The Wire Re-up: The Guardian Guide to the Greatest TV Show Ever Made is out now from Guardian Books, and available in all good bookshops. The book features blogposts on every episode from all five seasons, plus interviews with the cast and features on the show – as well as many, many of your comments, which have made this blog the great forum it is,Food has a pervasive existence in The Wire. While most shows think of meal times as an off-screen triviality, the trials and tribulations of Baltimore's residents seem to unfurl in and among their times for repast.

The melancholy scene in Ruth's Chris Steak House this week, where Bunny takes Namond, Zenobia and Darnell as a treat for their efforts in school, is a masterclass in studying the psychology of angry, confused and insecure teenagers from tough upbringings.

Their journey from "euphoria to abject humiliation to anger, without knowing the reason why" (in Bunny's words) is played out among the white clientele and middle-class furnishings of an uptown restaurant. They are surprised there will be waiters, chastise each other for not using straws, mock each other for thinking "special" means a dish is on special offer and are too embarrassed and uncomfortable to ask for what they want to drink.

A mesmerising piece of TV, which illustrates how food, cuisine and habit are as much a part of your character as your actions or your language. Reminiscent of D'Angelo and Donette's visit to a similarly upscale eatery in season one, where a snooty maître d' plonks them on a puny table near the kitchen as they "don't have reservations".

Food in The Wire crops up in many ways, from the iconic Domino Sugars sign over the harbour in the opening credits to the Chinese food boxes in the hands of the hoppers on the corners. Sometimes it is used as a visual metaphor, as when Wee-Bey scolds D'Angelo outside a takeaway in season one for talking in the car – Bey stands under the sign that says "beef", while D is framed by the word "chicken".