British dopers, tell me about your meals

[Small_Clanger]

@Dominic Mulligan

Oh, and nobody ever says “elevenses”. Ever.

My mum does. Which means I do. I have elevenses every day* even if it’s just a banana and a cup of tea.

Lunch is at lunchtime.

Dinner is something you go out for. Or what you get at school**, so school dinners are served at lunchtime. Is that clear now?

• at ten thirty obviously.
  ** unless you bring a pack lunch, what was the question again?

[Mangetout]

@Pushkin

I didn’t realise potato bread was a food peculiar to Northern Ireland, I suppose we’re not such a cultural empire that we can push things on the rest of the country. My sister and her b/f boogled a waitress in a Liverpool cafe who was stunned to hear of “bread made from potatoes”

It’s available in all the supermarkets here in England, but it’s just another minor bakery product along with the pikelets, square muffins and toaster-crumpet-fingers.

[Acsenray]

@Usram

OK, maybe. But nobody uses “tiffin” any more, do they, outside of Carry On Up the Khyber?

I’m not even sure what tiffin is. Something to do with afternoon tea during the British Raj in India, I think. Maybe the Shaun of the Dead mention was a nod to the Carry On film.

Tiffin is still a common term in India. Tiffin carriers (complex stacks of metal containers) and tiffin boxes are common household goods.

Very generally speaking, tiffin is a snack-like meal whose principal characteristic is that it is carried along and eaten away from home.

Traditionally, schoolchildren will eat a large meal before leaving home and take along a small tiffin box for a snack in the late afternoon.

Tiffin carriers are extensively used by travellers and can hold large amounts of food for large families travelling by train, for example.

[Rayne_Man]

In one of Gordon Ramsey’s programmes he persuaded a failing Indian restaurant in Nottingham to offer a “Tiffin Box” service to deliver lunches to nearby offices and workplaces.

[jjimm]

@Rayne Man

In one of Gordon Ramsey’s programmes he persuaded a failing Indian restaurant in Nottingham to offer a “Tiffin Box” service to deliver lunches to nearby offices and workplaces.

I saw that. I would love that service if they offered it here.

[Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party]

@Small Clanger

My mum does. Which means I do. I have elevenses every day* even if it’s just a banana and a cup of tea.

I was talking about the North West.

[Bobotheoptimist]

@chowder

Or to a Transport Cafe which BTW are no longer the “greasy spoons” of yesteryear.

Not a bit of it, these days a good fry up in a transport cafe is a thing of beauty

Gadzooks! The “transport cafe” is a real thing? I’ve long believed it to be merely another example of Ian Anderson’s distaste for expressing ideas in a clear and concise manner.

Is a “transport cafe” like a “truck stop” in the US? A roadside diner near or in a petroleum dispensing location that’s historically frequented by truck drivers and motorcycle riding types

@Jethro Tull

Death’s head belt buckle,
yesterday’s dreams
the transport cafe prophet of doom.
Ringing no change in his
double-sewn seams
in his post-war-babe gloom.

Now he’s too old to Rock’n’Roll
but he’s too young to die.

[Mangetout]

The official list of daily British meals is:

Breakfast
Brunch
Elevenses
Lunch
Twelvses
St Matthew’s Meal
Apres Lunch
Tea
Dinner
Supper
Midnight Feast
2AM Snack

There - I think that’s this question put to bed.

[tagos]

@vivalostwages

No fruit or juice with breakfast?

No, just tea. Fried tea.

[devilsknew]

@This'll Do

Baked beans for breakfast. That’s interesting.

If it’s like the canned pork 'n beans in the US, then that sounds kind of icky.
How are these baked beans prepared? I’ve seen Heinz beans in the grocery but never tried them. Is that the type used for breakfast?

@RedRosesForMe

'Merkin here who’s had several full english’s while visiting, and it’s pretty much what I know as baked beans. Not pork n beans, with bits of hot dogs, but regular baked beans.

@devilsknew

I disagree with your characterization. The beans used in an English Fry Up are indeed Pork n Beans straight out of a can, usually Heinz but also similar to Campbell’s Pork & Beans. In America, “Baked Beans” are usually doctored up Pork n Beans or true Boston Baked Beans. “Baked Beans” usually infer a brown sugar and molasses addition, whilst the distinction of Pork n beans is that they are tomato based with little pieces of salt pork/pork fat and are usually the base for baked beans. Pork n Beans doesn’t mean that there are hot dogs in them…

@Sir Doris

The British version don’t have pork fat in them - it’s not unusual for beans on toast/jacket potato to be the only vegan option on a menu.

