(GAG!)

Wonder what the Brits say about the food in the US? Our neighbors are British and we had them over for Thanksgiving dinner a couple of years ago. I just loved the look of confusion and wonder when they beheld my orange jello molded salad!

Wow fish with Skin! what will those funny Brits come up with next. Crabs in shells? Lived 8 months in New York in 1998 and some of the food there has something to be desired. How about sliced turkey on white bread (not toast) with gelatinous gravy?
While Italians do cook the nicest food, they are very regional and not very adventurous - Brits win hands down for wanting to explore different tastes and textures. If you are in London and you get a bad meal you are either really unlucky or just a tourist that hasn’t done there research – with over 111 languages being spoken in the Borough of Southwalk alone you realy do not have any excuse.

One long-ago Christmas day in London all we could find for an inexpensive lunch was a chain (Quality?!) place. My husband ordered tomato soup to begin with, and I had orange juice. They tasted exactly the same.

Another time, this in Scotland, we stopped at a roadside restaurant where I ordered ham. It tasted exactly like rancid fish.

Everything else has been fine.

missypie, in answer to that question, find the thread that is comparing Nutella to Peanut Butter -- and somewhere in it, a Brit describes his perilous foray into trying Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches! :)

I do not have any bad (nor good) food experience in UK as I weren't so lucky yet to travel to UK. Sorry, next time.

I still wake screaming in the night when I remember orange jello molded salad!
Then there was green bean salad made with tinned green beans. I didn't know that they came in tins.
Then there was the slice of tinned ham with tinned pineapple on top.
Then, there was the time when I saw people putting syrup on their french (sorry freedom) toast and bacon.

Sob, sob sniffle, blow.
I'm a man again.
Seriously, you can get horrible food anywhere and it's usually somebody else's comfort food.

Underhill,
it was too funny! What was that fish you mentioned?

Cotswold, Jim Steele and JSmith - Get a life. How miserable and unhappy the three of you must be to criticize someone for not liking fish skin.

OBXGIRL - Thank you for your support :)

Madison, in all due respect I don't think any of them were commenting on the idea that you didn't like fish skin, but rather the idea that you seemed never to have heard of such a thing. Serving skin on fish is universal. If you had ordered fish in the vast majority of good restaurants anywhere in the world you would have been used to cutting the skin away and ignoring it. I think these posters were all amazed that you chose to pick on something that was actually served properly just because it wasn't the way you like it.

What exactly do you get when you buy a "complete English breakfast in a can"?

Neopolitan _ I have been served fish many times, many places in the world with the skin intact. I have also had fish & chips in London many times MINUS the skin.

"Stick your corndogs and maple syrup. Real food is wasted on you." When someone makes a remark like that it's just mean. I am sure Cotswold is M_KINGDOM in disguise.

If you’ve ever fished for fresh trout, or have been served it fresh from icy cold water, you’d better expect to see the skin and the head and tail as well. Just for your info, like many other foods, the skin of the fish often has the majority of the nutrients.

I’ll admit to being a bit nonplused by some of the dishes I’ve been served in England, but for the most part I find that fresh food fixed by an attentive cook is almost always enjoyable wherever I am. In fact I think that the most singularly important aspect of French cooking is the super-freshness of the ingredients along with the fact that they refuse to overcook the food.

I’m an American and I’ve traveled a great deal around our country and, believe me, the Brits don’t hold a patent on weird or badly prepared food. I was once served Spaghetti-O’s™ and fried Treat™…which is imitation Spam™, if you can believe that.

As an aside I have a friend who was born and raised in India who loves to scandalize other Indians by reminding them that the best Indian restaurant food he’s ever eaten is to be had in London.

The complete English Breakfast in a can apparently has some form of eggs, beans, tomato and meat. The picture alone was so frightening I didn't dare read the ingredients.
Truth be told, I enjoy a complete English breakfast on rare occasions -- fried bread, Yorkshire black pudding, mushrooms and all. But I insist that the components be prepared that morning.

Different strokes for different folks. Who would have thought a simple statement made about fish served with skin would cause such an uprising. I don't like peanut butter either, am I going to be crucified for that as well? :)

I know you can get food poisoning anywhere in the world but I was amazed to get it in lovely London on my 2nd day there. I did manage the Chelsea match although the people in my row weren't too happy with all my entrances/exits that afternoon. But while the rest of the family were off to see the sites of London I was in the hotel room feeling as if someone in steel toed boots was kicking me in the stomach round the clock. Btw, I know it came from a corner shop that made sandwiches.

Tedgale and MJS -- fellow Cambridge food survivors! College Buttery, c. 1984, "Game Pie" = leftover mystery meat, leftover gravy and thrice-boiled leftover vegetables cunningly covered with a doughy camouflage crust after a handful of shot was tossed in for ersatz authenticity. "You want custard on that, luv?" Arrghh.

"What exactly do you get when you buy a "complete English breakfast in a can"?"

Now that that question has been asked, I think I'll take my leave from this thread. I have a horrible fear that someone may provide the answer, and frankly the thought of it isn't pretty.

Thanks for the answer Vcl. :)) Neopolitan.

I've been going to England since the 80's, and to me, the food has become so much better over the years. But I still see eggs and meat for sale set out on tables on the sidewalks without refrigeration in the countryside. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the reason for a lot of the food poisoning.

I don't understand the sausages in the English breakfasts. The sausages don't have the same texture at all that the sausages in the U.S. (and many of the other European countries) do. What do they put in their sausages besides meat?

Also, many times, I have watched as the eggs were cooked. I am not sure that you can get actually eggs cooked 'sunny side up' in England, as many of the eggs my husband has ordered have been deep fried--that is, they have been cooked in pans with oil 2 to 3 inches deep.

There has been so much improvement over the last 25 years in English cookery. I loved every meal I had during my last trip to London and southeastern England two years ago.

Also, someone above mentioned the English cream that is poured on sweets that has not been whipped. Wow! To me, that cream enhances the desserts--especially gateaus--much more than any whipped cream ever could. I wish I could find double cream near where I live--I would pour it on many, many desserts. As Rachel Ray would say--YUMMO!! They pour cream on desserts in Scotland, too, and Wales, and man! it is delicious!!


I don't understand the sausages in the English breakfasts. The sausages don't have the same texture at all that the sausages in the U.S. (and many of the other European countries) do. What do they put in their sausages besides meat?

Also, I have watched as the eggs were cooked. I am not sure that you can get eggs cooked 'sunny side up' as many of the eggs my husband has ordered have been deep fried--that is, they have been cooked in pans with oil 3 inches deep.

As I said before, there has been so much improvement over the last 25 years in English cookery. I loved every meal I had during my last trip to London and southeastern England.

Also, someone above mentioned the cream that is poured on sweets that has not been whipped--Wow! To me, that cream enhances the desserts--especially gateaus--much more than any whipped cream ever could. I wish I could find double cream near where I live--I would use it on many, many desserts. As Rachel Ray would say--YUMMO!!