Are old fashioned dinners a thing of the past?

screamer · 25-11-2020 11:35pm

i cook lots of traditional dinners, other stuff too, stirfrys etc. We always have roast on Sunday, beef, chicken, pork. Never had coddle, looks like vomit to me.

Wanderer2010 · 25-11-2020 11:52pm

Very little point in cooking a Sunday dinner these days when there are so many local pubs and hotels that do great roasts with all the trimmings. In fact i dont know anyone who actually cooks a sunday dinner anymore.

dubstarr · 25-11-2020 11:52pm

CelticRambler wrote: »

Going back to this original question, in my teenage family home, our "Sunday" dinner was moved to Monday when my mother decided she had better things to be doing on a Sunday than cooking! This was long before the days of the internet and social media, so for once that's not to blame - it was just a plain, old-fashioned analog family life getting in the way: going to see the relatives down the country, going to the beach/a fleadh/a parade, coming back from a weekend away, taking my sisters to a feis ...

So the roast ended up being our start-of-the-week dinner, with the leftovers usually making up Tuesday's dinner for those who were getting in late from whatever activities kept them from being at the table at 6 or 7.

Nowadays, I don't think any of the five households that make up the grown-up family have a set menu for any particular day of the week. If you turn up on a Sunday, it might be a roast ... but it could just as easily be pizza.

My mother does prefer offering a roast of some kind for special events, which I suppose is her way of perpetuating the tradition; whereas I (in exile for nearly 30 years now) would be more inclined to do individual portions of something. Christmas dinner this year is going to be pan-fried magret de canard served with dauphinoise potatoes (veg yet to be decided).

I often do a roast during the week.Kids in school,can cook it at a nice pace.
Rather than Sunday,and I get the kids coming in every minute asking me if it's done yet.

Triple.
I remember coming in from school,and my mam asking if I wanted tripe.I thought she said trifleðŸ˜‚.You can guess the rest.

Potential-Monke · 26-11-2020 4:09am

I live with my parents, so Sunday to Thursday is nearly always a proper dinner, stew, bacon and cabbage, mince and spuds, roast chicken, beef, pork, turkey and ham, lamb (not a fan). Always spuds, always veg, always meat. The father would happily eat just spuds and meat.

On Fridays, it can be a proper dinner, or a take away depending on the mood, or if they have a large breakfast, it's usually sandwiches or some cake-a-bread. Saturdays are the same.

When I was living by myself, my dinners mainly consisted of rice + chicken with a variety of sauces. But also a lot of takeaways, mainly Chinese food, some proper chipper food. I'm also mad for a McD's, their chips (I refuse to call them fries) are amazing imo. I'd eat nothing but them sometimes. And their hash browns... I feckin love 'em.

My favourite dinner is still bacon and cabbage but only if it's mammys, she adds bread soda to the cabbage when it's nearly done, softens it up lovely. That's followed by mince fried in oxtail soup over spuds with beans. Sweet baby jesus!

Graces7 · 26-11-2020 8:08am

Seamai wrote: »

I don't think there's anything you could do with tripe and drisheen to make it more appetizing, tripe cooking smell like some manky dishcloth being boiled to bejasus and as for drisheen which turns grey when boiled, yuk! Grey is not a good colour on a plate.

My father used to love tripe. The sight of it on his plate still haunts me. Many decades later..:eek:

Graces7 · 26-11-2020 8:25am

On my own, which influences meals... Love some of the SV Ready Meals especially the Bacon and Cabbage, so that is often my Sunday dinner. Good value at E4...Cooking it myself from scratch wears me out so this is a treat! (Not Irish but love that combination.)

Hate the curries and other mixed up "modern " stuff. Very traditional and happy with that.

Christmas Day sees the full dinner. A kind of celebration of all my long gone family. I enjoy the cooking etc and the memories. Candles lit, carols playing, tree lights shining... Tears never far away

Turkey, cranberry, roast potatoes and roast parsnips, stuffing, sprouts, gravy. I make the best roast potatoes ever - after my mother's of course

NB Thought the sprout harvest had failed as I have been ordering them for weeks. Light dawned as I was writing " Brussel sprouts" and the shop did not know them by that name... Just sprouts! They will be here today. My favourite vegetable.

PS remembering the last time I shared a table with others. The Westport Lunch Club who used to welcome me on the rare occasions I was in town on a Friday, Their Christmas dinner two years ago. A lovely happy occasion . And an excellent dinner. I do hope they will be able to do that this year. Happy staying home here

Doctors room ghost · 26-11-2020 9:59am

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

Very little point in cooking a Sunday dinner these days when there are so many local pubs and hotels that do great roasts with all the trimmings. In fact i dont know anyone who actually cooks a sunday dinner anymore.

