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May 24, 2013, 1:02am

Any Port in a Storm :: Dockside Dining :: After Dinner :: Post Message

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Posted by tod2 on Oct 21, 2010, 12:24pm

Mark - the colour only goes onto the outer layer of the potato about skin deep - the inside stays white.
Remember not to oversalt if you add Bovril

Posted by onlymark on Oct 21, 2010, 12:57pm

Aha! That's it then. Right-o I'll have to try this the next time I do them.

Posted by onlymark on Oct 21, 2010, 5:19pm

There are a couple of things missing though from this thread on British food.
Things that a worth a mention because they are not just used in niche types of cookery, but generally used throughout the population.
We've had the infamous English breakfast, a number of different main courses, numerous filling deserts and even a mention of scones for tea.
Jams and preserves we have plenty of, but I don’t think there is much that every other country has, apart maybe from marmalade which far better known in the UK compared to other countries.
I am aware that in several languages a version of the word marmalade refers to more or less any preserved fruit. But in the UK we call them mostly jam.

Whereas jam generally is sweet, marmalade is bitter, in case you didn’t know it. Traditionally it is made from Seville oranges and we nicked it, as with many things, from another country, I think Portugal.
The best around originated from Dundee but nowadays is widely made. It’s best spread on that thick slice of buttered toast earlier.
I personally don’t like it as I’m not fond of anything at all that has a bitter taste.

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To continue – chutneys we have plenty of, but again usually because we nicked them as well, mostly from India as you would expect.
Bottled sauces are common everywhere but we do lay claim to Worcestershire Sauce. First made by two chemists, Lea and Perrins around 1837 and is primarily used to flavour meat and fish dishes –

What about Horseradish Sauce - the grated root of the horseradish plant mixed with vinegar? Anyone else have that? I know a lot is grown in Illinois but is it widely used in the USA as it is in the UK? –

[image]

Previously on a small thread I mentioned malt vinegar.
Malt vinegar is made by malting barley, causing the starch in the grain to turn to maltose. Then an ale is brewed from the maltose and allowed to turn into vinegar, which is then aged. It typically is light brown in colour.
We tend to use it a lot for chutneys and pickling and all I can say is that after living/visiting many countries, I just can’t easily get it outside of the UK. I can only surmise it is not widely used elsewhere –

[image]

That brings us nicely on to pickles.
We eat a lot of them, at least I do, but the English must also because in every supermarket you can get a list of them. Not just one or two, but usually about the whole lot –
Pickled – eggs, onion, beetroot, red cabbage, gherkins, sweet pickle, piccalilli and to a lesser extent pickled walnuts.

There was always a jar of these on the counter of my local fish and chip shop –

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Onions, beetroot, red cabbage, gherkins –

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The usual sweet pickle we have is the well known Branstons, though there are other makes. It is - made from a variety of diced vegetables, including swede, carrots, onions, cauliflower and gherkins pickled in a sauce made from vinegar, tomato, apple and dates with spices such as mustard, coriander, garlic, cinnamon, pepper, cloves, nutmeg and cayenne pepper with sugar.

[image]

One thing I’ve never enjoyed is piccalilli. Neither the British or the American version.
British piccalilli contains various vegetables— invariably cauliflower and vegetable marrow —and seasonings of mustard and turmeric.

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To finish off, if anyone wants to send me a care package -

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Posted by kerouac2 on Oct 21, 2010, 5:41pm

I have a great love of all sorts of condiments, many of which are displayed here. However, I have still never found a totally satisfactory use for picalilli, even though I like it. Horseradish is pretty much a Polish import, I think. I was the only person in my family who liked it when I was little, but my parents bought it anyway.

I've always liked marmalade and should eat it more often. 99% of the time, I have eaten orange marmalade, but grapefruit marmalade isn't bad at all.

Of all of the items depicted above, it is the red cabbage that appeals to me the most, though.

Posted by mich64 on Oct 21, 2010, 5:41pm

Mark, belonging to the Commonwealth, many of your items are staples here in Canada as well.

My favorites from what you have shown, the pickled eggs and beets. Mom and dad pickled and preserved just about anything for the cold room in the fall, but the beets were and are still my favorite.

The pickled eggs were also on the corner of most bars in the pubs here as well but you do not see them anymore.

Posted by onlymark on Oct 21, 2010, 5:54pm

Kerouac, ever tried lime marmalade? That's actually quite nice.
Pickled red cabbage I have to make at home here, when I can get the proper vinegar. That is my favourite but pickled beetroot comes a close second.

Mich, I only wish the British had had better control over Egypt. I might be able to get stuff here then.

Posted by bjd on Oct 22, 2010, 9:43am

I used to make pickles (little cucumbers) and pickled beets when I first came to France because I didn't like the French ones (too vinegary), but now I can find both, imported from Germany or Poland, so I don't bother any more.

On another topic of British food, this morning I was making a Tiramisu and wondered whether you could replace clotted cream with mascarpone on scones?
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Posted by kerouac2 on Oct 22, 2010, 11:09am

I've never come across lime marmalade, Mark. I might keep an eye out for it if I wander into a gourmet shop, since lime is one of my very favourite flavours.

Posted by mickthecactus on Oct 22, 2010, 12:01pm

Ginger marmalade is even better.

Posted by onlymark on Oct 22, 2010, 12:54pm

I've heard of orange and ginger and lemon and ginger, but not ginger by itself. But as with bitter stuff, I'm not fond of ginger either so it may have passed me by easily enough.

