As do I. I can’t stand the smell of eggs. I’d rather smell tuna.
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Hmmm. I’m not familiar with Eric Hobsbawm so I’ll have to go see what he says and in what context…
ETA: Having looked him up, I’m dismayed and actually shocked that I wasn’t familiar with him and his work by name… not sure how that happened? But in any event, yes, I had the same general idea in mind, but I guess I was trying to distinguish between the “use” of tradition as a political tool/weapon, and individuals’ personal reactions to broader social phenomena. To oversimplify, I’m not thrilled (and often, that’s a gross understatement) when would-be political leaders (across the entire political spectrum) use “emotional” reactions/discomfort to further their ends (which so often have nothing real to do with their political ends), but in terms of individual psychology, I think it’s a perfectly normal and not necessarily even “unfortunate” reaction. I just wish more people were quicker to see the distinction between “politics” (in the narrower legislative/governmental sense) and cultural (and other societal) phenomena.
As for explicating, I’m really not sure how far I want to even try to explicate (at least in this thread, and maybe on this forum) for fear of what would (unavoidably for me at least) end up involving “talking politics at the dinner table”, since so many social and cultural phenomena end up being closely entwined with politics, and not infrequently serve as political “code” behavior or public “banners” of political affiliation- across the entire political spectrum. Which frankly has always driven me a nuts, because I don’t consider that they’re as inherently intertwined as they end up being in popular sociopolitical discourse.
Much the same is true here, though I personally think the frequent correlation between social, cultural, and political opinions and positions is more unfortunate than “interesting”, at least as it they so often up being being intertwined in Public Debate and Discourse on their respective subjects. Or to put it another way, I think they’re “Interesting” as a matter of political science/analysis (and/or mass psychology), but as far as their impact on practical politics is concerned, I think it’s far more unfortunate than “interesting”, in the sense that “interesting” means “informative” or “useful as a guide to political decision-making”. I think the correlations have far more to do with the social and cultural phenomena being used and encouraged as proxies in political discourse rather than because they’re necessarily intertwined as matter of, not quite sure, what, maybe “human nature”?
(edited to rephrase and clarify)
Perhaps there are other issues, for different cultures, which tend to define people who will hold a group of political/social beliefs. In my real, non-food, life I am a military history researcher and author, with a particular interest in the First World War. i have met Americans through this who I would regard now as friends. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they also have an interest in the “events” of the 1860s. Call it the Civil War, the War Between the States, the War or Northern Aggression, as you wish. But their varying historial and social takes on the conflict (including what they choose to call it) also seems to define their wider modern politics. Of course, I’m sure it’s more nuanced than that but it is, at least, how it seems. It may well be the same sort of cultural leanings that also define the English/British debate here.
By the by, unless we can think of a way of dragging this interesting conversation back to food, I suggest we perhaps should draw a line under it before we attract the attention of the “off topic police”. But, before we do that, let me offer another plug for one of my books - “Bully Beef & Biscuits - food in the Great War”.
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Yes, I fully agree with that…
You’re not putting in enough garlic & basil.
Maybe, but what I don’t like is that it always seems to taste like steamed veges. Haven’t made it in a while. Maybe I need to saute them separately then combine.
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More olive oil too then.
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Turkey > Smoked Turkey.
Before ordering a turkey sandwich, I will ask the restaurant or sandwich shop if the used in their sandwiches is smoked.
If they used smoked turkey , I’ll order a different type of sandwich. 
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You’d be happy in the UK where our turkey sandwiches are, in my experience, always unsmoked. On the downside, you’d have to wait till Xmas as places round here rarely do turkey sandwiches outside the festive season.
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That’s good to know! I sometimes wish I lived in the UK, and not just for the unsmoked turkey!
Kale tastes like used gym socks smell.
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Except cavolo nero which is more cabbagey than kaley, although I think technically it’s a kale. I have it in mind that you Yanks call it something else but, hopefully, not “black cabbage” which doesnt sound as appealing as the original Italian.
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Tuscan kale or lacinato kale.
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Tuscan kale! That’s the one I’ve read. Thanks. Delish unadorned - shredded & lightly steamed.
Also, Dino Kale. I’ve also grown a Red Russian kale that’s fairly similar in taste. I like the flat leaved Portuguese kale, which I grow.
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Try massaging your Kale:
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Wine and oysters
Brittany > Burgundy
