Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 4,121 Location: South-West France
Re: British food « Reply #90 on Oct 18, 2010, 7:38am »
Going slightly off course here, when I was a kid in Canada we had neighbours from Hamburg. The girl used to get a snack of bread spread with what looked like lard and sugar sprinkled on it. So, I guess that "dripping" kind of thing was not limited to England.
Back on subject, I shall contribute a picture I took at the market in Knaresborough, Yorkshire a few years ago. However, not all his cheese was British.
Re: British food « Reply #91 on Oct 18, 2010, 7:43am »
More or less finally, unless I think of something else, I'd just like to mention a snack that is unbeatable (yeah, alright, it may be for you but not for me) - pikelets - or what is generally known as crumpets. Known in many countries but you can't beat the English version, dripping in butter -
As an after thought, beware if you visit our shores if you are a male and you are offered by a female some Cockle Bread, as it is - a bread baked by English women in the seventeenth century which was supposed to act as a love charm or aphrodisiac. The dough was kneaded and pressed against the woman's vulva and then baked. This bread was then given to the object of the baker's affections.
Re: British food « Reply #92 on Oct 18, 2010, 7:45am »
Dripping isn't limited to England, I can't see how it can be really and I don't expect it is. The cheese man above no doubt has put a few foreign cheeses on his stall just to show how cosmopolitan he is.
Re: British food « Reply #96 on Oct 18, 2010, 11:51am »
It was a guess because a lot of Yorkshire towns have a market on that day. After looking into it I find that it is a Wednesday, though I would expect they have a Friday or Saturday one as well maybe. It does depend a bit on which King or Queen issued the charter to hold one and which day they said it could be on.
Joined: Jan 2013 Gender: Female Posts: 400 Location: NOLA,USA
Re: British food « Reply #97 on Oct 18, 2010, 12:17pm »
I looked for the piece from NPR on British "artisanal" chesses (the word they used,not I. Another one of those overused trendy words I loathe!!! Anyway,I couldn't locate it at the moment,and will look around when more time allows,BUT,did find this piece on British Cheeses altering the way we dream.!!!!
Re: British food « Reply #100 on Oct 18, 2010, 12:46pm »
You are quite right Mark - about dripping not being limited to England. When I was about 6 or 7yrs old we came to live at Granma's house for a few months and she regularly gave us (always hungry kids) a thick chunk of white bread spread with a soft dripping - I suppose either room temperature beef or pork dripping - sprinkled with a little salt. It was the best thing ever!
Years and years go by, I'm in my teens and I now see just how beef dripping is made. My parents managed a farm which ran a butcher shop. The animals were slaughtered (humanely with a stun gun even in those days of 1962 or thereabouts), then the entrails were cleaned as much as possible before being put into a large vat which boiled away all the fat clinging to them. If I told you it smelled to high heaven you better believe it! The fat was then poured red hot into special paper "coffee mug shaped" containers to harden. It seems everyone cooked with dripping in those days.
Oh, Mark. I thought you were being funny, since I said his name was Dave.
Nobody takes me seriously any more. I don't know if life is worth living. My existence has been tainted by the ridiculous and I am now suffering payback for the scorn I have heaped upon others. Oh woe is me.
Casimira, I've always thought it was an old wives tale about cheese eaten just before going to bed giving you nightmares. Maybe there's something in it. Crumpet = English muffin? I think they probably do, though I'm no baker so there might be a bit of a difference with the amount of different ingredients and the holes.
Re: British food « Reply #104 on Oct 18, 2010, 3:26pm »
Absolutely! Actually I never clapped eyes on brown bread when I was young. Everything was white. We didn't eat much butter either - just white magarine. Now there is no such thing - well not in my supermarket! If I want yummy roast potatoes I cook them in Holsum which is a hard white vegetable fat. That is after boiling the potatoes for 15min in a strong solution of Bovril and water(not a lot) then chucking the whole lot into the roaster with the fat. Makes them very brown and savoury!
Dripping isn't limited to England, I can't see how it can be really and I don't expect it is.
When I was a kid, before cholesterol loomed large in the public consciousness, every house had a special container for meat greases. I think the containers often came as part of a set of kitchen canisters. They've gone the way of button hooks.
Oaxaca has elevated a version of dripping into an essential part of the cuisine. It's called asie nto and is the part left after removing the white lard from the rendering kettle. It's dark brown and full of crisp bits of rendered meat. It's spread on all kinds of things and also mixed into tortilla dough to make dumplings.
Absolutely! Actually I never clapped eyes on brown bread when I was young. Everything was white. We didn't eat much butter either - just white magarine. Now there is no such thing - well not in my supermarket! If I want yummy roast potatoes I cook them in Holsum which is a hard white vegetable fat. That is after boiling the potatoes for 15min in a strong solution of Bovril and water(not a lot) then chucking the whole lot into the roaster with the fat. Makes them very brown and savoury!
