“FROOD,” ANSWER TO BUSY HOUSEWIFE’S PRAYER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 24, 12 August 1949, Page 6

“FROOD,” ANSWER TO BUSY HOUSEWIFE’S PRAYER

(By A. G. Parry, Kinsley Empire Journalist)

London, July 15

The pre-fabricated meal was bound to come sooner or later. Tt has not only arrived in London, but it has come to stay. Almost unlimited catering possibilities have been opened up by a recently-de-veloped method of freezing food, hot from the oven and permanently sealing in its vitamin content and flavour.

“Frood”, they call it. And, now that city restaurants and village inns alike have recognised its worth, Frood is becoming available to the British housewife. Like so many other inventions, Frood was born of adversity during the war years. When enemy bombing disrupted communications, when fuel was hard to get and when services call-ups drained manpower and womanpower from hotels and restaurants the well known firm of Lyons, whose tea and bun service has been renowned for 50 years, came to light with this discovery. Constant experiments and laboratory tests have been carried out and a large trade has been developed with hotels, airliners and other establishments.

Juices Sealed In Frood is simply food which has been prepared and cooked in a central kitchen. From the ovens it passes straight into refrigeration chambers, conveyor belt fashion. Before the juices can disappear or the flavour die the freezing process has begun. When transparent, mois-ture-proof wrappings have enclosed it, it will keep for years. The whole process, incidentally, is supervised by two top-line French chefs.

Because the manufacturers wished to prove that they had nothing concealed up their culinary sleeve the four Kemsley Empire Journalists were invited to lunch in an airliner which had no real cooking facilities—merely a small stove suitable for heating prepared foods. With some misgivings and a little ruminating upon the evil fate which imposes frequent martyrdoms upon the seeker after news, we climbed aboard. We had already seen the little packets of comparatively uninviting hard blocks which we were to eat.

Year-Old Strawberries As an aperitif we absorbed the information that there was • some uncertainty as to the age of -the dishes to be served, although it was known that the strawberries were last year’s. But the sole, garnished with mushrooms, was delicious. And, even though we had not tasted a real steak for some time, there was no doubting the succulence of the tournedos which sizzled and steamed on our plates. The vegetables—spinach, roast potatoes, diced carrots and beans—were excellent. Year-old strawberries, served with ice cream, could not be distinguished from fresh fruit. It was, indeed, the best meal any of us had tasted in England.

This, the reality, was striking enough, but the glamorous possibilL ties of Frood did not escape us. Imagine an oil prospector in the steamy Persian Gulf dining as we had done. Think of the crew of a submarine living on food which had not to be cooked and dwell on the idea of three-course meals served in air liners over South America and Pakistan. - All these things have actually happened.