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If you're from The U.K. or have visited there, what are your thoughts on the foods of the areas? Likes and dislikes? If you don't live there, how does it fare to the foods in your area? Anything in particular 'stand out' as a favorite or a horror?
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If you're from The U.K. or have visited there, what are your thoughts on the foods of the areas? Likes and dislikes? If you don't live there, how does it fare to the foods in your area? Anything in particular 'stand out' as a favorite or a horror?
I find UK food tends to be on the fatty side, at least compared to American -- fish & chips, and lots of suasage, beef, venicen, mutton and other meat. Its very good tho, and the fish is especially excellent (as one would expect in a seafaring nation).
Another British staple is "black pudding", which some Americans would probably consider a "horror". Its a pasty, waxy black side dish, shaped like a hockey puck, which consists of (I believe) gravy, spices, fat, bits of meat and blood. I've tried black pudding, but its not really for me (plus I kind of want to keep my arteries clear!).
Scotland offers "haggis", which fans of Highlander will recall is a sheep's stomach filled with meat and barley. Some Americans (and even Englishmen) might consider this a "horror". I brought a tin of haggis back with me on my last trip (but I haven't opened it yet!).
British breakfasts are fantastic in my experience, and tend to consist of eggs and bacon, with fried tomatoes in the side. (Sometimes black pudding as well.)
British bacon is better than American bacon IMO. American bacon is narrow strips of fat with some meat; British bacon is more like what Americans call "Canadian Bacon" -- less fat, more like ham.
Incidentally, Music From the Movies editor Paul Place cooks an awesome English breakfast!
British sausage rolls are delicious (and hard, if not impossible, to find in the US).
"English Muffins" are nowhere to be found in the UK -- they are actually an American invention.
Hovis Bread is a famous English brand. Its supposed to be healthy and was imortalized (or rather imortalised) in a famous Ridley Scott commercial...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFLBvLxLJMI
But if you want to spread peanut butter on your Hovis, you're out-of-luck. Peanut butter is -- in my experience -- unheard of and impossible to find in the UK. It may be easier to find in London (which has more international offerings) but I admit most of my trips to the UK are spent in Northern England, Wales and Scotland, and I haven't seen peanut butter there (they do have jam tho!).
I don't care at all for British ice-cream cones -- at least their soft ice-cream, which lacks the creamy thckness of American ice-cream (in fact I don't even think it contains the same ingredients).
Pizza is available in many places. The UK also has prawn pizza, which is great!
Potato chips are called "crisps" in the UK, while "chips" are what Americans call "french-fries". It is also a popular custom in the UK to douse your chips with malt vinegar.
And of course, the UK (like the rest of the world) has a lot of MacDonald's and Burger Kings for any Americans who get homesick (or want to get sick). Subway is also making slow progress there (there is at least one in Liverpool now).
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Posted: |
Jan 8, 2007 - 3:50 PM
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By: |
Oblicno
(Member)
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Fear not, Paul! You can get peanut butter absolutely anywhere these days!
I had a lovely duck pizza the other day, which i can recommend.
We do indeed have an amazing selection of crisps and snacks to choos from. I was horrified to get to Canada and find that basically, there's salt and vinegar, dill pickle, some sub-par Wotsits, and BBQ flavours to avoid. Sod exchanging cd's, we need a part of the board to send snacks to the poor Americas!
America needs Pasanda crisps, thai chili chicken, pickled onion monster munch! My Canadian mates couldn't wrap there heads round the worcester sauce flavour crisps @ I don't like the Warchester' they would say, reducing me to a fit of the snorting mastadons.
Do you get pork scratchings over there? They're class.
Oop North, as we don't say up North, we have lots of Bury black-pudding (i didn't think there was gravy in it, though, but chock-full of blood obviously), pie on a barm - which is preferably a peppery potato and meat pie stuck on a buttered barmcake (which i think are called baps elsewhere) with lots of HP Sauce on it.
I love a full English Breakfast/Ulster fry-up:
Bacon, eggs, sausages, fried bread, beans, fried soda bread, fried potato bread, mushrooms, tomatoes - either fresh, fried or plum tomatoes fried, and black pudding of course, which must be accompanied by several slabs of toast, a cup of tea, and a glass of fresh orange.
Never had tripe - which is a local thing mainly for old people who may still think there's rationing.
I heard a horrible rumour that the south of england doesn't do gravy on chips - which would be a travesty.
In chip shops you can also get bits of batter that fall of the fish that are frying. Round our way they're called 'scraps', and you get em for free. A few miles down the road they're called 'scratchings'. And a few miles further on summat else again.
