My wife was given The Giant Book Of Cookies for her birthday and this raised a few questions on which I’d appreciate the input of American dopers; after that, perhaps this thread can evolve into a general discussion of international differences in food terminology and culture…
Anyway, the book (understandably) uses American terminology to refer to many ingredients, so:
Corn Syrup: I understand that this is a sugar/fructose syrup extracted from corn kernels, but what sort of consistency is it? - would golden syrup (which I’m not sure is international, but has approximately the consistency of honey) be a suitable substitute?
I also got a bit confused over the various grades of sugar; is superfine sugar the same as what we call caster sugar? (crystals, but finer than granulated sugar) - is confectioner’s sugar the same as icing sugar? (a very fine powder)
The book also raised a tangential question in my mind;
I understand:
UK ‘biscuits’ [symbol]»[/symbol] US ‘cookies’
US ‘biscuits’ [symbol]»[/symbol] UK ‘scones’
but ‘biscuits and gravy’? - please describe the gravy.
Oh and (US)‘all-purpose flour’, I assume is the same as (UK)‘plain flour’ - what is the US term for (UK)‘self-raising flour’ (which had the baking powder added already.
In my experience, the ‘gravy’ is a white sauce with sausage in it. I have made it myself by making a thin bechamel, and simmering chunks of herby sausage meat in it. You use the biscuit (which differ from our scones by being both lighter in texture, and savoury) to mop up the gravy. It is quite divine.
One of the joys of having an American wife is working out the equivilent ingredients when using cookbooks.
Corn Syrup: Yep, Golden Syrup would be a good substitute, the main difference between the two is that Corn Syrup is clear and has less of a taste (if you know what I mean).
You are spot-on with the sugar.
As for white gravy, just buy a pack of white sauce mix, it’s pretty close.
All purpose flour is plain flour as you guessed, the American version of self-raising flour is self-rising flour.
My wife knows how to make white gravy, I’ll email the recipe to you later.
Yes, white gravy is seasoned. Making it from scratch, you use the fat from whatever meat you’ve just cooked (which adds lots of flavour) plus salt and pepper.
A good quick way to make sausage gravy, as described by jjimm is to chop some bangers up, fry them, then add the (made from a packet) white sauce. Add a bit of salt and pepper. Done.
Oh dear god. My wife is now on a mini rant about the differences between sausage gravy and white gravy. Can’t make out too much of what she’s saying but, suffice to say, white gravy doesn’t contain any sausage.
Okay, got to go, she’s starting to get scary :eek:
After seeing a GD rising, thought I’d thow my 2 p’s worth in. Being an American married to an Englishman, we’ve had many a food difference (US/UK) discussion.
White gravy, like most American foods, varies by location. What you’d be served in the South is not the same as you’d be served on the West coast. Having grown up on the West coast, my experiences are obviously different.
Though I must say there is a HUGE difference between white gravy and sausage gravy - if for nowt else, the lack of sausages in white gravy…
Oh, Mangetout, the amounts in the recipe I mailed you can be altered to make the amount of gravy you desire. They can also be altered to make it thicker/thinner as you prefer.
I stand corrected - didn’t realise white gravy and sausage gravy were different. Though you have to admit, the confusion is forgiveable for a furriner.
I had a quick google for white gravy recipes, and the flavour seems to come from the fat being post-cooking animal fats, rather than lard, butter, etc.
mangetout - biscuits in the US are NOT the same as scones. IIRC, scones are made with baking soda, biscuits with baking powder. I’ve only had sweet scones (cranberry, raisin, etc.) but hereabouts, biscuits are BREAD.
White gravy, to me, is roux - you melt butter, add flour, milk, salt and pepper (and in my kitchen, onion powder). You pour that over veggies. Sausage gravy, on the other hand, is sausage pan drippings with flour, milk, salt, and pepper added - then you throw in the sausage chunks and pour it over biscuits. IMHO, biscuits and gravy are yucky.
Here is a fairly straightforward recipe for sausage gravy, and here is a pretty good biscuit recipe. If you can’t find buttermilk, just use regular milk, but they won’t be as good.
Also keep in mind the sausage you get in the UK doesn’t taste like the sausage in the southern US. You might try adding a tablespoon of ground sage to the bulk sausage for a better flavor.
Scones (over here at least) can be fruited and sweetened, or plain, or cheese. Biscuits aren’t leavened with yeast though are they? (and just out of interest, do they contain butter or some other fat?)
