Back in the 1970s Chicken-in-the-basket was a delicacy on a par with prawn cocktail. The prawn cocktail was later given a further lease of life as the eponymous flavouring in prawn cocktail crisps. Anybody it seemed could now savour something of what it was like to eat shrimp-type things in a heady cocktail of mayonnaise and tomato ketchup.
And so, the chicken meal was to follow a similar trend. Initially, it was what we term ‘a real treat’ not to eat chicken off a plate. Out of a basket thrilled us. It fuelled in us a yearning to eat like the noble peasant. From a basket – if that’s what peasants did. Though we did wonder about how easy it would be to wash up the baskets afterwards, not something we worried about with plates. It was a cause for concern that you might be served your chicken in a basket that had not been washed up. In a reused basket. Though were we to suppose that the baskets were disposable? – we didn’t see evidence of discarded baskets outside Harvester restaurants. (CLICK ON 'Read more' LINK, BELOW)
