Food was an interesting thing for me in those days.
I usually ate millie pap and gravy for breakfast made by the maid. She used sour porridge and made the yummiest savory stew to go along with it. To this day I still prefer a savory breakfast. For lunch I often had a cheese sandwich or a hot dog sandwich or my favorite toasted cheese and tomato. Yum! I still make toasted cheese and tomato at every opportunity, and I have been working on a refined version of millie pap and gravy.
We also had a puffed wheat cereal that I ate dry by the handful. I hav enot been able to find anything like it in America.
My mom used to say that I “only ate three things”. Lamb chops, grilled prawns and Chinese food. Which was defintely true.
Sunday nights we usually had chops and chips (lamb chops and French fries) – I loved those meals, still do.
We had a formal dining room and ate dinner as a family served by Abbiott, the Gardner by day, white-coated waiter by night. My mom had a little bell and would ring for the servants to bring the next course or take away dirty dishes. We literally ate 3 course meals every day. Nobody was allowed to leave the table till everyone was done and I always struggled to finish what my mom dished up for me. I Remember people sitting staring – glaring at me really – saying “eat Neil” over and over while I ignored them. I sometimes would get my cold dinner from the night before, for breakfast the next day. It wasn’t always like that. We all used to fight over the bone marrow in the soup, the roasted potatoes, and the bread-and-blood drippings when Meat was carved. I still have a serious craving for those tidbits.
What is so odd about that, is that today I have a very expanded and developed palate. I eat pretty much everything, and my self-expression is that I LOVE to play in the kitchen!
For example:
My Life: A Memoir 