Pubs and hotels are closed most of the last 9 months.

Squall · 26-11-2020 10:04am

Do a roast most sundays. Mix it up between beef, turkey and ham. Cant beat it. Leftovers do sandwiches for a day or two as well!

meeeeh · 26-11-2020 10:12am

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

Very little point in cooking a Sunday dinner these days when there are so many local pubs and hotels that do great roasts with all the trimmings. In fact i dont know anyone who actually cooks a sunday dinner anymore.

Most of the hotel or pub offerings are overcooked. There is nothing sadder than grey slice of beef with gravy from the box.

I love eating out but roast in an average hotel or pub is about as appealing as eating roast on plastic tray from Centra.

dubstarr · 26-11-2020 10:46am

I like doing different dinners.I wouldnt eat spuds 2 days on the trot, very boring.

I think now we have so much variety and choice.Why have the same dinners all the time.

Im quite lucky my kids will eat most things.

My mam was a terrible cook,now im not Jamie Oliver but i can rustle up a few dishes.

My oh likes plain food,which can be a pain.So he sometimes cooks his own.

Feisar · 26-11-2020 10:47am

Graces7 wrote: »

My father used to love tripe. The sight of it on his plate still haunts me. Many decades later..:eek:

Polish tripe soup is a beautiful thing.

Mullaghteelin · 26-11-2020 10:56am

Deleted User wrote: »

Bland boring dinner type. Good riddance i say.

I call it "old people food."
7 Days a week of potatoes (including chips) was not unusual, and is still my father's typical daily menu.

I used to love the free samples of food you would get in shopping centres. Any food that was spicy was an exciting adventure for me growing up.
I can remember the first time I tried pizza, curry, sweet and sour, etc.
My parents meanwhile, still take fright at anything they cannot pronounce.

Feisar · 26-11-2020 11:09am

Deleted User wrote: »

Bland boring dinner type. Good riddance i say.

I like curries/pizzas/chili con carne as much as the next person however a proper roast dinner is beautiful.

And what's this about slaving over a stove all day. Bung everything into the oven. Roast meat, roast spuds, roast carrots, roast parsnips, roast tomatoes on the vine, roast onion.
OK you'll need a little pot for the beef juice and red wine gravy but that's about it.

Stateofyou · 26-11-2020 11:09am

CelticRambler wrote: »

Simple rule in this house: if you don't want to eat what's prepared for the "family" (less of that these days, more a group of random guests) then you can cook something alternative for yourself and have it ready to serve at the same time. Funnily enough, there's rarely any demand for shared space at the cooker! :pac:

I had seven vegetarians visit at various stages over the summer; six of them "lapsed" during their stay. The worst was the lady who was going to cook some kind of rice dish, had all her ingredients laid out, got distracted by a phone call, and came back just at the moment that I pulled a pork roast out of the oven. The rice never left the packet ... and she had two helpings of the pork!

So to answer your question: yep -
- Roast meat & potatoes are quite regular here (though not necessarily kept for Sundays) ; cabbage is for caterpillars, so I'd have two or three other veg instead.
- Stews: regularly throughout the winter. I make up a big batch, put three or four portions in the freezer and eat the other three or four portions over the course of the week (I find the third re-heat is usually the best).
- Coddle : never had it in its "pure" form, but regularly make what in this house we call "shpeck und spuds" - Speck being the German for prosciutto/lardons/bacon-bits. The meat would be fresh out of the packet, but the potato would always be leftovers, so true to the spirit of coddle ... but fried in a pan (with onions, herbs, black pepper), so not really coddle either.

Edit: I have often had the Alsation version of coddle - choucroute (a version of sauerkraut). Suppose I should do a comparison tasting at some point ...

Would all these visitors be in the year of covid 2020? Stories like this one all over the country is why we had to bring restrictions in.

crossmolinalad · 26-11-2020 11:11am

Kylta wrote: »

Do people still do a sunday dinner, consisting of ham, roast, potatoes, cabbage?
Do people still do stews?
Do people still do coddles?

These days with most children, especially teenagers, not wanting this and only eating that, and people becoming vegans and vegetarians, people cutting down of different foods due to medical conditions etc.

So what's your opinion, if you refuse to answer, you'll get yesterdays leftover cabbage and potatoes for your dinner.

Eat what we have on the table or eat nothing
No choice here

seamus · 26-11-2020 11:16am

Coddle feels like some hipster meal that people swear blind is the best thing ever but was never actually popular.

I'm Dublin born and bred, but I never heard of coddle until people started talking about it on social media about five years ago, and now it seems like it's everywhere.

