'Nostalgic food' can connect your residents with their memories and play an important role in themed events. VfL's Chef Alex explains.
When you're catering for older people, you get a feeling that some dishes are more popular than others, whether it's cottage pie or jam roly-poly. But what makes some dishes so popular? Taste, texture, presentation and nutrition are all important but in this article I would like to talk about the power of nostalgia and its effect on food choices.
What is nostalgia? A memory of a happier time? Chips wrapped in newspaper, jelly and ice cream at a children’s birthday party, or the comforting smell of freshly baked bread? For me, satsumas inspire a Christmassy feeling – as children, we would receive a couple of satsumas in our stockings on Christmas morning, and even 50 years later I long for satsumas at Christmas.
As caterers and carers, it is our job to find out which foods inspire memories.
Recreate memories and enhance moods
Let’s take the example of school dinners. If you want to recreate the meals of bygone times, talk to your residents – find out what they remember about the dinners served when they were at school. What were their favourite meals? You can enhance the mood with photos; do your residents have any pictures of themselves as children in their school uniforms? If the school is still open, you could contact them to see if they have any historical pictures from when the residents attended. You could even alter or decorate the lounge to resemble a school dining hall.
Holidays are a good theme for nostalgia and comfort food. I was recently at a conference organised by the National Association of Care Catering (NACC). Presenting one of the sessions was a company that sets up displays in care homes. One particularly interesting display was of the classic British seaside; in addition to the familiar seafront images (including lighthouse, beach, children playing and ice-cream van), the display also recreated seaside sounds. This display proved popular with residents; it facilitated memories of happy holidays and provided a platform for comfort and reminiscence. Such displays can be used alongside menu-planning and social activities around food, and combining mealtimes with nostalgia.
When planning food-themed events, there is an important difference between comfort food and nostalgic food. Too often, we hear how older people like to eat 'traditional foods', which are often seen as unadventurous. However, it is important to consider how our palates have greatly changed, even in recent times. For example, the UK's first pizza chain, PizzaExpress, opened in 1965. For people in their 70s and 80s, pizza was not on the menu until relatively recently, although we now consider it an everyday food. Similarly, regulars such as curry, Chinese food and burgers appeared on our high streets after some of the people we cater for had entered adulthood. This highlights a difference between a person's comfort food (such as pizza or burgers) and food that inspires nostalgia (such as cottage pie or hotpot); it is important to talk to the people you cater for, and listen to them when discussing choices.
Eating together and sharing the same food can be a positive experience. If you are catering for vegans or vegetarians or would like to increase the number of plant-based options on your menu, VfL's chefs have produced several tried and tested recipes, all of which go down a storm. Here are a few ideas.
Our easy-to-make hotpot recipe uses Quorn and is suitable for large or small batches. When I demonstrate this at community centres, I precook whole potatoes – I then fry potato slices and place them on top of each serving. Always serve with pickled cabbage!
Mushroom and 'Steak' Steamed Pudding
This recipe was part of my entry to the NACC Care Chef of the Year Competition – I served it with fondant potatoes. Rolling the pastry takes a little longer, but it's certainly worth the effort. I received a comment from one happy diner that the recipe was one of the nicest things they had ever eaten. Serving with gravy makes it absolutely delicious!
Cottage pie needs no introduction, but a vegetarian recipe can have all of the flavour and texture of a meat-based version. However, making this version means that everyone can enjoy the same dish, which saves time creating separate dishes. If you are creating a vegan version, check that the soya/plant-based mince is vegan. If you're using dried soya mince, I recommend rehydrating it in vegetable stock before use. If this is your first time making the veggie version, you may want to add a few more herbs and spices than you would normally use.
Carrot cake has its own history; its popularity grew during World War II when sugar was rationed. The natural sweetness of carrots was an easy and cheap swap for rationed sugar.
Whether served hot or cold, this dish provides a wonderful combination of sweet and tangy flavours and an interesting contrast in textures. This recipe creates a vegan version of an egg-free meringue by using the water from tinned chickpeas, combined with sugar. The recipe can also be used to create meringue nests: Simply pipe small nests onto a lined sheet and cook on a low light (gas mark 1) for 2 hours.
For more nostalgic recipes please visit vegetarianforlife.org.uk/recipes/ or, for more ideas on developing your own great recipes and for further information on supporting older vegans and vegetarians, please explore the rest of our website: vegetarianforlife.org.uk/
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Recipes