I have the impression that Scottish “neeps” (as in “and tatties, with haggis” – particularly popular in celebrating the anniversary of Robert Burns’s birth, Jan. 25th) can in fact be either swedes, or ordinary turnips – swede is more common. This confirmed, by recent quick Google session. (Sometimes in English, the expression “swede turnip” is used to mean the swede-- just to confuse things !)
I believe that the Scots word “neep” is actually borrowed from the French “navet”= turnip.
Mid-twentieth century British cuisine doesn’t exactly have a stellar reputation either.
Really? I thought it was just a simple contraction: tur-neeps!
I wasn’t raised on it, but every once in awhile I do get a taste for a nice casserole. My father used to make a nice mac & cheese one with Kraft, canned tuna, peas, and some other stuff. I loved the stuff as a kid, and I still love it as an adult, although it’s been years since I’ve had it.
I’m actually quite fascinated by the myriad of these kinds of casseroles, and they’re great for when I don’t feel like expending too much effort cooking. I know my wife will love them at any time, I’m fond of them from time to time, they’re cheap, easy, and quick, and if you’re a decent cook, you can substitute in and out any fresh ingredients for canned ones as you like, but that kind of defeats 90% of the reason I like them. Plus I actually like those canned cream-of-whatever soups. My pantry usually has several different cans for such a reason. Plus, they may be loaded with chemicals, but they’re lighter on the calories than any cream soup I’d make.
I can’t do the green bean casserole, though. That stuff is vile.
And good call on Hershey’s. That chocolate can be quite polarizing for folks who didn’t grow up on it because it really does have that “vomit” taste to it. I didn’t notice it specifically as “vomit” (although it always was slightly sour to me) until maybe ten years ago. I don’t know why or how I missed it all my life, but one day as I was eating a bar, I really just started to pay attention and savor it. I thought, what’s that aftertaste? It’s kind of like bile or vomit or something. So I googled “Hershey’s chocolate vomit taste” or something like that. Sure enough, it’s apparently a very common thing.
I’ve been angry at casserole for a long time, I’m sorry that you touched on a sore spot for me 
Yep, lasagna has all the qualities of a casserole that I don’t like. The last thing I want to eat is a piece of pasta that is leather on one end and borderline overdone at the other. Baked ziti has the same problem, but spread out between noodles. I’d really rather have some spaghetti. (Don’t tell my wife, she makes these dishes all the time).
Chicago style pizza gets a pass because of the crust. Since it’s supposed to get more dry than the rest of the dish, it saves the day for me. Meat pies are usually meh, in my opinion, but that’s because american ones are usually the equivalent of chicken ala king in a pastry shell.
I appreciate that your mother would go to the trouble, but I don’t find that more appealing than any other casserole. No insult meant to your mother, I am an extremely finicky eater.
I’ve never had anything called cassoulet or tajine. If they have the qualities described above: I am sorry, but no thanks.
Thnext person who whines about casseroles will be forced - forced! - to eat some of my family’s broccoli casserole. When done right it’s crisp broccooli, a crumble topping, and loaded with cheddary goodness. We will strap you down and force feed you. And you will thank us.
Cassoulet is fanstastic. The beans soak up the fatty deliciousness of the duck and pork. It is one of the most savory dishes I’ve ever had.
(To – the Scots word “neep” being derived from the French “navet”.)
You could be well be right: often, complicated and supposedly-learned explanations of words, are mistaken ! It’s just that the Scots and the French have a long-standing reputation for getting on well with each other (in the process of ganging up together, against the country in between).
Not true.
I have spent the past four years in China, and all the large supermarkets have a large selection of milk, cheese, and yogurt. Milk and yogurt are so popular that they are found in almost all small convenience stores.
Pizza Hut is a very popular restaurant in China . Many times there are lines of 20 or 30 people waiting to get in .
http://www.yum.com/brands/china.asp
“Today, Pizza Hut is the number one casual dining brand in China with more than 800 restaurants in more than 200 cities. Pizza Hut Casual Dining has an extensive menu offering a broad variety of pizzas, entrees, pasta, rice dishes, appetizers, beverages and desserts.”
In case you’re wondering, etymonline has this:
Once again, what you’re complaining about is something that wasn’t baked properly.
Ok, let’s stop talking about casserole entirely, before things get out of hand. Casserole just ain’t worth it.
(On the other hand, if you think you might make good on your threat: take a look at that usename. Are you really going to try to put something in my mouth so I can do something gross with it?)
And moving on to the first foot, I’ve now taken the time to look up a recipe or two for cassoulet. That looks like it might be pretty tasty. The recipes all seem to have a good handle on cooking the separate ingredients before combining them for the final cook. I’d probably pull the crust off and feed it to the dog, though. That seems too much like home made mac 'n cheese (don’t ask, Mr. Bandit is probably getting testy).
Since Campbell’s is the one that originally came up with the recipe, I’d say theirs in the most ‘accurate’.
Well, they appear to have nothing to do with the American casseroles other than being cooked in a dish in an oven. If a clay pot in an oven is all it takes to make a dish a casserole to you, we have been betrayed by our common language. The items in these dishes are added progressively, and partially (not fully) cooked separately. In the tajine recipes I’ve seen, you’re taking the items out of the pot during some steps, and then removing it all, making a sauce, then putting it all back together again. This is very far removed from my idea of “casserole”.
Well, every edge piece of lasagna I’ve ever eaten matches that description. If you can link to a recipe that explains how to avoid it, I would appreciate it.
Well, I expect that covering it with foil would work, but that would be kind of blasphemy (and if you have cheese on top, you won’t get the nice browning). The edges are the best part! They even have pans to maximize edges. But with lasagna, it works out fine. You just take an interior piece, and let the normal folk fight for the edges. 
Lasagna, and some of these ither things, seems to me to have too much structure to be of a piece with what I know as casserole (which might have a “top,” but is otherwise all-mixed-up).
Baked ziti could be called a casserole, though.
See! that pan implies that edge business is integral to the design of the dish! Why else invent new tech to maximize it? ( I had seen that pan before, and felt a kind of horror.)
Ok, really, I’ll stop with casserole bashing. This thread is for other cultures to complain about our food, anyway.
I disagree. There’s a whole subcategory of casseroles called “layered casseroles,” so I disagree it all has to be mixed together.
The original meaning of “casserole” is a type of baking dish. It was extended to mean something that is typically baked in such a dish. Although there have been many casserole recipes that consist of a bunch of canned goods stirred together, there is nothing that requires it to be such.
Lasagna is typically made in a wide, flat, rectangular pan. A casserole dish is usually deep and rounded. So while lasagna is similar to many casseroles, I wouldn’t classify it as one.
Four pages and I haven’t seen a mention of mashed potatoes and marshmallows, or whatever it is. I’ve never had it and I absolutely would try it. But it sounds… like the worst possible idea for food.
And now I am craving haggis so much I could cry. And this stupid country has no proper food at all, let alone a way of satisfying my haggis craving. 