I think King Edward potatoes make the best roast but if I boiled them for 15 minutes first they would have tiotally fallen apart. 5 minutes at the most for me..
Never heard about Bovril before though. Well worth a try.
Re: British food « Reply #108 on Oct 18, 2010, 4:57pm »
Bread has been mentioned just now. Well, we aren't so good at bread, not like the Germans for example. There are some good regional breads from the flat type to heavy grain bread but in general the only thing we are good at is a soft white bread that is used in a very delicious way -
Re: British food « Reply #109 on Oct 18, 2010, 5:29pm »
And yet, there may be room for just one more thing. One more thing we use bread for. You may think it looks wrong, that it may belong in the food abomination thread. You are entitled to your opinion. It was difficult to find any picture that did justice to this food favourite of mine. Searching on it's proper name - "Chip Buttie" or the more known "Chip Cob" produced very little results of note. However this one will give you the idea -
Technically the bread is not a 'cob' but is a 'bap'. This is a larger version of the cob/bread roll especially suited to having chips stuffed in it. It is the food of Kings. I kid you not, and here's why.
Over time the words uttered by the famous have been mistranslated or altered. For example, Nelson didn't say on his deathbed "Kiss me, Hardy" he actually said, "Kismet, Hardy" meaning fate. Richard III met his end at the Battle of Bosworth Field during the War of the Roses. Richard, for all his faults was more a man of the people than he was given credit for. He was born the eighth son in Northamptonshire, in central England, and spent many formative years in Yorkshire (Wensleydale to be precise). He ran riot and mixed often with those of lesser station in life. He thus had a liking for the food of the common man.
At his death he was reputed to have said "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" but at this time Knights used a small sturdy breed of horse called a 'cob'. He actually was supposed to have said. "A cob, a cob, my kingdom for a cob!" and over the years the word cob became horse. What recent research discovered with modern techniques is that he'd been fighting for several days without pause. He was ravenously hungry.
He became unhorsed and thought that while he was out of the saddle he'd have a quick snack before continuing. But the dastardly Henry, Earl of Richmond killed him before the food was delivered from the local takeaway. What he in reality said was, "A chip cob, a chip cob, my kingdom for a chip cob!"
Joined: Jan 2013 Gender: Female Posts: 400 Location: NOLA,USA
Re: British food « Reply #111 on Oct 18, 2010, 10:08pm »
Actually,New Orleans has a PoBoy sandwich not too unlike the chip buttie,that I love. It's on French bread however,and does have gravy on it.It does incorporate french fry style potatoes in it. But,I've always contended that a decent bread makes up at least 3/4's of a decent sandwich. I can't tell you how many sandwiches I've eaten on horrible bread. Why bother? The British bread pictured is not too unlike the U.S. version of a commercial sliced white bread, Wonder Bread,or in the South,Bunny Bread name brands.
Joined: Aug 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 1,072 Location: Southern California
Re: British food « Reply #112 on Oct 19, 2010, 2:42am »
Mark, I have only now come upon this thread...you've done a very nice job of showcasing good British food.
I think cheeses are one of Britain's best offerings, personally. Anywhere that a variety of cows can be raised well is bound to offer a bounty of good cheese specialties.
As for the crumpet vs, English muffin question: personally, I find them to be slightly different, although they each have their merits. My Newfoundland Nana used to fry extra dough from bread making and these too, were quite similar to the above (although called "toutons" in NFLD). All three are yeast doughs that are fried in some way. Personally, I think the love of the maker is the thing that differentiates the final product.
Also, if I can add a plug for scones here - on my QM2 trip last fall, the scones they served at tea, with clotted cream and jam, were by far the best I have ever had. I had to restrain myself from over indulging every single day.
Being a carbohydrate lover, I will add that I love Yorkshire puddings. Sometimes I use leftover bacon drippings to make them. Just because I can.
But I will confess that I have no taste for fish and chips.
Re: British food « Reply #114 on Oct 19, 2010, 8:20am »
Mick, You must use those waxy potatoes or everything will fall apart. These roast potatoes donot go crispy in this Bovril case, instead turn a mahogany colour but are still soft. Actually you don't even have to pre-boil them - just mix the Bovril with a little boiling water and tip into the roaster.
Re: British food « Reply #115 on Oct 19, 2010, 9:45am »
How far to the inside does the colour penetrate? What I mean is that to me roast potatoes are white inside, not brown. So I presume it is just the surface and a bit more that gets coloured?
Re: British food « Reply #116 on Oct 19, 2010, 9:48am »
cristina, I was hesitant about saying if English muffins and crumpets are different. To me they seem to be but only by a little and I can't quite identify what it is that is different generally. I've not had English muffins for many years and I don't quite remember them well, yet crumpets/pikelets I have two or three times a year when I go back to the UK.
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