It looks like watery chunky soup with a mickey in it. Even if I ate meat, it doesn't look slightly appealing.

I do a roast here at home once a week, but stews are rare. Mainly because we couldn't be arsed with the battle to get the kids to eat it.

Ash.J.Williams · 26-11-2020 11:17am

xzanti wrote: »

I've never cooked or eaten coddle.

I love stew and cook it frequently.

Also love a good roast chicken dinner on a Sunday.

I don't really know what a "new fashion" dinner would be tbh?

i love sausages, but knowing what's in them and the fact that coddle is boiled i can only conclude that coddle is poison

preservative soup

SouthWesterly · 26-11-2020 11:21am

seamus wrote: »

Coddle feels like some hipster meal that people swear blind is the best thing ever but was never actually popular.

I'm Dublin born and bred, but I never heard of coddle until people started talking about it on social media about five years ago, and now it seems like it's everywhere.

It looks like watery chunky soup with a mickey in it. Even if I ate meat, it doesn't look slightly appealing.

I do a roast here at home once a week, but stews are rare. Mainly because we couldn't be arsed with the battle to get the kids to eat it.

You're not a real Dub if you've never heard of coddle.. Probably some type of blow in 10 generations ago

Introduced coddle to my kerry friends. They can't get enough of it.

CelticRambler · 26-11-2020 11:25am

dubstarr wrote: »

I like doing different dinners.I wouldnt eat spuds 2 days on the trot, very boring.

:pac:

: pac:

Not boring at all, if you invest a bit of time and imagination into the recipes. My summer visitors ate potatoes every day for two weeks and the only complaint I had was three days later from one young lady who said she was suffering severe withdrawal symptoms and could I send her some more. :cool:

Stateofyou wrote: »

Would all these visitors be in the year of covid 2020? Stories like this one all over the country is why we had to bring restrictions in.

Yes, they were all lockdown refugees; but no, none of them are or were responsible for any restrictions. They travelled to one of the least infected parts of France (where I live), kept at a distance of approximately 2-5km from other humans not part of our bubble for the duration of their stay, and quarantined themselves when they returned to their respective corners of the continent.

Feisar · 26-11-2020 11:41am

SouthWesterly wrote: »

You're not a real Dub if you've never heard of coddle.. Probably some type of blow in 10 generations ago

Introduced coddle to my kerry friends. They can't get enough of it.

Phil Ryan's Hogan Stand pub used to have it on the carvery every now and then. The chef was a rale ould Dub though. Looked lovely apart from the boiled sausages. Just couldn't get my head around that end of it.

Granadino · 26-11-2020 11:44am

The amount of money I have wasted over the years buying expensive lunches, sandwiches etc.
I have been trying to make my own lunches over the last few years. Healthier, less rubbish waste, way way cheaper.
I can't recall what the place was in Dublin, some kind of posh salad bar. I paid a tenner for a salad, or was it 12e. I had no issue at the time paying it and it was nice, and I understand you have to take out costs for the business, but when I thought about it later, I thought why the f*ck am I paying 12e for a salad?

boardlady · 26-11-2020 11:47am

I still do a form of a roast on Sunday - although I like to spend the day out and about so I've modified it a bit. I pop the meat (ham or beef joint) in the slow cooker and peel the veg (spuds, carrots, turnip etc). Then I go off and have my day. By the time I get back to it - 4/5, I just have to heat the oven and throw in all the veg. The meat is ready in the slow cooker when they are done in the oven. It's one of the easiest dinners to make actually!

neris · 26-11-2020 11:53am

Feisar wrote: »

Polish tripe soup is a beautiful thing.

Some of those polish and east european dishes are an acquired taste. got served a starter dish over there one time which was like a jelly but the colour texture and bits inside reminded me of something from a tin of dog food.

dubstarr · 26-11-2020 11:53am

CelticRambler wrote: »

:pac: :pac: : pac:

Not boring at all, if you invest a bit of time and imagination into the recipes. My summer visitors ate potatoes every day for two weeks and the only complaint I had was three days later from one young lady who said she was suffering severe withdrawal symptoms and could I send her some more. :cool:

Yes, they were all lockdown refugees; but no, none of them are or were responsible for any restrictions. They travelled to one of the least infected parts of France (where I live), kept at a distance of approximately 2-5km from other humans not part of our bubble for the duration of their stay, and quarantined themselves when they returned to their respective corners of the continent.

Im not a fan of spuds,i could take them or leave them.I like them now and again.No way could i eat them every day.

