Nostalgic Fray Bentos Pie

[ONE]

Mrs will buy me a Vesta curry on occasion, one of the cheapie places has them. No they're not great, but they do the nostalgia thing better than Fray Bentos, mainly because they still taste just as bad as I remember them! Take a bit too long simmering to make good 'out' food though.

 

[Wander]

Vesta curry!
I remember them.

There was a thing called a cheese hamwich - it was triangular with a layer of 'ham' topped with a layer of cheese, and then covered in breadcrumbs.
They fit just nicely inside a piece of bread folded on the corners.
I called it a 'cheese hamwich sandwich'.

I remember my road to Damascus moment when it came to food. I was still at school. My parents were away for the weekend leaving my (elder) brother and I to look after ourselves.
I remember making myself a meal - a tin of sausages, tinned peas, and a pack of instant mash.
Each component of that is enough to make your toes curl.
I took a bite of each, and then made a resolution - that I would learn to cook proper food.

And, you know what - I can. I'll never win Masterchef, but I can take actual raw ingredients and turn them into a perfectly serviceable and palatable meal.
I'll never need to eat a cheese hamwich sandwich again.

 

[Wander]

Another memory relating to food has come to mind.
When at university the local Iceland (might have even still been Bejam now I think about it) was my delicatessen.
I remember, in my second or third week, going into Iceland's with a companion from our halls. I was scouring the shelves for turkey drummers or something foul like that. The person I was with was a very well brought up lad and could only see the very best in anyone. But he went up to this scrofulous oik who was filling the shelves and in an extremely plumby accent said, 'could you tell me where the sauce tartare is?'
There was a brief silence.
'D'ya mean the tortor sorce?' he grunted.
There was so much hate and venom seething from his voice there was enough energy in it to run a small town.

We became really good friends. Still are (although he married a Korean girl and now lives in Korea). After graduating we both found work in London, in the theatre.
One year, whilst driving up to the Edinburgh festival, we got about as far as Newcastle and needed a break.
We went into this pub. A desperate local it was, with the two or three customers in there all falling to silence and staring at us when we entered. 'Uh oh,' I whispered to my friend. 'Lets just order a half and get out of here.'
I ordered a half pint of whatever the local brew was.
The barman turned to my posh friend.
'Could I have a white wine spritzer, please?'
I'm amazed we got out unscathed.

 

[ONE]

Tinned sausages... Another of my nostalgic vices. I remember the hamwiches too, guaranteed first degree burns to the mouth from molten "cheese".

 

[Baron Von Scheele]

Mrs will buy me a Vesta curry on occasion, one of the cheapie places has them. No they're not great, but they do the nostalgia thing better than Fray Bentos, mainly because they still taste just as bad as I remember them! Take a bit too long simmering to make good 'out' food though.

that's class!

 

[StevieE]

Yeah. The simmering on the 'curry sauce' used to take forever. It would be watery, watery, watery and then after 5 mins a gloop if you took your eye off it. We thought we were the bees knees by adding raisins and sliced banana to the top. Urghhhh ....

 

[Toddy]

My husband still insists that curry has raisins in it

I was never a fan of the Vesta stuff, but I wished I could find and buy the wee strips that you put into hot oil or fat to puff up like quavers They called them crispy noodles, iirc.
I have recipes to make them, but it's a right royal footer drying them off, and all I can find online to buy are prawn crackers

 

[ONE]

Ah yes, the crispy noodles came with the sweet & sour. So not only did you need two saucepans of simmering water (sauce and rice) but also a frying pan... And this was "convenience" food?

 

[Woody girl]

I'm going to have to go and buy a fray bentos steak and kiddly pie now.
I used to love the pastry, crispy on top, and all soggy underneath.
I am not supposed to eat wheat, so may suffer. The pastry was the best bit. Never realy impressed with the filling, even back along, especially after proper home made steak and kiddly pies.
One used to serve 3 of us easily with smash and runner beans from the garden, or a tin of sweetcorn. A regular Sunday lunch, with a tin of fruit salad and ideal milk for afters.

Vesta sweet and sour with crispy noodles was my favourite. Always managed to burn the noodles at some point though!

 

[Coach]

I'm going to have to go and buy a fray bentos steak and kiddly pie now.
I used to love the pastry, crispy on top, and all soggy underneath.
I am not supposed to eat wheat, so may suffer. The pastry was the best bit. Never realy impressed with the filling, even back along, especially after proper home made steak and kiddly pies.
One used to serve 3 of us easily with smash and runner beans from the garden, or a tin of sweetcorn. A regular Sunday lunch, with a tin of fruit salad and ideal milk for afters.

Vesta sweet and sour with crispy noodles was my favourite. Always managed to burn the noodles at some point though!

Ahh!! now I know what your'e on about!! Love them now and then, serve with tinned new potatoes ,frozen peas and bisto gravy, Proper food!! Follow with Tinned mixed fruit and Carnation Milk. Please God Bless H.M.

 

[StevieE]

My husband still insists that curry has raisins in it

I was never a fan of the Vesta stuff, but I wished I could find and buy the wee strips that you put into hot oil or fat to puff up like quavers They called them crispy noodles, iirc.
I have recipes to make them, but it's a right royal footer drying them off, and all I can find online to buy are prawn crackers

Not sure if it's the same ones Toddy but Tesco still stock the vesta chow mein which I think has the same crispy noodles as part of it

 

[Tengu]

Great British food...But often the GB take on the exotic.

I remember when a curry was what my Nan made...and had raisins in it.

 

[fielder1963]

I quite like the chicken flavour Fray Bentos.
I'll get my coat.

 

[bobnewboy]

We’ve still got a couple of FB pies stashed away. I think they basically last forever and are certainly one of the best ‘emergency’ foods, even if they’re not the tastiest. In a squeeze they will be there and still edible

 

[Woody girl]

Well, I got a fray bentos steak and kidney..... they used to be a pound, now two pound fifty, but that's our local overpriced Co op.
Still, it came out of the oven looking just like I remembered, cut it in half, and wondered where the filling was....lots of gravy, but no meat! Well, I eventualy discoverd two tiny bits of kidney, and five small bits of something I think is meant to be steak, but was mostly gristle.
BIN!
The tin has come in handy as a base for my IKEA stove .
Never, no more!

 

[Toddy]

You should write and complain; tell them how dire it was.
You might get your money back ?

M

 

[billycoen]

Fray Bentos pie,followed by Cadbury's chocolate pudding in a tin...top gordon blue scoff..

 

[woodspirits]

Ha ha Baron v s, loving the way every comment sways you! Just do it!

 

[Baron Von Scheele]

Well, I got a fray bentos steak and kidney..... they used to be a pound, now two pound fifty, but that's our local overpriced Co op.
Still, it came out of the oven looking just like I remembered, cut it in half, and wondered where the filling was....lots of gravy, but no meat! Well, I eventualy discoverd two tiny bits of kidney, and five small bits of something I think is meant to be steak, but was mostly gristle.
BIN!
The tin has come in handy as a base for my IKEA stove .
Never, no more!

comments like yours made me leave my nostalgic Fray Bentos memories just as they are so as not to spoil them. thank you

 

[Baron Von Scheele]

Ha ha Baron v s, loving the way every comment sways you! Just do it!

nah, I am not going near it. What happened in the 90s, stays in the 90s!