US perception of UK eating habits; blood and guts?

Discussion Open Forum
#1

Has anyone seen the Simpsons episode where Mary Poppins looks after the Simpson kids? She is seen as typically British in that she wants to feed them brains, livers and various insides. Is this really the US perception of British eating habits?

Everybody in the UK used to eat all sorts of animals and parts of those animals up until fifty years ago, then it seems people stated getting more squeamish or fussier and now they only want processed, white meat which bears no trace of ever having come from an animal. Some older people still like their liver and onions or steak and kidney pie but young people generally don’t.

By way of contrast, continental Europeans, particularly from Southern Europe, still eat all sorts of things and very much enjoy them.

#2

Boiled stuff.

#3

I didn’t think Brits actually ate anything. Don’t they just get drunk while cooking and then pass out like Floyd? :laughing:

#4

Hi girls!

Floyd is a true hero. British cuisine is right up there with the French. I mean, it is up there. Blood, guts, liver? Only barbarians eat that.

I miss those 80s dinner parties with my posh friends:

Appetizer:

Cubes of cheese speared with a toothpick.

Starter:

Prawn Cocktail

Main:

Chicken Kiev or Gammon Steak and a Pineapple Ring

Pudding:

Black Forest Gateux

Wine:

Blue Nun or Asti Spumanti (spell alert)

You yanks don’t know what you’re missing. :wink: And another thing, you won’t get that at Tesco Taiwan, no siree.

Dunc

#5

Blood pudding? Haggis?
Hmmm…

Hey, lots of Americans eat weird bits too.
What do you think soul food is?

#6

Dunc, I was just thinking about Spotted Dick. Wouldn’t you just love to pop one in your mouth? :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

#7

Boiled peas, boiled potatoes and boiled carrots, with some boiled beef.

#8

I was with a British colleague of mine in a very posh restaurant in London. I had some exotic meat dish and some exqusite (sp) French wine, he had bangers and mas and an ale.

Say no more.

Chou

#9

British dinner (liner photo from The Who’s Quadrophenia)


thewho.net/linernotes/Quad.htm

#10

Yes, it is sad to see how fast food has replaced such delicacies as chitlins. :laughing:

#11

Fredericka - yes, I lived in black pudding country but not too many people actually seemed to eat it any more. The Scots seem to eat a bit more of the interesting stuff - I like a bit of haggis, and my father was forcefed tripe (cow’s stomach) when a child although he claims to be emotionally scarred from the experience.

Big Dunc - you’re Scottish aren’t you? Don’t tell me you’d turn down a nice steaming bit of haggis?
I actually like all the food in your 80s dinner menu - proves how sophisticated I am. The secret for making the Marie rose sauce for the prawn cocktail is to mix equal quantities of tomato ketchup and salad cream - none of that posh mayonnaise stuff.

Random thoughts;
I once KP’d under a pub ‘chef’ who thought that by putting sugar and vinegar into anything, it would become curry. When customers came in and ordered food late, he’d take revenge by putting two whole bulbs worth of garlic into their garlic dip.

My version of real British food:
Fresh-baked home-cooked meat and vegetable pie - use 50/50 wholemeal/white flour for extra texture and nutty flavour.
Baked, chipped , boiled Jersey Royal or mashed any kind of potatoes; plenty of butter and black pepper in the mash.
Home-made Christmas pudding - a light-year away from the sickly supermarket version.
Rabbit stew with optional dumplings - sorry Bugs.
Yorkshire puddings with onion gravy.
Apple and blackcurrant crumble.
Trifle - use real cream, real cake, fresh peaches and real sherry.
Wash it down with a nice glass of scrumpy (farmhouse cider) or a real beer. Finish it all off with a decent Scotch.

#12

Chitterlings are still fast food in Taiwan!
My ex husband used to love eating ‘guts noodles’.
Gack! :shock:
Sometimes, I’d have to wait on the side of the road while he gulped down a bowl.

With Brit food, I just don’t get the baked beans thing. Sweet beans with eggs and toast? What is the appeal?
Gimme grits anytime!

#13

P.S. Blueface you should know that that photo is actually a ‘full English breakfast’ (when in Scotland you are served exactly the same except it is termed a ‘full Scottish breakfast’!).
I miss them, and (apart from my cooking of course :wink:), they are one of the few items of British food that my Spanish friends really enjoyed.
Floyd’s brother actually visited our pub one time as a guest chef. Gave the regular chef a bit of a shock I can tell you. He made some nice food actually.

The thing about boiling and bland flavours is, I am told, chiefly the fault of the Victorians and Mrs Beeton in particular. Before that our food was a lot spicier, herbier and more interesting.

#14

[quote=“joesax”]
Floyd’s brother actually visited our pub one time as a guest chef. Gave the regular chef a bit of a shock I can tell you. He made some nice food actually.[/quote]

I like Floyd. I actually met him years ago on his Asian tour courtesy the BTA.

Years ago I read an article on the effects of WWI on British society…food was one of them. It was claimed that as a result of the deaths of so many of the upperclass officers and their servants/cooks, British cooking has suffered ever since. And since WWI was followed by the Depression, I think this argument carries alot of weight.

#15

I miss faggots. :laughing:

#16

Get a load of these Weight Watchers dishes from the seventies.

Now, who is the WW spokesperson? Dear Fergie…

#17

[quote=“fredericka bimmel”]Get a load of these Weight Watchers dishes from the seventies.
[/quote]

Jeez! For a second I thought the Peach Melba was a barbecued cat!

#18

Blueface, don’t be so dense. Everyone knows cheetahs are high in fat.

#19

But…but…they’re organic, aren’t they???

#20

You’ve got a point. Plus you can use the wrapping as a door mat.