Amuse Bouche

There was literally an open door for cheap imports, and food, in general, became very cheap. A tin of Black Eagle salmon from North America, about five inches high, cost threepence. Australian butter, very yellow in colour, was considerably cheaper than Irish butter, and cheapest of all was Chinese ham. … These hams were not the same shape or colour as Irish hams; they were more rounded and they certainly stirred some primitive instinct in my young teen’s sensibilities. But some vested interest..put out a rumour that the Chinese had so many women that they were slaughtering the surplus and selling it off as bacon….sales of Chinese bacon..stopped.

From Rory and Ita by Roddy Doyle.