Eating out and about the United Kingdom

I'm currently just over three months in the United Kingdom; doing a combination of house and pet sitting as well as sightseeing. Eating here has included my own grocery shopping and cooking while doing house sitting and eating out while traveling around. I thought I'd give a few of my impressions of eating while here, because British food has such a bad reputation.

I am definitely happier buying and cooking my own food, as British grocery stores have a great selection of foods. In addition to the selection, its nice to know that genetically modified foods are illegal here, and most of the foods do not have the amount of preservatives that American foods have, Breads will mold in three or four days (as they should), and eggs are not irradiated. The breads here are crusty, thick and hearty, even the white breads, and make wonderful toast. Eggs have beautiful, golden yolks rather than the insipid pale yellow yolks of American eggs. There is a plethora of breads to try, and it is a big part of every meal, tea, and snack. The same goes for desserts. "Pudding" or "pud" is an integral part of British life, and there are cream rolls, turnovers, funnily named dishes like "spotted dick". Whipped cream is the unsweetened variety and freshly whipped. It has a wonderful, buttery taste without the sugar that goes perfectly with the fruit jams in the rolls and turnovers. My early hosts were very frugal and "healthy" eaters who avoided sugar, but now while visiting friends here in Northern Ireland, I've had some wonderful apple lattice pastry with marzipan tucked in, a nice sponge with butter cream, and more to come, I'm sure. 

Cooking in homes comes with some challenges, foremost of those the ability to get the hob (stove) turned on. I've seen as many types of stoves as I have been in houses, and only one was like an American stove (meaning you turn the knob and the gas or electric comes on). Some have required pushing a button while turning the knob (basically to light a pilot light), turning on an electric switch on the wall to get power to the stove, and figuring out how to convert Celsius and "gas marks" to Fahrenheit. Once I got the hang of it, cooking was no problem.

As for as the normal meals, breakfast has many offerings, including scones, pancakes, waffles, bacon, eggs, and numerous types of sausages. Then there are the additional breads for meals: brown, white, granary, farls (skillet breads), and a full selection of Indian breads if wanted as well. Bacon is different. It is back bacon rather than pork belly bacon, so much more lean, and closer in American ham to taste, and with little fat. Some people have compared it to Canadian bacon, but it isn't the same at all. Most places out are going to offer baked beans, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, and a hash brown as well, which, along with the meats, eggs, and breads, makes for a substantial experience. On the subject of baked beans, they are very similar to American pork and beans, but perhaps without the dab of added sugar. Most British people who I've read online confuse our "baked beans" with theirs, and are appalled at how sweet they are. I guess no one has ever pointed out that pork and beans are what they want. I admit, I DO like beans on toast (a British favorite), but just don't see the need for them along with everything else on the "Full English" (also called a Full Scottish or Full Irish). I don't think people here eat a full breakfast like this every day, because it'd be like Thanksgiving dinner every single day. That being said, they have a huge selection of cereals and "porridge" (oatmeal) is still very popular though it is eaten much thinner than in the United States. 

Sandwiches are also hugely popular in the UK, and besides typical sliced deli meats, there are a variety of "sandwich fillings", which is basically the main ingredients premixed with mayonnaise. Tuna and sweetcorn, three cheese and onion (similar to pimento cheese, but richer and higher in fat, of course), chicken tikka, and coronation chicken are the top fillers. Coronation chicken is a curried chicken salad created for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and would be familiar to some pot luck occasions in the US. The "Ploughman" sandwich is ancient and popular: a thick slice of mature cheddar on crusty bread with sliced onion and perhaps some Branston pickle. I had eaten Branston pickle in Chicago, being able to find it in the International grocery stores there. It might be considered an acquired taste, being made of diced vegetables including rutabaga (called swede in the UK), carrots, vinegar, apples, sugar, spices, etc. and in short, is a crunchy condiment that tastes like a slightly more vinegary steak sauce. 

For dinner, "Sunday roast" is still the tradition, with roast beef, "roasties" (potatoes roasted in goose fat in the oven), a veg (usually green peas), and Yorkshire puds (a type of popover). Holiday meals usually include a fresh turkey and all of the trimmings, and a flaming Christmas pudding or Christmas cake, which is a fruit cake covered with marzipan and fondant. 

A peculiar aspect of "British cooking" is how much Indian cuisine has been incorporated into the average British diet. In the grocery stores, there are as many microwaveable, frozen, and ready to go Indian meals as there are more traditional British food. For that matter, curry is now British, part of the average household repertoire, and ordered for takeaway as much as pizza. 

