the McRib?

[sc_rufctr]

The last time I ate Maccas was more than 15 years ago.

- If I'm on the road and I have to buy fast food I go for a family owned fast food outlet or occasionally KFC because my mum likes it.

Have you guys ever had proper Fish and Chips?

[javadog]

Yeah, I lived in Melbourne when I was a kid, so I’ve had plenty of fish and chips. It was years ago, back when they wrapped them in soon-to-be-soggy newspaper. It was OK, but back then I didn’t like the vinegar. I was used to eating fried fish (usually fried shrimp) with tartar sauce.

When I used to get a hamburger down there, it always came with a fried egg on it for some stupid reason. I was used to eating McDonald’s and Burger King in the US, there was nothing like that down there when I lived there in the late 1960s.

I don’t remember hardly any good food down there from my youth. Too much mutton. I did like the meat pies that we got for lunch at school. It was the only choice for lunch, which was pretty odd, but I did like those. I was used to something different for lunch every day in the US, in Australia it was the same meat pie every day. I had to pay for it every day too, unlike in the US which gave you your school lunch for free. The entire ritual surrounding school lunches was bizarre.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by javadog

I had to pay for it every day too, unlike in the US which gave you your school lunch for free.

We had to pay in public schools in Ohio. I remember a quarter in the early 60's.

Never ate a McRib. The fact that the "pork" was molded turned me off.

[stevej37]

^^^ We had the same rate, but the lunches were only available once a week, thru 6th grade.

I remember we could get the small glass bottles of milk every day.
The rate was 10 cents for white, 15 cents for chocolate and that covered five days worth!

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by javadog

Yeah, I lived in Melbourne when I was a kid...

The entire ritual surrounding school lunches was bizarre.

I remember getting 20 cents everyday for lunch (early 70s).
That would buy me a pie or pasty, Kitchener bun and a small carton of flavoured milk.

The Kitchener Bun is a doughnut without a hole filled with whipped cream and dusted with brown sugar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchener_bun

[javadog]

We got a meat pie and plain milk. No other choices.

Every morning, all of the classes would meet on a parade ground and we stood at attention, in two columns. A couple kids would wheel something over that looked like a very tall wooden chest of drawers on wheels and a kid at the head of the line for each class would go and retrieve one drawer out of it. He would then walk up and down both sides of his class and each kid would throw in an envelope with their name on it and payment for lunch. The kids would then put the drawers back in the apparatus and it would be wheeled somewhere off of the school grounds where they made the lunches. It would return at lunchtime and make the rounds of all the classrooms, where that classroom’s drawer would be pulled out and the pies distributed. We ate lunch at our desks.

Bizarre.

[sc_rufctr]

^^^ Thanks Java... Your post brought back some ancient memories.

We sang "God Save The Queen" every morning and we also got a 1/4 pint of milk paid for by the state government.

[fintstone]

I had to pay for my lunch...but didn't always have money. It builds character for kids to not always get what you want whether you can pay for it or not. My parents tried hard to give me the money every day. Once I was about 8 or 9 years old and could make my own choices, I usually saved my money and skipped lunch (for college some day).

We had no breakfast available. Our lunch was in a cafeteria where our only choice was whole milk or buttermilk. If you were bussed in like I was, your day stared at 5AM (on the bus) and ended at 5:30 PM (off the bus). If you played sports or any other after school activity, it was later. If no lunch money, you simply did not eat until you got home. We had no fat kids.

[javadog]

I went to school at places all over the world. I actually enjoyed the meat pies in Australia and chicken fried rice was a favorite in Singapore. I often puked after lunch in Louisiana, because plain grits was on the menu there and I tried eat them, although I hated that type of food completely. When you’re a kid, and you’re starving, you will attempt to eat anything. Somewhere in high school they finally lifted the campus lockdown restrictions and allowed you to go off campus for lunch. I would either eat at a Sonic or Arby’s, or walk to a grocery store and buy a couple candy bars, a package of Starburst and a Dr. Pepper. Maybe some cheese and crackers, if I was really hungry.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

The last time I ate Maccas was more than 15 years ago.

- If I'm on the road and I have to buy fast food I go for a family owned fast food outlet or occasionally KFC because my mum likes it.

Have you guys ever had proper Fish and Chips?

Assuming you believe proper Fish and Chips can be had in Gibraltar, then yes, I believe so.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by javadog

Yeah, I lived in Melbourne when I was a kid, so I’ve had plenty of fish and chips. It was years ago, back when they wrapped them in soon-to-be-soggy newspaper. It was OK, but back then I didn’t like the vinegar. I was used to eating fried fish (usually fried shrimp) with tartar sauce.

Yes, I grew up on fried fish and tartar sauce.

I've had FnC with vinegar a few times. For me, the vinegar matters, not just any vinegar will do. But, good fried fish with the right vinegar is heaven.

[javadog]

Malt vinegar is the vinegar of choice, I can tolerate it now but I hated it then. Vinegar and salt potato chips aren’t bad, in small quantities.

I think the only thing I ordered as a kid in a restaurant was fried shrimp. My dad like to fish, so I also ate a buttload of fried bass and crappie, always with tartar sauce.

[fintstone]

I sure have had some great fish and chips at both ends of the continent (in Sydney and Townsville). Seems to be a staple. I generally do not use the malt vinegar.

I grew up not eating tarter (we did have ketchup), but prefer it as an adult (if it is made the way I like it).

[sc_rufctr]

I remember an Indian girl who had recently arrived in Australia with her family. She brought her lunch in from home on her first day of school. Her teacher told her she had to eat the food from the canteen at that was it. No protest or disruption of any sort and her mother ended up working in the canteen.

How times change.

[javadog]

I would’ve been happy to trade lunches with her…

[sc_rufctr]

Same here but 70s Australia was very conservative. Imagine trying to do something like that now?

[javadog]

I moved there in 1968, I remember those days.

I imagine there’s nothing in Australia that’s the same now as when I lived there. I’ve heard that cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide all have a good food now. Who knew it was possible?

[stevej37]

My senior year in high school was the first year of the new 18 year old drinking age for MI

Needless to say, that was the end of school cafeteria food for me.
When the buzzer rang, it was a mad dash to the local Bar & Grill. Order a burger and two beers and have at it. Then back to class for a nap.

Three years later, they raised the age back up to 21....which I had just turned.

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Have you guys ever had proper Fish and Chips?

You mean like Long John Silver's????

Just kidding. I used to live in England and have visited Ireland a few times.

We went to this great chippy in Dublin near Christ Church Cathedral. The shop was over 100 years old.

My mother-in-law, rest her soul, stood looking at the menu board for a bit then walks up to the counter and asked whether they had salmon. Something I'll never forget.

[matthewb0051]