Food snobbery

[Feckingfeck]

DM always buys "good eggs" I mean nearly £4 a box from Waitrose. I ate one. Wasn't really too impressed- I mean not sure what I could hope for from an egg really?!

What things do you insist on buying branded?

Are there things you simply wont skimp or get own brands of?

AIBU to think any free range egg is just the same as the next?

Wine. Has to be French old vines. 1 glass from a £30 bottle is better than 4 glasses from a £7.50 bottle.

@Feckingfeck

I work at Waitrose. I was actually involved in an 'egg' project a couple of years ago.

People usually buy the expensive eggs for these reasons (yes, there is actual research on this)
Higher welfare standards
Having a really yellow yolk
Having nutritional benefits e.g. Omega 3 rich eggs
Specific breed of hen

Hope this helps.

PS - Food snobbery is rife - for most people it might be small choices on specific products e.g. choosing Heinz Tomato Ketchup rather than Own label; for other people it might be I only buy my protein from Waitrose as they have higher Welfare standards

Hardly snobbery, it's very cheap at Poundstretcher.
When we lived in sunnier climes we were able to buy spirits by by the bottle, ie take your own bottle and they filled it for you. It was before the mega big bottles but they weren't too bothered about the size. A friend was, in his own imagination, a whisky connoisseur, we kept an empty bottle with a good label that we refilled with the whisky out of the barrel, he would comment on how we always had good whisky!

I was once told by an Italian chef that good quality dried pasta is much better than the so-called fresh pasta sold in supermarkets.

We keep chickens. I'm no natural baker, but I can make beautiful cakes with my own eggs! It makes the world of difference.

I agree that food snobbery is very different to just having a preference. I try to eat organic to avoid pesticide and herbicide residue, I avoid nitrates, I make pasta (all the eggs...), I bake bread every day, grow my salad leaves and so on.

It's basic stuff, just more time-consuming, but it's how I want to spend my time. I'll go without most things, but I want Maldon sea salt, good tomatoes (fresh or Mutti/decent plum/San Marzano (sp?)), stone ground organic flour by the sack, etc.

I basically live and cook like my rural grandmother did, but these days, it's viewed somewhat differently.

@Crikeyalmighty I always buy Puck feta cheese when I’m in Copenhagen. I know it’s not Danish, but I’ve never seen it where I live. It’s so nice in salads. 😂

My Italian friend says that the brand of pasta sold in Lidl is one considered really good in Italy.

We have lots of roadside places selling eggs that are superb yet people drive by to go to the supermarket.

Nice eggs do taste better though

@DoubleraspberryDo you mean just the normal standard pasta?

On Eat Well for Less, that won in a taste test for a group of students who went on the show with the mindset that only De Cecco was acceptable for their refined palates....

I can't remember where De Cecco was placed, but seeing as it's four times the price and no nicer it seems like a no brainer to me, whatever your food budget.

‘I also try to stick to the Naked brand for bacon, as it's nitrate free’.

M&S stock nitrate free streaky & back bacon which I favour over the other bacons on display. Distinctly better flavour.

Could you give us an idea of the foods you eat for the biome?

I'm not really too fussed about brands. I think some take the piss on price and the product isn't that much better than store own brands, so doesn't warrant paying more.

The only thing I really buy branded is alcohol and stock cubes. Luxury store brands for butter, sausages and chickens. Used to buy organic milk, but Aldi doesn't sell it.

I find food snobs buy a lot of ready made stuff and aren't that keen on cooking, so need to pay more for decent quality.

100% top tip as may have said is cheapest plum tomatoes over even the best chopped. From an Italian chef. Pinch of sugar too and perfect tomato based sauces.

Maldon sea salt is flacky and crunchy and you can spindle it on top of food as a condiment.

Not worth it used in a dish. However it's cheap - not as cheap as table sat but a £2 box lasts me a year.

@JudgeJ agree with your comment about quality dried pasta. That's what I meant. I never buy the fresh stuff for the reasons others have stated. I do think Di Cecco is better and another brand I can't remember off the top of my head.

I bought a 1.5kg tub of Maldon salt in the summer of 2020 and I still have around a third still to go. I sprinkle it with abandon. The only thing I use table salt for is in baking when you need a specific teaspoon's worth.

Organic,free range,high welfare means nothing. I've worked in a processing plant and seen horrific injuries and bruising from these places that pat themselves on the back for their high welfare practices.
They all wait in the same kill line,and the the staff didn't care where they came from.

Free range hens are slaughtered at 72 weeks. The male chicks are thrown alive to be shredded in a huge macerators (blenders)

Their is no humanity in an industry that has a victim.

Agree with PPs regarding tinned tomatoes.
I used to work in food & the general consensus is that whole plum tinned toms are always superior to chopped, regardless of brand.

Are we talking Burford Browns?

If so, I'm guilty. I just prefer them. To me, the yolks are tastier.

Agree re Maldon salt flakes and tinned tomatoes, too.

Butter too, for me. I'd rather eat dry toast that margarine or cheap spreads.

@BarbaraofSeville I must admit I don't know. I don't eat much pasta and we currently live near an Aldi not a Lidl.

We only buy branded Marmite. We tried Asda yeast extract in lockdown and it wasn't nearly as nice. Anything else is generally what's cheapest.

I stick to certain brands of washing powder/shower products etc. I have very sensitive skin and don't wish to risk a reaction. But most food stuffs I'm happy with Aldi brand.

I think Sainsbury's and M&S are the best. Not keen on Branston at all

The 2 things I splash out on is Burford Brown eggs and really nice ham. The eggs are worth every penny, the yolks are so orange and tasty.