TINNED PEACHES, FINDUS CRISPY PANCAKES AND JAM ROLY POLY ARE AMONG A LIST OF THE NATION’S MOST NOSTALGIC FOODS, ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY 

New research of British adults has revealed a list of 40 culinary triggers, which at first smell or bite, take us right back to our childhood memories.

The nationwide research of 2,000 adults revealed the foods which remind Brits most of their childhood years, with mum’s roast dinner coming top (34 percent).

Rice pudding (31 percent), soft boiled eggs and soldiers (30 percent), fish fingers (29 percent) and arctic roll (28 percent) made up the top FIVE – with choc ices, orange squash and cola cubes also emerging within the list of instant memory triggers.

And it seems these foods are vital to British identities, with around four out of five (78 percent) respondents saying they feel nostalgic just thinking about certain foods which they enjoyed when they were younger.

20 percent said their biggest nostalgia trigger was bread and butter pudding, 11 percent voted for the classic coke float and one in ten voted for tea time classic, beans on toast.

In fact, according to the poll, the smell and taste of certain foods makes 50 percent of us happy, while 43 percent said food which remind them of their childhood made them feel comforted.

78 percent of those surveyed said they actually PINE for the food they ate as a child or teenager and the top reason given was not flavour.

54 percent said it was because they get taken right back to their younger days and family memories.

The most nostalgic places we visit were topped by, not surprisingly, our parent’s or grandparent’s house (44 percent), followed by the beach (28 percent), park (20 percent), swimming pool (20 percent) and the cinema (19 percent).

The research was commissioned by Vue who are re-introducing the classic Coke Float, coke topped with a scoop of Avalanche ice cream to 10 sites across the UK.

“This research proves how much food takes us back to the past,” says Jamie Graham, Head of Retail from Vue.

“We’re delighted to give people the chance to travel back into their memories by enjoying a coke float while they enjoy the best in Big Screen Entertainment.”

There were however some unpleasant trigger memories dredged up by the poll, with liver (26 percent), soggy cabbage (25 percent) and lumpy mash (22 percent) heading the list of least favourite food memories.

Also, making us wince were spam (19 percent), lumpy gravy (17 percent) and cold custard (12 percent).

BRITAIN’S TOP “CULINARY TRIGGERS” - THE TOP 40 NOSTALGIA FOODS WE LOVE MOST

1.       Mum’s roast dinner - 34%

2.       Rice pudding - 31%

3.       Soft boiled eggs and soldiers - 30%

4.       Fish fingers - 29%

5.       Arctic roll - 28%

6.       Mr Whippy ice cream - 28%

7.       Sherbert - 27%

8.       Custard - 26%

9.       Trifle - 25%

10.   Cola cubes - 25%

11.   Beans on toast - 24%

12.   Jam roly poly - 23%

13.   Viennetta - 22%

14.   Choc ices - 21%

15.   Findus Crispy pancakes - 21%

16.   Candy Floss - 20%

17.   Toffee apples - 20%

18.   Bread and butter pudding - 20%

19.   Tinned peaches - 20%

20.   Battenberg - 19%

21.   Party Rings - 18%

22.   Licorice sticks - 18%

23.   Fig rolls - 18%

24.   Toasted sandwiches - 17%

25.   Spotted Dick - 17%

26.   Spaghetti hoops - 16%

27.   Eggy bread - 16%

28.   Iced buns - 16%

29.   Alphabetti Spaghetti - 15%

30.   Potato Waffles - 14%

31.   Orange squash - 13%

32.   Chocolate mousse - 12%

33.   Coke float - 11%

34.   Mint choc chip ice cream - 11%

35.   Macaroni cheese - 11%

36.   Potato faces - 11%

37.   Chicken Kiev - 10%

38.   French bread pizza - 10%

39.   Popcorn - 9%

40.   Turkey dinosaurs - 8% 

Coke Floats will be available at Vue sites in Bedford, Staines, Bristol Longwell Green, Watford, North Finchley, Romford, Leicester, Hull, Cheshire Oaks and Bromley.

ENDS