Heimdall

Over the many years since I left the US to live in England, the standard of restaurant food in Britain has improved dramatically, while the standard in the US has declined (judging from what I have encountered during my visits back home).

Zachhealy doesn't say what he eats at home, and of course we have no way of knowing what sort of food the family in Britain prepares. With the number of cookery programmes on British television these days, we ought to all be expert cooks! ;-)

I just did a Google search on the most popular meal in the UK. Answer: Chicken tikka masala!

flanneruk

"Mince pies (they are sweet), are dried fruit NOT beef."

Not universally correct.

In Scotland, the term "mince pie" usually refers to a meat pie based on minced lamb or mutton. Indeed the most common term in Scotland for the minced mutton with salted crust pie sold in England as "Scotch pie" is simply "mince pie".

The term is also often used in family recipes in Scotland for any kind of pie based on minced meat, and chippies in many parts of Northern England sell meat-based hot mince pies. In most of these places, dried fruit pies are also called mince pies and are a traditional Xmas delicacy: shoppers know which kind of mince pies they're dealing with by the context.

Certainly a decade or so ago, there were still roadside cafes in Australia selling mince pies almost indistinguishable from the meaty savouries so common in Scotland.

As so often, what Americans purport to find odd is what the rest of the English-speaking world takes for granted. But then what do you expect from a country that pours syrup over bacon? After so overcooking the rasher it's simply inedible.

Heimdall

<i>"But then what do you expect from a country that pours syrup over bacon?"</i>

Only when you put too much syrup on your pancakes or waffles, and it overflows onto the bacon!

annhig

Perhaps toad pudding is something similar. >>

again, it is sausages in batter. nothing whatever to do with toads.

<<I remember somebody on this forum shuddering at the thought of "kidney pie". >>

it is ALWAYS steak and kidney pie, not just kidney [and don't the french have an excellent kidney dish or three?] and the kidneys are usually chopped so you just get the flavour. If the OP doesn't like offal he has only to say so and I'm sure his hosts will make steak and ale pie instead. [if they make it at all].

<<I just did a Google search on the most popular meal in the UK. Answer: Chicken tikka masala!>>

not in my household, heimdall.

bilboburgler

Does that mean the OP will not be having liver and bacon with mashed potato and gravy? What a thing to miss.

Still at least no one mentioned spotted dick

bilboburgler

oops

PatrickLondon

Zach, I apologise for raising the possibility of trolling, but the kind of thing you quoted is exactly what gets trotted out by people who are really stirring - as janisj said, someone's been pulling your leg.

Without knowing your family, it's hard to guess what they might like to eat, or how much they're going to push the boat out for your visit. If by "holiday season" you mean Christmas, then the latter is pretty likely.

In my family, the big Christmas meal would be a big roast for lunch (usually beef rather than poultry) "with all the trimmings", so side dishes of Yorkshire puddin (a plain batter not unlike what you make pancakes out of, but baked in the oven at a very high heat so it rises), roast potatoes, several different sorts of vegetables, and gravy, and for condiments (if you want them) mustard and horseradish cream (hot and piquant, and not to everyone's taste). Christmas pudding will be heavy and fruity, and probably come to the table flamed in brandy, and rich sauces to go with it (custard, brandy butter); but there are also lighter alternatives for people who don't like it (and picky children).

At some point in the afternoon, a rich cake may make its appearance, but not a lot tends to be eaten after that lot. Casual visitors will be offered mince pies and/or some of the accumulation of gift chocolates and other sweets or nuts.

Nobody feels much like a dinner after all that, but there may be a soup made up from the leftover vegetables from lunch, or some bread and cheese or cold cuts with pickles: and meals on Boxing Day will probably be about as simple as well.

And of course, though there will be wine with lunch, the kettle will be on for tea pretty well throughout the day.

Every family is different. There's an old line from the 1950s comedian Tony Hancock- "I thought my mother was a bad cook, but at least her gravy used to move about". But I wouldn't expect anybody hospitable to expect you to eat things you really can't stand.

Heimdall

<i>"not in my household, heimdall."</i>

Not in mine, either!

MissPrism

I didn't really think that real toads were involved☺️

nukesafe

I didn't think you a troll, Zach, but my subtext when I replied to you was that "If you intend to stay with a British family you should bloody well eat what is put before you!" That is what I did when I married an English lass and ate at her parent's home. Accepting hospitality comes at a cost.

