Page 8 | To ask if there’s a social class issue surrounding Findus Crispy Pancakes ?

Jumell · 2024-12-08T12:14:13+00:00

I’ve read some things in mine and sort of sense this might be the case but not 100% sure Also is there a class issue around Fray Bentos pies ? I love those !

AInightingale · 08/12/2024 13:30

Fray Bentos was a bloke actually. The name of some friar who gave the city his name.

Marrowfat peas are considered very common too, but I could eat them by the bucketload with ketchup and gravy. Who makes these judgments anyway?

Porcuporpoise · 08/12/2024 13:30

Chowtime · 08/12/2024 12:15

The only frozen food the middle classes are allowed to buy are 100% cod fish fingers.

My brother had to request Findus crispy pancakes on his birthday because that's the only time my mum would buy them. She was working class but yeah, only fish fingers were allowed.

Barney16 · 08/12/2024 13:28

We weren't allowed them as they weren't "proper" food whatever that means. We also didn't have any sort of condiment, so no ketchup, mustard etc etc. I didn't have a McDonald's until I was 17. (Silently weeps).

Mrsredlipstick · 08/12/2024 13:27

I bought Hock yesterday!

Blue Nun & Black Tower were the 70s wines.

quantumbutterfly · 08/12/2024 13:27

Floatlikeafeather2 · 08/12/2024 13:18

How did you cook either of those things when you were camping? Fray Bentos pies were very British food because of their role in feeding the Forces.

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My folks grew up during the war, they were good problem solvers. Mum managed a roast chicken dinner on one camp. V. ingenious lady

Bjorkdidit · 08/12/2024 13:27

user2848502016 · 08/12/2024 13:25

Frozen peas and ice cream are acceptable too!

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Plus frozen edamame beans to go with the gyoza.

Tomatocutwithazigzagedge · 08/12/2024 13:27

Crispy pancakes are very popular in Switzerland - does that make them posh? 😅

Bodeganights · 08/12/2024 13:26

villagecrafts · 08/12/2024 12:28

To Fray Benton Pies, Findus Crispy Pancakes and Vesta Chow Mein...

I see you and raise you... Brains Faggotts!

They sell brains faggots in aldi, I really want to try them but theres I think 6 in a pack and assuming they are edible, nay delicious, I cant eat 6, i cant break it up cos frozen so I look longingly each time i go to aldi and all the above goes through my mind, i think fuck it buy them anyway and then nope, not wasting the food and money.

I tried findus pancakes a couple of years ago, utterly vile. Haveht had a fray bentos in an eon so no clue what they are like now. Loved the chicken one as a child, loved the pastry top, it was my favourite.

user2848502016 · 08/12/2024 13:25

Chowtime · 08/12/2024 12:15

The only frozen food the middle classes are allowed to buy are 100% cod fish fingers.

Frozen peas and ice cream are acceptable too!

user2848502016 · 08/12/2024 13:24

Yes they are regarded as working class foods!
We were fed crispy pancakes when I was a child but my mother would have been embarrassed if we told anyone haha
She never would have bought a fray bentos pie!

Floatlikeafeather2 · 08/12/2024 13:24

babydungarees · 08/12/2024 12:19

For years I thought Fray Bentos was the name of the pie man, then found out it’s actually the name of the town in Uruguay where the pies are made. Fun fact for anyone else who didn’t know 😂 I used to love crispy pancakes but they’re a bit rubbish now they’ve took the salt out.

They haven't been made in Uruguay for decades. They've been made in various places since and are currently made by Baxter's in Scotland. The history of them is really interesting as originally the company that began making them (and called them Fray Bentos pies) was a manufacturer of glue and what became Oxo, so meat by-products.

MyNamesGaryAndImAddictedToChips · 08/12/2024 13:23

SoloSofa24 · 08/12/2024 13:17

Ooh, do they still make Findus crispy pancakes? I'm in my 50s, and my private school and Oxford-educated, thoroughly middle-class mother used to give them to us all the time in the 70s and 80s as a quick after-school supper. I think she cooked them in the aga. I suspect they wouldn't live up to the memories, though.

They really, really don't.

