summer pudding, yuck, soggy wet bread enclosing pippy fruit, give me rice pudding anyday (the crispy burnt bits around the edges are the best)
Or treacle tart and cream, mmmmmmm.
I think you’re talking about aspic: the yellowish-brownish jelly which surrounds the meat in inferior pork pies. Good quality pork pies are generally made without aspic and can be excellent.
glee,
Yes, I was being sarcastic.
I like the jelly in pork pies.
One of the best styles of pork pie is ‘Melton Mowbray’ (named after the place where it originated, I suppose), these tend not to have an excess of jelly.
Pork pies are (IMHO) best enjoyed if allowed to warm to room temperature.
Re: Chicken Tikka Masala - two rival Indian restaurants in Glasgow lay claim to the invention of this dish.
Balti does indeed mean bucket. It’s a disparaging name given to the cooking vessel more properly known as a karahi.
Melton mowbray pork pies are made with cooked pork. Other pork pies are made with cured pork.
My current personal favourite examples of British cooking follow. Most of them are memories of great food from when I was a kid:
-
Cornish Pasty. This must be made with chopped beef (NOT MINCE) and sliced potato and turnip and plenty of black pepper. It is very wrong to use puff pastry.
-
A Good Old Fashioned Roast Dinner With My Dad’s Roast Potatoes.
-
Bacon and cabbage in beer.
-
Fish, chips and mushy peas. Batter thin and crispy, chips dry, pease thick and peppery.
-
Devon cream tea, with scones, tuffs (slightly sweet bread rolls), jam and clotted cream.
-
A ploughman’s lunch of a good strong cheddar, pickles, bread and beer.
-
A crab salad with brown bread and butter.
-
Rhubarb crumble and custard.
Pretty sure I heard that the plougman’s lunch isn’t traditional at all, but was invented in the 60s by the dairy marketing board or some such as a way of promoting cheese.
Interesting historical note (of unknown veracity) regarding the Cornish pasty:
(Pasties are pies made by folding a circle of pastry over to enclose the contents; the edges are then rolled to form a thick edge); originally the tin miners would take a pasty to work with them every day and would eat it holding on to the edge only with their dirty hands, the edge crust would then be thrown away.
Another great British classic is Pease pudding; a sort of paté made from yellow split peas and ham.
Are y’all talking about gelatin? The same translucent pinkish stuff you find in canned hams, Vienna Sausages and Spam? Kinda salty, but I bet there’s more protein in that than there is in the meat!
There are some British restaurants here in the States. The most recent LA Area Dopefest was held at Ye Olde King’s Head in Santa Monica.
“Haw haw haw! English cuisine? ENGLISH CUISINE? Monsieur, there is no such thing!” - Royal Canadian Air Farce
We do have currants in the US, but they’re not too popular (you’ll see raisins far more often). The bakery I work at makes currant scones that seem to sell rather well, but I don’t see them very often elsewhere.
I thought I’d post this for the benefit of people who have heard this, and who perpetuate the myth that haggis is disgusting without having tried any.
Haggis is actually pretty good. It’s mostly oatmeal and spices, the meat is indistinguishable, and it is usually boiled in a plastic casing, as opposed to the traditional sheep stomach. It is similar in texture to stuffing, only with oatmeal instead of bread. Some people have it with oatcakes (similar to crackers), but we prefer it with neeps (mashed turnip), tatties (mashed potatoes), and a generous amount of onion gravy. Bites of all three together with the onion gravy is absolutely delicious.
To the haggis-bashers out there: If you’ve tried it and don’t like it, fair enough. My complaint with it is that it’s sometimes made too spicy, and for this reason I often prefer the vegetarian kind (which substitutes lentils and nuts for the meat, and seems to be less spicy, but is otherwise very similar). If you haven’t tried it, kindly don’t perpetuate the myth that it’s disgusting. We served it as an appetizer at our wedding specifically so that the Americans there could try it, and they loved it.
I love vegetarian haggis!
Mangetout: as far as I know, your note regarding the Cornish pasty is correct.
Yes, I enjoy haggis, especially in gravy. I just meant it can be a bit disconcerting the first time you hear what it’s usually wrapped in.
Mind you, I like eggs and bacon a lot - and look where they originate!
And why are onion bhajis so delicious? Onions and flour, that’s all.
Why do I love tomato ketchup (and tomato relish), but not tomatoes?
Plastic? I’ve never seen haggis commercially available which is cased in the traditional sheep stomach, and even if you found a butcher who would do it, well, you don’t eat that part anyway.
Personally I was always more concerned with what bits of meat actually go in the haggis, never having been a fan of ground meat of any variety, especially the questionable kind. But like I said in my earlier post, the meat is indistinguishable from the oatmeal. (And my husband assures me it’s all quality meat, anyway.)
What about the Bedfordshire Glanger?.This is like a Cornish Pasty but is a complete meal.At one end there is meat and vegetables and at the other fruit and other sweet fillings. You just have to remember which end to start from.
You know, while reading this thread I’ve been going from hungry to nauseous and back again. 
Now I’m jonesing for Yorkshire pudding. 
I didn’t know vegetarian haggis existed (being a Yank and all). Sounds intriguing.
Also, I think the most disturbing food item I encountered in England were the baked bean dippers at Burger King. :eek:
I had vegetarian haggis once, in Edinburgh. I’ve no idea how it compares to the real thing, but I have to say it wasn’t something I’d like to try again.
Didn’t make me puke, but just wasn’t very tasty.