Londoners Learn to Love Their Grits (the Brits put their distinctive stamp on down-home cooking.)

The International Herald Tribune ^ | March 5, 2004 | Warren St. John

[cyborg]

Surely you jest about the taste

[Constantine XIII]

I bet you ask for rye bread when you go to Cracker Barrel, too, donchya? :)

[doberville]

It is possible to eat well in Britain if one has breakfast three times a day.

[Dead Dog]

I'm trolling.

[Dane]

Is marmite the same thing as that stuff in Australia, vegamite(sp?)?

[jimtorr]

I lived in England for 1.5 years, about 12 years ago, in a small village in East Anglia. I ate at the village restaurant about once a week, for some reason.

No matter what the entree was, they served the same boiled vegetables. Patatoes, carrots, turnips and cabbage. The stuff was boiled till it was soft. The cook admitted that he sometimes got the carrots from the side of the road, where they fell off the farm wagons.

Not ten miles away, though, there was another restaurant built into a 16th century water mill. The wheel still turned. Heavenly food, there, with a traditional English menu, like the village restaurant. English cuisine is very good, when properly prepared.

[quidnunc]

cyborg wrote: Surely you jest about the taste

If you peruse the ad closely you'll see that nowhere does it claim that Marmite tastes good.

It's bitter and it's intensely salty.

Marmite is made from the by-products of brewing beer.

About 100 years ago some brewer trying to find a way to make a profit from the muck decided to market it as a health food due it it being a source of vitamin B2.

Amazingly the Brits fell for his advertising and actually started eating the crud.

[Wallace T.]

Grits started out as a substitute for oatmeal (porridge). Settlers from the British Isles who migrated to the South found that the climate was not suitable for growing oats. Corn was far more suitable for the Southern climate. British-descended Southerners learned how to make hominy and using the grinding techniques they had used to grind oats to make grits.

Like much else in American culture, grits represent an accommodation of British and continental European styles to the American environment.

[cupcakes]

My British grandpa who recently departed this world loved American food and he didn't screw it up. When he visited us he'd go goo goo over BBQ, hamburgers, baked beans, etc.
My nana however was a downright snob and despised American food.

The man who said grits were like vomit has obviously never tasted them with cheese mixed in--yum.

[cupcakes]

Isn't that funny? They think the smell is odd and as soon as the weather starts warming up, we find it odd if it doesn't smell like BBQ on any given night in the states;-)

[pau1f0rd]

   MEAT DISHES

Faggots
Faggots, or savoury ducks as they are called in some parts of Britain are thought to be of Roman origin. Faggots can be left until cold, if desired, then broken apart and reheated in a tin, covered with foil, in a moderate oven for 25 minutes.

INGREDIENTS: Pigs liver - 450 g (1lb), sliced, Onion - 1, medium, quartered, White bread - 110g (4 oz), Shredded suet - 50g (2 oz), Dried sage - * tsp.

COOKING: 1. Pre heat oven to 190C / 375F / Gas 5.
2. Coarsely mince the liver, bread and onion together into a basin; add the suet and sage and mix well.
3. Place the mixture in a shallow 18 cm (7 inch) square tin; level the top with the back of a spoon and cook in the centre of the oven for 40 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven and cut into 9 squares.

[Soulfull]

I have eaten at many top restaurants in England and all their food is bland. The only thing that has any bite is the English mustard. The best was a beef wellington pocket at the Glen eagles hotel(Scotland). It really was to die for.I actually liked the plowman's pie.

[cupcakes]

That is true. My mum used to make Shephard's Pie and roast beef with Yorkshire pudding--mmmmmm....Don't get me started on Trifle--I love that stuff.

[cyborg]

Indeed it is very similar...marmite is supposed to taste better...

Register your hate for marmite right HERE
http://www.ihatemarmite.co.uk/

[cyborg]

This should end your trolling ways DD!

[cupcakes]

Sweet grits,yes that is uniquely northern it seems;-)
All the hillbillies and rednecks I know(said affectionately) eat them with cheese or salt/pepper. Count me on the hillbillies side since if I wanted something sweet and syrupy, I'd have oatmeal with a little brown sugar and maple in it instead.

[cyborg]

food for your tum ping

[pau1f0rd]

Must be in the blood here. My 3-year-old loves Marmite. He spreads tons of it onto his bread and then just licks it off without touching the bread.

[Dead Dog]

Not a chance. We all need a hobbie.

Many of the Brit's I've met and worked with seem to be like teh Euros in that they are fashionably critical of Yanks (prison good, Grits like vomit, ect) yet very thin skinned. That makes them and their culture fair game (but only in fun, and with respect mind you).

BTW, The Queen likes Happy Meals!

[pau1f0rd]

We live on the borders of East Anglia. You're right - there are some great little villages there with fabulous traditional food in the pubs.