And don't even THINK about making a Vesta chow mein. 🤢

Girasoli · 08/12/2024 13:22

I used to love the cheese and tomato ones...we hardly ever had frozen/oven food growing up but my mum would occasionally give us those or some kind of breaded fish with a salad.

Delphigirl · 08/12/2024 13:21

Chowtime · 08/12/2024 12:15

The only frozen food the middle classes are allowed to buy are 100% cod fish fingers.

And gyoza

AyrshireTryer · 08/12/2024 13:21

I do still like an Arctic Roll

SockFluffInTheBath · 08/12/2024 13:21

Mrsredlipstick · 08/12/2024 13:11

We begged our French chef trained mother for crispy pancakes (very expensive for a family of 7!). I still love them. Fray Bentos no chance, we used to call it dog meat.
We never had upf but we did have a Bejam freezer. Mainly full of fruit and green beans with ice cream on top.
Fwiw my mum had a title but only dusted it off when she was angry. Used to intimidate rude teachers.
Rusty Lee has a recipe in her book for crispy pancakes.

We had a Bejam freezer! Enormous beige and brown thing,

TankFlyBossW4lk · 08/12/2024 13:21

Chowtime · 08/12/2024 12:15

The only frozen food the middle classes are allowed to buy are 100% cod fish fingers.

😂and frozen peas!

Bluenoodles · 08/12/2024 13:20

We had them as kids. My dad still eats the fray bentos pies. Not so much a class issue, more that they don’t taste very nice and I think peoples palates and tastes have changed since I was a kid.
I’m sure even wc people (myself included) don’t want to eat bland beige shit and might venture towards a bit of flavour.

quantumbutterfly · 08/12/2024 13:19

LapsedRunnerC25k · 08/12/2024 12:59

You can. My local Waitrose store stocks Fray Bentos.

@Jumell, I think @quantumbutterfly was pointing more to the idea that red is generally better with pizza.

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😁Indeed, though it does raise the question of which wine with a findus pancake? Liebfraumilch?

TheMoth · 08/12/2024 13:18

We had them in the 90s, when my mum went back to work and we got a fridge with a big freezer, rather than the freezer shelf.
Chips were from scratch for years cos frozen were expensive.

Funnywonder · 08/12/2024 13:18

I'm from a working class background (hate all that class nonsense tbf - it's not talked about as much in NI) and my mum cooked everything from scratch. But she started buying crispy pancakes when we begged and pleaded her for them. Then the Fray Bentos crept in. Before you knew it we were eating toast toppers and sandwich spread. Those crispy pancakes were a slippery slope🤣

Floatlikeafeather2 · 08/12/2024 13:18

quantumbutterfly · 08/12/2024 12:26

I used to love fray bentos pies & findus pancakes, they were quite the novelty for people brought up on basic British food, and very handy when camping.
We were brought up with school dinners of spam fritters, chicken supreme, semolina&rose hip syrup....tastes have changed somewhat.

How did you cook either of those things when you were camping? Fray Bentos pies were very British food because of their role in feeding the Forces.

ISeriouslyDoubtIt · 08/12/2024 13:17

Namechangeobviously2024 · 08/12/2024 12:16

This is completely true. My parents were dentists and I have never had a crispy pancake OR a Fray Bentos pie. I'm 52.

Am I missing out?

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I agree, definitely not a middle class dinner. Mine were both university academics and I've never had either the pancakes or a tinned pie. I'm 60. My mother even made her own yoghurt in the 1970s.

SoloSofa24 · 08/12/2024 13:17

Ooh, do they still make Findus crispy pancakes? I'm in my 50s, and my private school and Oxford-educated, thoroughly middle-class mother used to give them to us all the time in the 70s and 80s as a quick after-school supper. I think she cooked them in the aga. I suspect they wouldn't live up to the memories, though.

Original poster

Jumell · 08/12/2024 13:17

BitOutOfPractice · 08/12/2024 13:14

Im common and grew up poor-ish. We never had either because it was cheaper to cook from scratch. We didn’t really have any convenience foods. I was jealous of those that did.

I think generally it’s much better to cook from scratch and I personally wish that now in 2024 it were easier for people - time wise actually more than convenience wise !! I mean my old job I didn’t get home until 7pm

who on earth would start cooking from scratch after that ?

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