Fast food survival

My mother had many interests and wonderful attributes but cooking wasn't high on her list of pastimes. Lucky for her, in the 1960s the Western world was discovering the 'joy' of convenience foods. Premixed, freeze-dried, parboiled, dehydrated – you name it, we had it on our pantry shelves. Anything that would reduce her hours in the kitchen made it to her shopping list and eventually to our dining table.

A typical meal was meat and two veg, which often included Deb Instant Mashed Potato and Surprise Peas, no doubt named because their little dehydrated pellets sprung to life when doused in boiling water. Who wouldn't? The meat was generally well to over done.

We had Uncle Ben's (parboiled) Rice, which began production as far back as 1943 in the US and started to reach our shores in the 1960s. Interestingly, it was the top-selling rice in the US from 1945 right up to the 1990s. In keeping with creeping cultural influences, we ate Aunt Jemima Pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast. I'm thinking there has to be a PhD thesis in this kind of branding, but perhaps it has already been written.

We were quick to swoop on Moccona freeze-dried instant coffee which was regarded as the sophisticated choice, even though it tastes like dry-cleaning fluid (I swear I'm operating on hearsay here). Reassuringly, the company claims it is instant coffee made from 100% coffee beans. To add to Moccona's glamour, in Australia it was only sold in delicatessens, specialty stores and pharmacies until the mid '70s. Somehow it has retained its prestige and, even though it is now found on every suburban supermarket shelf, mysteriously the empty glass jars are now considered 'collectables'.

Maybe this is what's turned me into a slow-food mama. I am still suspicious of the microwave and am one of its very late adopters. But, despite my decided distaste for fast and convenience foods, I have to admit that, along with my father turning his creative hand to the culinary arts, they probably saved me from starvation.