-British Food Terms-

Here are a few terms about food used by the British that we in America
do not use to mean the same thing, or with which we may be unfamiliar.

Ale. This is a stronger, finer beer with much more character and body than the lagers we shamefully guzzle down in the United States. There are many varieties of ales, such as pale, bitter, or porter. It is the traditional drink of choice served in Great Britain by the pint or half-pint. Don't go and order "a beer" anywhere in Great Britain - they'll just stare at you oddly and you'll be embarrassed!

Bacon. See "Rasher," below.

Baked Beans. The Brits love baked beans! But their baked beans are not like the ones we eat in the U.S. at barbecues and picnics. They're more mild flavoured, and are always covered with a more plain tomato sauce. They come in cans (or, "tins," as they say in Great Britain) and are normally eaten on toast or with your bacon and eggs in the morning (don't knock it 'till you try it)!

Yup! Heinz produces and sells baked beans and other stuff in Great Britain (for now).

Bangers and Mash. This is just mashed potatoes (or "smashed potatoes," as the Brits say) with sausages.

Baps. A "bap" = a whole hamburger bun (both top and bottom).

Biscuits. We call them cookies. It's practically mandatory to serve a small plate of these to your guests when serving tea.

Black Pudding. A thick sausage made with blood and fat that they slice into small, oblong "coins" and fry up for breakfast (see the mealtimes notes below).

Butties. A "butty" is a very simple sandwich made from two slices of white bread or hamburger buns (known as "baps" to the British) all severely slathered with tons of butter or margarine, with something between them. Some people also like to spread salad cream (see below), ketchup ("sauce") or other condiments besides simple butter on theirs. Bacon butties have fried bacon in them and are quite popular. "Chips" butties are another common favourite in Great Britain (a total starch overload).

A "chips butty" - it has no place in the Atkins or South-Beach diet plans!

Candy Floss. We call it cotton candy.

Chips. We know them as "French fries," but the Brits call them chips. Guess what they call what we know of as "potato chips?"

Crisps. This is what Brits call what we refer to as "potato chips" - makes more sense to me to call them crisps than chips!

Cockles. These are a type of shellfish widely enjoyed in Wales.

Custard. "Great wobbling plates of custard!" ~British actor/comedian, Rowan Atkinson (playing the character of Inspector Raymond Fowler in the British sitcom ("Britcom") The Thin Blue Line). This isn't at all like the frozen treat we have grown accustomed to in the United States. Custard is to the Brits what pudding is to us. It has about the same consistency and colour as American vanilla pudding (like Jell-O brand pudding). It is served warm or cold, however one prefers to enjoy it.

Drippings on Toast. This is a traditional snack made by pouring pan drippings, preferably beef drippings, over toasted bread.

Fish and Chips. Fish and chip shops are famous in Britain. They serve battered, fried fish fillets with French fries wrapped in newspaper (well, nowadays, they use nice, clean white paper to serve 'em in). Go easy when they ask if you want salt and vinegar sprinkled on your fish and chips (sometimes they give you way too much)!

Fish Fingers. This is what the Brits call what we know of as fish sticks. Everyone in the U.S. knows what these are because there aren't too many Americans alive today who didn't love these things when they were kids!

Gammon. This means ham steak. It's routinely grilled, but is also prepared a number of other ways.

Haggis. This is the national dish of Scotland (it has been known to be regularly served in other parts of the U.K., too). It's a fat, round sheep's intestine stuffed with ground sheep and/or pork organs, oats and other vegetables, then boiled. I've had it before, and it's actually not bad (it reminds me of liverwurst, only with a hash-like texture).

Laverbread. This is a popular Welsh dish made of boiled, edible seaweed called "laver." It is served rolled with oatmeal and fried into crispy little patties with eggs, bacon and cockles for a traditional Welsh breakfast. (Hey - the Japanese can eat all the seaweed they possibly want to and the rest of the world hails it as a brilliant culinary accomplishment, so why can't British culture do likewise without anyone laughing about it!?")

Malt Vinegar. This is what you sprinkle all over your fish & chips! It's the very same stuff commonly available on the tables at Long John Silver's fast-food restaurants in the U.S. (which is, in my opinion, the only good thing about those restaurants).

Mixed Grill. Intended to be the main meal of the day, variety is the key word to the English "mixed grill" which is a heavier version of the "full English breakfast" (see the mealtimes notes below). It is comprised of an assortment of grilled or broiled meats, along with certain veggie components. A typical plate of mixed grill has about 3 oz. each of a grilled lamb chop and/or beef steak, grilled Cumberland sausage, a grilled pork chop or slice of ham ("gammon" to the Brits), grilled beef, lamb or pork liver and/or kidneys, a large, fried egg (with a yolk that runs when poked with a fork), fried "bubble & squeak" or plain mashed potatoes with gravy, large field mushrooms sautéed in butter or olive oil with salt, garlic powder and black pepper, a good helping of garden peas (or "mushies" - see notes directly below), and a fat, red tomato which has been cut in half and grilled or broiled until nicely crisp on both top-sides.

