To say some chocolates are distinctively middle class?

[lionobserving]

MIL asked us if we thought our ferrero rocher tower was "aspirational" and said she knows ferrero rochers to be the aspirational chocolates of the working class.

This baffled me. My family has always sort of transcended class - my mum was upper middle, my day was very working class. But he was a doctor and she a nurse. We were probably lower middle growing up if I had to put a tag on it, but our mixed extended family meant that we weren't aware of what was "posh" or MC / WC. We certainly wouldn't have known which chocs has the markings of which class.

Therefore MNers - lightheartedly - tell me which chocolates you view as typically middle class? We discussed it as a family and we couldn't come up with a single one!

Why does middle class get three tiers, is it so that people in an office can say they are middle class without being corrected?

I'm probably part of the lower middle lower lower class and I aspire to galaxy and maltesers. I'd never aspire to Ferrero rocher because they get stuck in my wisdom tooth bit.

I know that if I can buy it in sainsburys it's working class, if I can buy it in fortnum and mason it's middle class, if I can call up chef and have him source some delights it's upper class.

Booja booja are the only brand one of my friends can eat because they're dairy and soy free - I'd call them specialist rather than posh.

My SIL got Neuhaus chocolates for Christmas, now those are definitely fancy.

@HyggeTygge

We were lower middle too, my mum used to get a Walnut Whip on her birthday.

I love a Walnut Whip but they don't taste like they used to.

Caramac

Fortnum and Mason Rose and Violet chocolates are my favourites. Don't know if they're posh, though.

IMO Fortnum and Masons chocolates seem pretty UC. Recently bought some for DD in a moment of parenting guilt

I think maltesers transcend class

Rocatti from Bologna.

I’ve just seen my mum share a small bag of treats from here with my daughter blithely unaware it costs £40.

A chocolate shop with no prices - lesson learnt!

www.roccaticioccolato.com/

Truly UC people will most likely eat chocolate out of a supermarket as much as they would expensive chocolate.
MC spend stupid money thinking they are getting nice chocolate but actually it’s emperors new clothes much of the time.
Local hand made chocolate is usually worth paying for though so people with money tend to buy that from a smaller independent shop

@Giggorata

Fortnum and Mason Rose and Violet chocolates are my favourites. Don't know if they're posh, though.

My annual treat next to me now

Callebaut Callets, straight out the packet. Why let a chocolatier get in between you and the good bit…

A friend married into a posh family. I remember her complaining to me that her husband kept buying her posh chocolates when all she really wanted was Cadburys - when it still tasted good.
I made her up a Cadburys chocolate box for her birthday that she loved.

I work for an employer with mainly middle-class people. The chocolate in the shop downstairs is all horrible Cadburys or this very overpriced chocolate brand that is all milk chocolate with a hint of bergamot. I sometimes buy it when I need a chocolate fix. But really ALDIs more expensive chocolate is way better.

@Giggorata

Fortnum and Mason Rose and Violet chocolates are my favourites. Don't know if they're posh, though.

Yeah you do.

I have massive bags of Callebaut drops for cooking.

Leonidas are OK; Neuhaus are the best imo, and Pierre Marcolini if money is no object. I am very fond of Cafe-Tasse, but can't get them in UK. I did live in Belgium for a long time, hence the stash of Callebaut drops.

ferrero rochers to be the aspirational chocolates of the working class.wow, who knew when the toddler was scoffing my Ferreros that he was just trying to drag himself up a social class

@SleepingStandingUp now you know not to stand in the way of his ambitions. He is obviously a genius.

I think all the above appeal to the aspirationals. If I were truly middle class, which I don't know or think I am, it would be the local chocolatier with chocolate covered dates and nuts at Christmas. I think chocolate and refined sugar isn't a feature really in day to day life unless you have pudding as you move up the classes.

Surely if you were truly posh you would only eat chocolate that looked like actual money?

Surely the truly posh should only eat whatever chocolates the cook makes?

When I was growing up anything ‘foreign’ was out there and more expensive (child of the 60s) eg Lindt
These days I’d say hotel chocolat - selfridges offerings are fairly MC

I would definitely say Fortnum and Mason chocolates are posh. They are delicious, expensive and they are not set in a plastic inner moulded tray to make them look bigger. That’s definitely classy. They also contain lots that have had the chocolate poured over them to coat them.
I used to love Hotel Chocolat back when they were The Chocolate Tasting Club. They are still quite nice, but more and more they contain moulded chocolates and cheaper fillings. They will end up going the same way as Thornton’s- the road to cheap chocolate hell!

I think @Silverswirl is spot on. In my experience most 'posh' people have eaten Cadbury's, galaxy etc and have no issues with it at all. My mum used to load our yacht full of those tunnocks wafer bars which I'm sure must be working class.

Off topic but it's things like going to IKEA that I missed out on (in my 20's before I stepped foot in one) not eating a variety of different chocolate.

Vote for a Fortnum's truffle here.
Like Lindt
DS always has a box of Ferrero Rocher under the tree
Rather like an After Eight
Good Belgian chocolate is always good.
Terry's chocolate orange melted and drizzled over cointreau cream filled profiteroles is better than it sounds, especially with some fine twirls of peel adorning it.
There is something deeply comforting about the gleaming.purple bar on old fashioned Cadburys.
Chardonnay et Walker has always tasted a bit meh, even when it was just the Bond Street shop.

Leonidas and Thorntons are definitely not posh. They have both of these chocolate shops in my local (very working class area) shopping centre alongside all the other cheap shops you can think of e.g. Dealz, and every other shop has 'SALE' banners permanently on their windows.

I love FR! I am not posh obv.

I was raised on Prestat, a very very long time ago mind you.
Saturday afternoon treat was to buy myself a box of Prestat truffles, weighed out by hand at the rickety old shop in South Molton Street. Prestat has since gone way up market & has quite fancy branding these days.
I was always there for the chocolate by weight, in cellophane bags & hand -folded cardboard boxes, all a very long time ago.

Prestat @ TKMaxx, I know now!

Santa brought a stash of Montezuma to our door, The chocolate Stollen was a revelation, layers of dark chocolate rolled with marzipan, then covered with a crisp snappy 70% coat - my Christmas treat!

F&M good for huge choice of centres, an occasional treat.
Booja Booja I find to be a bit waxy.

There’s nothing quite like Malteasers & Furry Rogers.

Our local deli has Tony’s stashed up to the ceiling, but at the moment it is the bars of mint Aero by the till that tempt me most. I say I am nipping out to get a handful of fresh herbs, only so I can scoff an Aero on my way home.