Has Ireland Gone Mad On Takeaways?

Ally Dick · 07-07-2011 01:26AM

neuromancer wrote: »

but a curry is a little luxury, like expensive bogroll.

You need expensive bogroll after eating all that curry

scotty_irish · 07-07-2011 01:31AM

MrsD007 wrote: »

When I used to say that to my husband he used to laugh at me but I really believe that you can get a food hangover, when you eat processed sh1te and your body is used to normally having healthy food. I think if you eat processed food all the time you don't really notice how sh1te it really is and the effect it has on your body.

I know it is really boring but I sit down every weekend before I go shopping and I plan out the meals that we are likely to have during the week. I sometimes cook meals in advance too so that I don't resort to takeaways when I'm busy. I really enjoy cooking and I'm pretty good at it (so Mr D tells me) so takeaways don't really interest me.

I have one exception though, if I'm really sick, I will make my husband go to a local fish and chip shop of a bag of traditional chips cooked in lard.

i hope you feed him well after breaking his hedge cutters!

Jess16 · 07-07-2011 01:37AM

I don't get why some people regard loving cooking and loving takeaway as mutually exclusive things? It seems there are a lot of leftover scraps of food snobbery post Celtic Tiger about who eats what and why. Having a fridge full of organic rocket harvested at dawn doesn't make you more informed in the same way that enjoying a burger doesn't make you ignorant

Lady Chatterton · 07-07-2011 01:40AM

scotty_irish wrote: »

i hope you feed him well after breaking his hedge cutters!

Hey, he thinks I'm a "Domestic and Gardening Goddess"

Lady Chatterton · 07-07-2011 01:44AM

Jess16 wrote: »

I don't get why some people regard loving cooking and loving takeaway as mutually exclusive things? It seems there are a lot of leftover scraps of food snobbery post Celtic Tiger about who eats what and why. Having a fridge full of organic rocket harvested at dawn doesn't make you more informed in the same way that enjoying a burger doesn't make you ignorant

The reason I like to cook my own food is not out of snobbery, it is just that it gives me more control over the quality and origin of the meat used and the cost of the meal.

df1985 · 07-07-2011 01:50AM

only if im drunk or hungover..so often enough yea! ah no, once a week max.

Chucky the tree · 07-07-2011 02:17AM

A take-away nearly every night is disgustingly unhealthy.

Jess16 · 07-07-2011 02:43AM

MrsD007 wrote: »

The reason I like to cook my own food is not out of snobbery, it is just that it gives me more control over the quality and origin of the meat used and the cost of the meal.

Again, you associate the notion of your food as being superior and of better quality whereas that isn't always necessarily the case. There seems to be a concept that all takeaways are MSG laden muck when in actual fact the Indian and Thai restaurants I eat from cook to order using entirely fresh ingredients.

With regard to costs, people seem to forget that the net cost of home-cooking isn't at the bottom of the supermarket receipt and often neglect to factor in the cost of running the oven/hob/microwave and dishwasher in addition to time itself. I understand that this all relates to personal circumstances but I don't think the disparity is always as great as people tend to assume.

MrsD007 wrote: »

I really enjoy cooking and I'm pretty good at it so takeaways don't really interest me

The implication being that consumers of takeout A. mustn't enjoy cooking and B. are not very good at it which simply isn't true.

OPENROAD · 07-07-2011 02:58AM

Jess16 wrote: »

Again, you associate the notion of your food as being superior and of better quality whereas that isn't always necessarily the case. There seems to be a concept that all takeaways are MSG laden muck when in actual fact the Indian and Thai restaurants I eat from cook to order using entirely fresh ingredients.

With regard to costs, people seem to forget that the net cost of home-cooking isn't at the bottom of the supermarket receipt and often neglect to factor in the cost of running the oven/hob/microwave and dishwasher in addition to time itself. I understand that this all relates to personal circumstances but I don't think the disparity is always as great as people tend to assume.

The implication being that consumers of takeout A. mustn't enjoy cooking and B. are not very good at it which simply isn't true.

Still works out much cheaper though.

Lady Chatterton · 07-07-2011 03:10AM

Jess16 wrote: »

Again, you associate the notion of your food as being superior and of better quality whereas that isn't always necessarily the case. There seems to be a concept that all takeaways are MSG laden muck when in actual fact the Indian and Thai restaurants I eat from cook to order using entirely fresh ingredients.