Mushy Peas. "Mushies" are coarsely whipped marrowfat peas - don't worry, they don't actually have any fat in them! One story behind the odd name for these goes that the Japanese, who introduced the maro pea to England about a hundred years ago, encouraged the British to grow "nice fat maros" for them in the suitable English climate. Peas completely permeate British cooking. "Mushy butties" (see notes above) are a favourite British snack. Mushies are much tastier and much easier to eat than the peas we normally eat in the U.S. which are extremely hard to keep on a fork (President Thomas Jefferson planted marrowfat peas among his regular crops at Monticello). They are hugely popular to order with fish and chips. If you normally detest peas, try these with a little salt and black pepper sprinkled over them - you might be in for a very pleasant surprise!

Pasties. Pronounced "pah-sties" ("pa" like "pasta," as in noodles), these are savoury meat-filled pastries baked golden in the oven. They were created by coal and tin miners' wives to take to work for lunch. The story goes that the wives would etch and bake their husbands' names into the edges of the pies so they could tell whose was whose in the dark mines!

Peas Porridge or Peas Pudding. "Peas porridge hot! Peas porridge cold! Peas porridge in the pot--nine days old!" This is just whipped marrowfat peas which are cooked with egg and maybe a few other ingredients. You serve peas pudding hot, like mashed potatoes, with boiled meat. It can also be served chilled and used as a spread or dip for crackers, toast, etc., and eaten as a snack or hors d'ouevre.

Pie. Pies take many different forms in Great Britain. A pie is basically some food filling baked in a pastry mixture of flour and butter. Pie fillings can be sweet or savory. Typical pies are "steak and kidney pie," "minced meat pie" or "apple pie." There are variations of "pie" called pasties (as described above).

Porridge. This is what we call "oatmeal."

Prawns. These are what we commonly refer to as shrimp. Prawn cocktail is the same thing as shrimp cocktail.

Pudding. The word pudding ("pud" for short) to Britons means many things both sweet and savory, but not the creamy dessert favourite that we Americans think of when we hear the word pudding (as explained above, that would be "custard" to the British population). Puddings are a meal-time staple in Great Britain and include everything from huge, fluffy dinner rolls known as "Yorkshire pudding" (see below) to sweet, bready, spongy treats eaten for dessert. "What's for pudding?" = "What's for dessert?" Christmas pudding is an age-old favourite served after Christmas dinner. It's basically a steamed mound of fruitcake which is served after dousing it with flammable liquor and setting it ablaze! The recipe is replete with meaning associated with the theme of Christmas - it contains the same number of main components as the number of apostles who followed Jesus and, when preparing the batter, one traditionally stirs it from east to west in the bowl to commemorate the journey of the three wise men to Bethlehem to behold Christ in the manger.

Rasher, Bacon Rashers. The bacon that the Brits refer to as "streaky bacon" is the kind of bacon that we Americans all know and love to eat with our eggs and toast in the morning. But the British normally eat what they call bacon "rashers" with their eggs in the morning. A bacon rasher is a thin, floppy slice of fatty ham. The closest thing I can compare a bacon rasher to is an unsalted, much less lean slice of Canadian bacon (but a British bacon rasher is not round like Canadian bacon - it's a longer, narrower slice of thin ham-meat). I personally do not really care for bacon rashers, unless they are well browned!

An English bacon rasher.

Salad Cream. This is a specialty cream sauce made by the Heinz company with vinegar, what basically amounts to mayonnaise, pickle-relish and other spices. The Brits don't so much slather it on green salads as they do on sandwiches, chips and anything else they feel like. I personally don't care for it one bit!

Sarnies. A sarny is a butty (explained above).

Sauce. "Sauce" is usually what Brits refer to bottled ketchup as. "Sauce and chips" is popular in Great Britain.

Scones. Pronounced "scahns," these are like a much denser, heavier version of American dinner biscuits. They often contain berries and other sweet components and are mostly enjoyed with mid-morning or afternoon tea.

Scotch. When somebody says "give me a Scotch and water," they're asking for a drink of Scotch whisky. Very important: If it is distilled in Scotland, it's WHISKY. If it's distilled anywhere else in the world, including Ireland, Canada or the United States, it's WHISKEY (with an "e" at the end). Don't ask. That's just the way it is (the distillers of the Maker's Mark brand of American whiskey apparently do not know this!). Also, there are two kinds of the stuff, no matter where it's distilled: (1) single malt, and (2) blended. Single-malt whisk(e)y is the product that is distilled from a single distillery. Some of the best single-malt Scotch whiskies are The Macallan (very sweet - I wouldn't doubt it at all if it were the inspirational origin of the sweets flavour called "butter scotch"), Laphroaig (pronounced "La-froig," this is very smoky and spicy) and Glenmorangie (from Inverness, near Loch Ness - I think it falls somewhere in the middle of the taste spectrum between The Macallan and Laphroaig). If a whisk(e)y is a blended brand, like Dewar's (my favourite), then it is the product of the blending of multiple single malts, normally in accordance with any given brand-name's time-tested, secret family recipe. It is widely believed in Scotland that all the distilleries are in cahoots with the blended-Scotch makers, holding their secrets inviolate so that we will always have our favourite blends available throughout the coming ages!

