Minced meat in Mincepies would have existed before sugar was available, though of course you can get pies of mince which is something else.

Broad beans are not lima. In the UK we eat them with the pale skins on, I've had them in France with the skins off once which seems crazy. Generally French restaurants struggle with things like vegetables (though they do fish and meats well) and certainly that is also true in my limited experience in the US. Steam is the answer.

Mushy peas, vary throughout the country, Mrs Bilbo introduced me to the Yorkshire version which is delicious and has no egg. Soaked split peans over night, boil up for 30 minutes, little salt, eat with ham. Yes that is it, anything else just make them disgusting.

Troll; almost certainly

There is also pease pudding made with yellow dried peas. My father used to like it with boiled ham (once he tried making it himself in the pressure cooker and opened the cooker without letting off the pressure first............) >>

hope the ceiling wasn't artexed!

<<Broad beans are not lima. In the UK we eat them with the pale skins on, I've had them in France with the skins off once which seems crazy>>

Bilbo - if they are small, fair enough. But if they have gone past that stage, [and we all know what that stage is] the skins can be bitter and the beans then taste much better [IMHO] and are less tough if you remove the skins once they are cooked. Rules of thumb - if they are too small to skin, you don't need to bother.

<<Mushy peas, vary throughout the country, Mrs Bilbo introduced me to the Yorkshire version which is delicious and has no egg. Soaked split peans over night, boil up for 30 minutes, little salt, eat with ham. Yes that is it, anything else just make them disgusting.>>

bilbo, mushy peas are marrowfat peas, not at all like the dried split peas used to make pease pudding, which look more like lentils. I've tried it both without and with an egg [which is in the original recipe that I follow, which came out of a pressure cooker cook book] and i prefer it with, as it sets better. Chacun a son gout etc. [and for goodness sake don't's let have THAT argument again]

returning to the subject of lard, it's only animal fat - pig to be precise. And before you turn your collective noses up at that, it's not a million miles away from the french "lardons" [chopped up fat bacon used in stews etc in french cuisine] and italian "lardo" which as wiki says is "a type of salumi made by curing strips of fatback with rosemary and other herbs and spices".

it's all FAT:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands.../consider-lard

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lardo

There was a jar of marmite left in the cupboard at our last rental, the smell alone took my breath away. I suppose if you grew up with it then it is yummy.
I do remember Black and Crosswell having suet, maybe no more but it did at one time.
I love that burgers (minced meat)are cooked through in the UK.

@ann - re: fat - or the fat back that southerners (US) fry before adding the green beans which they then boil to death (really, they end up barely even green).

I quite like Marmite, on toast, but you need to use it sparingly! (And mention of toast along with fat reminds me of dripping toast, probably disastrously bad for you, but I loved it when I was small, ditto fried bread.)

Dripping is back in favour nowadays.
Fried bread. Yummy, takes me back to my childhood.

Marmite is wonderful on toast, spread thinly, not like jam, or with cheese on a sandwich, but it is also great for adding umami to other dishes.

I'm not a troll, but I do have some issues with food in that there is a lot of food that I don't like or can't eat. Sorry if I upset anyone, it was not intentional. I'll go back to just reading here in the future.

On my first trip to England, in the mid-sixties, the food at many places was pretty bad. But nowadays it's just fine, if you make any effort at all to find a good restaurant. I'm a picky eater, so if I think it's fine, it really is.

And the scones....Yummy, yummy.

If you don't know what lard is, you were just born too late. It is especially good for pie crust. Makes it flaky.

zach, no stay, all input welcome, you just have to roll with the action. Do your family have any specific ethnicity that gives us a clue what they might eat?

Ann, you're right peaspudding, what-a-mistake-ta-make,

still I always thought it was chacun-a-sans-gout but maybe that means something else ;-)

zachhealey on Oct 30, 16 at 11:33am

I am so sorry, they even labeled a person employed by fodors a troll the other day. The fodorarch's run off many a new person. Get some thick skin and give it back to them.
I don't like Asian food unless it is from PF Chang or Wagamama. I have a brother that works for a liquor distributor and has seen the inside of every restaurant kitchen in his state. They are sited for more violations than any other place in my state. I totally understand.

