Off to England

[prendrelemick]

Picalilli! Thats just WRONG in so many ways. Ok, it is accepable with boiled ham, just.

But for cheese, there is only Branston.

[TheFifthElement]

But for cheese, there is only Branston.

Not so, for there be also Baxters Tomato Chutney. Mmmm, delicious

It's surprisingly nice on a cheese & ham toastie too (as is Branston Pickle!)

[MANICHAEAN]

Picalilli !!!!!!!!!!!
You will be telling us next you drink Camp coffee.

[Emil Miller]

Thanks, Brian. I have had the enormous good fortune to have been to Paris twice before but, of course, no number of times could ever be enough. I'm looking forward to going again and staying in a lovely little hotel on the left bank. It should be fantastique! (Though I am glad that I am avoiding the Hotel Mont Joli, which hardly sounds like a jolly place for a lady to hang out).

You are right, the girls in the Mont Joli were definitely not the kind one would take home to meet mother.

[kasie]

Not so, for there be also Baxters Tomato Chutney. Mmmm, delicious

It's surprisingly nice on a cheese & ham toastie too (as is Branston Pickle!)

And Baxters Cranberry and Caramelised Red Onion Chutney is pretty good, too. I find Branston too vinegary for my taste.

[TheFifthElement]

Mmm, sounds yummy kasie we've not tried that one.

[Nightshade]

OOH I love all thoughs pickles, except the chutney.
But on coming to England- over the next few days will be posting a 5 part blog on recent london experiance ( just got back) .
But on the English, the steryotypes are true, well some of them, whihc is omething I found wierd. There really is Faaar too much talk about the weather. and it can really rain one side of the street and not the other.
Oh and tea. Very important avoid typhoo like the plague its worse than lipton even.
Try and get a Ploughman's sandwhich - not on white bread and without mayo, which is just wrong. never buy sndwhiches from spar, as they tend to be on the stale side, Greggs is great for tea, fairtrade and their cups are larger than standard ( also they are cheaper than standard). will think of more things when I collect my witts.

[prendrelemick]

Of course English weather-speak is not really about the weather. It is an invitation to have a chat.

[Janine]

I was thinking ooer missus! In proper Carry On fashion!

Haha...you really made me laugh, Fifth, after our extended discussion on nicknames for woman in the thread that Max started; have you participated? Anyway, 'miss' or 'ms' is good for now. I though Babe sounded good with a tart! Also reminds me of the cute pig movie. Is 'Carry on Fashion' a Scottish phrase? I wish I could fit in Petrarch's carry-on luggage.....please take me with you...I don't take up much space...

See, we're not that different really

We shouldn't be, since I have direct ancestral roots to Scotland, England and no doubt somewhere along the line, Ireland. I just know my grandmothers on both sides cooked really bland and I was told that was due to our bloodline across the sea.

There's quite a lot of seafood in UK, being an island and all that. If you like salmon then you'd eat just fine here as Scotland is a pretty hefty salmon producer. So you needn't worry about this:

Yeah for that! I love seafood. I also love salmon. Maybe, if I do make it over there eventually, I will eat a ton of really fresh ocean salmon, unlike the usual inferior lot available and usually offered here - farm raised - eek! Do they have lobster and shrimp up there in Scotland or in England? All I hear about primarily, is this 'Fish and Chips'; now that is fried, right? I don't even know what type fish that is; just that I think it is a white fish - is it cod or flounder? I don't really eat fried food, so that could be slightly problematic.

if you ever decide to visit just ask Lit-net and we'll give you a list of the best fish, Greek and Turkish restaurants, all MSG free, and you'll be just fine Of course you'd have to have fish & chips, but like Neely said always best to have them at the seaside and they're best eaten out of paper (used to be newspaper but that doesn't meet health & safety laws anymore, sadly) and if you did venture north I'd be happy to pass you that tart

Sounds good to me. Thanks for the offer. My burning desire is to visit Scotland someday. With family names like Fergusson and Gray I have to make up there eventually. Of course, I realise how common those Scotish names are but still it would be cool to try to track down distant ties and ancestory. Both Greeks and Turks seem to cook with lot of olive oil making saute dishes; at least, the ones in American diners and restaurants do. I had heard of the fish and chips, being sold in a newspaper; maybe I saw that portrayed in a movie. Interesting...glad they switched to plain paper...seems more sensible/sanitary. I can see you us now; eating fish and chips and salmon and tossing those tarts to each other all day long!

Poor Petrarch, this thread now should be called the UK cooking thread! I better go check my England research to post some links to interesting places; all to redeem myself, for going so far off track here. Sorry, P.

