9 beloved foods that sum up an Irish childhood

Few things have the power to conjure up our childhoods the way food can. All we have to do is come face to face with a Findus Crispy Pancake and we're 13 again, desperately in love with Harvey Kinkle from Sabrina the Teenage Witch and finding secondary school maths a rude awakening after primary. 

If you grew up in Ireland there's quite a large chance these foods were regularly on the menu… 

1. Gateaux Swiss Rolls

Gotta getta Gateaux cake! These were all the rage in the 90s. If we were having a lucky day there would be one of these in the press to have after our dinner. We especially liked the pineapple ones and have fond memories of getting the heads eaten off us for picking off the chocolate.

2. Birds Eye Potato Waffles

These beauties were had at least three times a week, usually with beans. The day we realised you could put them in the toaster was a bit of a life-changing moment, even if our Mams forbade us from doing it because we’re not allowed to have any fun.

3. Angel Delight

What is this witchcraft? We simply add water to this weird powder, pop it in the fridge and it magically becomes a creamy, delicious dessert?

4. Cabbage

Yes, because teenagers need to add excessive wind to their list of woes. The only way to get out of it alive was to douse your cabbage in Bisto until it looked like you had put a little bit of cabbage on your gravy.

5. Findus Crispy Pancakes

Another frozen gem, these babies came in all sorts of exciting flavours: chicken curry, Bolognese, chicken and ham – and we loved them all. We remember being so excited to eat them that we’d burn our mouths on the roasting hot filling.

6. Country Spring lemonade

This would come in massive three litre bottles and would probably last about a day. We convinced ourselves it was healthy because it said it had ‘pure spring water’ in it.

7. Koka noodles

Pay the grand sum of twenty pence. Pop into boiling water for three minutes. Add flavour sachet. Eat warm, delicious noodles. What's not to love?

8. Paxo stuffing

Well okay, maybe we weren’t eating this every five minutes, but there was always a box of it in the press, always. Come to think of it, maybe it was the same box that was there for our entire childhood? Hmm.

9. Galtee cheese

A fat, uneven piece sliced off a Galtee block and wedged betwixt two slices of white bread constituted a good lunch back in the day. 

Do you remember these nostalgic foods? Do you still eat any of them or have you been put off for life? Or have we left any of your favourites off the list?