haggis is really nice yes
― imago, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:01 (six years ago) link
love haggis
this list reminded me how much i hate everything about mint sauce
― nxd, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:02 (six years ago) link
I have found myself in plenty of places around the country * through work and I struggle to find decent restaurants that would serve English food.
One pub in Sheffield so far is all I have.
* not counting London
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:03 (six years ago) link
dude chips w/ curry sauce is the most belgian thing ever
― mark s, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:06 (six years ago) link
xp hand & flowers my man
― nxd, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:08 (six years ago) link
i once went to a wedding where the proud essex dad had front-loaded the buffet with his favourite food to honour his beloved daughter's best-ever day, so that table after table groaned with jellied eel piled high
i quite like jellied eel -- and don't see it often -- so i dug in but by the end of the evening nearly no one else had touched it :(
― mark s, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:08 (six years ago) link
at the risk of stereotyping myself, i think i'm probably gonna have to go haggis on this one
― frankfurters take on new glamour in this gleaming aspic (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:10 (six years ago) link
otm - mint is the flavour of toothpaste, keep it the fuck away from my food
― frankfurters take on new glamour in this gleaming aspic (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:11 (six years ago) link
feeling very attacked right now
― mark s, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:15 (six years ago) link
Hand & flowers is Michelin star but what I mean is nice places where you could get something good and British for about 15-20 quid no fuss.
Real lack of places.
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:16 (six years ago) link
Lol if Haggis wins
haggis won't win. the american shift will all roll in and vote for stilton or something
― imago, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:18 (six years ago) link
BLOOD SAUSAGE
― mark s, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:18 (six years ago) link
never forget
― mark s, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:19 (six years ago) link
this thread replicating an argument I had with my son the other day i.e. mint flavour does not belong in food
but I don't consider fresh mint to count so mint sauce and mojitos are fine by me
course, with both of those the alcohol is doing most of the heavy lifting
― a hulking and impenetrable dump (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:20 (six years ago) link
Missing, apart from the already mentioned fish & chips and black pudding: Sunday roast!
Potatoes roasted under the joint, though. Btw if you didn't vote for that, you've never done it (and you should).
― Madchen, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:23 (six years ago) link
stilton is rad tbf
― frankfurters take on new glamour in this gleaming aspic (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:24 (six years ago) link
There's alcohol in mint sauce??
― Colonel Poo, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:24 (six years ago) link
can't wait for the us muffins vs uk muffins arguments to kick off
― frankfurters take on new glamour in this gleaming aspic (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:25 (six years ago) link
xp
vinegar is just spoiled alcohol innit?
― a hulking and impenetrable dump (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:26 (six years ago) link
Dublin prawns surely more contentious than Haggis, which has been alleged to have been invented in England
xp yeah I guess, doesn't get you pissed though iirc
― Colonel Poo, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:26 (six years ago) link
I do usually further dilute mint sauce with more vinegar come to think of it.
― Colonel Poo, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:28 (six years ago) link
my fam did that, could make one jar go a year easily
― a hulking and impenetrable dump (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:29 (six years ago) link
so you don't like mint sauce at all, you just like vinegar with a dash of toothpaste?
― frankfurters take on new glamour in this gleaming aspic (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:32 (six years ago) link
next you'll be telling me you only enjoy homeopathic servings of mushy peas
― frankfurters take on new glamour in this gleaming aspic (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:33 (six years ago) link
a: you need mint in tabbouli (w/parsley to counteract the spear-carrying element of the mint) b: a good quick tomato salad is tomatoes and shredded mint leaves in red wine vinaigrette c: there's an excellent soup, spinach, leek and mint with lamb DUMPLINGS! which i live off in the winter d: the first book i reached down went to "leaves in liver tea" a bit fast for my liking, but it turns out "liver tea" is a old-fashioned polite way of saying "diuretic": the tea contains no liver it acts on the liver (beneficially) and contains mint leaves, dandelion leaves, rosemary, blessed thistle (broken) and wormwood lol lol lol e: pliny sez students shd wear a sprig of mint to classes to "exhilarate their minds" f: after eights so i win the thread
― mark s, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:34 (six years ago) link
in conclusion mint is good not bad
If you think mint sauce tastes like toothpaste, you have either never eaten mint sauce or never brushed your teeth
― Colonel Poo, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:35 (six years ago) link
unsure why i capitalised DUMPLINGS! in that list however they are very nice
― mark s, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:35 (six years ago) link
wrong, it's actually both xp
― frankfurters take on new glamour in this gleaming aspic (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:35 (six years ago) link
and elizabeth david was all about continental non-UK cuisine
Only her early books: her later work was very much to do with the history of regional British cookery
― mahb, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:36 (six years ago) link
hahaha the DUMPLINGS! autocorrect abides
― imago, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:36 (six years ago) link
TS mint sauce vs mint jelly
― Gulley Jimson (Ward Fowler), Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:36 (six years ago) link
e: pliny sez students shd wear a sprig of mint to classes to "exhilarate their minds"
and where are pliny and his students now i ask u
― frankfurters take on new glamour in this gleaming aspic (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:37 (six years ago) link
ts ky sauce vs ky jelly
they are under the sod iirc
― mark s, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:40 (six years ago) link
exactly
WHERE IS YOUR MINT GOD NOW, PLINY
― frankfurters take on new glamour in this gleaming aspic (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:44 (six years ago) link
what I mean is nice places where you could get something good and British for about 15-20 quid no fuss.
