Today on the show, we have two episodes from our daily podcast, The Indicator, about things we spend a lot of time thinking about this time of year: food and drink. First up, we explore how changes in economic conditions led to one of the U.K.'s iconic (and affordable) staple foods becoming a luxury. Then, the story of one Indigenous woman whose small business went head-to-head with Coca-Cola over a trademark dispute. Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
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This time of year, a lot of us spend a lot of time thinking about food, making food, eating food, especially the kind of food that makes you feel good, you know, the holiday dishes that you love, the ones that are fatty, salty, starchy, filling, you know.
Comfort foods.
Yeah.
Comfort foods are often dishes with humble origins.
They're usually made of inexpensive staple ingredients, and they're easy to make or cheap to.
In the UK, maybe the most iconic comfort food is also something a lot of people consider Britains national dish, fish and chips.
That is for the uninitiated.
Battered and deep white fish with fries.
It does make me wonder why they don't call it fish and fries.
Because it is kind of catchy.
Also, it's not that catchy.
Plus, fries are french, and, you know, we don't hole with the French in Britain.
Okay, okay, fair enough.
But the important question here is, Patty, how do you actually like to eat your fish and chips?
Well, I'm actually pretty traditional.
I like cod with a sprinkling of salt and vinegar on the chips.
Sometimes I do go a little wild with a squirt of thousand island dressing.
You know what?
I don't like to yuck anybody's yum.