whose got fond memories of vesta curry and party 7's.?

Question

its take a walk down memory lane time.

Answer 1

We made those Vesta meals and my father was dead against it, the smell, the substance and even the price. He said i was wasting my money as he favoured good wholesome comfort food! i thought it was really cool at the time to be eating something out of a packet and that was virtually foolproof to cook even by my standards. lol. The beers i dont recall, we didnt touch alco around my parents. Somebody mentioned Yo Yo bics..wow i had forgotten all about those. Mint or that red packet which were toffee. I loved those and the big original Wagon Wheels.

Thanks for a youthful memory when life was simple and easy.



for the record, broken biscuits are available to buy at Poundstretchers (UK) and defo vesta curry's too. btw i'm gonna buy one this week!

Answer 2

It is still possible to buy 4 Vesta packet meals. Beef Risotto, Beef Curry, Paella and Chow Mein. None of them taste half as good as they did but of the 4 Chow Mein is the closest. They used to also make a Chicken Curry and a Chicken in a white creamy sauce of some kind but I cannot remember the name. I particularly liked that one.



The first three can be bought it several places for £1 (Poundland, Poundstretcher, Savers etc.) but the cheapest Chow Mein is in Tesco and Morrison's at £1.59 but in some shops it is more than £3. The Chow Mein never seems to be available alongside the other 3 so I guess that Vesta know that people are prepared to pay more for that particular one.



I;ve stopped buying any of them now because the taste is just so disappointing and not what I remember at all from the 60s.



I haven't a clue what Party 7's are. Care to explain?

Answer 3

I love all this English stuff that I've never heard of. (When I was in London in the mid-60s, I thought Wimpy Burgers were exotic. Never had a Party 7 or a Vesta.)



I can't believe there is or was actually something called a Choccie Biccie. That is so ridiculously twee. Only in Great Britain.

Answer 4

The Vesta packet meals used to come in two sizes, for one person or for two people. Now they are just the one size and they are not made of the same stuff. For a start I think most of the meat is Soya or something similar and artificial. There is a lot of flavouring - monosodium glutomate probably which is in most packet meals now but we did not have in the 60s when the Vesta meals were really popular.



Even simple things like packet soups are spoilt now because of the additives which we did not have a few decades ago. It used to be a healthy quick snack to have a packet soup, Knorr or Bachelors usually and a couple of slices of toast and they tasted of what they were supposed to be but not nowadays. Everything has zillions of additives to 'enhance the flavour'. What's wrong with genuine flavour which you only get with genuine ingredients?

Answer 5

Vesta Paella

Answer 6

What about Findus pizza. It was half a french stick with either a cheese or ham topping. Party 7's I remember well as that was top prize at Disc Bingo that my friend and I used to do every Thursday night in the pub. As i had a very good memory for what year records had come out I used to win every week, even if there was a tie breaker. Her dad loved me!



Just remembered Bird's Eye Crispy Cod Fries. They were lovely.

Anyone remember jellied veal? I used to buy 4oz of it from BHS and walk around the high street eating it. I have tried everywhere to buy it now, even Harrods food hall but no one does it any more.

Answer 7

Vesta curries, I used to have one of those on my half day off ,mum was not home to cook as she was also working so i always had a vesta curry. I did try one not long ago just for the nostalgia but it didn't taste right anymore -and not nearly enough of it :-)

On the subject of biscuits does anyone recall when you used to be able to buy a big box of broken biscuits ? What do they do with all the broken ones these days?

Answer 8

I've never heard of either one, not a clue what they could be.

But I do remember "I like Ike" buttons, poodle skirts & saddle shoes, watching the "one small step for man, giant leap for mankind" moonwalk, little Michael Jackson's first moonwalk, the day Kennedy was shot, watching the Beatles debut on Ed Sullivan....

but no vesta curry, and party 7's.

Guess I may have led a sheltered life?

Answer 9

I remember them very well, loved the curry, and the crispy noodles which you had to fry to put on top of the chow mein, and loved the paella, reminds me of babysitting, and a vesta meal was left for me to eat. but I did not get around to it. Party 7 beer, yes and party 12 did they not have a party 5, different sized. they did not taste all that good though, but what did we care, it went down with the cider, you could get cheap, as it was thought of as just like ginger beer, and boys getting very drunk on it.

Answer 10

I remember the Vesta packet foods very well. My favourite was the Vesta Paella. I used to think it was dead exotic. I make paella from scratch now and I must say it is much much nicer. I don't know what party 7,s is I'm afraid. Can you still buy Yo-Yo choccie biscuits? Haven't seen them for years.

Answer 11

Oh yes, the Vesta curry packets - really exotic at the time, about the early 70's I'd guess. Wish I could still get it, the taste was just right !

Answer 12

I remember the odd "life is full of Vesta situations" after my mum had my younger brother in 1970.

Answer 13

no cook , but you had to put two triangular openings in party 7 and hold it with 2 hands ! the raisins or some fruit used to rehydrate , they were tasty .

Answer 14

You can still buy it at Pound Stretcher, and its still as tasty as ever.......

Answer 15

and prawn cocktail and black forest gateau!!