FWIW, here in Canada, American biscuits are known as tea biscuits here. They’re very dry and crumbly on the outside and moist and fluffy inside, but they’re hard to cut without having them fall apart. Most commonly they’re found plain or baked with raising or cheddar cheese. Scones are very similar but seem to be larger and a bit dryer.
Crumpets here are the same as crumpets in the UK; round, partially fried, toasted up and slathered with butter or a fruit topping of some sort. They cook up crispy on the outside but they’re quite spongey – one might even say a bit doughy, with a bit of chew to it – on the inside. I love 'em.
English muffins are really sort of halfway between an ordinary bun and a muffin; split in half with a crenelated texture inside. Good filled with egg, bacon, and/or sausage, but also great with normal toast toppings. They’re also usually rolled in fine corn meal.
Muffins are … well, as was said, kind of like cupcakes, but having more in common with bread than cake, being usually made with various grains and such.
Those hard gums just look like sugar-coted jujubes.
American Cheese is just known as processed cheese here. It has very little in common with actual cheese but makes a great grilled cheese when done up right.
It’s cheese made with water instead of milk. No flavor, of course, but we eat it out of pride for being a society that can make cheese out of water instead of milk.
I know there’s an English pudding called “dead baby.” In the US military, chipped beef on toast is called “shit on a shingle.” Are there any other revolting names for foods outside the US?
Yes, and I believe the stereotypical image of cheese with holes is based on Emmentaler.
Well, Murdoch has been an American citizen for some time now. In the reports of his attempted buy out of the Wall Street Journal, I think I’ve heard him referred to as an “American” media mogul.
The place is called Cornwall (Kernow in Cornish).
In my view, Bill Bryson is not a reliable source of information about Britain, America, the English language, or personal anecdotes.
But don’t British people call cookies “biscuits”? and then “pudding” means any dessert, not just pudding? (When I hear “How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat?” I picture a cafeteria bowl of chocolate pudding.)
Same in Australia, but we also have ‘cookies’. I think the Brits do as well. ‘Biscuit’ is the general term, but the homemade (or ‘homestyle’ manufactured ones) are cookies. The distinction is not easy to define, but we know a cookie when we see one.
