# questions about other countries that you've never gotten a straight answer to **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 8, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834 "2003-03-08T02:03:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SnugTheJoiner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@SnugTheJoiner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnugTheJoiner)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/21 "2003-03-08T16:36:27Z")
Setting the scone/biscuit/cookie debate aside, it’s common knowledge that British cooking is, as a rule, absymal. Even the Britons themselves are the first to admit this. My question is: Why don’t the Brits, who are (IMHO) possibly the most rational people in creation, DO something about it? For crying out loud, they live just across the Channel from the best cooks in the world! Why don’t some of them hop on the Chunnel train and go take some night classes or something? Then they’d learn to stop doing silly things like boiling beef and serving dishes with names like Toad-in-the-Hole and Spotted Dick. . . (Seriously, I spent several summers in London back in my misspent youth, and if it hadn’t been for the Asian and Middle Eastern restaurants there, I’d have starved to death.) ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/22 "2003-03-08T16:42:41Z")
Maybe you should try visiting again. That “common knowledge” is definitely no longer applicable. I’ve never seen or heard of anyone serving “boiled beef” in twenty-seven years; I know you’re being tongue-in-cheek, but it just isn’t true. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/23 "2003-03-08T17:04:03Z")
Oh dear, back to that one. I’m in my mid 40s and I’ve never seen or heard of boiled beef being served. How long ago was your misspent youth, **Snug**? Over the last 15 years or so I have found food in British restaurants to be as good as in the US (albeit more expensive). ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/24 "2003-03-08T17:22:48Z")
**amarone** your posts have confused me. Your location tag says Atlanta, but it sounds like you live here. Are you a transplanted Yank like myself? I miss biscuits & gravy, but a good plate of bangers & mash at a country pub with a good real ale is fab. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/25 "2003-03-08T18:36:30Z")
I believe **amarone** is an ex-pat Brit delivering civilisation to Georgia. Or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Elvis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@Elvis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elvis)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/26 "2003-03-08T18:39:41Z")
OK, my apologies to anyone who was offended by the French-bashing. I actually intended it as a joke, and not as an attempt to troll. I’m OK with the French, really. In fact, I have family there. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/27 "2003-03-08T20:46:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crusoe \* > \*\*I believe **amarone** is an ex-pat Brit delivering civilisation to Georgia. Or something like that. \*\* If one can call importing my Yorkshire ways “civilisation”, then you got it spot-on. ---
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/28 "2003-03-08T23:13:20Z")
So, Americans, what’s the deal with those child beauty pageants, anyhow? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/29 "2003-03-08T23:55:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*It bothers me, because they’re sublime. You used to be able to get them at KFC, but since I haven’t visited a KFC in the UK for a decade, I don’t know if you still have. I’ve tried making them, but they never turn out as nicely as the lovely ones you get in US supermarkets. > \*\* So, do they sell Jiffy or Bisquick overseas? If so, you can usually make some pretty decent biscuits from them by following the directions. Or mostly following the directions and adding things (like cheese and/or garlic) to them. Definitely better than biscuits-in-a-can that they market over here as well, as if those things deserve to be called biscuits 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Florentine\_Pogen\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Florentine\_Pogen\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Florentine_Pogen_1)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/30 "2003-03-08T23:56:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Scones, however, are the testes of Satan… So _that’s_ what they were making in the Tool song _Die Eir Van Satan_ (The Balls of Satan). (Only Tool fans will get that one). ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/31 "2003-03-08T23:58:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zyada \* > \*\*And what they call biscuits can be either sweet (cookies) or not sweet (crackers). \*\* Oh! Well, now, that’s just plain _wrong!_ I don’t care if they _did_ invent the language, that’s just plain laziness. Using the same word (incorrectly) for both cookies and crackers! Humph! That’s almost as bad as when they call everything a pudding, for cryin’ out loud. I gotta get me a bigger snit. I can barely squeeze into this one, any more. ---
**Author:** ![Sinful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Sinful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinful)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/32 "2003-03-09T00:31:30Z")
I’ve got one… what does ‘broiled’ mean (concerning food)? I saw it in America, its not even a proper word … does it mean boiled? grilled? cross between the 2? ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/33 "2003-03-09T00:34:58Z")
