Worst childhood dish memories

[Greyhoundmum]

well I also grew up on UK school dinners and remember the dreaded tapioca pudding.  Mum used to also regularly make liver and bacon and steak and kidney cannot stand either combination.

[Cuilidh]

Mama Fergie, despite where my heart is, I am actually not a Scot (by birth) - my parents immigrated to NZ before I was born - they were both from the Isle of Lewis and that is still where most of my family live (although I do have an uncle and one or two cousins scattered around Glasgow).  I went to Scotland first when I was 19 and lived on the island for many years in my early 20s.  My DH is from Sutherland so we have strong links to the highlands and islands and head 'home' as often as we can.  We love to go back and catch up on everyone. DHs side of the family are "wee frees", so Sundays take a bit of getting used to again, but it is good to have one day of rest.

Brumington, where do you live?  DH loves a good white pudding ... my aunt in Lewis used to make a great one, but no one thought to take down her recipe and now it is too late!

That was getting away from this thread a bit, wasn't it.  Sorry.  My worst food memories as a child were the usual suspects, already mentioned, tripe, lambs fry ... even sheep's head soup (yes, my parents were crofters and from a very poor area so if an animal was slaughtered all parts were used), however my very worst memory was of lamb cutlets!  It wasn't so much the lamb cutlets so I can't blame them, but I suspect whatever the animals were fed on, both my sister and I thought they tasted of elephant droppings and we just couldn't eat them!  They tasted totally foul.  Then there were the chickens that tasted of fish because they were fed fish meal - that wasn't a very pleasant experience either!

[mcmich]

Just reading these posts is making me feel ill - having been bought up vegetarian it wasn't until I got married that I started cooking chicken and meat.
The first roast chicken I cooked I left the inards still intact - had no idea that they had to be removed.
I still get the heebie jeebies handling chicken and vacuum packed corned beef. 

[Nikkit]

This thread is funny!

My Grandma's "fatty water soup". Well that is what I call it. She boils the bejeezus out of a piece of meat with 2 tablespoons (no more) of barley, 1 stick of chopped celery and a chopped carrot. When the bejeezus has been boiled out of the meat she scrapes the meat off the bone and puts it in a container in the freezer (I still have not figured out why - or what she uses it for later ) puts the bone back into the fatty water with the barley and veges and ta-da "fatty water soup". This feeds a multitude of people - 'cos if more people come she just adds more water. (She is 90 and she still makes it).

Grandma's boiled mutton. That has a smell and taste that you just cannot explain. (we need a 'puke' icon here!)

Brussel Sprouts. I have a funny memory of me at 18 declaring that I was bloody well old enough to decide what I did and did not eat when I came home once. Dad got me on the floor and sat on me and tried to get one in my mouth. It was pretty darned funny when none went in my mouth, but all over Dad. He got up, dusted himself off, looked at Mum and said "darl, I don't think Nik likes 'em". I still giggle when I see them in the shops!

I'm sure I'll think of more as the day goes by...

Oh - steak and kidney pie. Definite puke material. Gross, disgusting and gross, blick, yuk, erk!

[SueJen]

Really had fun reading this thread. Was really lucky growing up. My Gran was a great cook but Mum, usually meat and 3 veg. The veges were boiled and boiled and boiled, meat not too bad though. One time she cooked sweet breads, disgusting. My gran cooked great lambs fry, brilliant Beef and kidney and too die for lambs brains with white sauce and parsley.

[Nikkit]

SueJen - sweetbreads - gosh you've brought back more memories! 

Many many moons ago I was working in the Kimberleys on a station and they killed their own beef, all good until it came to the bbq that night. There were some Italians working out in the bush (can't remember what they did now) and they came in and "cooked" the sweetbreads. Oh my giddy aunt - they were disgusting. Full of sand, undercooked and not cleaned properly. Eeewwww.

Also they had a big vat filled with salt water in the coolroom and it was my job to "fish" for the cured meat. It was red, slimy and about 3 feet deep and I had to put my arm into it up to my shoulder and hook out a lump of meat. I always imagined something was going to take my arm off at the shoulder - it never happened - but the things you think of when you are in a dark coolroom trying not to fall into something really yukky. Must admit though - the meat was good!

[Mama Fergie]

Everyone is different regarding offal.

My parents and grandparents loved it but I can't even look at it.

You just triggered off memories of the over cooked veggies Sue Jen. Yuk  

UK school dinners were disgusting as well. Even the smell coming from the dinner hall still comes to me when I think of it .

Thank goodness we have moved on !!!  

[dede]

Has anyone mentioned Black pudding, OMG that is the most disgusting food ever, my dad use to love it.
And I agree with others that Mutton Bird is disgusting to look at and the smell is unbearable as well.
Also Spam, all offals, sweet breakfast cereals (coco pops, fruit loops etc). Yuck

[obbie]

so glad I didn't eat any of this yuk stuff

[Mama Fergie]

You must be one of the lucky ones Robyn 

[obbie]

MF we always cooked everything by scratch, no packet stuff. parents worked 6 days a week. They had pharmacies, so we were at the shop/ shops.

that was way before a thermomix or  anything like it.

the worst thing for us was rice  pudding, as a desert.( Which is not really that bad.)

[jeninwa]

Oh dede I love mutton birds, when we lived on the east coast of tas, our neighbor use to take ds1 mutton bird hunting, I would cook them in an old electric fryfan on the back porch. I always remember a place in Perth tas. use to sell them. Love spam, steak and kidney, lambs fry and bacon.
My mum boiled the life out of our veg, spuds where hit and miss, steak was like eating a piece of leather. Soups sat on the stove top and got heated up every night in winter, no refrigeration and so thick  and gluggy you could eat it with a fork😀

[dede]

I live in Perth, Tas. No one sells it here now. I always made DH cook them out side as I can't stand the smell. He has not eaten them for a long time as the last time he did he got sick, so hasn't touched them since. We use to sell them from our butcher shop and they were very popular. I can remember my dad going mutton bird hunting many years ago.

[jeninwa]

It's many years ago dede when when would buy them when going through Perth.

[dede]

We have only been here 6 1/2 years, we traveled through Perth quiet often while growing up but never really stopped.
13 years ago while I was on my way to hospital in labour my DH had to stop to grab something to eat at Perth, meanwhile I had 3 contractions waiting for him lol. He drove much faster after that (only 1 hour before DD was born)
We still laugh about him always thinking about his stomach no matter what the situation