With regard to costs, people seem to forget that the net cost of home-cooking isn't at the bottom of the supermarket receipt and often neglect to factor in the cost of running the oven/hob/microwave and dishwasher in addition to time itself. I understand that this all relates to personal circumstances but I don't think the disparity is always as great as people tend to assume.

The implication being that consumers of takeout A. mustn't enjoy cooking and B. are not very good at it which simply isn't true.

Jess - I was only giving my opinion, I'm not saying that my food is in anyway superior to a takeaway. If you enjoy takeaways and cooking that is great

I like going to my local butcher and knowing where my meat comes from, if I order from a takeaway they could well be purchasing their meat from the same butcher but they could also be ordering cheap cuts of poor quality meat from a meat wholesaler. I like to know exactly what I'm eating (as far as possible). I agree with you on the organic stuff, I think alot of the produce that is labelled organic is overpriced and I'm not sure that there is all that much difference in quality.

eternal · 07-07-2011 03:11AM

xXxkorixXx wrote: »

Just wondering what peoples thoughts are on this

me and me fella used to get a takeaway nearly every night, and they were always very busy.

Dont get me wrong, i love them but do you think that there is a huge takeaway culture today in Ireland? And do most people now a days get a takeaway every night and just dont bother cooking anymore?

(Like i said, i love takeaways and i'm not saying anything bad about them, i'm just saying do you think that Ireland just doesnt care about proper home cooked meals anymore??)

Any opinions would be great.

Cheers, Kori

This is disturbing.Of course you may be busy ,but every night ? Can you cook ?
The reason the world has gone made on convience food is that the pace of life has increased.This is pretty obvious in itself.People eat on the go a lot now.Still there is no reason to eat a takeaway every night .What does your boyfriend think ? He must really love you if he doesnt mind the fact that you dont cook for him.Im not a 1950's housewife but one major sign of love is creating a meal for someone you care about ,no matter how bad of a cook you are.No matter who you meet ,everyone has one 'special' meal they can prepare.Even if it taste awful youre not going to tell them.
If you or when you have kids I would sincerely worry about their health.
To be fair though ,I treat myself to a takeaway maybe once week or so.I love Indian food and even though Im ok at cooking I know I could never cook an Indian like chefs that have been ten years working in that cuisine.Its a completely different kind of cooking ,would take a long time to learn.I try to avoid chinese ,but once in a while you will find a decent restaurant that does good Chinese.I think a lot of places try to pass themselves as decent as Chinese food has become more mainstream .People also have become more tolerant of international cuisine .I bet nobody can look back 15 years and remember any Thai food in Ireland.Well not outside of Dublin anyhow.
Now nearly everyone can make a Thai curry .Funny in a way.

deisedave · 07-07-2011 03:19AM

ColeTrain wrote: »

Thread title reads like a TV3 special report.

It will be when the thread has ran its course, they need more info first:D

jive · 07-07-2011 03:28AM

Jess16 wrote: »

With regard to costs, people seem to forget that the net cost of home-cooking isn't at the bottom of the supermarket receipt and often neglect to factor in the cost of running the oven/hob/microwave and dishwasher in addition to time itself. I understand that this all relates to personal circumstances but I don't think the disparity is always as great as people tend to assume.

Ah go way. Of course it will work out cheaper. A kilo of rice is less than €2, a portion of rice is more than that and is probably 100g in Thai/Indian like you said. Restaurants also have the same costs as you do at home and then some - they obviously mark up the food to include preparation and all sorts of things as it's a business. If you buy your food and cook it yourself it will always work out cheaper. If it doesn't then whoever you are getting your takeaways from won't be around for long.

Washing up liquid 1 litre= 70c
10x sponges = €1
I don't know how much the stove/oven/microwave costs to run for about half an hour but I can't imagine it's all that much.

The disparity is as great as people assume. I'll take my local chinese for example - Chicken and rice + some sauce costs €7
In the supermarket you can get:

Chicken fillet = €1.10
Rice (1kg) = €1.80
Sauce (500ml) = €2ish
+ Washing up liquid + sponges = ~ €6

Not to mention you can use the sauce, rice, washing up liquid and sponges again so the next time you get that same meal for €1.10, and probably have enough sauce left to still have another meal for €1.10. Almost 3 meals for the price of 1 takeaway meal excluding heating costs (not exactly monumental).