CelticRambler · 26-11-2020 11:56am

dubstarr wrote: »

Im not a fan of spuds,i could take them or leave them.I like them now and again.No way could i eat them every day.

Come over here and give me a chance to convert you!

dubstarr · 26-11-2020 12:02pm

CelticRambler wrote: »

Come over here and give me a chance to convert you!

Nope:D

Saying that i do have a son who would eat them everyday.A big plate with loads of butter.But out of all my kids hes the plainer eater by far.Obviously takes after his oul fella

Graces7 · 26-11-2020 12:04pm

dubstarr wrote: »

Im not a fan of spuds,i could take them or leave them.I like them now and again.No way could i eat them every day.

My easiest meal when I am not up to cooking is a small baked potato, microwaved and 2 scrambled eggs, also microwaved. Easy peelers afterwards.

Love potatoes; rarely pasta, maybe not for months now, and rice is for puddings.

Each to his/her own.

jim o doom · 26-11-2020 12:07pm

I do a lot of standard dinners throughout the year, coddles and stews I generally keep for the winter when it's cold. Plus with those sort of meals you might get two or three dinners out of a big one, with only two of us living together.

I also cook all sorts of roasts, lamb, pork (esp pig belly), ham, chicken, duck, whatever. Not specifically on a Sunday, but many times on a Sunday too.

Don't only do that though, I'm interested in other foods, so do BBQ/smoked stuff in the summer, tacos, curries, paella, pasta, whatever. Cooking is fun and satisfying, it's nice to cook traditional dinners and it's nice to cook other countries food too.. especially during the lockdown with little else to do than drink and eat at home.

meeeeh · 26-11-2020 12:08pm

neris wrote: »

Some of those polish and east european dishes are an acquired taste. got served a starter dish over there one time which was like a jelly but the colour texture and bits inside reminded me of something from a tin of dog food.

Some might be. However I also noticed that while Irish like to try different cusines people often prefer their stuff to be incinerated not just well done. I gave up on getting inlaws to try stake tartar. Even fried eggs have to be overdone.

seamus · 26-11-2020 12:13pm

Mullaghteelin wrote: »

I call it "old people food."
7 Days a week of potatoes (including chips) was not unusual, and is still my father's typical daily menu.

When I was a teenager there was a standing rule that if it was five o'clock and my Ma wasn't home, then you should just peel a lock of potatoes for the dinner.

As a result there was some form of potatoes 5-6 nights a week. Almost always boiled/mashed.

So for the first five years after moving out, I couldn't look at a boiled or mashed spud.

Feisar · 26-11-2020 12:38pm

neris wrote: »

Some of those polish and east european dishes are an acquired taste. got served a starter dish over there one time which was like a jelly but the colour texture and bits inside reminded me of something from a tin of dog food.

Probably solidified bone broth, was it cold?

mariaalice · 26-11-2020 1:03pm

Cheapest simplest dinner ever twice baked potato with beans or tuna, for other potato dishes, duck fat roast potatoes, proper mash with butter salt and pepper, new potatoes with butter salt and pepper.

I have made homemade leek and potato soup for lunch today.

Potatoes are endlessly versatile.

Aglomerado · 26-11-2020 1:04pm

dubstarr wrote: »

Im not a fan of spuds,i could take them or leave them.I like them now and again.No way could i eat them every day.

I'm regarded as a freak when we have a Sunday dinner at home: I'm the only one who doesn't reach for the bowl of boiled spuds in the middle of the table. I clear my plate apart from that though.

I like them roasted, baked, mashed etc. Just not boiled.

GLaDOS · 26-11-2020 1:06pm

I've made both coddle and stew in the last few weeks, lovely when its cold like this. Shepherds Pie next weekend.

ablelocks · 26-11-2020 1:56pm

at least 5 out of 7 days we have an "old fashinioned" dinner - that is, a proper meal - could be a stew, could be meat and veg and spuds, but could just as easily be a lasagne or a bolognese or a stirfry, but it's a meal that we all sit down to and enjoy. sometimes there'd be starters, sometimes desserts and definitely all 3 on a Sunday.

but coddle? never

sbsquarepants · 26-11-2020 2:08pm

Gregor Samsa wrote: »

If you look up recipes online, all you get is abominations. You do not cook it in an oven, and you do not brown the sausages or rashers first. This is the way.

They don't call it "mickey stew" for nothing.

Amen brother!

Blessed be the coddle.

Fúck me that looks delicious.

.anon. wrote: »

That'd bring a tear to a widow's eye.

I think I could eat coddle if the sausages were grilled or fried first.

Jesus no. Take the leap of faith my anonymous friend - those sausages are fantastic exactly as they are!

dubstarr · 26-11-2020 2:27pm

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Amen brother!