As for differences that Americans might find difficult (depending on where they live), are what you might not find in the grocery stores or peculiarities of British restaurant dining. One thing to know, is that just about every meal choice in the average restaurant, will include chips (french fries), whether it is fish, hamburgers, lasagna, middle eastern, or even Chinese food. They will still serve chips. Also, outside of Indian or Chinese food, I found it difficult to get any other option as a vegetable other than green peas or a simple mixed salad (without any dressing). Salad dressings are on the grocery shelves, but to date, all of those I have tried are much sweeter than American versions, and not to my personal taste. I also am not fond of British "salad cream", which is basically a slightly thinned, sweeter mayonnaise. So if you are a "salad person", you might not be happy. As a budget traveler, I'm sure there are more choices in better restaurants, but that hasn't been the case at any restaurant that I had a meal, which is really strange, as the grocery stores are full of a beautiful variety of fresh veggies, such as green beans, carrots, spinach, etc. 

One week I had a craving for some "home style food" and thought of greens and cornbread. I could not find cornmeal of any sort there, not even the type to make polenta at either of the major grocery stores. Also there are no "greens", meaning turnip greens, collards, etc. There are packages of baby spinach leaves and a package of shredded "spring greens", which when you read the label, find out is only green cabbage. So, I'll be waiting until I return to the US to satisfy that craving. 

Then there are differences between the fast food in the US and UK. One big difference is KFC, which has none of the typical sides that Americans are used to having. No mashed potatoes and cole slaw or green beans. Potato wedges and corn cobbettes are the only option. They also have a "rice box" that is heavily advertised that I tried and cannot recommend: a box with a bed of Spanish style rice, a layer of lettuce, a fried chicken breast, and covered in barbecue sauce and a white sauce similar to ranch dressing. I ended up pulling out the piece of chicken and tossing the rest after a few bites. If you do decide to visit KFC, don't plan on it filling your crowd as much as the US sites, as the chicken are not hormone filled, so the pieces will seem tiny, or rather, the size of real, natural chickens. 

Pizza Hut and McDonalds are also all over the country, and McDonalds is pretty much the same world wide in terms of the hamburgers, though in the UK they also offer a veg burger, and a bacon roll with brown sauce for breakfast. Pizzas are also different. Crusts are softer, an anathema to someone who loves a thin, crispy crust like I do, and again, toppings like sweet corn (surprisingly good) and chicken tikka (strange chemical flavor not like real chicken tikka). The meats are thicker and not quite the same as US style pizza, but a decent substitute in a pinch if you had a pizza craving. That being said, I only ate at the US chains a few times when there were no real options. I would rather try foods that are part of the country than the imports. The food that I can recommend highly are the savory pies. I tried quite a few and my favorite by far, is the traditional Cornish pasty. A beautiful, substantial pie, with flaky crust, and filled with beef, rutabaga, and potatoes. I had one right out of the oven while visiting Chatsworth House, and it was heavenly. There is also a chain called "Cornwall Pie Company" that sells pasties at the motorway oases, in mobile stands near airports and at train stations, and they are quite good. In addition, there are 'slices', which are also savory pies with chicken and mushroom, cheese and onion, and other flavors. Obviously, a high fat pastry and meat pie might not be a healthful choice, but its a nice, filling meal a couple of times a week. 

The UK and Ireland, also being so close to the ocean, has some wonderful fish, and besides the well known fish and chips, there are fish pies, cockles, whelks and many more things from the sea. I have tasted some excellent fish while here, though think I would have preferred my cockles (tiny shellfish) with a hot sauce instead of the traditional vinegar black pepper. 

I could probably go on and on about the foods here in the UK: but will leave you with a list of quick observations in case you get a chance to visit: hot sauces in the UK are not as hot as the US and you won't find that many, fizzy drinks (sodas) are not the drink of choice as much as the US, though I am seeing younger people start to drink them. British people really do drink as much as you might think, though they don't seem to get "drunk" like Americans do when they're drinking. Forget what the chefs on TV say: that you never combine fish and cheese. Those ingredients in fish pie are very tasty. Indian food in UK restaurants tends to be a bit different than US restaurants, with the addition of  the south Indian ingredient, coconut, being added to north Indian cuisine, and apparently some sugar in some of the cream curries. That being said, it really is amazing how many food traditions are different in the countries are different; having a shared history, but like everything else, time creates change and variation. My only recommendation is to try everything as you travel and not stick to eating at places you could find in your own country. 

Food from Pennsylvania and Amish Country

As I am traveling around now doing house sitting, I have made it a point to try any foods that are new or unusual to me. Usually a trip to the local grocery store will tell me exactly what those foods are, and Pennsylvania is no exception. Right away, in the breakfast meat section, I found scrapple. Scrapple is an apt name, as it is pretty much made from the "scraps" of the animal. Pork is the most prevalent, but a beef version is also made. Basically, reading from the pork based label, you read ingredients such as pork ears, snouts, and hearts, and I assume similar from the beef type. Those bits are mixed up with spices and cornmeal into a dense loaf. A lady in the local deli told me that the way people eat it, is to slice the loaf into strips, fry them up in a skillet, and eat them covered in syrup. 

