Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Retro refreshments and nostalgic nibbles

The Keiller factory in Mains Loan made preserves and sweets until it closed in the 1990s.
The Keiller factory in Mains Loan made preserves and sweets until it closed in the 1990s.

Retro refreshments and nostalgic nibbles remind many of us of happy times with our grandparents, according to a survey by Age UK.

To put this to the test Jackie Malcolm, a senior lecturer at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee, carried out research with local people aged 65 to 93 and the results were recently discussed in a lively event at Dundee Arts Cafe called Memories of Food .

“Food plays an essential part in our everyday life, but is much more than a necessity,” explains Jackie.

“Food and memory are inextricably linked as we create culture and places where food takes centre stage,” says Jackie.

“From trusted food shops that we visit time after time, to our favourite eating places where we spend time with friends and family, our experiences and memories of food help us build a sense of belonging to the places we live in and call home,” she continues.

The result of her research was a very humbling recollection of what living in a city that was going through a transformation, with many of the outlying schemes such as St Mary’s, Douglas and Fintry being built before transportation links had been established.

“Although the focus was on food, inevitably they spoke about going to the dancing and people who became known for their food, such as Mrs de Guernier who ran the pea buster stand behind the Old Steeple,” says Jackie.

Memories included: “Rough and Fraser’s warm bacon rolls, purchased and eaten after the dancing,” “The smell of mint humbugs from Keiller’s sweetie factory on a cold frosty morning,” and “Liquorice sarsparilla was my favourite.”

“What the research study established was the extent to which food is driven by our culture and sense of place, but also the ways in which people become known for the food they produce and how it could be used as a reward,” observes Jackie.

“Most memories of food evoked a sense of nostalgia for a time considered lost.”

We’d love to hear your memories of food – please email craigie@thecourier.co.uk

Did you know…?

Food is driven by the place in which we live.

Our instinct is to look to our local environment for food.

Dundee has more square footage of supermarket space per capita than any other city in the UK.

We don’t need three meals a day – it’s our culture that drives our routine.

Many local street names relate to food: Fish Street, Sugarhouse Wynd, Butcher’s Row.

Food tips:

Buy local.

Eat seasonal food, particularly produce high in antioxidants like dark green and purple fruit and veg.