I was sent this excellent piece from The Guardian Word of Mouth blog recently, about the most middle-class things that people have ever said about food. Such as: “The children are getting upset. Quick, where are the grissini?”
Now we’re on the verge of becoming a third-world country again, this may be our last opportunity to share some ridiculous utterances about food from our recent extravagant days. The above article is from the UK, where people are generally about 40% more poncy, but I do have this gem of a conversation that once happened to me in Morton’s in Ranelagh (possibly the most nouveau-riche place in Ireland). I had a bad hangover but had to go shopping for some stuff to go into a Christmas hamper. I was standing in Morton’s gazing vaguely at the salad dressings and a Posh Fur-coated Lady tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘that basil viniagrette is FAB-A-LOUS!’. And then added: ‘You’ll never make your own again!’.
Beautiful. What are yours?
Monday 4 May, 2009 at 6:50 pm
I once overheard one male talking to another male in a supermarket about how authentic pesto was made with pecorino rather than parmesan cheese to which the other replied, ‘just as long as the pine nuts are from southern Italy the cheese doesn’t really matter to me.’ True story
Thursday 23 July, 2009 at 1:05 pm
How did I miss this article? Im in the middle of a middle class food woe myself. I know its out of season, but I cant find venison! Dunnes used to stock it. Anyone?
Thursday 23 July, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Oh, and a phonecall from my brother once. “I adore bellinis but there are sooo not low GI.”
Thursday 23 July, 2009 at 2:32 pm
claire .. where are you ?
superquinn def have it sometimes.
there is a butcher in terenure that is organic and advertises that he sells venison.
Thursday 23 July, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Cork. 🙁
Thursday 23 July, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Hey Claire, as a temporary substitute, M&S do venison burgers.
Thursday 23 July, 2009 at 4:11 pm
They do? Oh great, thanks for the tip.
Thursday 23 July, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Stopping off on a way to a wedding “down the country”, in a town whose name I forget, at the only bar/coffeeshop in the place, my companion asked first for a mocha, then for a latte and then when refused, simply for a cappuchino, to be told “we only serve regular coffee here” It was pretty funny. Coffee snobbery in Ireland? Plain ridiculous and plain wrong.