# Lemonade, jelly, and biscuits (and other foods people outside of the US have wrong) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401 "2009-01-28T17:26:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/81 "2009-01-29T03:09:52Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Do you know how they make orange juice concentrate? Really, no shit, what they do is they take orange juice, and they remove something from it. You’ll never guess what they remove from it to make concentrate: > > water I already knew this? What was your point? 🙂 My point is/was just, OJ can have water in it. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/82 "2009-01-29T04:17:23Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > The French have good lemonade We have that??? Lemonade, here, is carbonated water with a lot of sugar in it. On second thought, you might be referring to lemon juice sold in bottles, but there isn’t sugar in them, so it doesn’t seem to fit the bill, either. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/83 "2009-01-29T04:28:29Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Well, to my (brit) ears, he just sounds like a guy who couldn’t cook. Our mashed potatoes are the same as yours. Proper mashed potatoes include only a little bit of milk and some butter. They must have the texture of mashed potatoes. An egg yolk is of course also required. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/84 "2009-01-29T04:46:47Z")
CanDopers—did Winegums ever have wine in them? Dumb question, yes, but inquring minds want to know. ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/85 "2009-01-29T05:51:26Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > I already knew this? What was your point? 🙂 > > My point is/was just, OJ can have water in it. If you say OJ is juice + water, to me that indicates diluted orange juice. Not something I’d drink. OJ has water in it, but only as much as comes out of the orange. So, OJ = orange juice or concentrate + water, but not juice + water, and even with concentrate, what you’re aiming for is the pure juice. ---
**Author:** ![Nicolas\_Bourbaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@Nicolas\_Bourbaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicolas_Bourbaki)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/86 "2009-01-29T06:13:35Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Just what is barley water? I think it’s probably different than the barley water Georgette Heyer’s characters are always [del]swilling[/del] sipping, but seriously–what does it taste like? Ginger ale? (do you have ginger ale over the Pond?). The way it was explained to me; over there, ginger _beer_ is the weak stuff, and ginger ale has a stronger flavor, rather than the other way 'round. I have no idea how popular it is in Europe, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/87 "2009-01-29T06:24:38Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > People don’t like oreos?! How? I’ve never known anybody that could stop eating them before the cookie was gone or they got sick. No, I really don’t like them. They’re a weird mixture of ‘unpleasant’ and ‘nothing’; the first part being the biscuit and the second the cream. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/88 "2009-01-29T06:42:39Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > If you say OJ is juice + water, to me that indicates diluted orange juice. Not something I’d drink. OJ has water in it, but only as much as comes out of the orange. > > So, OJ = orange juice or concentrate + water, but not juice + water, and even with concentrate, what you’re aiming for is the pure juice. Yeah, I know. I’ve already said I know that OJ can be just juice from oranges with no water whatsoever. But I also know OJ CAN BE MADE with water in it. OJ from concentrate=water has been added OJ not from concentrate=pure juice This is my one and only point. I don’t get what other points people are trying to make. I had said Lemonade is like lemons and water like OJ is like oranges and water (SOMETIMES)(which IS possible–it’s certainly the only kind of OJ I ever had growing up–must be just my experience). ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/89 "2009-01-29T07:08:06Z")
The most important function of lemonade (UK) is to make a shandy. I grew up calling “eggplant” aubergines. I prefer this term to the American. Brits have far superior chocolate than Americans. From Penguins to Club to Picnic to the real Cadbury’s Fruit & Nut, this is usually where I spend my cash when I visit the UK (or Canada). Brits are also big into dilute-with-water drinks. We used to get Ribena which is blackcurrant syrup, but can be quite pleasant when appropriately mixed. We used to mix water in with orange squash and barley water as well. I think the dominant energy drink of our youth was Lucozade compared to the American Gatorade. Lucozade is fizzy and very sweet - I don’t think it has any real energy boosting qualities; it’s just the way it was marketed. Gatorade is a complex flavor - it’s sweet and salty - and