Commentaries about meals in the 1950s concentrate on meat served with three vegetables and the traditional Sunday roast. However during the decade family wealth increased and the restraints of post war shortages lifted. Meat was a luxury after the war, so it was no hardship to eat lamb and beef regularly. Many families continued to eat corned beef, tripe and lamb’s brains as well as jellied tongue. Tinned foods became more available and tinned corned beef and tinned beetroot were particularly popular. Deserts included stewed fruit of all varieties and tinned fruit, mainly peaches, apricots and two fruits (diced peaches and pears). Custard, ice cream, jelly, junket and blancmange were regulars along with rice, sago and tapioca pudding. Junket was made with hot milk mixed with a junket tablet containing rennet. Blancmange was similarly made with milk but with gelatine. Stewed fruit could be topped with crumbed flour, oats and sugar to form a crumble; or presented as Charlotte or Cobbler beneath a sponge topping. Apple pies were always welcomed. The 50s was the decade of pineapple, gelatine and tinned evaporated milk . Recipes of all sorts regularly included them.

Illustration of savouries, Davis Gelatine cook book, second edition 1949

Cover of Davis Gelatine recipe book, second edition 1949

By the mid-fifties magazines such as the Women’s Weekly and Woman’s Day included numerous recipes with colourful photos to illustrate them. Ingredients were basic and readily available but given attractive exotic names. The edition of the Women’s Weekly of July 2, 1958 gave readers a full menu for a week. Monday’s New Orleans Pie was no more than sausage mince and mince steak mixed with an onion, tomato sauce, cheese and tomatoes baked in pastry. This was to be served with French Beans. Dessert was Veccherine Helene which was a meringue base filled with jelly whipped with chilled evaporated milk. Sausages with a gravy of curry, apple, onion and lemon juice was suggested as Sausages Mandalay for Thursday.