AIBU to wonder how the fuck is LEMON a "MC food"

[Wazzzzzzzup]

amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/02/food-choices-proxy-class-britain

What the hell, people😂 What. The. Hell.

I make candied lemon, orange and grapefruit peels. They're very nice and use what would otherwise be binned.

(But I do find the British class thing quite awful. However let’s not forget, it’s an obsession because it permeates absolutely everything here.)

There will soon be stunt lemons to go wit the stunt pineapples.

With

I think Lemons are pretty middle class. Growing up we never had lemons or limes in the house. They aren't fruit you can just eat so we'd have Lemon juice or curd only.

@LukeEvansWife

quinoa, polenta, sun-dried tomatoes, coffee, loose-leaf tea, coriander seeds, gnocchi, kidneys, goji berries, hummus, falafel, lentils, croissants, muesli, wine, tofu, soy milk, oat milk, almond milk, avocados

Other than coffee, loose leaf tea and wine, that list is completely wanky middle class.

Add in pesto, couscous and olives

It's the casually but self conscious way people talk about it.

I don't th it is. It's just food a lot of people eat and enjoy.

Of course lemons aren't middle class
My late, very working class MIL used to make a cracking lemon meringue pie. She also used to make lemon curd and lemon drizzle cake.

Lemons are imported so were not cheap and will naturally go off quite quickly. The standard way of having lemon juice for cooking in my childhood 50 years ago was as Jif lemon that would keep for ages in the fridge.

I consider myself well off enough now to afford a lemon but if in financial difficulties would revert to Jif.🤷 I'd not think a lemon was a necessity iyswim.
My guess is Paul Embery had a similar background to me.

Maybe it goes back years & years. When I was a kid we never had lemons or limes; they were just too expensive and my mother wasn't much of a cook so what would we have used them for. Oranges were a treat, grapes when they were in season so a bit more affordable. The only regular fruit for us were apples.

Fresh fruit and veg nowadays is bloody expensive and if you're on a tight budget, unaffordable. No wonder things like this are seen as the food of the well-off.

I don't know anyone who uses fresh lemons. Lemon juice yes.

@FlamingVictoria

I'm clearly not the right demographic. I opened the thead thinking "wtf have Macdonald's added to their menu that would have lemons in it?"

That's exactly what I thought and I tick many many mc boxes (not what the chicken nuggets come in)

@julieca

I don't know anyone who uses fresh lemons. Lemon juice yes.

We use fresh lemons quite a bit.

I think having fresh lemons is affluent rather than MC as such. Anyone on or close to the headline or just having a "poor week" wouldn't waste thier money on fresh lemons.

Most people would know what to do with one...DH makes a HM tonic which uses a huge amount of citrus fruit, we have plenty of money but I find it a bit wasteful TBH.

I am not close to the breadline or having a poor week. But I would only buy lemons for something special like making a lemon meringue pie. Certainly not an everyday food.

Fresh fruit and veg nowadays is bloody expensive and if you're on a tight budget, unaffordable. No wonder things like this are seen as the food of the well-off.

I have to disagree with that. Nice seasonal basic vegetable and fruit are really cheap here. Food in uk in general is actually quite cheap compared to other places like where my family is

You're right, you know! It's a stupid notion. I don't know why I feel that way but I do. Maybe I'm old fashioned. I just find some attitudes towards certain food & drink items a bit "nouveau". It's when it gets ubiquitous, cos it's seen as the thing to do, or a special treat. Like the prosecco thing. Seen as a treat but actually cava is much nicer for same money.

At least you can admit it though!

But why would you even want to buy lemons every week rather than use lemon juice?

Lemon juice can't give you lemon zest. Lemon zest can really lift the flavour of something.

In which case you should buy unwaxed lemons. It is a very expensive way to add a slight lemon zest to cooking.

LukeEvansWife
quinoa, polenta, sun-dried tomatoes, coffee, loose-leaf tea, coriander seeds, gnocchi, kidneys, goji berries, hummus, falafel, lentils, croissants, muesli, wine, tofu, soy milk, oat milk, almond milk, avocados

Other than coffee, loose leaf tea and wine, that list is completely wanky middle class.

Add in pesto, couscous and olives

It's the casually but self conscious way people talk about it.”

Hummus, falafel, tofu, lentils and plant milks are all just family staples if you are vegan or veggie. Yes even growing up veggie and dirt poor in the 80s. Surely steak is more of a wanky ‘luxury’ item than tofu?! It’s a pound a pack and forms the basis of a lot of Asian cooking! Some really weird ideas on here. Pesto is a basic poor student meal, with pasta and a bit of cheese it makes a meal. The fact that someone can get to 50 in the Uk and never eat it is pretty shocking!

It seems to be a weird ‘fashion’ thing.

Earlier in Britain, things like barley, beer, lentils, etc would have been staple foods. Then at some point the industrialisation of food taught people (especially poor people for cost/convenience) to eat dried tinned foods, spam and tinned potatoes etc. This seems to have influenced a generation of people who think wc food is uber processed shite, tinned pies, crisps, kfc and mcdonalds. Actually the real poor would do better on staples and veg. The fact that ‘real food’ is deemed as MC is actually very damning of the propaganda from the processed food industries from the 50s onwards. It’s really sad!

Earlier in Britain, things like barley, beer, lentils, etc would have been staple foods. Then at some point the industrialisation of food taught people (especially poor people for cost/convenience) to eat dried tinned foods, spam and tinned potatoes etc. This seems to have influenced a generation of people who think wc food is uber processed shite, tinned pies, crisps, kfc and mcdonalds. Actually the real poor would do better on staples and veg. The fact that ‘real food’ is deemed as MC is actually very damning of the propaganda from the processed food industries from the 50s onwards. It’s really sad!

Try the 1850's or the 1750's. England and Wales industrialised early, the working classes living in tenement blocks had little way of cooking staples such as lentils, oats and potatoes. So pre- prepared foods were the only way of feeding themselves.

I think the issue here is a lack of knowledge rather than money. The traditional British diet has long had a bad reputation, due I think largely to the British working classes leaving the land earlier than their European counterparts due to the Industrial Revolution, enclosures, Highland Clearances etc. People I have known in Greece and Italy often seem to still have a family property out in the country somewhere, even if they’re living in cramped flats in the cities, and retired parents often spend a lot of time there pottering around growing- and cooking- stuff. So, the classic British working class diet has long been more reliant on bought rather than home produced food- and an unregulated food industry has taken advantage of that to heavily market them processed foods.

It takes the knowledge of people who have actually travelled abroad- which tends to be more the preserve of people with money, especially if you’re aiming for more than a cheap two weeks in a British enclave- or who have had the money to eat at a variety of restaurants here- to have tried a lot of these other foodstuffs.

Either that, or being from a different ethnic background which historically has had a better relationship with food.

Ironically, this has led to traditional British white WC people body swerving cheap staples like lentils- because they don’t know what to do with them/ in favour of relatively expensive processed food.

^a bit rambly and incoherent due to child incursion 🙄

Where does vodka stand ?

@elp30

I grew up on the US/Mexico border (my parents are Mexican) where avocados are very cheap because they grow abundantly in Mexico. They are always served alongside every meal.

It's truly baffling when I read in publications in the UK that Millenials could be able to buy houses if they stopped spending money on avocado toast.

I never realized that avocados could be seen as a middle class food, never mind, eating them being a barrier to home ownership. Lol

But surely you know that imported food is much more expensive? And surely you knew that we can't easily grow avocado here in the UK? Why are you so confused?