Pasta - Rice, When Did It Become Mainstream In The UK?

jcb33 · 22 Dec 2008 at 11:37

Well as title, bit random I know... But still just wondering when the use of Rice, and Pasta became mainstream in the uk (As in what year).

Talking to my grandparents who still remember the war, and they do not seem to have had it back then so just wondering if it was avalible...

They had pudding rice mind for rice puddings...

Thanks!
Jcb33.

Greenlizard0 · 22 Dec 2008 at 13:15

I think it was a combo of different factors.

Influxing different cultures after WWII bought rice over as a main carbohydrate. Then mainstream demand was found for Italian food probably in the 80's or 90's.

Sub continental and Oriental people bought over a fair amount of novel tasting dishes that involved rice. Then as peoples' taste buds grew pasta and Italian food was wanted. I remember growing up as a kid in the 80's and apart from rice pudding or pasta shapes/noodles in tomato sauce there wasn't much else. Then all of a sudden schools started to serve spag bol and lasagna and pasta was the new thang.

Even though it's pretty good now, British cuisine was terrible back then which made people want to try something else.

daz · 22 Dec 2008 at 13:19

Modern british cuisine has come on leaps and bounds in the last 20 years.

The range of ingredients that a modern supermarket in the UK contains is quite amazing - and a lot of the ingredients we take for granted aren't available in a lot of places. Couldn't find any "rocket" for love nor money in the USA when I wanted to make a meal for my American relatives when i visited.

lozza23_uk · 22 Dec 2008 at 13:21

Greenlizard0 said:
snip...British cuisine was terrible back then which made people want to try something else.

You mean people dont want bread and dripping any more?

Haircut · 22 Dec 2008 at 13:25

daz said:
Couldn't find any "rocket" for love nor money in the USA

You know it's called arugula over there?

I know my Gran went on a continental cookery course back in the late 60s as my Mum said that they got loads of pasta etc. cooked for them for a while then, so it must have been available at that time, but was certainly a novelty.

Rice, at least in the form of rice pudding, has been around for donkey's years. It's possibly a more recent phenomenon in other sorts of dishes though.

Greenlizard0 · 22 Dec 2008 at 13:27

lozza23_uk said:
You mean people dont want bread and dripping any more?

Na, all the yuppies wanted olive oil instead...

Edit- the rise of the supermarket probably had a lot to do with it as well. The little local shops who didn't have comparable economies of scale, sourcing or marketing powers were suddenly finding themselves out priced and out stocked in their selection and variety of goods. It's only fairly recently we've had entire aisles devoted to Italian, Indian and Chinese food.