My mom grew broad beans and always cooked them with the skin on..yuck, no wonder we all hated them. Then I grew up and learned to take the skin off…delicious! Mom was amazed.

Zach, you can get a bad cook in anyone's home in any country, I wouldn't worry about it.

The nonsense about British food is really just that…nonsense. The last few times I have been to England the food has been fantastic. I think during my last three week trip there might have been one or two meals that were just sort of average, the rest were excellent.

In Italy, we eat fresh fava beans in the spring with fresh pecorino cheese. We just buy a big bag of them in the pods, and shell them and eat them. We can also cook them with pancetta or guanciale, but my husband doesn't like them cooked, so I rarely serve that.

Traveler1959, I love the gallery!

Spam fritters! Chips in gravy! The ambrosia of the gods!

I come from an Irish family, and there is a lot in common with British cuisine, or at least there was back in my childhood. In recent years, some of the best food I've had has been in Irish restaurants.

Since we were sharing European recipes the other day, here is an old traditional Irish recipe for spiced beef:

Put a beef rump in a gallon of water, with a turnip, a carrot, and a parsnip. Add one teaspoon of salt (the spice). Boil it for seven days, or longer if you like it well done.

(I have to give a footnote to that; I found it on an old Usenet group, long ago, in a brilliant spoof post.)

Sorry if I upset anyone, it was not intentional. I'll go back to just reading here in the future.>>

please don't go, Zach. Surely you can see what fun we have here? and I bet you've learnt a lot.

<<Ann, you're right peaspudding, what-a-mistake-ta-make,>>

merci, Billbo.

<<still I always thought it was chacun-a-sans-gout but maybe that means something else >>

others here will correct me I'm sure [and that is one of the things you can be certain of in an uncertain world] but "sans" means without, "son" means his/her [in the case of a singular masculine object]

I hope that's clear.

PS - marmite is one of those things you love or hate - and I hate it. It does not represent UK food any more than grits represent US cookery.

ann, I was miss-translating, :-)

My French teacher used to call the woman who looked after his kids as the au-pere rather than the au-pair but I hope that was wishful thinking

PatrickLondon, high5. You know well of what you speak. From troll alert and food history, to Britcook trads, amusing poetry (or is it 'portry'?) and other miscellany. You tell 'em.

Zach -- and see, even old time fodorites don't always know what they are talking about ;)

>>Um, Chartley, not sure where your US visitors hail from but broad beans are known as lima beans in the US and hardly unknown<<

This person is so wrong.

You will get really lovely food in the UK . . . Unless your relatives are just crap cooks. We can't help that. Your OP asks about 1) dishes that either don't exist or 2) are jokes based on misspelling the names of the dishes.

Just stay out of any restaurant that has Aberdeen or Angus in its name.

>>Your OP asks about 1) dishes that either don't exist or 2) are jokes based on misspelling the names of the dishes.<< . . . which is why it seemed like a troll post. Someone has been pulling your leg.

Zach, you will be staying with family. Let them know if there is any food you don't eat, for whatever reason. I for instance don't eat seafood, and let my hosts know that ahead of time. Don't say you won't eat any of the dishes you listed in your OP - they will wonder what the heck you are on about and why they have invited you.
Then you need to learn to be a polite guest, and eat what you are given. If anything is really not to your taste push it around the plate a bit say it is wonderful but you are full.
Have a stock of trail mix or similar in your room so you don't starve.
It is presumably only for a couple of days, so I am sure you will survive - and hopefully will be pleasantly surprised by British food.

In the Middle Ages, they would inset live birds under a pie crust, see "Sing a song of sixpence" Perhaps toad pudding is something similar.
I remember somebody on this forum shuddering at the thought of "kidney pie".
Seriously, whenever there is a trip report about the UK, people will talk about excellent food they have enjoyed.

I hope you will enjoy some good English puddings, like sticky toffee, banoffee pie, fruit crumble, Bakewell tart and treacle tart. Try and get a cream tea too.