The Way of Eating in Europe (well UK actually)

[Mark Clarke]

...Sure, there's all those really wonderful favorites like blood pudding, spotted dick, and drippings...

Those sound more like medical conditions than food!

[Twinky]

I never knew anything about "spotted dick". We called it "spotted dog" in our household.

Could have had something to do with my father's name being "Dick". Never worked out if the name of the pudding was a local or a family adaptation. Anyway, whatever you call it - it's nice to eat.

And George: at least the English COOK which is more than can be said for some American dishes which are just a raid on the supermarket for a prepack, turn on the microwave or cooker, and that's your meal.

Explicitly excluded from above comment: Dooj and the Texans.

(Just having fun here, no offence)

[George Aar]

Chopped Toad anyone?

Mmmmm...

[waysider]

When I was growing up, there were many people in our neighborhood who were first generation immigrants from Eastern Europe, Russia and Ukraine.

Many spoke very little English.

Not only did they bring their native languages, they brought their unique manner of dress and dance and, of course, many types of food that I had never heard of.

Near downtown Cleveland, there was/is a large European type market.

Part of it is indoors and part is outdoors. The individual stands are run by vendors who independently own the businesses and rent the spaces.

Early in the morning, several times a week, I would see the ladies with their folded up wire pull-carts boarding the city bus to make a trek to the market. They would buy lots of fresh food in smaller quantities. Maybe this practice had to do with nutrition. Maybe it was because they were limited by what they could transport on the bus. Maybe it was because they didn't have access to refrigeration in their homelands and the habit lived on.

But, looking back, I have to also wonder if maybe they continued to do it this way because it afforded them an opportunity to interact with people who shared a common language and culture.

So much of that culture has disappeared that the younger people don't even realize it ever existed.

It's a pity, really.

It must have been a lot of extra work but it held its own rewards.

BTW---We eat something here that is a variation of Spotted Dog.

It's called Old Fashioned Bread Pudding.

Kinda of a "hurry-up" version of the original, of course.

It, too, includes currents in the ingredients.

No chopped toad in it, though, to the best of my knowledge.

[Twinky]

Bread pudding is a bit different from Spotted Dog. The latter is a sort of sponge pudding with sultanas in it and properly is a steamed pudding though perhaps it could be baked.

Bread pudding is a way of stretching out virtually nothing and making something - using up stale bread - you trim off the crusts, butter it usually on both sides, put it in a bowl with some nutmeg, sultanas, and maybe a little sugar, perhaps if you have any, and then soak it in an egg beaten in milk and bake it for 30-40 mins. It was a wartime (perhaps pre-wartime) recipe for using up odds and ends, if there were any such. Butter, sugar and sultanas were heavily rationed in wartime so there would be little spare and margarine would probably have been used.

Nowadays it's a fashionable pudding but has become rather luxurious with the addition of white or brown chocolate, other fruits, lemon, cream, etc.

[Catcup]

... spotted dick, and drippings...

Um...

I think you should get some antibiotics for that stuff,,,, :B)

[excathedra]

popping in just to tell cat i love you

[Catcup]

popping in just to tell cat i love you

Love you too, kiddo!

[ChasUFarley]

All this talk about British food and no mention of tongue or steak'n'kidney pie?!

[Twinky]

Here's a recipe:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database...ypie_1318.shtml

This recommends puff pastry but you can also make it with ordinary short pastry too. Lots of variations on the theme.

Try it with a baked potato and some carrots. Me, I'd have Savoy cabbage or Brussels sprouts as well.

To follow, and because you already have the oven on: a creamy thick rice pudding. Yum yum.

Very good winter stick-to-the ribs stuff.

[gc]

I have a couple of favorite foods; one is The Cornish Pasty Picture and Recipe and the other is Chicken and Mushroom Pie

gc :)

[Twinky]

Brits do like pies and pasties!

Did you see in the attached article, they used to be "dinner" one end and "pudding" the other? (I've never had one like that!) A good pasty is very good. A bad one is all pastry and no filling.

Have you tried making any, GQ?

[gc]

The only type of Pasty I've ever eaten is a Steak. I've never tried to make any, but would like to try make a desert one. They are pretty traditional in my household, I may have to call it something else ;)

You are so right about a good and bad pasty. If they aren't made well there is little meat and its dry!

Have you ever made them?

gc

edit for typo

Edited November 3, 2008 by gc

[Twinky]

Not pasties as such, but I have made meat pies.

And apple pies.

And lots of other pies.

Some pasties have the "seam" along the top and some, along the side. No doubt there is a traditional way (Cornish=on top, I think) but hey as long as the content is good, so what, teeth don't have eyes to see where the seam is!

[now I see]

I'm so glad you're talking about Brit food!  We actually have a cafe two towns over that specializes in pasties, I've made pies, but never pasties, it would be fun to try.  

Twinky, your recipe for Chicken and Mushroom Pie looks just like our Chicken Pot Pie, you can even get them frozen at the grocery store here, they're a comfort food, although homemade is much better.  

I've been searching for a good recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding, you wouldn't happen to have one you'd like to share, would you?  I tried making it before and it just didn't turn out right, I'd like to find a good recipe, it's not something that alot of Americans bake, although I think they should, it's a great desert!