Quite Right, Sir Doris. What I was trying to charaterize is English Beans’ (Heinz) flavor and texture and assure This’ll do that his revulsion is correct. I will try to let this post serve as a bean convertor/calculator idiomatic for both the UK’ers and Merkins.

In Jolly old GB the beans that are served in a Fry Up are called “Heinz Baked Beans”. Don’t let the name fool you, Mr. American… these are not dark and sweet mollassesy, slow, baked beans, they are Pork and Beans minus the pork (which is almost incosequential in American Pork and Beans anyways. It’s a tiny lump of fat that has almost nothing to do with pork, a bit of false advertising IMHO). Likewise, Mr. Bean the “baked beans” on the shelf in the American store will not take you back to Mum’s Sunday morning fry up. What you want are good old American Pork and Beans to recreate the experience… ironically Campbell’s pork and beans are probably your best bet for an authentic fry up in the united states, if you want to get the flavor and texture of your sausage space floatsy right.

(The American line of Heinz Premium Vegetarian Baked Beans won’t do, as these are sweet and include brown sugar and are an entirely different recipe.)

[Hostile_Dialect]

Yeesh, now we know where the Texans got the idea that they need to fry everything.

[Belrix]

I’m still hung up on the “fried bread” reference. I take it this isn’t like Native American “fry bread” where bread dough is floated in oil, flipped once and served hot and soft and…

'scuse me - I’ll be in my bunk…

[Rayne_Man]

@Belrix

I’m still hung up on the “fried bread” reference. I take it this isn’t like Native American “fry bread” where bread dough is floated in oil, flipped once and served hot and soft and…

'scuse me - I’ll be in my bunk…

It’s a slice of ordinary white bread fried (preferably) in bacon fat until it’s nice and crisp on both side.

[Hostile_Dialect]

Is it edible if one substitutes, say, olive or corn oil instead? Cause I’m thinkin’ about trying that later on…

[glee]

@glee

Now you are entering the North / South divide.
Here in the sophisitcated South we might nibble on a croissant or a bagel (or have a fry-up).
It’s only up in t’rugged North that they eat Black Pudding.

@Dominic Mulligan

It puts hair on’th chest.
Where I’m from calling your dinner your lunch pegs you as being a bit pretentious. You probably wear double breasted suits, drive a semi-expensive retirees car like a Rover and have a house full of carriage clocks. Think of a cross between Alan Partridge and Hyacinth Bucket
Oh, and nobody ever says “elevenses”. Ever.

Pretentious? Moi?! :eek:
Now I shall have to have a lie-down and sip some mineral water. Where did I put my tongs? (for the ice, you know)

I note your location as Wigan / Edinburgh, so shall be careful what I say.
You are probably huddled near your coal fire in your string vest, gazing at a row of ducks on the wall, wondering who nicked your car.
Think of a cross between Shaun Edwards and Billy Connolly.

And nobody says “Bah Gum”. Not round 'ere.

[carlotta]

@Rayne Man

It’s a slice of ordinary white bread fried (preferably) in bacon fat until it’s nice and crisp on both side.

Now there something worth adopting!

Is is possible to have both “tea” and “dinner” in the same household? Like maybe schoolchildren come home and are given their “tea” and then later the whole family sits down to “dinner” together?

Are there any great moral beliefs about meals? Here in American you are told from your first day of kindergarten that “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!” and it is widely reported that families that eat dinner together stay together, prevent early pregnancy, drug addiction, and obesity, as well as foster language development and early decision college acceptances.

[Rayne_Man]

@Hostile Dialect

Is it edible if one substitutes, say, olive or corn oil instead? Cause I’m thinkin’ about trying that later on…

I have never tried it that way, only with bacon fat or lard. I don’t even remember using butter to fry bread.

Anyone-else have thoughts on this?

[GorillaMan]

@Hostile Dialect

Is it edible if one substitutes, say, olive or corn oil instead? Cause I’m thinkin’ about trying that later on…

Edible but tasteless.

[Peter_Morris]

@carlotta

Now there something worth adopting!

Is is possible to have both “tea” and “dinner” in the same household? Like maybe schoolchildren come home and are given their “tea” and then later the whole family sits down to “dinner” together?.

When I was a lad, I went to school and in the middle of the day I had School Dinner, which I paid for with my Dinner Money. Then I would go home and in the evening I would eat my tea. Then before bedtime I’d have my supper.

[elbows]

Me too!

I came in here hoping to hear what you’ll be having for dinner tonight?

Or for Sunday dinner at your Ma’s house?

Curious minds want to know…