Street Food

[*Bob*]

Surely you mean '?6 - ?12' a punt?!

[Jessie]

Pret do lovely frittatas...but their biggest seller is the banana, 50p a pop! You can get 4 for 50p in Peckham.

Why oh why oh why would anyone want a pret in their local area?

[Ted Max]

I just had a Macdonalds/Pret sandwich, called (and you literally could not make this up, although someone did) "posh cheddar and pickle on artisan baguette". Eating it was exactly like being punched in the perineum by Kirsty Allsop.

[Louisa]

Pret is an amazing example of fast food which is healthy and value for money. If they were rubbish, as insinuated, then why would they have them in up market parts of town and train stations? It's absurd to have a pop at them, just because they aren't as trendy as a street seller! Leave them alone guys.

Louisa.

[Jessie]

I don't think selling one banana for 50p is value for money. Not that I think Pret is awful, but I think it is pricey, bar for their 99p filter coffee, which can taste pretty rank sometimes. I think your comments on class and food are pretty absurd, Louisa, but I do appreciate some of what you say.

[*Bob*]

Louisa.. Congratulations on your upgrade from Boots sarnies - to THE original aspirational yuppie sandwich of choice.

Great to have you on board.

[Ted Max]

"If they were rubbish, as insinuated..."

Nah, what's insinuated is that, by blowing on the dog whistle of posh, artisan, line-caught etc they are appealing to the, oh never mind.

[Louisa]

El Pibe Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

>

> Food and class were as one when commoners were

> hung for snaring game.

And they still are to this day. Your average lower income household is more likely to tuck into a bargain bucket than a 6-12 quid hotdog.

>

> An increase in vendors of fresh food of provenance

> as opposed to frozen food of indeterminate origin

> isn't evidence of a paradigm shift in the

> suppression of the working classes, it's just,

> well, nice food.

This doesn't detract from the fact that the demographic of ED for example would indicate that frozen food remained/remains popular because its taken how long since gentrification took hold for the Iceland store to finally move away from the area?

>

> I'm just as inclined to get annoyed by 'old spot

> gammon and triple cooked frites' over 'ham and

> chips' but gammon really does come in varying

> quality, and I'm happy to pay ?6.50 rather than ?3

> if it a)tastes nice and b)isn't packed full of

> phenylbutazone.

>

Fortunately, you're in a position to do so. Many are not. And this is more about the pompous sneering from those who can afford the 6-12 quid hotdog, upon those who for financial or cultural reasons choose not to partake in said culinary bank busting pastimes.

> What you're decrying is not the end of a certain

> class, for there are plenty of people of working

> class origin, hell might even still describe

> themselves as such, who are well able to tell the

> differnece between a turd, a polished turd and a

> pulled pork burrito.

>

> I think you've just got sympathy and empathy for

> the poor folk left behind who can't afford

> anything but the turd, but your frustration is

> manifesting itself entirely obliquely to the real

> issue. You're blaming the sneeze, not the cold.

True to an extent. But not the ultimate gripe. Food is just an example of middle class aspirational one-upmanship. It's often used, knowingly or unknowingly as a way of distinguishing oneself from another. I don't believe chicken shop or pie n mash shop clientele go out of their way to do that. They don't dig beneath the surface of a food or social action to mark themselves out from another class as much as the middle classes do. Even the upper classes dont do that. It's just an observation of the pretentiousness surrounding many of these habits. It's the creation of a new trendy sub-culture which is promoted as a revelation, despite being around for generations in this and other communities across the globe. It's uniquely British and its uniquely middle class.

Louisa.

[El Pibe]

Has anyone ever explained the difference between imply and infer to you ;-P

[El Pibe]

" Food and class were as one when commoners were

> hung for snaring game.

And they still are to this day. Your average lower income household is more likely to tuck into a bargain bucket than a 6-12 quid hotdog."

This might be the most non sequitur fisk I've ever read.

[Louisa]

El Pibe Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> " Food and class were as one when commoners were

> > hung for snaring game.

>

> And they still are to this day. Your average lower

> income household is more likely to tuck into a

> bargain bucket than a 6-12 quid hotdog."

>

> This might be the most non sequitur fisk I've ever

> read.

Food and class run as parallel today as they ever did in the past. It's just the boundaries on class definition which have become blurred, partly down to the bourgeoise being intent on redefining class for their own ends. It's a way of justifying snobbery and separatism from others.