I'm green with envy that you will be able to see so many Shakespeare plays Petrarch.

Ditto, so am I. I can't wait to hear all about them and the Globe, when you get back.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Dear Petrarch
The French have sauces: bearnaise, bechamel, hollandaise, remoulade, roux & veloute, just to mention the most well known ones.
The British have two:
1. Tomato Ketchup (if you count it as a sauce) &
2. HP Sauce. A brown sauce condiment produced now by Heinz with 71% of the UK market. Originally known as "Harry Palmers Famous Epsom Sauce" with a picture of The Houses of Parliament on the bottle. Later known in the 1960s & 70s as "Wilsons Gravy" after the wife of the Labour Prime Minister claimed that "if Harold has a fault, it is that he will drown everything in HP sauce".
Mind you in those days we Brits were a bit more stroppy. The first British Minister for the European Common Market when visiting his French counterpart used to take his own sandwiches with him!

Yes HP really is the only thing to have with a traditional English breakfast, tomato sauce if you are a bit weak. I find it impossible to have any bacon or sausage product without the said sauce (or even beans), though I don't eat fry-ups that often at all, no, no I either go for the continental (always with fresh French bread) or skip breakfast entirely, I'm much too much of a Bohemian to clog up my arteries with all that oil, though you have to have a few traditional breakfasts when you are over here; it's the law.

I must warn you about the sausage though, it is a fair chance that it won't be of quality unless you are staying in a really good place, (and probably not even then) I won't eat sausage myself unless I am on first name terms with the butcher. You'll probably end up with a little shrivelled grey lump on your plate, but when in Rome and all that..., yum, yum, yes, that's what HP sauce if for!!!

[Janine]

Neely, what's HP sauce? Is that anything like Worchershire sauce we serve here in America? I used to use it but now refrain from it - weak stomach. Thank God I don't eat sausage now at all...you make it sound truly delectable.

[Niamh]

HP sauce is brown sauce! great on a cornbeef sambo!!! yumms!

Okay, Petra if you can get trips into the country i'd highly recommend visiting some old manor houses! Of course if you can get on a tour, head south west and see Stongehenge, and Avesbury!
In London see, The Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Buckingham palace, covent garden, hyde park, Picadilly Circus, Soho, Museums, nottinghill.... so many places!

[Helga]

what I loved doing in London was just walking around and thinking about the great authors and poets that have been there, both in the distant past and the present. the streets and buildings are beautiful, I even took a picture of a street light.

[LitNetIsGreat]

what I loved doing in London was just walking around and thinking about the great authors and poets that have been there, both in the distant past and the present. the streets and buildings are beautiful, I even took a picture of a street light.

That is beautiful. I will be like that in France and Italy.

Neely, what's HP sauce? Is that anything like Worchershire sauce we serve here in America? I used to use it but now refrain from it - weak stomach. Thank God I don't eat sausage now at all...you make it sound truly delectable.

No, it is not like Worchershire sauce, don't expect a Yorkshireman to have that stuff anyway when we have Henderson's relish: http://www.hendersonsrelish.com/, HP is much thicker, like red sauce ("ketchup") but with more of a kick, bit of pepper and garlic in there. (Incidentally, you simply must have Henderson's on a pie on your visit PL, back me up prendrelemick.) Worchershire? Bit of a faux paux there for those with Bronte(ish) blood, but I will let you off this time...

But yes, the average sausage will contain about 40% poor grade pig fat, and will look, quite, quite, grey, you better eat it though PL! But, it can be wonderful if go to the right places, (it is about who you know, not what you know, as my granddad always said, and he was right). The place I go to, when I do, which is not that often, has beautiful herb sausages, an absolute joy, filled with the best meat and chives, but you have to know, you have to live here and endure, and suffer, and then you can eat well.

[Janine]

That is beautiful. I will be like that in France and Italy.



No, it is not like Worchershire sauce, don't expect a Yorkshireman to have that stuff anyway when we have Henderson's relish: http://www.hendersonsrelish.com/, HP is much thicker, like red sauce ("ketchup") but....Worchershire? Bit of a faux paux there for those with Bronte(ish) blood, but I will let you off this time...

But yes, the average sausage will contain about 40% poor grade pig fat, and will look, quite, quite, grey,.... you have to live here and endure, and suffer, and then you can eat well.

Neely, when you say "live here, endure and suffer"....is that like living inside a Dicken's novel? I can just imagine that street food or river rat food...ugh....

Thanks for letting me off the hook about the sauce. I don't like my breakfast with sauce of any kind, thank you! ...and once again, I pass on those sausages....