Blessed be the coddle.

Fúck me that looks delicious.

Jesus no. Take the leap of faith my anonymous friend - those sausages are fantastic exactly as they are!

I have to say that looks gorgeous.I could happily eat a bowl [or 3]of that now.

CelticRambler · 26-11-2020 3:15pm

dubstarr wrote: »

I have to say that looks gorgeous.I could happily eat a bowl [or 3]of that now.

You know it's got potatoes in it?

dubstarr · 26-11-2020 4:51pm

CelticRambler wrote: »

You know it's got potatoes in it?

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo:D

trashcan · 26-11-2020 6:01pm

Aglomerado wrote: »

I'm regarded as a freak when we have a Sunday dinner at home: I'm the only one who doesn't reach for the bowl of boiled spuds in the middle of the table. I clear my plate apart from that though.

I like them roasted, baked, mashed etc. Just not boiled.

Boiled is my least favourite spud, but I’d still eat them. Food of the Gods in my opinion. Chips, jacket spuds, roasties, wedges. Yum.

ATC110 · 26-11-2020 6:06pm

It all went wrong when "eat what you're given" was replaced with asking and giving children what they want along with separate mealtimes for parents and children.

CelticRambler · 26-11-2020 6:46pm

trashcan wrote: »

Chips, jacket spuds, roasties, wedges. Yum.

Sautéd, rissolé, dauphinoise, mashed (with lashings of butter and milk), fried mashed (with added onion and black pepper). Double yum! :pac:

dubstarr · 26-11-2020 6:52pm

ATC110 wrote: »

It all went wrong when "eat what you're given" was replaced with asking and giving children what they want along with separate mealtimes for parents and children.

No you really think being forced to eat food you genuinely dont like is a good thing.

And eating at different times,well sometimes thats just what happens.

whisky_galore · 26-11-2020 6:59pm

meeeeh wrote: »

Some might be. However I also noticed that while Irish like to try different cusines people often prefer their stuff to be incinerated not just well done. I gave up on getting inlaws to try stake tartar.

Tried a raw meat type thing once, biting into soggy cold raw meat is best left to the inmates of the lion enclosure at the zoo.

Cushtie · 26-11-2020 6:59pm

There is usually a roast here on a Sunday, either Chicken or Beef. Was only saying to herself the other day we must do a roast pork, didn't have one in ages.
rarely have lamb but the old folks at home have killed a couple of lambs for the freezer so will pick up some of that next time home. Christmas I suppose.

during the week it would be a mixture of regular stuff, Bacon and cabbage/turnnip. lasagne, pasts dishes, bangers and mash, home made pizza and chips, etc etc

I love a good beef stew, big pot, lasts a couple of days and the second day is always nicer. Shepards Pie is another real comfort food for me, seriously don't know when to stop.

Never had coddle, love drisheen and also liver and onions on occasion. that's rare enough now i would say.

Saturday Night is normally takeway night, going to try and cut that back to once every three weeks.

whisky_galore · 26-11-2020 7:01pm

ATC110 wrote: »

It all went wrong when "eat what you're given" was replaced with asking and giving children what they want along with separate mealtimes for parents and children.

If they don't eat what they're given, they can sod off and make whatever they want themselves.

jim o doom · 26-11-2020 7:05pm

I fry off my sausages for colour and caramelisation on the casing when I'm making coddle. Same for any bacon going in there, it defo adds flavour.

I can eat it just straight boiled, but the colour of them is a tad off putting, and food is a mix of visual, smell and flavour.

jim o doom · 26-11-2020 7:07pm

whisky_galore wrote: »

If they don't eat what they're given, they can sod off and make whatever they want themselves.

Weirdly I was a super picky kid and my parents coddled me (hah!) letting me eat what I wanted, and now as an adult I can and will eat almost anything, including everything I hated as a child.. well except maybe most mushrooms.

My wife on the other hand, who was also super picky, well her parents forced her to continually eat stuff she absolutely hated, never made any allowances for her preferences, and now as an adult, she is still picky.

Hard to say if it was parenting approach to food that has us as we are, or if we would have ended up with our picky vs not picky preferences as they are anyway.

_Brian · 26-11-2020 7:09pm

We make our own sausages here, not all the time but we make about a months worth each time.

It’s good crack, we all get involved and have a bit of fun.

jim o doom · 26-11-2020 7:23pm

_Brian wrote: »

We make our own sausages here, not all the time but we make about a months worth each time.

That looks epic, is there bacon in there as well? I have a meat mincer but I don't have a sausage machine.. yet..

Are old fashioned dinners a thing of the past?

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