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You and Yours, R4 (I think) about a week ago

(31 Posts)
Witzend Wed 13-Oct-21 09:13:40

Just wondering whether anyone else heard this one. There was a woman complaining (with reason) about the cost of living, including food - but she said that salad cream was a ‘ridiculous’ £5 a bottle!

I thought ‘Surely not!’ at the time, and did check next time I was in the local Asda - the biggest squeezy bottle of Heinz was £2.89!

Maybe there’s a gourmet version I’ve never encountered, but then bona fide gourmets are appalled at the mere idea of salad cream anyway, aren’t they?

Sago Wed 13-Oct-21 09:27:57

Salad cream, it’s a 1970’s throwback!

If you are hard up it’s not really an essential item.

Food is more expensive and I think there is worse to come, we should go back to teaching proper home economics in school.

When I worked in a school the pupils were making Baileys cheesecake and pizza.

The ingredients were never costed or assessed for nutritional value, fat, sugar etc.

Aldom Wed 13-Oct-21 09:28:31

I never buy /use salad cream so I can't comment. But I know a largish squeeze bottle of mayonnaise is still under £3 where I shop.

FannyCornforth Wed 13-Oct-21 09:31:32

Perhaps you misheard her, or perhaps she got mixed up.
Yesterday I said ‘potatoes’ when I was trying to refer to ‘sausages’ confused

Witzend Wed 13-Oct-21 09:37:40

I certainly didn’t mis-hear, FannyCornforth - dh also heard it, that’s why I wondering whether anyone else did.

trisher Wed 13-Oct-21 09:45:22

Maybe she shops at Harrods and they charge more for salad cream because only plebsuse it.

Aveline Wed 13-Oct-21 09:48:16

The family laugh at me but I love a smear of salad cream in a sandwich. I don't use much so a bottle lasts for ages. Certainly didn't cost £5 though.

Witzend Wed 13-Oct-21 09:53:28

? trisher.

A younger sister living in the US, who is very fussy about eco- and organic everything, who only shops at much more expensive organic supermarkets - is still addicted to salad cream! As an incredibly fussy-eater child she’d have it on bread instead of butter or margarine - she still loathes all dairy except cheese. And a meal would often consist of just new potatoes - with salad cream.
When she visits, maybe once in 18 months, I have to be sure to get some in - the glass bottle of Heinz of course, none of the dreaded plastic!

25Avalon Wed 13-Oct-21 09:57:45

Trisher I’ll tell dh he’s a pleb for using salad cream grin I hate it myself. No way is it £5 a bottle. If it was the shopper could save herself a lot by making a much healthier vinaigrette instead.

I do like You and Yours.

Hetty58 Wed 13-Oct-21 10:04:10

Maybe she buys it in her corner shop? Hardly an essential, though, is it? Sago, I think food has been incredibly cheap - for a very long time. What's 'expensive' depends on what we choose.

FannyCornforth Wed 13-Oct-21 10:11:52

Hetty that’s a good point - corner shops are exorbitant!
I’ve just checked, and you won’t be surprised to hear that neither Fortnums or Harrods stock it

M0nica Wed 13-Oct-21 17:09:03

Well, I am entirely unapologetic. I like salad cream, I prefer it to mayonnaise any day, and so does almost everyone I know.

If you eat a lot of salad and it is pretty boring without a salad dressing of some kind and a little salad cream goes a long way. It is not an essential, but not a luxury. No different than having some Branston with ham or a pork pie or in a cheese & chutney sandwich.

DanniRae Thu 14-Oct-21 07:48:13

I LOVE salad cream on my salad. That reminds me I must get some next time I go shopping!!

Shinamae Thu 14-Oct-21 07:51:03

I much prefer salad cream to mayonnaise

Petera Thu 14-Oct-21 08:01:55

25Avalon

Trisher I’ll tell dh he’s a pleb for using salad cream grin I hate it myself. No way is it £5 a bottle. If it was the shopper could save herself a lot by making a much healthier vinaigrette instead.

I do like You and Yours.

I don't like it either but is it really less healthy than most alternatives? I've just looked at the ingredient list and, apart from a small amount of colouring and stabiliser; it has the same ingredients that I use to make mayonnaise, admittedly in probably different quantities, and maybe even different quality.

Vinaigrette is mostly oil.

25Avalon Thu 14-Oct-21 08:37:58

Petera I make my own vinaigrette using organic cider vinegar and organic pure virgin olive oil.

Petera Thu 14-Oct-21 08:46:57

25Avalon

Petera I make my own vinaigrette using organic cider vinegar and organic pure virgin olive oil.

No, I agree with you (and I make mayonnaise with organic eggs and oil). I've also no doubt that your vinaigrette tastes much better.

But my point was really that it's an inherently unhealthy product (whatever unhealthy means) whether carefully and lovingly homemade or mass produced, and in that sense the difference is small.

Grannynannywanny Thu 14-Oct-21 09:03:48

I enjoy salad cream occasionally and have always been puzzled by the snobbery surrounding it’s use v mayonnaise.

I remember 40 odd years ago sitting round the table at my ex mother in law’s house. Her daughter had moved back home after a row with her husband. The mother and daughter sat discussing all his faults and failings. One of them was the shocking fact that he preferred salad cream to mayo!

nadateturbe Thu 14-Oct-21 09:27:58

I used to love adding Heinz Salad Cream to sandwiches.

nadateturbe Thu 14-Oct-21 09:41:26

nadateturbe

I used to love adding Heinz Salad Cream to sandwiches.

I've just done what FannyCornforth did.
That should actually be "I used to love adding Heinz Sandwich Spread to sandwiches." blush

Baggs Thu 14-Oct-21 09:59:39

I add salad cream to my lettucey, celery, dried cranberry, cream cheese wrap every day. In that contest I prefer it to mayonnaise. Any snobbery directed at my wrap or me can go take a jump ? ?. It's delicious. Plus celery and lettuce are both quite good gentle diuretics which is good for my slightly high BP.

Mayonnaise with egg, etc.
Salad cream with lettuse.

Which must mean I can't have an egg and lettuce sandwich. Hmm...... ?

growstuff Thu 14-Oct-21 10:10:46

Petera

25Avalon

Petera I make my own vinaigrette using organic cider vinegar and organic pure virgin olive oil.

No, I agree with you (and I make mayonnaise with organic eggs and oil). I've also no doubt that your vinaigrette tastes much better.

But my point was really that it's an inherently unhealthy product (whatever unhealthy means) whether carefully and lovingly homemade or mass produced, and in that sense the difference is small.

Some oils aren't inherently unhealthy, especially if eaten in small quantities. Salad cream contains quite a high percentage of carbohydrates, which are unhealthy if you wish to avoid them.

rafichagran Thu 14-Oct-21 10:24:45

I dislike the taste of mayonnaise and salad cream. The taste and texture are horrible to me.
It is not a essential but why should people not eat things they like.

trisher Thu 14-Oct-21 10:27:10

I had to find out more-I thought I didn't remember mayonnaise in my youth and it didn't appear in jars until 1961. Salad Cream is traditionally British and the first Heinz version was produced in 1914. but the recipe is much older www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1308233/Why-DO-Brits-gooey-Salad-Cream.html
Should we link its use to Brexit?

Baggs Thu 14-Oct-21 10:44:44

Some oils aren't inherently unhealthy, especially if eaten in small quantities. Salad cream contains quite a high percentage of carbohydrates, which are unhealthy if you wish to avoid them.

Anything that's only unhealthy if you wish to avoid it is not inherently unhealthy.