Tonight's Tea - Chicken Pathia

Ingredients:

oil, 1 fl oz

thinly sliced onion or pepper, a few slivers

tomato puree, 1 ½ level tbsp, mixed with 2 tbsp water

BE spice mixture, 1 tsp

¼ teaspoon of chilli powder

½ tsp dried fenugreek leaves

½ teaspoon of salt

1 tbsp of sugar

1 tbsp of mango chutney

2 tbsp of lemon juice

10 fl oz (approx 300 ml metric) BE curry base gravy

fresh tomato, a few quarters (5 or 6?)

fresh coriander, to garnish

Method:

heat the oil in a pan, add the onion/pepper mix, and fry up for about a minute

add the tomato paste, mix powder, salt, chilli powder and fenugreek, stir in well and fry up for about 30 seconds

add half the base gravy and stir in well

add the sugar and mango chutney and stir in

add the lemon juice and stir

The Dens Road Market

For once I am reminiscing about a place that is still there and still trading. It is however such a different place from the market that I remember. It now has maybe less than a handful of traders who have the whole building to themselves and they all seem to be selling the same furniture and household goods.

How about this quote from the Dundee City Council website, October 1981 - Bygone News http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/bygone/oct1981/#

Dens Road Market

Dundee's own Petticoat Lane...

Dens Road Market

Rated Scotland's finest indoor market - where bargain-hunting ends!

Something For Everyone:-

The Golden Age

The Younger Ones

The Trendy Set

Over 100 stalls

Come and see for yourselves - There isn't anywhere quite like Dundee's own market!

Opening times: Tuesday 9.30am - 2pm, Friday 9.30am - 5pm, Saturday 9.30am - 5pm, Sunday 10.30am - 4.30pm.

That there wasn't anywhere quite like the market I would agree with, but Dundee’s Petticoat Lane and Scotland’s finest indoor market is stretching it a bit perhaps. The “trendy set”, what on earth is that all about! However over 100 stalls is how I remember the market in its hey day which was well before 1981.

My own memories from Dens Road Market are much earlier than that and date from the late 1960s early 1970s. I remember there being lots of stalls. At one side of the building there were some really manky looking ones selling second hand clothing that would have made a jumble sale look classy. There were also other ones that were more akin to proper traders. I can remember my granddad looking at a stall that sold tools and my granny used to buy net curtains there. There was at least one cafe selling teas and hot food and my granny used to go there every time she went to the market. As a younger adult I remember a second hand book shop that had lots of good paperbacks at reasonable prices.

One thing that never changes though is the smell. It’s a difficult smell to describe but it’s sort of dusty and musty, though not in an unpleasant way. It really takes you back to childhood.

The City Arcade and a "Taste" of the Orient

The City Arcade was such an integral part of my childhood but I can’t really remember a huge amount about it. Perhaps it closed when I was quite young.

I always remember going down the entrance in the pend that runs between Castle Street and City Square. You can still see the door now. At the bottom of the stairs there was a life size Dalek that you sat in. Probably the most well known ride must have been Champion the Wonder Horse and I seem to recall it sang the theme tune.

Perhaps the strongest smell from that time would have been at the entrance at City Square where there were roasting chickens turning on a rotisserie. I think this may have been Mitchell’s of Letham? Probably my strangest memory from the Arcade is that my granddad bought a little tin case of a thing called “Tiger Balm”. This was a hard cream that you rubbed on your forehead when you had a headache. It sort of tingled or stung so I suppose that counteracted the pain but I also remember it had an anti-septic smell so I wonder if it contained local anaesthetic. I remember my granddad was delighted to see it in a shop in Dundee, because he said it was the first time he had seen it since he was in Singapore or Malaysia when he was in the Army.

The Dundee City Council website has some great little snippets in their byegone section, for example:

July 1906 The New Arcade

Everybody says "Splendid Have you been to see it? The window displays are lovely"

Incidentally, there are quite a number of special bargains to commemorate the opening at different counters, and a hint is just as good as a bookful of directions, is it not?

July 1959 Home Made Beer or Stout

Make your own beer or stout at home. 12 pints from 2s packet of Malt, Hops etc. Full directions on the packet. Special yeast 4½d per packet. By postage extra.

Radiant Health Centre,

City Arcade,

Dundee.

April 1960 Wedding Bouquets

Wreaths and Sprays

By

Floral Artists

Imrie

City Arcade, Dundee.

The Flairs

I wonder how many people will have heard of “The Flairs”?

Having my grandmother’s side of the family hailing from Arbroath meant that I spent a lot of time there as a child and being without siblings meant that two of my cousins were the nearest thing I had to brothers.

Along with the Angus Show, a trip to the Flairs was an essential activity, and this usually happened on a Saturday or a Sunday when the adults were off work. To me, the Flairs was a beach. It was a special beach. It was our beach. For holiday makers in Arbroath going to the beach meant crossing the main road from the Red Lion Caravan Site. The Flairs however was a secret beach that required local knowledge and because of that it was never packed out with people.

This place was full of excitement. As you climbed down the path at the southern entrance, there was a pipe sticking out of the cliffs which someone had linked to a freshwater spring, I assume from the nearby farmland. There was also another freshwater spring nearer the top end of the bay, but this was only accessible at low tide its outlet was amongst the rocks on the shore and again it required local knowledge to find it.

