Magic and Angel Delight “it’s delicious, it’s delovely”
Walls’ Cornetto “Just one cornetto – give it to me”
Drinks
Quosh “ready to drink” cartons (complete with plastic straw!)
Cresta pop “it’s frothy, man”
Coffee-mate “coffee tastes nicer with …”
Puddings
Jelly and blancmange
Bananas and custard
Banana split
Mousse


80s Party Food
Not much different to 70s, with sandwiches being the staple – usually on sliced white bread, but brown was creeping in. They would generally have the crusts cut off and sliced into triangles. Fillings would be ham, cream cheese, tuna or salmon and cucumber and maybe egg mayonnaise.

The cheese and pineapple hedgehog was still a firm favourite, as were cocktail sausages (in sticks), sausage rolls and the much-maligned vol-au-vents, although the fillings were more adventurous than their stodgy 70s counterparts. New, tastier recipes included various fish/seafood as well as the addition of more exotic flavourings such as fennel, turmeric and coriander. The quiche fillings became more adventurous, and the more adventurous tried salmon rillettes, samosas and spring rolls.

So many snacks to choose from, but you couldn’t go wrong with a big dish of ready salted crisps, and some twiglets, hula hoops, mini cheddars, skips, wotsits and quavers.

Puddings: Good old Trifle, Black Forest Gateau and Arctic Roll were joined by Viennetta
Drinks: Babycham, Pina Colada