Yeah, and let's not even get started on French bitches...
Posted on 07/10/2005 9:49:16 PM PDT by SmithL
Tunku Varadarajan wrote a delightful piece in the Wall Street Journal, "Why are Brits skinflint hosts?"
He told of having to wangle ice cubes for his drink from a British bartender at a party.
"One answer to why the British are such poor hosts might be found in wartime austerity and the postwar rationing that forced Britons of every class to think that skimpery was smart," Varadarajan said.
Oh, that.
His column came to mind when I read British press reports about Jacques Chirac entertaining Gerhard Schroeder and Vladimir Putin with jokes about British cuisine. They were in Scotland for a G-8 summit.
Yes, a dish consisting of potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, turnips, onions and oatmeal is a culinary crime. But those were the ingredients for a common dish in World War II thanks to war-time food rationing.
The Brits stiffened their upper lips and stomachs and ate this catastrophe.
They called it Woolton Pie after their minister of food. The Earl of Woolton was widely popular. His constituents knew he had little choice in the matter.
The Brits rationed food so they could feed the army they raised to liberate France.
The French had fought the Germans for a few weeks and then capitulated. This spared Paris, and allowed the Germans to concentrate on the Russian front and the bombing of London.
British women stood in queues for hours to receive their rations, braving bombs that would destroy or damage 4 million homes by the end of the war. Many mothers in London exiled their children to the countryside to escape the Battle of London.
Courage is doing the heart-wrenching things that must be done, and British women are not to be trifled with. When Buckingham Palace was hit, Queen Mary said: "Now at last I can look the East End in the face."
Where were French leaders? Sunning themselves on the Riviera in Vichy France or toasting their new Nazi friends in Paris.
Food rationing continued on some goods until 1954, nine years after war's end. In the winter of 1946, Britain exported food to keep Germans from starving.
But that was long ago and is easily forgotten.
Chirac's jokes are said to spring from an attempt by a Scot some years ago to interest him in haggis, that concoction of organ meats, suet, oatmeal, onions and seasoning boiled in the stomach of a slaughtered animal.
Chirac had a point.
Besides, the French and Brits trade shots at one another when they are not mocking the Germans, Italians, Spanish, Belgians, Norwegians and every other people on the planet.
Still, it took more than a little nerve for Chirac to say, "The only thing [the British] have ever given European farming is mad cow."
There would be no free Europe to farm if not for the British.
I have eaten escargot in Bordeaux and I have tasted the food of London. There is no question of which country makes the more delicious meals.
But taste is not limited to the palate. And I prefer to have my meals without the crow that every French leader surely must eat daily in light of World War II.
I wrote this column before today's bombings in London.
It will take a while to see what this means, but the outcome is clear: A nation fed on Woolton pie will never give in -- "never, never, never, never," as Winston Churchill said.
Don Surber may be reached at donsurber@dailymail.com.
"Where were French leaders? Sunning themselves on the Riviera in Vichy France or toasting their new Nazi friends in Paris."
LOL!!!! F'n Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys!!!! And French food sucks!!!! They are sauce experts because they had to drown out the taste of their meat!
The Brits stiffened their upper lips and stomachs and ate this catastrophe.
They called it Woolton Pie after their minister of food. The Earl of Woolton was widely popular. His constituents knew he had little choice in the matter.
The Brits rationed food so they could feed the army they raised to liberate France.
Ouch. Okay, if you left out the cauliflower it might not have been too bad. We eat mashed carrots and turnips for holiday meals. Lol, I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to disguise the oatmeal : )
Yet another reason to despise the French, and know that the Brits are made of stronger stuff.
Actually, at the time the French capitulated in 1940 there was no Russian front--Stalin was Hitler's ally and was supplying him with raw materials he needed for the war.
Thought you might like this one !!!
God bless the Brits.
And the French may pride themselves as having better cuisine, but at least the British did not grab their ankles and bend over, presenting their hind sides to Hitler as the ‘glorious’ French did. I’d personally say that integrity to oneself and one’s nation, plus inner fortitude, is more important that the ability to whip up a mean mousse au chocolat or a crème caramel!
Oh, one more thing. The Brit pals I had were capable of this amazing trait where they could be amazingly cultured at one moment, and the next moment they are deep in the muck doing menial work. And anyone who loves rugby is a friend of mine.
Yeah, and let's not even get started on French bitches...
Chirac is such a #$%T*#$t8. I am just glad that thanks to Thatcher and our EU rebate that Germany is paying for Frances Agriculture and not us. They have nice wine and cheese and bread but the UK and London in particular has embraced all styles of cooking and created a real medley of traditional meat dishes as well as fusion cooking or oriental and asian foods. Which is why London is considered one the best places to eat in the world.
That bitch can't be French...her armpits aren't hairy enough!
But in a fight, gimmee a John Bull and pass the jellied eel.
Well get ready for this. The French, the Great French got there start in cooking from the ITALIANS who got all of their hot TIPS from ----- Guess who!
Yummmmmm!!!
The version of this I heard (not sure might have been Brit Hume) was that Chirac went on to say only Finnish cuisine was worse.
Heh. He said this right before a panel including two Finns decided to pass over France in favor of UK for the Olympics.
"although I have to say 4 o'clock tea has many merits"
That came from India - the Jewel in the Crown
I really like British pub grub. Bangers and mash. Pate and bread. Ale and bitter. Roast beef. Yum yum.
I do too.
And this column makes a good point.
My brother-in-law married a girl from London. He and my wife are from Germany. I must say that I'd rather sit in the electric chair than one of her dining room chairs. Aside from the baked beans she serves every time, her meals taste like library paste.
This is a shame because German food is so tasty. I've actually watched my brother-in-law lose weight since they've been married.
She's otherwise wonderful.
And, being German, he would rather eat library paste and lose weight than take over the cooking because it's woman's work, right? I'm married to a German too....
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