To ask if there’s a social class issue surrounding Findus Crispy Pancakes ?

I have never come across either of them.

my theory is that these food items are eaten by aristocracy and council dwellers, on the basis neither give a shit what others think of their dietary choices

I think there's something in this. Story from a grand friend.

A woman he knew in the 1970s (also grand) liked entertaining, but served boil in the bag fish with sauce. Her brother dated Princess Margaret for a while, and this woman invited PM and the Queen Mother for lunch. All her friends told her she couldn't possibly serve boil in the bag fish and she should get caterers to do the lunch.

Not only did she serve boil in the bag fish, she served it in the bag on a plate with some pretty little antique scissors to cut the bags with. Went down a storm apparently.

@TheBiggestMuffInCheshire yes or sometimes in the fresh fish shelf that's in the chilled section- they are my go to for 'high end' fish finger sandwiches , tartar sauce, rocket, good bread- immense!!

Omg right but if you get the waitrose own brand you're not posh so it's fine relax 😂

I got both cod and haddock own brand, couldn't taste the difference between the fish, both bland 😅

Don’t be embarrassed. Food is food and the Co-op is extortionate. Probably showing my peasant class here because I couldn’t afford to even look in the directions of Waitrose and such like. 😬

Don't knock Fray Bentos pies. After nuclear war breaks out and the apocalypse comes, the few lucky survivors will emerge from their underground bunker to survey the barren desecrated landscape and all that's left will be Fray Bentos pies and cockroaches.

*FigTreeInEurope *
I remember beanfeast. It tasted like something dredged off the bottom of a swamp . Topped with Smash would be quite a culinary experience. Love the initiative of the blowtorch to brown the mash 🤣

Used to love the cheese crispy pancakes but haven’t had them in decades.

Completely off thread, but im remembering the "vegetarian shepherds pie" my mate once made me on his canal barge. It was a packet of beanfeast, a packet of smash on top, and the whole thing browned with a plumbers blowtorch.

my theory is that these food items are eaten by aristocracy and council dwellers, on the basis neither give a shit what others think of their dietary choices. Everyone in between would be shopping for these at 3am, wearing dark glasses and a baseball cap and sneaked back into the house in a thick, dark tote, lest anyone sees the labels through the carrier.

I was brought up by working-class parents in the 50s and my mum cooked almost everything from scratch as was the norm then. We did eat some tinned veg as we didn't acquire a fridge until I was 10 or 11 and when time was short we did have Fray Bentos steak pies. The pastry was lovely - crisp, golden and flaky - the meat was beyond disgusting. However, since a regular meal in our house was baked hearts, which looked and tasted like old bike tyres, or pigs liver, which probably was used for bike tyres, a Fray Bentos pie was one of the more acceptable meals. I cooked Findus pancakes a couple of times for my kids in the 70s, but always seemed to burn them. I loved the Vesta packet range as a teenager and Angel Delight, especially the butterscotch flavour, was and remains, my favourite pudding!

There absolutely is, and I'm what some people would term a working-class oik, but I don't care. Love them both, although the pie tins are a pain to open.

Didn't actually realise crispy pancakes were still available! Not had them in years. Going to have to have a trip down memory lane, methinks...

Oh no I feel seen in a bad way!! 😄

We usually have a couple of FB pies in the cupboard, for the odd day, every couple of months or so, when I really just CBA to cook. One each, just with frozen peas. We quite like them! In such circs I dare say many people would get a takeaway, but we’re just not in the habit of that. We do have the odd ready meal, though- usually Waitrose or M&S.

I've never heard of the Findus stuff so I must be very upper class.

Fray Bentos yes, but the pies are awful as is their corned beef.
Sorry

I grew up on a council estate and live on the same estate now in a council house as a single parent with my own kids. Never had a crispy pancake.

Fray Bentos breakfast pie is next level lol

Crispy pancake on an oven bottom muffin food of the gods! A

I'm physically disabled & wanted to use some pancake mix this morning.
(my Mother used it,so I have - unthinkingly: mind, she also used Fray Bentos, Crispy Pancakes, Vesta Curries & Oven chips galore, none of which I use today)
I have one shop in a 12mile radius & they no longer stock the premixed packet.
So, I looked it up & used milk, eggs & flour.Given I used to use the packet mix,which requires egg & water & oil it was just as easy. Slightly gobsmacked.

But yes, OP all these packet convenience 1970's products are 'working class'.

Oh no darling, I've can buy frozen seafood and high end lasagne

Had a Proustian moment there.

We did have Findus Crispy Pancakes when they first came out, for novelty value, with home-made mash and broccoli I expect. Not in the last 20 years though.

Posh pie brands do exist, there's quite a lot of artisanal pies. I had a game pie recently, my dd said 'it's like Henry VIII in here'.

@Crikeyalmighty I did once pick up a box of Vesta Chow Mein in Home Bargains and was tempted to buy it for old times sake, until I read the list of ingredients on the box and promptly put it straight back on the shelf. I think it was my memory of cooking the crispy noodles in the chip pan, watching them puff up and sprinkling them with soy sauce which tempted me. Not that I even own a chip pan now!

Not class related for me but both things are minging and I'd never eat them. Not cos of anything about UPF or class issues, I eat all kinds of crap, just because they're gross 🤣

My social class would be considered low growing up. We never had crispy pancakes but I always wanted them as my friends had them, with regret I’ve never had one to this day.
Just before I left home mum started buying the tinned pies - heaven when really baked well, so I ate lots as a student. Bought one during Covid and strangely it was disappointing …..perhaps I’d moved up in the world 🤣