helps you cool down somewhat, I think. Cereals are another interesting difference. Shreddies are my favorite cereal. The nearest US equivalent is Wheat Chex, but it doesn’t have the malted taste. Ready Brek might be best compared to Cream of Wheat; it’s been a while since I had it. Like 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/90 "2009-01-29T07:19:24Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Proper mashed potatoes include only a little bit of milk and some butter. They must have the texture of mashed potatoes. An egg yolk is of course also required. What kind of barbarians put _egg yolk_ in mashed potatoes? :eek: :mad: In any case, I’m glad you told me about this. I have an egg allergy and when I visit your country and I don’t want a seemingly innocent order of mashed potatoes result in a potentially life-threatening experience (or at least an uncomfortable evening). [QUOTE=Bites When Provoked] No, I really don’t like them [Oreos]. They’re a weird mixture of ‘unpleasant’ and ‘nothing’; the first part being the biscuit and the second the cream. [/QUOTE] Oreos actually aren’t unanimously regarded as the best chocolate sandwich cookie ever in the U.S. Hydrox were better. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/91 "2009-01-29T07:40:05Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Yeah, I know. I’ve already said I know that OJ can be just juice from oranges with no water whatsoever. > > But I also know OJ CAN BE MADE with water in it. > > OJ from concentrate=water has been added > OJ not from concentrate=pure juice > > This is my one and only point. I don’t get what other points people are trying to make. > > I had said Lemonade is like lemons and water like OJ is like oranges and water (SOMETIMES)(which IS possible–it’s certainly the only kind of OJ I ever had growing up–must be just my experience). One last time: the only reason you add water to concentrated juice, is to replace the water that had been removed from it. You’re not adding water to orange juice, you’re adding water to orange “paste.” Lemonade, on the other hand, is made by adding water and sugar to (unconcentrated) lemon juice. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/92 "2009-01-29T07:42:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Gatorade..was invented at the University of Florida to give their football teams (the Gators) a bit of an edge, hence the name. It wasn’t really invented there, but rather a rip-off of [Gookinaid](http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___81368), which had been around long before. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/93 "2009-01-29T07:44:13Z")
I do get frustrated reading Americans writing stories (fanfics or professional stories) set in England where a character has cider and treats it as a non-alcoholic drink. ‘Jack had a beer, but John was driving, so he just had a couple of ciders.’ Nuh-uh! You’re going to lose your licence, mate! Most ciders here are fairly strong. The traditional ciders aren’t fizzy and can taste fairly bitter, but modern ciders are sparkling and reasonably sweet - basically, the beer and lager versions of the cider world. Both types are about 5% or so, with a fair bit of variation. Cordial is also different. Here it’s another word for squash, which that highly-concentrated drink for moxing with water. Cordial in the US seems to mean an alcoholic drink made with fruit (which is what it used to mean in the UK a couple of hundred years ago, incidentally). Not a food one, but related to food: ‘wash up.’ Here, that means to wash the dishes. In the US, it’s to wash your hands. I was always most confused, as a kid, to read about people washing up _before_ dinner, especially since it was seen as a high-class thing to do and the little kids were the ones made to do it. > [@Nicolas\_Bourbaki](#): > > The way it was explained to me; over there, ginger _beer_ is the weak stuff, and ginger ale has a stronger flavor, rather than the other way 'round. I have no idea how popular it is in Europe, though. In the UK, they’re both non-alcoholic. Ginger beer is a common carbonated soft drink. Ginger ale is not carbonated, tastes very different to ginger beer, is mostly used as a mixer for spirits. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/94 "2009-01-29T07:48:04Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > Brits have far superior chocolate than Americans. That’s not saying much. Only Mexican chocolate isn’t superior to American. Frey makes Cadbury seem really unremarkable. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/95 "2009-01-29T07:55:07Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > I do get frustrated reading Americans writing stories (fanfics or professional stories) set in England where a character has cider and treats it as a non-alcoholic drink. The U.S. has always had alcoholic cider–it’s simply referred to as “hard cider.” I don’t know what kind of reading you’ve seen by Americans whereby you’ve come across so many references to “cider” in Britain as non-alcoholic that it has brought you to the point of frustration. That’s a pretty narrow niche of reading material. