Chutney, when served with an Indian dish is treated as a condiment and placed on the sie, though I use Major Grey's chutney as an addition to the actual meat veg mix. A long time ago in this thread somebody asked what folks bring home from the US when they visit and as a Canadian, I can tell you what my "faves" are (no laughing now!)#1. