Crinkly chips seemed exciting back then.

Deep-fat fryers at £30 in 1978 would be £216 today…! No wonder they took so long to catch on. We had one in the 90s but I never liked it. A chip pan that has never, ever been cleaned and the fat likewise is the best thing for taste. If it hasn’t got fossilised black chips in the bottom from 20 years ago, it ain’t worth using ;) Me Mum used to just add more fat to the pan and never cleaned or replaced it. Fat I prefer would be be beef dripping or pork lard but no one would do that nowadays! Heating solid fats gets extremely hot and was probably part of the cause of all those fires we used to have. As folk moved to groundnut oil and vegetable oil and eventually sunflower oil and to electric fryers, they seemed to stop happening. They were almost every day events on my estate growing up in the 80s.

I want to be Mary Berry famous so I can call my college instructors stupid on TV too

Oven Chips! We thought we were so sophisticated!

I don't know why I crack up so bad at the "Hmm. Hm. Mmmm. Hmmm."

My favourite was always chips sprinkled with vinegar.

The chip pan fire era, I remember was on the telly all the time!

I like oven chips, I’ve eaten them for years, but like my Mum said, I think chips definitely have more flavour when cooked in oil, but it is unhealthy. Chip pan chips always tasted great as far as I remember, but you have to be so careful with a pan of oil. I love the old fashioned taste of chips tipped onto a plate from the pan, (after degreasing on kitchen roll) doused with salt and vinegar and dunked in ketchup!! (Preferably with fish-fingers, or a burger in a bun (with a jar of large gherkins on the side) with them. Delicious. 😊

I couldn’t help but notice Mary’s lovely wristwatch,it’s sooo big!
I love that🥰

In Australia we had an ad during the 1980s 'oh my goodness the chips!' Home insurance ad. Mary is 89 as of 2024 and Judith 88.

I remember cycling home from 6th form, through the slush of a cold, wet 1977 winter on my precious Xmas gift - a snazzy American-style Raleigh bicycle.  I'd always make sure to pass Mrs Hardigan's bungalow on the way home. There, she would often wave me inside the cosy porch, where she would delicately wipe down my Chopper, leaving it shiny, warm and ready to ride. And there'd always be a portion of something hot and contemporary to keep this young lad from the chills; whether it was Toad in the Hole, Cottage Pie with Cheesy Mash or Mary Berry's Easy Fish Casserole. On a good day I'd also receive a dessert of Upside-Down Tart, a moist slice of Delia Smith's Black Forest Gateau, or Chocolate Brownies depending on the day of the month. I never did get Spotted Dick but she always had me gagging for an Arctic Roll on New Year's Day. Happy days, though it all came to a halt in 1979 when Mum got suspicious after finding what looked like Cheese Fondue all over my bike saddle 😞. I miss you so much Mrs Hardigan 💔

Mary looks so young!

and in fact we're frying today on afternoon. lucky girls :)

Mmm Mmm

The chips I had when growing up were always the circular ones... fried in oil, of course.

They went so well with fish fingers and ketchup, I remember.

Would like to make them now tbh - so used to oven chips these days that the "homemade" variety seems such a hassle.

But lovely, definitely. ☺️

Mary’s kids get chips once a fortnight 😅

The overhead camera is cutting edge tv

Anyone who says “people in the 1970s ate anything and we’re skinny” just has to listen to Judith And Mary discussing how one only eats chips once per fortnight because it was too fattening. Today? Once a day. Or several times a day.

£30 back then was a big sum of money.

I always thought Judith Chalmers was a very nervous presenter. She’s 89 now.