# British food secret revealed....now what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343 "2003-02-16T01:19:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/21 "2003-02-16T19:02:11Z")
Hey, don’t laugh at **Jeff Olsen**. He is just explaining the grand Southern American tradition of Egg in a Basket. **carnivourousplant** is one who brought up boiled bread. It made my usually good-tempered British husband (RickQ) want to tell him to shut his cakehole. That reminds me…cake with cream. We still have some!! \ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/22 "2003-02-16T19:05:02Z")
> [@](#): > > I can see “boiled bread” meaning bread pudding. However, that is a dessert quite commonly seen in up-market American restaurants, so I don’t see why it should be trotted out as an example of strange British cuisine. It’s up-market precisely because it’s British. Y’see, many Americans somehow have this odd notion that “British” is synonymous with “cultured”. Sort of like those silly accents they use at Harvard (excuse me, that’s “Hahvahd”). They think they sound British and therefore cultured. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/23 "2003-02-16T19:11:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Brynda \* > \*\* > **carnivourousplant** made my usually good-tempered British husband (RickQ) want to tell him to shut his cakehole. > \*\* …and you are going to pay us back for those lend/lease destroyers when? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/24 "2003-02-16T19:51:44Z")
I lived for three years in England and I still remember a concoction called “bangers and mash” with much fondness. I’m also surprised that mushy peas have not made their way across the pond. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/25 "2003-02-16T19:58:55Z")
I believe they also eat (at Christmas time) a slab of fruitcake with a slice of cheese and a whiskey chaser. (James Herriot wrote about this.) Supposed to be very good. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/26 "2003-02-16T20:59:40Z")
Lobsang! you forgot to add the meringues. mmmm Eton Mess mmmmm. just the thing with a glass of champers at Henley! Carnivourousplant, did you mean Spotted DICK? it’s yummy. jjimm, i see you’ve visited the Seashell on Townshend Street. ---
**Author:** ![Felonious\_Mink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Felonious\_Mink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Felonious_Mink)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/27 "2003-02-16T21:02:47Z")
Some of us prefer that without the chaser - Wensleydale cheese is best for the cake, it’s good and crumbly. B\*gger! My doc said I have to give up dairy products… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/28 "2003-02-16T21:08:09Z")
Irishgirl, it’s called both, but Dog in the Jack AUbrey novels. BTW, what is lobscouse? Some beef and potatoes thing? Is it boiled? ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/29 "2003-02-16T21:19:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by carnivorousplant \* > \*\*BTW, what is lobscouse? Some beef and potatoes thing? Is it boiled? \*\* It’s a variation on Irish stew – meat, potatoes, various root vegetables, stock etc. You don’t boil it, you simmer it. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/30 "2003-02-17T01:53:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by carnivorousplant \* > \*\*Bread pudding, I believe. No offense, but the British boil just about everything, possibly even fish and chips when if they become cold. 🙂 \*\* Not this Brit. I fry most things. Including bread. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/31 "2003-02-17T01:56:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by irishgirl \* > \*\*Lobsang! you forgot to add the meringues. > mmmm Eton Mess mmmmm. > just the thing with a glass of champers at Henley! > > Carnivourousplant, did you mean Spotted DICK? > it’s yummy. > > jjimm, i see you’ve visited the Seashell on Townshend Street. \*\* Oh Damn! I _did_ forget the meringues! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/32 "2003-02-17T02:04:59Z")
Lobsang, I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![martin\_ibn\_martin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@martin\_ibn\_martin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martin_ibn_martin)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/33 "2003-02-17T02:06:31Z")
My Dad, (A Mainiac), Used to fry eggs in a hole made with a water glass in a slice of bread. He called this a “Benedict Arnold” for no reason that I can fathom. Is this what folks are calling “Eggs in a basket”? Martin ---
**Author:** ![Primaflora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Primaflora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primaflora)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/34 "2003-02-17T02:40:41Z")
Bread pudding made properly involves cream. You bake it, you don’t boil it. It is excellent. Are people perhaps thinking of bread sauce? Fine stuff. Eton Mess is wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/35 "2003-02-17T02:45:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by martin\_ibn\_martin \* > \*\*My Dad, (A Mainiac), Used to fry eggs in a hole made with a water glass in a slice of bread. He called this a “Benedict Arnold” for no reason that I can fathom. Is this what folks are calling “Eggs in a basket”? > > Martin \*\* Yes, at least that is what we called it in Tennessee when I was young. Maybe your dad was making a joke about Eggs Benedict? IIRC, Eggs Benedict is a poached egg with ham on an English muffin (not English at all, btw) and covered with Hollandaise sauce. ok, **Primaflora** , give. What’s Eton Mess? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/36 "2003-02-17T10:56:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by irishgirl \* > \*\*jjimm, i see you’ve visited the Seashell on Townshend Street. \*\* That’s _open_??? I drive past it every day and I thought it was derelict. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/37 "2003-02-17T11:21:11Z")
The “egg in the basket” thing was called egg in a ring at my house growing up (Arkansas). But it’s not an Arkansas thing, I don’t think. Anyway the recipe: make a hole in the middle of a piece of bread, heat a skillet on med-high. When hot put in a pat of butter, lay the bread in, then crack an egg and put it in the hole. When ready to turn, put in another pat of butter while holding the egg in a ring with the spatula, then flip. When done, eat. Repeat as necessary. Now, as far as Americans making fun of English cuisine, it’s laughable. We got a lot of our foodways from blighty, especially in the South, the Mid-Atlantic and New England. We have improved on a few things, mostly due to French, Italian and African influences. For instance, fish and chips is excellent, but y’all limeys ought to come down south and have some catfish and hushpuppies. Hoooo-eee! No comment on the beer thing, though. We’re getting there… ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/38 "2003-02-17T13:14:42Z")
sadly jjimm, yes, yes it is open. would you believe it was closed last year for refurbishment? no really. damn good chips though. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/39 "2003-02-17T13:44:42Z")
Well, I find that heartening. It makes me think that, if some terrible catastrophe were ever to befall Dublin, someone, somewhere, will crawl out of the wreckage, occupy the husk of a bombed-out building, and get the deep fat friers working. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343/40 "2003-02-17T14:55:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by carnivorousplant \* > \*\*Bread pudding, I believe. No offense, but the British boil just about everything, possibly even fish and chips when if they become cold. 🙂 \*\* Mind-chillingly inaccurate if humourous. Curry is our favourite national dish, we have, thanks to immigration, a great cuisine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-food-secret-revealed-now-what/155343.md?page=3)