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Foods I can't get in the mid-west?

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Foods I can't get in the mid-west?

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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 11:35 AM
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Foods I can't get in the mid-west?

..."like jellied eels, tripe, haggis, black pudding, kebabs, pickled eggs, pickled onions, deep fried Mars Bars, Marmite, Bovril, warm beer not to mention Spotted Dick and Blancmange - but I long for the days when Goddard's had a cafe in Greenwich which did real steak & kidney pudding with mash, processed peas and a mug of builders tea..."

Stole this from another post - Where can I get some of that mentioned above? I want to eat foods I haven't seen, heard of or eaten before. What else can I add to the list?
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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 11:47 AM
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Of your list - tripe, kebabs, marmite, warm beer are all available. Tripe in any asian market, kebabs are plentiful, some supermarkets and most "gourmet shops" have marmite, as for warm beer, just ask. You can most likely find pickled onions and eggs as well. You will probably have to fry your Mars Bars yourself.
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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 12:06 PM
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I like your style.
Eton Mess - on every restaurant menu right now
Gooseberry fool
Egg custard tarts - Marks and Sparks are the best, boxes of 4
White pudding, not just black
Suet pudding - sweet or savoury and not just for winter
Dumplings
Jam roly poly
Tunnocks wafers (any supermarket) www.tunnock.co.uk/caramelwafer.html
Piccallili (any supermarket, the more lurid yellow in colour the better)
Wensleydale cheese
Gammon with parsley sauce
Jersey Royals with melted butter over them
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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 12:07 PM
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"not to mention Spotted Dick and Blancmange..."

I think I had that in college.

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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 12:15 PM
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"warm beer". Any pub

It's not quite a myth because it is considerably warmer than the stuff you North Americans tend to drink ice cold to disguise the fact it has no flavour....... Whoops, prejudices showing again, I am sorry.

Ales (Generally brewed with top fermenting yeast) are normally served at Cellar temperature, typically 10-12 degrees centigrade
whereas lagers are served chilled. On a warm summers day I find lager - especially Czech or German lagers to be wonderful, but at all other times I think Ales are far superior.
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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 12:27 PM
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Do no miss the British Breakfast in all its glory, including baked beans, grilled tomatoes, what in the US would probably be called Canadian bacon, sausages, eggs, toast, with hot tea and milk.

I've always wanted to try hard sauce.

Deep fried Mars bars can be found in any Midwestern state fair. And gammon (bone-in ham steak) you've probably had, too. And you'll find canned peas, and tripe, in most grocery stores, depending on where exactly you live.
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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 12:49 PM
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If you want to try REAL marmite, you'll have to go to either Australia or New Zealand! The British stuff is just not the same!
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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 02:37 PM
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Don't make fun of our beer. We have more variety made in Washington state than the entire UK. Amazing beers. Most micros now carry about a dozen.
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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 02:53 PM
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"We have more variety made in Washington state than the entire UK." - Unlikely

"If you want to try REAL marmite, you'll have to go to either Australia or New Zealand! " - given that Marmite was invented in the UK how can some foreign muck be the REAL Marmite - for4 God's sake it's got SUGAR in it. What sort of wimp puts sugar in Marmite
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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 03:08 PM
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tttman is correct. Washington State alone produces over 150 Micro brews. Pretty impressive... It seems like a new Micro Brewery is popping up everyday in the Pacific NW. I just wish MN would follow trend
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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 04:28 PM
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" Washington State alone produces over 150 Micro brews. Pretty impressive... It seems like a new Micro Brewery is popping up everyday in the Pacific "

There are that many in the city of Seattle. There is close to 200 in the state. Figure a very conservative 5 brews per brewery and that's almost 800 or so beers in one state. I live in a very small town in the Mountains of Montana and we have 9 breweries in the area. Most of them have 7 or 8 taps. There are 1500 NABA breweries listed. Not all breweries are on this list. Gotta be over 8,000 different brews in America.
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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 06:26 PM
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Try Sticky Toffee Pudding for dessert heaven.
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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 08:38 PM
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Anyone who thinks American beers have no flavor is just flat out ignorant about American beers.

To OP: If you can find a steak and ale pie, that's a keeper (had one for lunch at Hampton Ct Palace).
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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 09:05 PM
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Fortunately most of the OP's list is not available in Michigan. But the local farmer's market had the best asparagus you'll ever eat. The season is just passing. We have one micro brewery in town with an outstanding ale. I keep a half gallon in the fridge during the summer. I agree that ice cold beer just hides the fact that American beer has no taste, like pinot grigio.

You can find tripe in inner city Detroit markets. Yuk. Do you know what that stuff is? Yuk again.
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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 11:08 PM
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"Don't make fun of our beer. We have more variety made in Washington state than the entire UK. " Citation needed

This is one of those wierd Fodor's threads that get out of hand. I do realise that the rise of microbreweries has lead to some excellent beers. If a poster opens with "Warm beer" then a least some sort of response is needed.
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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 11:32 PM
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"Warm" is relative. Beer from the cellar isn't actually warm to the touch or taste, given the difference between cellar temperature and body heat, and on a hot day it's distinctly cool: but it doesn't brainfreeze. And I'm assuming all those American microbrews aren't kept particularly cold?
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Old Jul 7th, 2011, 11:56 PM
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I understand that there's a place alongside the I5 (for British readers, that's the main highway up the west coast of the USA) with the sign "The largest microbrewery in the north west".

Can anyone confirm?
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Old Jul 8th, 2011, 12:07 AM
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"Anyone who thinks American beers have no flavor is just flat out ignorant about American beers."

By the same logic, anyone who thinks British beer is warm is ignorant of British beer.
BTW off the top of my head I can't think of any "ales" that are still brewed, as the term ale refers to a "sweet" beer that does not contain hops, the practice of adding hops was brought over from the continent in the 1600's, hence the term bitter to distinguish between the two, source - Camra.
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Old Jul 8th, 2011, 12:13 AM
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I can get all of the things you listed at my regular Publix supermarket in Florida. Also Sticky toffee puddings .We also have british food shop, but their prices are considerably higher. You can find English bacon, which is NOT Canadian bacon, at Whole foods.
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Old Jul 8th, 2011, 12:26 AM
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You can make your own spotted dick:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sp...ndcustar_87835

And blancmange: http://www.food.com/recipe/blancmange-139065

Tripe usually refers to honeycomb tripe, which is delicious with onions and a white sauce. Plenty of recipes online.

Marmite is better than Vegemite imho, and is the original.

Bovril is used to flavour gravy or make a beefy drink, a bit like beef tea. It comes in jars similar to Marmite jars. Or it did when I was a youth anyway.

You can pickle your own onions and eggs easily enough. Likewise make your own steak and kidney (or Kate and Sidney) pudding.

So get in that kitchen and give them a go!

Eels are very very expensive now so jellied eels may not be easy to find, and certainly aren't a cheap option any more.
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