I really like black peas on bonfire night with loads of vinegar, but they MUST ONLY be eaten out of a cup - preferably plastic or polystyrene - i'm not kidding either.
Corned beef hash is good. A nice winter warmer. And i'm half Belfast Irish, so i'm like 3/4 Irish Stew in my blood type. That's lovely with loads of barley in it.
Kebabs must only be eaten when drunk. Try and scarf it down without looking at it, or thinking where it came from. I have it with hot chili sauce and salad.
Of course the most popular food in England is Indian food. It's our national dish for cryin' out loud! It's all good. Eat as much as you can. I prefer the hotter end of the scale but not so as my eyes and nose run.
Also - chip butties - chips on a barm - can't believe it's not popular everywhere - blummin' lovely.
i love a good food thread - thank you for starting it DavidNY! Heh-heh-heh!
ps. subways are all over the show now pretty much. Several in manchester Bolton and areas.
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Posted: |
Jan 8, 2007 - 4:24 PM
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By: |
Timmer
(Member)
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Hey Oblicno, down our way 'scrimps' were called 'scrumps', think west country accent and you've got it, I say 'were' because nobody seems to do them here anymore, a cheap and cheerful snack covered in salt' n vinegar, as a kid I loved um.
And Paul, as my fellow countryman says PEANUT BUTTER....you can get it everywhere from the highstreet supermarkets down to small local corner shops, I can't remember a time in my life when this didn't exist.....how d' hell did you miss it?
Oh yeah, and French Fries in Britain are called...eerrr....French Fries, we have them with either Mayo or ketchup or just salt....no vinegar. Chips are what you get in a Fish n' Chip shop, the potatoes are cut much thicker than fries and that's what salt and vinegar is for 
And finally, your esteemed Oblicification, you can get gravy on your chips here but we southerners tend to go for curry sauce.
p.s. What's your beer / Kebab scale?
Personally I need to be well on my way to eat a kebab, about 6 or 7 pints.
On a lesser scale I need at least 3 pints to hit the KFC 
Eating either of these stone cold sober is unthinkable.
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Posted: |
Jan 8, 2007 - 8:29 PM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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Hey Thor, we had our Sweidish family friends over the other night, and i asked them if they'd ever tried that brown goats cheese. The look of horror on their face was priceless. They said the worst meal they ever had was in Norway and that was part of it. i tried getting more details, but they genuinely didn't want to talk anymore about it. Your food can't be that bad could it?
Not all of it, but we DO have some esoteric "specialties", like boiled sheep head (called "Smalahovud"). I'm quite used to brown cheese, although I'm kinda fed up by it (too many school lunches as a kid!). Has a more sweet flavour than other cheeses, and is quite good with strawberry jam on crispy bread (or whatever it's called in English), for example. In any case, I can certainly understand why foreigners find it an "odd" experience, even our wacky Swedish neighbours.
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I find UK food tends to be on the fatty side, at least compared to American -- fish & chips, and lots of suasage, beef, venicen, mutton and other meat.
Do you mean venison (deer meat)?
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Posted: |
Jan 8, 2007 - 9:25 PM
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By: |
Oblicno
(Member)
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Not all of it, but we DO have some esoteric "specialties", like boiled sheep head (called "Smalahovud"). I'm quite used to brown cheese, although I'm kinda fed up by it (too many school lunches as a kid!). Has a more sweet flavour than other cheeses, and is quite good with strawberry jam on crispy bread (or whatever it's called in English), for example. In any case, I can certainly understand why foreigners find it an "odd" experience, even our wacky Swedish neighbours.
cheese and strawberry jam - odd.
i used to think when americans had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, they used actual jelly, like intrifles. The reality ain't much better!
And chips are every friday night! They're not that expensive - they're cheap as, er, chips!
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I find UK food tends to be on the fatty side, at least compared to American -- fish & chips, and lots of suasage, beef, venicen, mutton and other meat.
Do you mean venison (deer meat)?
Yeah, venicen -- dear meet.
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I find UK food tends to be on the fatty side, at least compared to American
Hell, I'm an American and I laughed at that!
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Never had fish n chips? Lordy. I'll post you some.
I did, on both my visits to London as a kid. Wrapped up in a cone made of newspaper.
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There's a lot of garbage thrown out about Brit cuisine. Two of the finest meals I ever had were on a trip to Edinburgh (to see a Goldsmith concert), in fact, one was out and out the finest meal I've EVER had.
Of course it all depends on your taste and the circumstances. Another great meal was a very simple fish and fresh vegetables lunch at a farm while hiking in the north of Spain.
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The failed peanut butter search was based-on second hand information from my mom, who lived in the Tyne Valley for a bit, and claimed she could find no peanut butter.