I want to know why French men don’t shower. I have been in business meetings in Paris with guys in expensive suits who reek. Why is that OK? Why don’t they notice? Whaddup with that? ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/34 "2003-03-09T00:48:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > **It bothers me, because they’re sublime. You used to be able to get them at KFC, …** Okay. I was going to let the whole “biscuits are wonderful thing” pass, even though the best biscuit ever made was still a poor excuse for a piece of bread. Because…well…you know. I mean, some people eat _squid_, for crying out loud. At least biscuits aren’t slimy. At best, they’re blah. At worst, well, you never know when an extra hockey puck will come in handy. Or, you may need one to drive in a loose nail. But, this…THIS!..KFC!!! The man considers _KFC biscuits_ sublime??? :calm…think calm thoughts…deep breath: Oh, you poor, deluded man! You have _ **got** _ to get to somewhere…Anywhere!..where they serve decent food, if only for a vacation. 😉 I had KFC, including part of the biscuit, for lunch, about 5 hours ago. I’m still waiting for my stomach to settle. Which part of a KFC biscuit is it that you like? The leathery, burnt bottom; the soggy, undercooked middle; or the just-plain-dry-as-old-parchment top part? And, I _ **guarantee** _ that if you _asked_ them to cook you one that way, they’d tell you it couldn’t be done. Yet. that’s exactly what I get, every time. Other people have said, in this thread, that British cooking has improved but, if this is the level to which it’s improved…:shudder: 😛 [hijack] Anyone remember back to the days when KFC served those nice, soft dinner rolls, rather than the current lumps of overly dry wheat paste? _Those_ were yummy! [/hijack] > [@](#): > > \*\* > Scones, however, are the testes of Satan. \*\* LOL! I had a scone, once. Contrary to all expectations, I did not break a single tooth. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![scablet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@scablet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scablet)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/35 "2003-03-09T00:50:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sinful \* > \*\*I’ve got one… what does ‘broiled’ mean (concerning food)? I saw it in America, its not even a proper word … does it mean boiled? grilled? cross between the 2? \*\* It’s basically cooking food at an extremely high heat (as opposed to, um, lukewarm cooking?) - the result is almost like grilling, except done in an oven. Most ovens have a broiler. ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/36 "2003-03-09T01:19:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kantalooppi \* > \*\*So, Americans, what’s the deal with those child beauty pageants, anyhow? \*\* Perverse, aren’t they? I can’t explain that phenomenon. I think they must have originated in…umm…Quick! What state doesn’t have any Dopers?..uh…Kansas? Yeah, that’s it. It’s all Kansas’s fault! ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/37 "2003-03-09T01:29:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kantalooppi \* > \*\*So, Americans, what’s the deal with those child beauty pageants, anyhow? \*\* Wouldn’t know. Never been to one, been involved in one, known anyone who has been to one or been involved in one, or met anyone who has been to one or been involved in one; met anyone who has known anyone that has been to one or been involved in one, etc. etc. I was as appalled as many other people were at tapes of Jonbenet Ramsey competing in these spectacles. Presumably it is one of the many “sub-cultures” that exist over here, but in terms of popluarity I would guess it ranks somewhere between dog shows and antique spitoon collecting. In other words, it’s something that really can’t be called part of the mainstream of popular culture. ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/38 "2003-03-09T01:33:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sinful \* > \*\*I’ve got one… what does ‘broiled’ mean (concerning food)? I saw it in America, its not even a proper word … does it mean boiled? grilled? cross between the 2? \*\* Broiling is like grilling, only the heat comes from above the food, rather than below. It uses intense, dry heat, which can come from gas flames or electric heating elements, so it bears no relation to boiling. It’s the closest those of us without $4,000 stoves and $1,000 range hoods can come to grilling inside the house. And, it’s the only proper way to cook a steak, when “the weather outside is frightful”, chicken-frying not withstanding. I don’t actually know the derivation of the word, but it _is_ a word. Do you really have neither the word, nor the cooking method, where you come from, or am I being whooshed? ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/39 "2003-03-09T01:40:49Z")
[Broil](http://www.bartleby.com/61/71/B0497100.html) From the American Heritage Dictionary, but the word is derived from Middle English, and ultimately Old French and Latin, so we didn’t make it up. It must be an example of one of those words that fell out of favor in Britain but not in the US. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/40 "2003-03-09T01:49:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Davebear \* > \*\*Broiling is like grilling, only the heat comes from above the food, rather than below. \*\* That sounds suspiciously like what a Brit would call “grilling”. It is done in the grill, part of your cooker which has a heating element above the food, normally either electric or gas. Also, regardign biscuit/cookie. We actually do use the word “cookie” in Britain - it is a specific _type_ of biscuit. Calling all biscuits “cookies” is akin to calling all cheese “cheddar”, which I am sure you’ll agree is very wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834.md?page=3)