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/96 "2009-01-29T08:41:47Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > People don’t like oreos?! How? I’ve never known anybody that could stop eating them before the cookie was gone or they got sick. If I was wearing pants I’d be heading to the store to buy some right now. I understand that Oreos are an essential part of most Americans’ childhoods, but I can only assume that they’ve never had any serious competition. In almost any British supermarket you’ll find probably a couple of dozen variations on the theme of biscuit/cream sandwich – all better than Oreos, and frequently less expensive. > [@NDP](#): > > Oreos actually aren’t unanimously regarded as the best chocolate sandwich cookie ever in the U.S. Hydrox were better. I stand corrected. That does sound like a drain cleaner though. > [@Dublin11](#): > > Heee! You’re very particular, aren’t you?! > Where do you draw the line? What’s a Fudge? A Milky Way? A Curly Wurly? A Freddo? > Or do you have a different name for all the shapes? It’s dead straightforward: a bar of chocolate is a a bar made of chocolate – a chocolate bar is what the trade calls a “countline product”, a bar of something _covered_ in chocolate. > [@BaneSidhe](#): > > CanDopers—did Winegums ever have wine in them? Dumb question, yes, but inquring minds want to know. Wine gums are British – and no, they’ve never had wine in them. They were invented by the Maynards – a strict Methodist family. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/97 "2009-01-29T10:06:25Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Ah, but here, a squash is what you’d call a marrow. Zucchini, things like that. They grow like melons but aren’t sweet.I wouldn’t call them savory so much as unsweetened. Though you can add savory to them. They’re great, aren’t they?In the states, there are four different words for jam: > > Jelly: jam with no seeds or skins; this is what we do with grapes because the seeds are bitter. > Jam: regular jam; what we do with strawberries & brambles. > Preserves: more or less the same thing. > Marmalade: sort of jam made from oranges, with bits of peel. > > Or what [Gary said.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10754366&postcount=6) We know what squash are. It’s just that ‘squash’ has two meanings here. If you asked for a ‘glass of squash’, we’d know you weren’t asking for a glass of mashed up vegetable. BTW, what you call ‘zucchini’, we call ‘courgette’. Apparently it’s because our foody terms are more influenced by the French, whereas American foody terms are more influenced by the Italians. And eggplant is ‘aubergine’. And I think you lot have a weird name for coriander (the herb)? As to the jam debate, we have the same descriptions, pretty much, as you (except for jelly). Except Marmalade is not jam. It’s marmalade. Two different things (I suppose jam is sweeter and made with soft fruits, whereas marmalade is more bitter and made with citrus fruits). I’ve always regarded marmalade as quintessentially British, but I may be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/98 "2009-01-29T10:09:14Z")
Oh, I forgot to pick up on your ‘savoury’ comment. In my head, all foods are carved up into ‘savoury’ and ‘sweet’. Squash is most certainly savoury, as it’s vegetable (unless some fancy chef turns it into a dessert with added sugar). What do you mean by ‘you can add savoury to it’. Surely savoury is an adjective, not an noun? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/99 "2009-01-29T10:19:34Z")
And although our ‘cuisine’ has been much maligned in the past (often for good reason), there are two snack food areas where we reign supreme - ‘cheap’ chocolate bars (I’ll leave the posh stuff to the belgiums) and crisps. We have more flavours of crisps than you could ever imagine. Does anyone here remember hedgehog flavour? And I seem to remember a row a few years back with the EU food police, who wanted us to rename ‘prawn cocktail flavour crisps’ because, to be fair, they taste NOTHING like prawn cocktail, but I think we won the day by arguing that the name was part of our cultural heritage, like pint glasses in pubs (all other drink measurements are now metric). ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401/100 "2009-01-29T10:49:12Z")
I will say, as an American living in the UK, that British Oreos are far, _far_ inferior to their American versions. They have been Anglicized into blandness over here. When I brought back a pack of US-made Oreos to my office, one of my co-workers looked up at me, eyes brimming with tears, mouth quivering with crumbs, and said, “I _understand_ now…” I’m not surprised Brits don’t care for Oreos if they’ve only tasted their own. ETA: Coriander is cilantro. Confused the hell out of me for months at the supermarket before I figured it out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemonade-jelly-and-biscuits-and-other-foods-people-outside-of-the-us-have-wrong/483401.md?page=6)