I must confess I just messed some of the offerings around on my plate at some meals, but unless I had some sort of medical reason for not digging in I would have considered making yucky faces at a serving bowl to be the height of rudeness.

Unless you want to be considered a real dork, I suggest you must man-up, chew, swallow, and smile at the cook.

MissPrism

Again, if you mean Christmas by "holiday", you might well get trifle. It is delicious

PatrickLondon

I will say, my parents were fond of saying "You'll eat what you're given <i>and you'll like it</i>". But that was in the immediate post-rationing era.

I don't know about zach's family here or his food habits at home, but one thing that occurred to me (memories of an old thread from an American teenager here, who fell foul of a proud French housewife): he may find that people in the UK "graze" less* than he might expect, and don't assume their fridge will be seen as an open house.

*Except when it comes to having chocs and biscuits out on the table at Christmastime.

Macross

Remember when we had the sticky pickle conversation? My husband was in Suffolk last month and I asked him to bring me some home because I saw it on a menu at his hotel. They had no clue what he was talking about so he came home with Branston pickle. I cn buy that here in the states. He did do well at the Coleman mustard place though. I am going next trip so will be looking for that sticky pickle myself. He could eat bangers and mash everyday.

chartley

I always wondered if "toad in the hole" was just a more polite version of "turd in the hole".

It's a dish I like, mind, although not perhaps too often. And if someone can suggest a reliable way to get the batter to rise and become crisp, my wife would be very happy.

And her contentment is my sole aim in life.

carolyn

Ann, I was worried when you said to start the trifle with sponge that the OP would head for the kitchen sink and reach for the dish washing equipment.

hetismij2

Chartley - let the batter rest for at least half an hour. Start the sausages in the oven at a medium heat then whack it up high with some extra fat - lard or oil until the fat is really hot. Pour in the rested, cold batter, close the door and do not peek!

bvlenci

Something very like trifle is called "zuppa inglese" (English soup) in Italy. They tend to ruin it with alchermes, a livid magenta liqueur that Italians overuse on desserts.

Most Italians are very unadventurous in food, which is probably why you don't see many French (or Greek or Indian or Thai) restaurants in Italy. I learned early not to spring any "furrin" specialties on my guests. However, given the resemblance between trifle and zuppa inglese, I've ventured a few times to make trifle for Italian guests, and it went over well. I called it zuppa inglese, though, to be safe. And I didn't put any alchermes on it!!

annhig

It's a dish I like, mind, although not perhaps too often. And if someone can suggest a reliable way to get the batter to rise and become crisp, my wife would be very happy.>>

chartley - what Hets says, with the additional tip not to use a pyrex or glass dish. Glass dish + hot fat + cold batter = mess on floor. Trust me.

<<Ann, I was worried when you said to start the trifle with sponge that the OP would head for the kitchen sink and reach for the dish washing equipment.>>

lol, Carolyn - really? I credit WoinP with more intelligence!

bvl - I've never come across "alchermes" and from what you say, I'll try to avoid drinking it if I do. BTW re "foreign restaurants in Italy, anyone wanting their fix of indian food whilst in Rome should beat a path to the Via Dei Serpenti in the Monti district; when we rented an apartment there a few years ago [sadly about 10 years ago now,] we were very surprised to see no less than three in the same street. I wonder if they are still there?

zachhealey

My family in the UK were all born in the UK, my aunt is my dad's cousin, but I call her Aunt, even though I don't know I've only met her and her family a couple of times when they came here.

I am going over at Christmas with my younger brother, but mom and dad are staying behind for personal reasons that I'm not going to talk about here. I am 16 btw.

I was half joking about the friends episode, but I wasn't sure about the mince pie situation, but reading the replies here, I guess most mince pies are not made with beef or other meat.

I know I sound like an idiot, but I always worry about food I don't know about, I eat a lot of basic pasta dishes and simple food at home, and I have issues around food, that is why I was asking about food in the UK, and I didn't ask very well.

It's gonna be ok, I'll eat what I can, and enjoy the rest of the trip.

Cathinjoetown

Well, Zach, I apologize for the tone of my reply. Unless you are very unlucky, you will be fine.

There are things I won't eat as well but the key is to be a good house guest, try new things, don't worry too much, be polite and you'll be fine.