This is the thing - the quality of casual food in France and Italy is just so much better than it is here. You can go to a French inn largely frequented by lorry drivers and the food will be great. A lot of places serving what might be described as 'British' food in that price bracket are just lazy.
There's loads of good stuff in London and other big cities obviously and a lot of country/village pubs still bother. It's medium-sized towns and cities where you really see the problem, like why is the food in Oxford so shit?
― Matt DC, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:48 (six years ago) link
so the only foods that clear BG's bar are (i) nectar and (ii) ambrosia
the latter reminds me that THIS is not in the only-the-english list:
https://www.englishteastore.com/media/catalog/product/cache/6/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/F/P/FPUD_AMB_CRCE_-00_Ambrosia-Creamed-Rice-Pudding-15oz-425g.jpg
― mark s, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:50 (six years ago) link
I have never heard of this but the Belgians are culturally English according to that one Jonathan Meades doc so the point stands.
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:51 (six years ago) link
the roast is the quintessential english meal & all the best, truly decadent 3-types-of-stuffing&all-the-sauces, christmas-dinner-level roasts I've had have been home cooked.
I'm voting sausages though. I've had some great sausages around europe but my favourites have been in england
never cared for any of the desserts though, they're just for old people
― ogmor, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:54 (six years ago) link
a *lot* of lunchtime lifting in small towns is done by eg highish-quality chains like pret or else supermarket packaged snacks*, which maybe cuts into the share that good casual caffs and restaurants wd need to stay solvent?
*to be eaten back at yr desk so you look as if yr working thru lunch?
― mark s, Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:56 (six years ago) link
also haggis
― frankfurters take on new glamour in this gleaming aspic (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 31 August 2017 10:57 (six years ago) link
this has probably actually been written, but a social history of sugar in the british diet wd be interesting: before colonies were established in the west indies (and slaves imported) most sugar in these sialdns came from sugarbeets, with honey pitching in the sweetener dept… i read once that UK consumption of cane sugar (which is what the plantations provide) went up by 600 times over the relevant timespan (like 1700-1800, i forget exactly), WHICH IS A LOT
the bulk of our puddings and cakes and jams and jellies and conserves presumably date from this rise -- not just the tendency to use sugar to preserve, but to treat staples others used largely as savouries (like rice and tapioca and sago and lol yes old stale bread) as the stodge in highly sweetened desserts
― mark s, Thursday, 31 August 2017 11:02 (six years ago) link
apologies for all the questions marks, i am starting to post like stevolende
DUMPLINGS!!
― mark s, Thursday, 31 August 2017 11:04 (six years ago) link
I want to vote cox's orange puppies because of how comprehensively wrong the entire rest of the world gets apples. The overarching focus on sweetness and appearance over taste is execrable. I think of almost all the things in the list the thing that is hardest to get a good example of outside of the UK is a decent apple.
I'm not even sure the cox is the best apple but it is a fine example. Even more infuriating is that the rest of the world doesn't value cooking apples at all.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Thursday, 31 August 2017 11:31 (six years ago) link
but what about all those American pies?