Louisa.

[El Pibe]

I think you may actually need psychological help, or at least surgery to remove that chip on your shoulder.

"It's a way of justifying snobbery and separatism"

This is deeply ironic, you do know it cuts both ways don't you.

[Louisa]

El Pibe Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I think you may actually need psychological help,

> or at least surgery to remove that chip on your

> shoulder.

>

> "It's a way of justifying snobbery and

> separatism"

> This is deeply ironic, you do know it cuts both

> ways don't you.

Chip? Are you sure it's not a chunky skin-on organic maris piper wedge? :-)

Of course it cuts both ways, but the supposedly educated aspirational classes should know better. Or they choose not to recognise their pretentious ways.

Irony? What's that? :-|

Louisa.

[*Bob*]

*We catch-up with our loveable working-class cockernee heroine in Pret, Regent Street *

"'ere darlin', fetch us a naked avocado bloomer, one of them yoga bunny bowls and a vanilla chai tea.. cor blimey..etc"

[El Pibe]

"Or they choose not to recognise their pretentious ways"

we're back to imply vs infer aren't we. At least you've wiped away the foam with your hessian sleeve ;)

[RosieH]

Louisa Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Pret is an amazing example of fast food which is

> healthy and value for money.

What the actual fuck? A bona fide McDonalds is usually healthier in terms of fat, salt and calories than a Pret sandwich.

As for value for money, I bought a salad from there last week for ?4.50. It had two strips of beef in it, the type of cooked meat you'd get out of a packet, the width of each was less than an inch, the length about 3 inches, so approximately half a slice of cooked meat. The rest was lettuce and a forkful of cold noodles (aka "toast").

Even if I'd gone pretentious and bought Aberdeen Angus rather than Iceland's own, I could have put the whole thing together for about ?1. Pret's a fricking rip off and not remotely healthy. It is, though, fresh. I could have got a delicious, pretentious hog roast for 50p less. I've been robbed.

By the by, my dad's about as working class as they come, AND he's from Wigan. He knows a hawk from a handsaw, and can make a mean frittata. He also understands the value of good food, and has always been more than happy to pay a decent amount of money for decent quality food.

[Louisa]

El Pibe Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> we're back to imply vs infer aren't we. At least

> you've wiped away the foam with your hessian

> sleeve ;)

Indeed we are El Pibe, I guess you're surmising that the foam has been wiped away by my supposedly hessian material sweater, when in truth an indirect hint would have better summarised that comment because even the most working class of clothing outlets do not sell hessian clothing these days - and anyway, said foam remains in place. Keep em coming.

Louisa.

[El Pibe]

actually I was implying something about self imposed penances as a misguided attempt at spiritual elevation rather than what's available in primark, just goes to show how easy it is for things to get lost in translation between implication and inference.

huh.

[edcam]

It is highly amusing to see how easily Louisa winds people up. Meanwhile, here is a picture of a van. Get one of these and you can sell any old s*@*t for ?8-12 out of the side of it and people will say it's "heavenly."

[Parkdrive]

Whatever happened to good old boiled Westlers burgers and hot dogs outside football grounds?

[Louisa]

El Pibe not to worry - according to you I either have psychological problems or despite major surgery in the past have a giant organic frite stuck to my shoulder. Judging by your previous post you've spent too long indoors reading the dictionary. Not to worry, we all have our moment :-)

Louisa.

[Louisa]

edcam Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> It is highly amusing to see how easily Louisa

> winds people up. Meanwhile, here is a picture of

> a van. Get one of these and you can sell any old

> s*@*t for ?8-12 out of the side of it and people

> will say it's "heavenly."

What a beautiful van edcam. You've given the bourgeoise ideas now!

Louisa.

[El Pibe]

Ask the doctors if you can keep it after the op; spice it up with some bovril and knorr all purpose savoury seasoning and cook it in a terrine, the middle classes will pay a fortune for it ;-)

[edcam]

Louisa Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

>

> What a beautiful van edcam. You've given the

> bourgeoise ideas now!

>

> Louisa.

It's all about the van. Then all you need is a Twitter account, some pies from Manze's and a bit of tin foil and you're off.

[numbers]

hot dogs are now 'gourmet' and can only be eaten with champagne, y'know.

fried chicken shops are now ...oh I can't be arsed.

anyone got any street food recommendations? Maybe I'll start up my own mobile frittata service and make loads of money from the rich folks of ED.