Spotted Dick. This is probably the most unhealthy thing one can put in one's mouth--currents or raisins and other spices in a sweet suet "pudding" - i.e., beef lard. It's eaten as a dessert. (Can you say "heart attack?")

Sultanas. Golden raisins.

Swede. No, it's not a person from Sweden! It's what the Brits call a rutabaga. It's a yellow root vegetable with a slightly sweet flavor. You can safely replace them in British recipes with turnips or rutabagas.

Sweets. "Candy" to us.

Tart. This is a type of pie usually made with a short crust or graham-cracker crust, filled with custard and decorated with a variety of fruit pieces.

Treacle. Their word for molasses.

Yorkshire Pudding. A batter made with flour, eggs and milk (just like for pancakes), baked nice and fluffy in the oven. You usually eat it with roast beef all covered with gravy. The story behind it goes that, during the lean years of the Middle Ages, Yorkshire pudding was eaten to fool one's stomach into thinking one had consumed more meat than was available to be served on one's dinner plate!

A Note Concerning British Cheeses.

Most British cheeses are named after the regions in the U.K. they come from. Of course, everyone in America is familiar with Cheddar cheese (which comes from Cheddar, England), but there are so many other good ones: Blue cheese lovers will positively LOVE the king of English cheeses, Blue Stilton; Double Gloucester is slightly sharper than Cheddar; Cheshire has a buttery richness with just a salty touch to it; Leicester is tangy and crumbly, and is used a lot for its great melting qualities (it made Welsh Rarebit famous!); Caerphilly is a white, crumbly cheese with an ever so light taste of buttermilk and is great for fondues; Lancashire is pure white, firm and spreads like butter; Derby is a creamy white, tangy cheese perfect for salads.

Wallace's favourite, Wensleydale, is a soft, crumbly-white cheese with a
sour-cream flavour as sharp as the sharpest Cheddar made anywhere!

A Note Concerning Mealtimes in Great Britain.

Brits tend to have big breakfasts, and lunch for them is no big deal (unlike in most other parts of Europe). Lunch is normally eaten between 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., just like in the U.S. Also, as in the U.S., the typical work day ends at 5:30 p.m. And, like us here in the U.S., Brits have their evening meal between 6:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Having been introduced to the peoples of the British Isles as a result of Great Britain's long reign over India, tea is usually a beverage of choice at any meal.

Breakfast. The British breakfast is much larger than in most other countries. Many people like a big, ol' fried breakfast traditionally known as the "full English breakfast" which typically features on a single plate bacon and fried eggs, split fried sausages, fried bread/toast, a fried tomato slice, baked beans, "bubble & squeak" and black pudding (explained above).

The "Full English."

Not everybody wants to eat so much food so early in the morning, however, and many just have toast and jam ("marmalade" to the Brits) with tea or coffee. Breakfast cereals are surprisingly popular in Great Britain. They eat a lot of Kellogg's corn flakes. British supermarkets stock many types of American brands of cereals and other items. In Scotland many people eat "porridge" or oatmeal ("boiled oats" to them).

Lunch. Lunch (or "dinner," as some Brits incorrectly call it) is not a big deal in Great Britain except for on Sundays when many of the meals which are considered typically British, like roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, are eaten. Otherwise, lunch in Great Britain is almost just like what we have in the U.S. However, there is the famous "Ploughman's Lunch" which is very popular to eat in "pubs" (short for "Public House," a warm, cozy place each community usually has to go and be with others).

A Ploughman's Lunch is very, very simple, consisting mainly of a bread roll with a piece of cheese and a really tangy, traditional relish-spread made of pickled onion and other vegetables (pickles seem to be as popular in great Britain as they are in Russia). Noted above, British cheeses are absolutely fabulous!

Dinner. Once widely referred to as "high tea," this is typically a heavy meal at day's end which some people in Great Britain still call "supper." The most typical thing to eat for dinner in Great Britain is "meat and two veg." That is, a piece of meat and two different boiled vegetables as side dishes, all covered with gravy. Brits love potatoes, and so do I (if God dropped me on a desert island and told me I could only have one thing to eat for the rest of my days, I'd pick potatoes)!

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

1900 - 2002

The last Queen of Ireland and Empress of India, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was the beloved mother of Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Consort of King George VI (who succeeded to the throne after Edward the VIII abdicated). She and her gallant husband showed the true courage of the British people throughout WWII by remaining in London during numerous Nazi bombings (Adolf Hitler described her as "the most dangerous woman in Europe")!

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