There is Lime marmalade and my favourite marmalade if I want to eat it, Lemon and Lime, usually found in a jar made by Rose's -

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Posted by onlymark on Oct 22, 2010, 1:00pm

bjd, mascarpone? yeah, why not. It wouldn't taste quite the same but I'm sure it'd still taste 'good enough to eat'. Just try it and see, I'm sure it'd be good.

Posted by tod2 on Oct 22, 2010, 2:01pm

Mark, the Roses brand seem to be the only one that makes Lime marmalade? I have never seen any other on the shelves. It has one huge letdown I think - it's mostly just a jelly substance with maybe a dozen or so shreads of actual lime fruit. It's OK for a change but I much prefer the ultimate in marmalades, "Bon Maman" orange or if out of stock over here (often are) All Gold Seville orange marmalade.

I suggest you all come over to my house and we make a huge pot of lime marmalade as I have two enormous lime trees that never stop producing fruit. It's a real shame that 99% falls off and goes on the compost heap

Posted by onlymark on Oct 22, 2010, 2:15pm

As with most things, home made tastes better and if you build yourself up to enjoying something, it rarely lives up to expectations. But as far as I know Rose's are about the only one. It's not something I normally buy anyway, the last time I did must be 20 years or so ago.
If I had a tree full of limes I'd rather make them into chutney or pickle anyway.
Or just litres of juice as that is my favourite drink.

Posted by mickthecactus on Oct 22, 2010, 2:36pm

Oct 22, 2010, 2:01pm, tod2 wrote:

The gin and tonic potential is enormous...........

Posted by tod2 on Oct 22, 2010, 5:11pm

Mick -that'll be a sure fire way of getting my 'pickling' done at the same time as my drinking

I quite like a G&T if there is someone else having one with me, but sadly I'm married to a coke addict

and....he puts nothing in it......like vodka for example!

Posted by joanne28 on Oct 22, 2010, 7:38pm

Make mine a V & T with the lime.

As for pickled things, I adore pickled beets but don't care much for other pickled things. I do like Branston pickle, though.

I really don't like olives at all - any colour. About once a year I try them again & yup, I don't like olives.

I remember the pickled eggs in jars in restaurants and cafés when I was a kid.

Posted by kerouac2 on Oct 22, 2010, 7:59pm

The first thing I saw in that jar of lime marmalade was no peels. I need peels in my marmalade!

Posted by onlymark on Oct 22, 2010, 8:31pm

There is peel in there. But just for you I've spent longer than the three and a half seconds I normally take searching for a photo.

[image]

Posted by onlymark on Oct 22, 2010, 8:33pm

And why don't you try some of this as well -

[image]

This was something I forgot, and was brought up on, spread on some thick white bread -

[image]

Posted by bixaorellana on Oct 23, 2010, 4:39am

I never had lemon curd until I finally made some a couple of Christmases ago. It pretty much made me think that all other food could be done away with, as long as I could have lemon curd.

Another thing I make is very dark, bitter orange marmalade. I gave some to a British friend of mine was was in ecstasies over it. We also independently discovered that it made a fine base for a drink -- marmalade + vodka or gin tastes good.

Posted by kerouac2 on Oct 23, 2010, 5:45am

Marmalade overload for me, since a jar of jam lasts me one year unless I have houseguests.

Posted by bjd on Oct 23, 2010, 9:30am

I have homemade marmalade for breakfast every day. I also like lemon curd but don't think I would want to eat it every day.

Posted by casimira on Oct 23, 2010, 12:36pm

I'm also a huge fan of marmalade,and make one with my lemons that incorporates Meyer lemons,(and peel) along with carrots and ginger. It's quite popular.
I have also made one with blood oranges and grapefruit,I use a single malt scotch in the preparing of it.
Yes,you guys have certainly excelled in the condiment department. Some people must have found the food around them a bit on the bland side to have come up with such tasty condiments.

Posted by Don Cuevas on Oct 23, 2010, 2:05pm

I want to know more about jellied eels and parsley sauce. Somehow, I can't imagine eating such a dish with pleasure.

Posted by hwinpp on Oct 23, 2010, 3:25pm

I quite like jellied eel. In German it's either called 'blue' eel, or eel in aspic.

Posted by casimira on Oct 23, 2010, 11:10pm

I love blue eel,but I loathe gelatinous foods,I have tried and just cannot summon it up. The texture,don't like it.

Posted by tod2 on Oct 24, 2010, 12:13pm

Just before the marmalade topic goes completely cold I want to show you what I found in my local supermarket - For you Mick...
[image]

And the ginger one - though not 'marmalade' but is also a "By Appointment"

so it must be of a high standard.
[image]

Posted by onlymark on Oct 24, 2010, 1:48pm

I always get a little apprehensive when I see either the word 'original' or 'style' on anything.

Posted by bixaorellana on Oct 24, 2010, 1:56pm

Boy, that "original Oxford marmalade" is absolutely the right color for good old-fashioned bitter orange marmalade. The sprightlier colored ones lack that essential edge.

I've never had ginger marmalade, but ginger is one of my top favorite flavors. Guess I'll have to make some.

Posted by kerouac2 on Oct 24, 2010, 2:24pm

Both of those look appealing.

Time to read the Wikipedia article about marmelade. (I was wondering "who invented it?" since oranges are not native to Old Blighty.)


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