The times they are a-changing

Tomorrow is the day of the big move to London, and I have been thinking about change.
In what feels like fast-moving times we cling on to the familiar. Were things really better in the old days? When it comes to food, tasting a familiar food is a bit like hearing an old song - it can take you back to a certain time in your life. Even just thinking about a Snicker’s bar takes me back to standing at the bus stop, waiting for the bus home from school. Have you ever had Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups? They are an American invention - you used to be able to get them in Woolworth’s (strange how even that is now part of history). I loved these beyond measure - they were the pinnacle of gourmet confectionery as far as I was concerned. Now I hardly dare eat one. I suspect the memory is better than the reality, and that my taste buds have probably moved on.
We refer to certain dishes as “comfort food” - an elastic term which might cover shepherd’s pie or a sponge pudding. Does the comfort come from the reassuring stodge, or the fact that these dishes are soothingly familiar?

In the case of food the traditional seems like a better option than the artificial flavours and mass manufacture that dominate our food culture these days. Is a backlash against this finally beginning to take off?
I was with a few friends in a Norwich restaurant last week. On the drinks menu were soft drinks from Claire Martinsen’s Breckland Orchard, a Norfolk company which has gone from strength to strength since it was founded a couple of years ago. These are old-fashioned drinks made in small batches, with a touch of nostalgia about them. Nearly all of us ordered them and we all had a different flavour. They are cool and refreshing, perfect for a hot day. The pear and elderflower tasted more of elderflower than pear to me, like an old-fashioned cordial with a fruity back-note. More unusual was the strawberry and rhubarb, which tasted uncannily of those rhubarb-and-custard sweets which you can buy from big jars by the quarter-pound. I even checked the label for its ingredients, but it does seem to be made with genuine rhubarb juice, not crushed-up sweets as I had imagined!
I also tried the sloe lemonade, a new flavour which had just a hint of sloe - more like lemonade with an edge. There is a more traditional cloudy lemonade, too.

If you prefer a cheaper, home-made alternative, make your own lemonade - just squeeze a few lemons, finely grate the rind of one of them, and dilute with water and sugar to taste. Best served chilled, and some ice cubes and mint leaves will finish it off nicely.