# Damn you Brits! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127 "2009-02-16T18:04:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/41 "2009-02-17T11:59:17Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Marmite is like beef bouillon cubes that have been left in the back of a warm cupboard for two years. Bleah. And you Kiwis should be boasting about Tim Tams instead of glutinous tar-food. Everyone should attempt a Tim Tam Slam at least once in their lives. You lot in the States really need to get over your odd obssession with Tim-Tams. They’re not especially remarkable and they are spectacularly over-rated, IMHO. Griffins Chocolate Chippies are the One True Biscuit, followed by Toffee Pops, Gingernuts, Shrewsburys, and Arrowroots, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Hrududu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Hrududu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrududu)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/42 "2009-02-17T12:43:09Z")
> [@](#): > > I tend to enjoy the Irish cheeses a bit more than the British ones (Dubliner is the bomb as a snacky snack!). I am eating this right now. It is indeed the bomb. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/43 "2009-02-17T12:54:28Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > And leeks; leeks are gorgeous, especially when done with cream or creme fraiche and a touch of whisky. Creme Fraiche?? Isn’t that a bit, you know, foreign?? Why do you hate [del]America[/del] the UK? ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/44 "2009-02-17T13:01:48Z")
My wife and I had our honeymoon at [Miss Molly’s Inn](http://www.missmollys-inn.com/), which was at the time run by an Englishwoman and her American husband. Every afternoon they served tea, the highlight of which was (as far as I was concerned) scones with clotted cream and jam. Damn. I gained about 10 pounds that week. Yummy yummy. I’ve been to England a couple of times since then, and always seek out this treat. I also seek out steak and kidney pie, but probably out of incompetence don’t find it that often. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/45 "2009-02-17T13:10:59Z")
Crumpets, melted butter and VEGEMITE. Ambrosia, sheer friggin bliss with hot crumpet and oozing butter/Vegemite mix. Beats honey anyday! ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/46 "2009-02-17T13:38:46Z")
What, not a mention of potato cakes? Toasted or fried, plenty of butter and not forgetting a fried egg on top. I can feel my arteries hardening as a I type ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/47 "2009-02-17T13:48:37Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Creme Fraiche?? Isn’t that a bit, you know, foreign?? Why do you hate [del]America[/del] the UK? Hey hey we’re all friend in the EU now. In fact we even have politicians from other countries come to talk to us about difficult social issues. Oh, wait… ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/48 "2009-02-17T13:56:48Z")
> [@Litoris](#): > > I would think that a proper curry is more an Indian/Middle Eastern dish than British (and yes, I love love love me some good curry!) There has been a lot of migration from the subcontinent to Britain over the last 60 years or so, to the point where South Asians are close to being a majority in some cities (e.g., Bradford and Leicester). When I visited Leicester (my mother’s home town, and where my younger brother was born) a few years ago, the local shopping centre in the street where my hotel was had almost entirely South Asian shops: sari shops, jewelry shops, and of course lots of restaurants. You could tell that they were all going to be pretty authentic when you worked out that all (except for the fish-and-chip shop, which also sold kebabs and curries) were of one kind: they were all Gujarati vegetarian restaurants. Yes, you can get good curries in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh – but you can get equally authentic curries in Britain these days, and not just chicken tikka masala (which of course, is a dish of English origin). ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/49 "2009-02-17T17:54:08Z")
Canada also has a very large South Asian population, particularly Ontario and British Columbia. There are a lot of South Asian politicians in both provinces, including at least one [BC] Premier. South Asians comprised 12% of the population of Toronto as of 2006 (surpassing those of Chinese origins, at 11.4%, for the first time), and are still the fastest growing ethnic demographic in Canada. All of which is to say that there is no shortage of great and authentic Indian food here, too! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/50 "2009-02-17T18:04:10Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > All of which is to say that there is no shortage of great and authentic Indian food here, too! Except that the migration is a lot more recent here. Chinese restaurants seem to have the place in Canada that Indian ones do in the UK. Even small towns with nothing more than a McDonalds and a donut shop will have one Chinese restaurant, and I don’t know why. Mmmm… South Asian [del]women[/del] food… ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/51 "2009-02-17T19:09:55Z")