There's a reason people take in lunches to work and don't eat out every day of the week, and it's not because they all share a passion for cooking.

eternal · 07-07-2011 03:37AM

MrsD007 wrote: »

When I used to say that to my husband he used to laugh at me but I really believe that you can get a food hangover, when you eat processed sh1te and your body is used to normally having healthy food. I think if you eat processed food all the time you don't really notice how sh1te it really is and the effect it has on your body.

I know it is really boring but I sit down every weekend before I go shopping and I plan out the meals that we are likely to have during the week. I sometimes cook meals in advance too so that I don't resort to takeaways when I'm busy. I really enjoy cooking and I'm pretty good at it (so Mr D tells me) so takeaways don't really interest me.

I have one exception though, if I'm really sick, I will make my husband go to a local fish and chip shop of a bag of traditional chips cooked in lard.

Hey hats off to you !
I love that too ,planning food and getting excited about it.I guess though that you have a passion for cooking,it comes across in your posts.
Dont ever call yourself boring ,your husband is a lucky man.And before you think Im some sleeze ,Im a female who can associtae with you ,bar the husband bit.Freezing fresh food too is great.I dont know why more people dont do that.The only reason I can think that they dont is lack of freezer space.I honestly cant see how anyone could eat takeaways every night .It would take away any love you ever had for a takeaway.

Lady Chatterton · 07-07-2011 03:55AM

eternal wrote: »

Hey hats off to you !
I love that too ,planning food and getting excited about it.I guess though that you have a passion for cooking,it comes across in your posts.
Dont ever call yourself boring ,your husband is a lucky man.And before you think Im some sleeze ,Im a female who can associtae with you ,bar the husband bit.Freezing fresh food too is great.I dont know why more people dont do that.The only reason I can think that they dont is lack of freezer space.I honestly cant see how anyone could eat takeaways every night .It would take away any love you ever had for a takeaway.

Ah Eternal, thanks very much for the compliment

I'm up late tonight with a sick child but I must say boards is wonderful company.

I adore cooking and entertaining and I love nothing more than an evening of good food, nice wine and great company = my idea of heaven

eternal · 07-07-2011 04:03AM

Thats bad and good news ,hope your child gets better .I love dinner parties too ,I think anyone I ever cooked for ,enjoyed (or pretended to convincingly) my food .Its nice to cook for people that you can sit with too and have a nice glass of wine.I think a lot of people ,when they are settled down with kids and stuff ,do this as kind of socialising and its lovely.
I actually for bad for couples who dont cook for each other and sit down together ,its the one time in the day you can be together .

lorebringer · 07-07-2011 09:18AM

Cost wise - a take away a day would cost approx €140 per week (for 2 people, average of €20 per night). Our food shopping bill for the week is usually less than this for the two of us, but this is breakfast, lunch, dinner, any other food (fruit, snacks etc.) and household stuff - not just one meal!

We cook most nights, even if it is a slap together pasta mixed with tuna and pesto or an omelet job it's still made in our own kitchen, we know what is in it (mainly thinking of fat and salt!) and it didn't cost a fortune. Often, we make way too much food specifically so that we can either have it the next day or freeze it (and eat it whenever!), so if we are having a lazy day we usually don't resort to a take away. I'm not saying we never get one - maybe once every 2/3 weeks (maybe longer) but living off of such low quality food cannot be good for ones health.

I think the take away culture in Ireland is a matter of habit - if you are not used to planning or preparing meals yourself, it can seem very daunting and such a pain in the ass to get into the routine of it. A take away is very little effort, tastes nice (even if it is super greasy and salty... probably because of this actually!) and is quick. If you have been out working all day there is nothing nicer than to not have to do anything when you get home, and if you have kids it's handy to put something in front of them that you know they will eat, but I think a lot of people forget to stop and look at the long term effects of their decisions (I'm not talking about a take away once in a blue moon, more so the 4+ times a week numbers) - health of both adults and kids, good habits for children, cost etc.

Lady Chatterton · 07-07-2011 04:24PM

I just had a look at the our local Chinese Restaurant's Takeaway Menu and if we were ordering two main courses from them, it would cost almost €30. It would be very expensive if you were ordering a couple of times a week. I could cook alot of food for €30.

