School Dinners …

… those were the days.

Believe it or not there was a time when school dinners were a completely different story than these days.

Nostalgia I know plays tricks on the memory and your taste buds too but in spite of that I think I was lucky - despite my personal likes and dislikes I now realise the standard was better than good.

It's the desserts that stand out, at both ends of the scale.

At the loathe end semolina gets my vote, which was always served with – wait for it - prunes. I'm sure you won't be surprised to know I've never eaten either since. There's only one place for semolina – sprinkled over potatoes for roasting – as for prunes, the least said the better.

At the love end, there were two standouts - the chocolate sponge with chocolate custard was memorable – but top of the list was butterscotch tart.

Some years back – when school days were but a distant memory I was taken to Rules Restaurant in Covent Garden, London. Established in 1798 it's the oldest restaurant in London. It specialises in British food and it was then I last saw the tart on a menu. Sadly it doesn't figure in recent times.

What follows is my tribute to the school cooks – it's not until later years you realise how brilliant they were.