You can't have a message board about school and then not talk about those dreaded school dinners! I think people the world overlook forward to their lunch break - who wouldn't enjoy hanging out with their mates for an hour. But don't enjoy the not so nutritious, unappetizing slop on a plate. But that said, I do have fond memories of the afters which was a bit better than the main dishes. It was generally stodge but traditional, British stodgy classics LOL like Jam tart and custard, rice pudding and chocolate pudding.
What are everyone else's memories of school dinners?
I suppose our school dinners were no different to any other Greater London school: hamburgers, chips, fish and chips, meat pies, mash and gravy. I didn't mind them. I remember we also had a burger van that used to turn up at lunch time on the school grounds. The burger van guys must have been raking it in!
School lunches were not the best at my school. They didn't even look that appetizing. But I get it - they're catering for some many kids, most of who are very picky eaters, so the cooks are doing the best they can. Especially on a limited budget. Alot of the time I took in my own lunch. At least then I knew I was guaranteed something healthy that I knew I would like.
I did my schooling in France and I suppose we were very lucky with our school dinner menus. There were always salads, a well balanced main meal and fruit and cheese for afters. And at certain times we'd have a proper pudding instead of fruit for dessert. The French have a very healthy attitude to food and mealtimes and at French schools it's normal to have more than the two courses. They really take into consideration things like nutrition but you don't feel deprived of anything and still have treats here and there. So I'm really stunned by the things I hear those who grew up in Britain and America were being served.
I grew up in the UK so my school dinners wouldn't have been that different to a lot of yours here. The dreaded spam, chips, chips and more chips, mash (they loved their potatoes didn't they!) spaghetti in sauce, sausages. Oh not forgetting the baked beans. There were days when the food wasn't bad but then there were others when we didn't really fancy what was on offer.
And why has no one here mentioned concrete cake? I'm sure you've all had it!
I'm gonna be a little different here and say that my high school actually served up grate meals. I'm not talking Michigan star quality but it was pretty good. There was a good selection, lots of fresh salads, the burgers and hot dogs werent bad, good choice for vegetarians. I wasn't a diabetic in those days so didn't have to be too carefull about what I ate.
As I grew up in Britain like a lot of the commenters here, My school dinners were pretty much the same as theirs. Burgers, chips, mash or roast spuds, slices of bread, pasta. Though in the summer we had cold meat or grated cheese with salad. And there was always overboiled veg and beetroot though I'm not sure if anyone actually liked the beetroot.
Thanks Egg Yolk, you've brought back memories of the rice pudding and semolina both of which I've had only a handful of times since childhood - and without the puddle of jam. Though I loved the sponge with custard. And yes I also remember the the strawberry and chocolate custards.
My school had a lot of casseroles... zucchini, tuna fish etc. I didn't like any of them and I didn't like school lunches in general as I found them unappetizing and not very nutritious. Taking lunches from home was the only way to go!
Oh god yeah, spam! I love the hundred and one ways they tried to serve it but at the end of the day it was still spam and most of us put it in the slop bucket. I understand that spam is very economical shall we say, but if no one's eating it then it's just a waste. I also remember semolina or rice pudding with a dollop of jam in the middle, as well as jam tart and custard which I actually looked forward to.
Great post, Poisson! Well I don't think the school dinners I experienced were that different to what anyone else might have had. They did try to be healthy with the salad selection and fruit but then there was also chips galore and the dreaded spam fritters! There was no meat on a Friday so they served up battered fish or fish curry which was more of a fish stew but actually not quite bad. Dessert was always my favourite course. I loved the pink and chocolate custards 😋 Oh and I remember when we used to have tinned fruit cocktail with custard. There'd be just one tiny piece of peach, pear, pineapple, grape and cherry floating in this bowlful of custard.
I'm sure they could have given us a bit more! Fruit that is not custard.