 That made sense to me, considering the cornmeal component of scrapple, so I asked both of the ladies in the deli about how it tastes. Both of them looked at me askance and said "I'm not eating that, but it's on our breakfast buffet on Saturday mornings, if you want to try it!". I had thought about trying it, but didn't want to buy a whole loaf, and I though, having had haggis in the UK, that this couldn't be any worse, though I must say, I liked the haggis. 

The history of scrapple comes from the "Pennsylvania Dutch" of the farmlands, who used every bit of the animal after cutting out the more choice portions. There it is also known as "panhaas" or "pan rabbit".  Similar to may cultures way of creating an economical dish of fatty meat scraps and grains into a cheap, filling food product, in that sense, it is really no different than any sausage. 

A subsequent trip to the store for their weekend breakfast bar, brought me face to face with scrapple. I opted for the beef scrapple, as, while I can do "bits" such as hearts and such, something about "snouts" was more than I could get past. Brought home my scrapple and put together a breakfast of the scrapple, fried eggs potatoes. It smelled good, so I didn't have that to get past, and it looked good.

I tried the first bite plain, just to get a real idea of the taste and texture. It was crispy on the outside and a bit mushy on the inside. There is a definite meat flavor, sort of like a meatloaf flavor. It isn't as highly spiced as typical breakfast sausages, had no weird, chewy bits, and so overall, was good. I think the biggest part is getting by what you are reading on the ingredient list. Again, as I said, the beef version, though not the original, "authentic" type, suited me fine. I just don't think I could get past "pork snouts" no matter what the taste. Afterwards, I did try a bit with syrup, which is a common way to eat scrapple as well, and found it to be pretty tasty too. Anyone who's ever dipped their side of breakfast meat into the pancake syrup will understand that. So, all in all, I'd say to give it a try! Historically these types of foods have always been one of using as much of the animal as possible, which was even more important when times were lean. That tradition tends to be more common in Europe than in America these days, where we disdain the scrap meats of our food animals but fill ourselves with processed foods full of chemical ingredients. 

My next foray into local foods will be back in the UK, where I'll be headed next month. Stay tuned.

Savory pies, oh my!

     I can't really explain my extreme love of savory pies, especially since the only ones I ever had well into adulthood, were the cheap, little "pot pies" from the grocery freezer. Once I had tasted other varieties from different countries however, I was hooked. My first savory "pie" was a handheld version, called a samosa, a popular snack that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Available as either vegetarian or non-vegetarian, and accompanied by spicy, tangy, or creamy condiments, they were a delightful revelation in my late twenties. Living in Dallas, I was able to buy them hot and fresh from the local Indo-Pak stores, and would be embarrassed to admit to how many of them I actually ate. One of my regular grocers also had another version of these ubiquitous hand held pies, which were simply referred to, as "chicken patties". Milder spices in ground chicken and baked in a puff pastry triangle; these quickly became my kids favorite. As I got more into cooking foods from other parts of the world, I found that the samosa had spread to Africa, where it was called a "samoosa".  Local festivals introduced me to spanakopita, the Greek spinach and feta cheese hand held pies baked in crispy phyllo dough. I was in love, flaky, delicious love.

Within a few years, my travels had me living in the United Kingdom, where I found a plethora of pies of every variety imaginable: pork pies, kidney pies, Cornish pasties, "slices" of all flavors; chicken, cheese and onion, spinach and cheese, and much more. I tried them all, and I tried them a second time, and every bite only made me want more. It was quite a downer to leave the UK and leave behind the incredible variety of offerings available there. I decided to remedy that by making my own savory pies. Some early attempts were laughable, but a decade later, my versions are as good as those I remember eating. Full sized pot pies, hand held pies, samosas, chicken patties, I make them all, and my kids eat them up. I have a special affinity for the hand held variety because they are so easy to carry for a quick meal, and decided to make one of my fusion versions tonight. Fusion, because it was partially chicken patty, with its milder spices and ground chicken in puff pastry, but fusion, because, like the samosas, I added potato and made a tamarind chutney to dip them in. Heavenly!

Also, a shout out to the Original Fried Pie Shop in Jacksonville, Arkansas. I have a nephew to thank for giving me a heads up about this place. While they have hamburgers and other menu items, their focus is fried pies. Unlike the fried pies I grew up with, which were skillet fried, these are deep fried and encased in a pastry that is somewhere between a fried won ton and "squaw bread".  Now I know "squaw bread" isn't a politically correct term, but I've not heard any other term for it, and is the puffy, deep fried bread that Native Americans forced on reservations learned to make with their government-supplied flour ration. The fruit flavored variety was good, but the real stars are the breakfast pies. They are hand pies, but are two hands full, and a very hearty breakfast; filled with your choice of eggs, breakfast meat, and more. If you're ever passing through Jacksonville, Arkansas up US-67 north, make sure to stop in. They're located just off the last Jacksonville exit!