Crumpets (which we call pikelets in the Midlands) are also delicious with toasted cheese on top. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/52 "2009-02-17T19:17:49Z")
Crumpets cannot be too hot, nor have too much butter on them. 🙂 As others have said, adding Marmite is wonderful if you like it (otherwise use honey). Of course our National dish is … [Chicken Tikka Masala](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/02/99/e-cyclopedia/1285804.stm)! ---
**Author:** ![I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Have_Hippos_In_My_Garden)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/53 "2009-02-17T19:40:32Z")
Welsh cakes! I have a friend from South Africa who is staying here for two years on a gap year thing and she tried Welsh cakes at a fair recently. She thought she had died and gone to heaven after the first mouthful. ---
**Author:** ![SpecialAgentJem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@SpecialAgentJem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpecialAgentJem)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/54 "2009-02-17T19:57:26Z")
You would LOVE a [rowie](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2384/2322207602_cd4796eab9_b.jpg)! Very much a local thing here - extremely tasty but VERY high in calories! ---
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/55 "2009-02-17T21:56:53Z")
Well, let’s see. Today, my son was sick, so we stayed home (me from work, him from school) and made tiramisu. We had to run to Publix for the mascarpone and while we were there, picked up a couple yummies off the British foods shelf – including a flake bar and a curry sachet – we shall see how an English curry stacks up to the stuff I get at the local Indian grocer 😃 FWIW, I am making shepherd’s pie for dinner tonight – another comfort food from my youth that is most assuredly not American. Seriously, I have identity issues, I think. I have finished my crumpets, and shall have to try the recipe out to make my own. I have some molasses, I might try that on them next – I know it’s (technically) not treacle, but my iron’s been a little low lately, it sounds yummy right now. I may have to hit Publix again for some ginger jam… ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/56 "2009-02-17T23:29:18Z")
> [@Litoris](#): > > and a curry sachet – we shall see how an English curry stacks up to the stuff I get at the local Indian grocer NOT the same thing at all - a proper British curry is made by Bangladeshis 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/57 "2009-02-18T00:30:58Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Now, what I want to know is, what’s the deal with that hideous green can of Heinz baked beans in the English imports aisle? and they are served on toast?? I imagine they are soupy red-brown type canned beans. From (many) previous threads on this general subject, I get the impression that your baked beans are similar but not quite the same as ours. Quoth Wikipedia “There are substantial differences between the Heinz baked beans sold in the UK and the nearest equivalent US product (Heinz Premium Vegetarian Beans). The US beans contain brown sugar where the British beans do not, and the US product contains 14g of sugar per tin compared to 7g for the British version (equating to 140 vs 90 calories). The US beans have a mushier texture and are darker in colour than their UK counterpart”. Anyway, like mushy peas (food of the gods), maybe you do have to have grown up over here to get it. But honestly, beans on toast is really nice. British style beans, on toasted pre-sliced white bread, for the authentic experience. You can add ketchup, brown sauce etc., if you’re a la-di-da ponce. [ETA] Oh, and remember to butter the toast. I recall that you Americans have that weird thing about not buttering bread.[/ETA] ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/58 "2009-02-18T01:34:48Z")
I must ask…are branston pickles considered good in the UK, or are they rubbish that you’ve convinced us to eat? 'cause I adore them, and they’re hard to find over here. ---
**Author:** ![Lungfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d78d45/32.png) [@Lungfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lungfish)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/59 "2009-02-18T02:14:31Z")
You can buy Branson Pickle from here: [britishdelights.com](http://www.britishdelights.com/branston.asp) > [@Ximenean](#): > > You can add ketchup, brown sauce etc., if you’re a la-di-da ponce. Apart from pizza, I eat everything with ketchup including beans on toast if it is possible. Ketchup on pizza is a definite no-no for me. > [@Ximenean](#): > > [ETA] Oh, and remember to butter the toast. I recall that you Americans have that weird thing about not buttering bread.[/ETA] They don’t butter their toast and other bread products over in the Colonies? That is not right. In fact, it is quite uncivilised. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127/60 "2009-02-18T02:21:07Z")
> [@Lungfish](#): > > You can buy Branson Pickle from here: [britishdelights.com](http://www.britishdelights.com/branston.asp) Blessings to you (and my wallet is cursing you as we speak)…and my original question remains unanswered. Are they considered good, so-so, or the UK equivalent of Spam or Velveeta cheese? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-brits/486127.md?page=4)