Beef Chinese Style - €11
Soft Noodles - €2.00

Thai Seafood Combination with basil and spices - €11.50
Mixed vegetables - €4.50

solerina · 07-07-2011 04:27PM

I dont ever get a take away more than once a month.......think its easier and cheaper, not to mention healthier to cook at home

Bandana boy · 07-07-2011 04:39PM

I eat takeaway 4-5 school nights a week and 5 days a week for lunch I will usually do one sat night for a "treat" but I nearly always make the effort to cook on a Sunday
Take away on a sunday just seems wrong

sock puppet · 07-07-2011 04:45PM

Jess16 wrote: »

With regard to costs, people seem to forget that the net cost of home-cooking isn't at the bottom of the supermarket receipt and often neglect to factor in the cost of running the oven/hob/microwave and dishwasher in addition to time itself. I understand that this all relates to personal circumstances but I don't think the disparity is always as great as people tend to assume.

A cooker is around 500W I think. My oven about 2kW. So if you use the hob for 30 minutes and the oven for an hour it would cost a staggering extra 30 cent to cook your meal.

kfallon · 07-07-2011 04:45PM

Bandana boy wrote: »

I eat takeaway 4-5 school nights a week and 5 days a week for lunch I will usually do one sat night for a "treat" but I nearly always make the effort to cook on a Sunday
Take away on a sunday just seems wrong

Yip it is wrong on a Sunday but 4-5 nights a week and 5 days a week for lunch is A-ok! :rolleyes: :P

07-07-2011 04:49PM

Almost never have them anymore, I go out and eat unhealthy food once in a while but takeaways - rarely. Rather cook up something myself really

Pyr0 · 07-07-2011 05:19PM

I could never get a takeaway every night, once a week would be all I could do without feeling awful!

When compared to other countries I've noticed Ireland and Britain have a very high number of takeaways in cities and suburbs. When in Nantes a few weeks ago as an example, there were no takeaways really to be seen only restaurants or cafes, even away from the main city there were none. Berlin and Hamburg were the same, no takeaways at all. The only thing remotely close to a takeaway were Burger King or McDonalds.

Dangerous Man · 07-07-2011 05:20PM

Captain Darling wrote: »

There's about six takeaways in Athenry now (where i'm from), for a town thats small its far too much.

There was some statistic there lately saying that the recession was actually boosting sales in chippers etc, because people couldnt afford to buy decent food. Its hard to understand, because takeaway food just sits like a ball of sh1te in your stomach and in the long run doing a decent shop for good food knocks the cost thing on the head.

I used to think it was great hangover food, but it only makes the hangover twice as bad. Fook that.

I used to think that too, that fast food was so popular primarily because it's cheaper than buying fresh meat and vegatables. But it actually isn't. It's popular because people are lazy and disgusting.

conorhal · 07-07-2011 05:29PM

Just judging by my constant need to put my shoulder into it when opening my front door of an evening, on account of the small mountian of take-away menu's deposited just inside the door....I'd have to agree, yes we have gone take-away mad!

starviewadams · 07-07-2011 05:37PM

Local Chinese here does salt and chili chicken+rice/chips+spring roll+3 chicken balls+soft drink for €7.50.When I couldn't be arsed cooking/going shopping I usually just get that,maybe 3-4 times a month.

UglyBolloxFace · 07-07-2011 06:31PM

xXxkorixXx wrote: »

Just wondering what peoples thoughts are on this

me and me fella used to get a takeaway nearly every night, and they were always very busy.

Dont get me wrong, i love them but do you think that there is a huge takeaway culture today in Ireland? And do most people now a days get a takeaway every night and just dont bother cooking anymore?

(Like i said, i love takeaways and i'm not saying anything bad about them, i'm just saying do you think that Ireland just doesnt care about proper home cooked meals anymore??)

Any opinions would be great.

Cheers, Kori

All the hallmarks of a survey in disguise? - check.

At least be honest when you're posting stuff like this.

iPlop · 07-07-2011 06:57PM

Ehh......I'll have a chicken madras, pilau rice, a garlic cheese naan and a portion of popadums.

Ohh and a mango chutney milkshake.......cheers.

Apanachi · 11-07-2011 08:39AM

Pyr0 wrote: »

Berlin and Hamburg were the same, no takeaways at all.

Berlin is full of takeaways!!!!

Has Ireland Gone Mad On Takeaways?

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