The shore comprised a raised grassy area, a sandy beach, and various rocks leading out to the sea. The grassy area was where the adults built a fire, to boil water for whelks, or to cook potatoes, baked beans etc. We always had a picnic and hot food. The adults had a teapot and some pans stored in the grassy undergrowth that was left each year, waiting for our next visit. That’s how remote and safe this place seemed. On the beach we of course played football and built sand castles. The formation of the rocks meant that there was a natural inlet, that was flanked by rocks either side, when the tide came in this created a ready-made swimming pool.

A trip to the flares was never complete without going through the caves. This had to be done at low tide. You entered by the nearest cave which we called the dark cave as it was pitch black. You navigated round the cave by keeping your hand on one of the walls and it let round to the other side of the cliff. When you got round the other side you came back through the light cave, which had some daylight at both sides.

I now know that they are called the “Forbidden Caves” and the picture below shows the entrance to the dark cave.

picture copyright Ian Paterson Photography

http://www.ian-paterson.com/

used with permission

The adults used to collect “buckies” or whelks from the shore at low tide and these would be put into big pots of water to boil up and then be eaten. I could never eat them as I hated the look of them but my granny used to have them on bread! Round our streets we used to get the man coming round selling them and shouting “whelks ten pence a bag”. Well we collected hundreds of bags for free.

Although known as the Flairs, it has a proper name, and is called Carlinghuegh Bay. It is located to the north of Arbroath and is part of a continuous stretch of sea cliffs and rocky shores. The cliffs are widely studied as they show a spectacular series of erosion features including sea stacks, blowholes, caves, wave cut platforms and arches. Carlingheugh Bay has a raised beach and relic sea cliff thought to date from approximately 6,000 years ago.

The Angus Show

For what seemed like every summer as a child, a high spot in the calendar was a day at the Angus Show. Held in Victoria Park, Arbroath, this was an extravaganza of motorcycle display teams, stunt cars and open-sea simulated helicopter rescues. Top that off with a chance to climb into a tank and this show was a huge adventure. “Vickie” Park was a natural location for such an event. The flat grassed area, normally consisting of football pitches was turned into an arena, where all the action happened. It was flanked on one side by the North Sea, and on the other by a steep hill, which made for a natural grandstand. The ring side seating consisted of hay bales, which made for an uncomfortable though practical close-up view.

It was years before I realised that this was actually an agricultural show. It was always referred to as the “Angus Show” when in fact its full title was the “Angus Agricultural Show”. Perhaps the hay bails, livestock and tractors should have been a hint! In between the high points of the day’s programme was the showing of the animals but of course the various bulls and heifers meant little to a lad growing up in a council housing scheme.

We were always seated on the hill so that we could get a good view. You had to be there early to make sure you got your place as this was a popular event, attended by thousands of people. I must have been about 4 or 5 at the time when I went on a wander and got lost as I couldn’t find where our family was seated. I ended up being found by a police lady and there was a call-out on the public address system. My granddad came and collected me and I was so relieved and excited to see him. I think they were impressed that I was able to give the Police my name address and date of birth at such a young age that I didn’t get into trouble.

The last time I was there was when I took my son to fly a kite I made. Strangely the park seemed much smaller than I remembered it.

Over 150 years old, the show moved its location to Brechin in 1997.

The V&A at Dundee - Winning Design by Kengo Kuma

"We were delighted by the quality of all the designs which were submitted to the competition and I think this is reflected in the huge public interest which our exhibition of models has generated," said Lesley Knox, Chair of the V&A at Dundee project and of the jury panel.

"Kengo Kuma's proposal was the unanimous choice of the jury panel and is a worthy winner; a building that will delight visitors and encourage them to revisit it again and again. It demonstrates a clear understanding of the city, offers a new experience of the river, and will be as exciting internally as it will be externally.

"This has the potential to be one of Europe's most exciting buildings."

Kengo Kuma said, "It is a great honour to hear the news and my team and I are grateful for this significant opportunity. I am thrilled to be able to work with those at V&A at Dundee in order to give shape to their vision, to contribute meaningfully to the cultural richness of the city.

"It will be an exciting endeavour that will combine the tradition and heritage of the Victoria and Albert Museum and our new ideas. Furthermore, we are enthusiastic about the amazing site, the city and environment - it is our intention to find a balanced approach to nature and the city life of Dundee. We wish to bring our best efforts forward, with vigour and passion."

The jury panel made their unanimous decision after an extensive process of assessing the designs, interviewing the architects and their teams, and viewing some of their previous work. The public view was also factored in with thousands of questionnaires and comments drawn from the 13,000-plus people who visited the exhibition and those who viewed it online.

http://vandaatdundee.com/your-future/

Cresta - It's Frothy Man!

Cresta was a very popular drink in the 1970s. It was very fizzy but not in the same way as normal carbonated drinks. It was much smoother and when poured it had a fizzy head on top not unlike a pint of beer.

Like other organisations, Cresta approached television advertising as a crucial mechanism for talking to the world at large. Cresta was advertised by a cartoon polar bear who wore shades and had a New York accent! The bear’s catchphrase was, “It’s Frothy Man!”

In 1993 it was announced that Tesco was to remove the Cresta brand from its shelves due to the introduction of own-label products. This happened at a time when its sales curve had already taken a downturn.

For those who remember the ads here’s some links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVBz75KEzAk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_sWNnKoQiY&feature=related