― a hulking and impenetrable dump (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 31 August 2017 11:33 (six years ago) link
cooking apples often now quite hard to track down *inside* the UK also imo: the apple is going the way of the rubbery and tasteless mass-grown tomato :( :( :(
― mark s, Thursday, 31 August 2017 11:35 (six years ago) link
I haven't had a good shop-bought tomato in years except for the premium brand "we actually taste of something" varieties
― a hulking and impenetrable dump (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 31 August 2017 11:40 (six years ago) link
That is a sad development. I did track down some good cookers in Pennsylvania - eating apples make for shit pies and American apple pie is generally not good. For a superlative in American pies it has to be cherry, pumpkin or pecan.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Thursday, 31 August 2017 11:44 (six years ago) link
oh, as you said haha
― imago, Saturday, 30 September 2017 09:30 (six years ago) link
stilton's great! tho not in my top 5 blue cheeses tbf
― Stavanger Abbey (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 30 September 2017 09:32 (six years ago) link
i like it too but it didn't win bcz i voted for it
(i didn't vote, polls are bad and you should feel bad)
― mark s, Saturday, 30 September 2017 09:39 (six years ago) link
the phrase "top 5 blues cheese" reminds me there was a soft blue cheese invented by yuppie marketing men in the 80s -- forget name, it began with L i think -- which my dad luuuuurved, we were all v sad for him when it went off the market bcz no one else did
― mark s, Saturday, 30 September 2017 09:41 (six years ago) link
lymeswold!!
― mark s, Saturday, 30 September 2017 09:43 (six years ago) link
^^^top brainstormed name there
(it was basically mild cambozola except none more brexit) (dad was not brexit, probably)
― mark s, Saturday, 30 September 2017 09:44 (six years ago) link
i remember Lymeswold, pretty sure it became some sort of Private Eye meme at some point
― Stavanger Abbey (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 30 September 2017 09:55 (six years ago) link
I Remember Lymeswold is the title of my forthcoming bodice-ripper set in 18th century Bridlington btw
― Stavanger Abbey (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 30 September 2017 09:56 (six years ago) link
a young orphaned herring gutter is forced to choose between local smuggler and ruffian Blue Vinnie and the mysterious Italian shipwreck survivor Giuseppe Cambozola
― Stavanger Abbey (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 30 September 2017 09:59 (six years ago) link
I agree that the best food we can hope for from the English is some moldy cheese
― Erotic Wolf (crüt), Saturday, 30 September 2017 10:55 (six years ago) link
lol america sonning europe on cheese
― mark s, Saturday, 30 September 2017 10:57 (six years ago) link
ts: head vs string
God I love bread sauce
― kraudive, Saturday, 30 September 2017 11:14 (six years ago) link
since moving to canada i don't think i've ever had a good roast potato. you never get nice crispy ones, i think they don't bother with the parboiling or something
― -_- (jim in vancouver), Saturday, 30 September 2017 19:33 (six years ago) link
It's not like they'd be short on duck and goose fat, so what gives?
― kim jong deal (suzy), Saturday, 30 September 2017 19:35 (six years ago) link
My idea of good roast potatoes prep is to boil them from cold for 3 mins from when the water starts bubbling, rough them up good in a colander with some flour. Then they are ready for roasting. It so easy!
― calzino, Saturday, 30 September 2017 19:45 (six years ago) link
boil them from cold for 3 mins from when the water starts bubbling
bit puzzled at the "from cold" combined with the "from when the water starts bubbling" here? what's the thing that's cold -- the raw potatoes?
― mark s, Saturday, 30 September 2017 19:49 (six years ago) link
the water!
― calzino, Saturday, 30 September 2017 19:49 (six years ago) link
Like there is a difference than if you just throw them straight into boiling water for 3 mins, which would make poorer roast potatoes, quite possibly.
― calzino, Saturday, 30 September 2017 19:52 (six years ago) link
"in defense of (bad) English posting (and cooking)"
― calzino, Saturday, 30 September 2017 19:54 (six years ago) link
so how is the water cold if it is also bubbling? do you use sparkling water?
(i think i am being dense but i can't work out how)
― mark s, Saturday, 30 September 2017 19:55 (six years ago) link
Put potatoes in cold salted water, bring to rolling boil, then 3 minutes later you drain. Just like making a three-minute boiled egg!
― kim jong deal (suzy), Saturday, 30 September 2017 20:02 (six years ago) link
thanks, Suzy!
― calzino, Saturday, 30 September 2017 20:03 (six years ago) link
You just xp'ed me where I had described "rolling boil" as a "lively boil" then deleted it, thankfully!
― calzino, Saturday, 30 September 2017 20:06 (six years ago) link
lol ok i do understand it now and i was totally being dense, for some reason the two "froms" formulation just threw me
(i think i might still be quite tired post-op) (also argumentative)
― mark s, Saturday, 30 September 2017 22:37 (six years ago) link