Karen Wright: Dishes remembered from our childhood

These days it tends to be called dinner or even supper and now we eat later around 7pm. Whatever you call it, in this country it tends to be the main meal of the day, unlike in France for example where the main meal is eaten in the early afternoon.

For me cooking the evening meal is often the highlight of my day. Food preparation and cooking is more than the fundamental process of getting a meal on a plate, it is where our earliest memories are made and traditions are set. What we cook, where, when and how, shape our history and I find the whole subject fascinating.

Our favourite dishes are often those that we remember from our childhood or later from visiting restaurants and from our travels when we bring back new ideas and build those recipes into our repertoire of favourite meals.

Last week I decided to cook my husband a couple of his favourite ‘pub classic’ meals. One night, I made sausage and mash with red wine gravy and the next I made gammon, pineapple, egg, peas and potato wedges. We both really enjoyed these rather retro dishes. I posted photos on social media and the response was phenomenal! So many people commenting and every comment was positive, with one exception, that person loved the gammon but said pineapple should never be on a savoury dish!

What do you think, do you like pineapple with gammon, pineapple on pizza, or pineapple in sweet and sour? Whatever your views on pineapple why not recreate your own favourites from the past. Simple to cook things like this really do take us on a trip down memory lane.