Cheers!

[gc]

Twinky, I've made one pie in my long life and it was beautiful! It was an apple pie. Then we tried to cut into it! :(

Now I See, I put a couple of links up for you on your thread for Sticky Pud.

gc :)

Edited November 4, 2008 by gc

[Twinky]

Now I see, I put my recipe on your thread on In the Kitchen, too. It's dead easy.

[now I see]

Thanks gc and Twinky, for the recipes, I'm sure I'll have better success next time.  There are some great traditional Brit recipes that are simply the bomb, its a wonder why they are not well known here.  My mother in law is from Wales, I have an incentive to try these recipes!

Do you live in the UK too, gc?

[gc]

Now I see, Yes I do. I'm in England, in the SW. You?

gc :)

[now I see]

I'm in America, in the SW too, my MIL is from Wales, but lives here.  Hey, what's the reaction in the UK to Obama getting elected as President?

[gc]

Its a positive one. They are just hoping that the new president will be good for the rest of the world.

gc :)

[Twinky]

I put a note in the topic in Open, the topic started by Brushie.

It's just gone Bonfire Night (5 November) and no doubt people will be having bonfire parties over the weekend.

Tis the traditional time for baked potatoes (done in the oven, but very traditionally done by wrapping up and placing in the bonfire embers) and bonfire toffee, thick, sticky and tough on the teeth.

A good evening out: poking at the bonfire, letting off a few fireworks, then inside for hot drinks, soup, crusty bread and the baked potatoes.

Then the next day kids go out and collect the rocket sticks, remains of bangers and other fireworks, and keep this smelly collection in their bedrooms till their mums have had enough and throw it in the rubbish. (This part does not have any traditional food accompaniments.)

[geisha779]

I put a note in the topic in Open, the topic started by Brushie.

It's just gone Bonfire Night (5 November) and no doubt people will be having bonfire parties over the weekend.

Tis the traditional time for baked potatoes (done in the oven, but very traditionally done by wrapping up and placing in the bonfire embers) and bonfire toffee, thick, sticky and tough on the teeth.

A good evening out: poking at the bonfire, letting off a few fireworks, then inside for hot drinks, soup, crusty bread and the baked potatoes.

Then the next day kids go out and collect the rocket sticks, remains of bangers and other fireworks, and keep this smelly collection in their bedrooms till their mums have had enough and throw it in the rubbish. (This part does not have any traditional food accompaniments.)

What happened to Guy Fawkes day? Is it now bonfire day? Hmmm I might have missed something..

Speaking of baked potatoes--and English Fare --a tuna jacket is probably one of the most interesting English pub foods I have ever ordered and NOT eaten. I have never seen soo much creamed tuna in one place. Very scary.

I have great pudding recipes from my English cook books--you all can make a pudding out of anything. Maybe we can start an English pudding thread where the recipes are posted. I make them all the time.

Treacle is a bit hard to come by here though.--Suet--not a big seller.

Now, what I want to know is where to get my hands on some serious clotted cream. I make the mock stuff--it just doesn't cut it. Scones --jam--and clotted cream are just the best thing ever invented--washed down with a pot of tea--HEAVEN!!

I miss the UK--cadbury cakes and orange barely water.

My neices live on marmite sandwiches. Ever try one?

Who says the English don't know food??

[now I see]

Geisha, isn't Treacle just the same as dark molasses, just a little bit lighter than blackstrap molasses?  

In the states we have a store called Cost Plus-World Market, and it carries a lot of Brit foods, and Whole Foods Market have clotted cream in a jar, but its not the same, better to make your own, or find a local dairy who'll make it, although I've heard there's nothing like what you can get in the UK.  

There are a few restaurants in town where I live that actually have it on the menu, a British pub, and a few tea houses that serve a traditional English High Tea.

[geisha779]

Geisha, isn't Treacle just the same as dark molasses, just a little bit lighter than blackstrap molasses?  

In the states we have a store called Cost Plus-World Market, and it carries a lot of Brit foods, and Whole Foods Market have clotted cream in a jar, but its not the same, better to make your own, or find a local dairy who'll make it, although I've heard there's nothing like what you can get in the UK.  

There are a few restaurants in town where I live that actually have it on the menu, a British pub, and a few tea houses that serve a traditional English High Tea.

I think it is the same as black strap--but that stuff is nasty. I use corn syrup when it calls for the lighter treacle. I actually try to avoid the recipes that call for it--and stick to those I am sure of the actual ingredients. :)

Suet seems to be popular as well. Isn't that for birds? LOL

My brother-in-law brought me some clotted cream. It is just not the same here. I just love it, but who wouldn't?

People cpmplain about English food, but I always have great food when I visit. The best is the old caravan set up on the side of the road selling kabobs. Now, I am not saying they actually ARE alley-cat kabobs, but it is surely a gamble.

We buy HP sauce at our grocery store and digestive bisquits--sometimes we can get winegums and on occasion orange squash(A drink). It is comfort for me. . . . reminds me of being a kid in GB. I sometimes make bagettes and pour on the brown HP --- just makes me happy! Doesn't take much-right?

I will post my favorite pudding recipe. It is really so easy and sooooo good. I bet you would love it. I will put it in your toffee pudding thread soon. Give it a try--it is awesome.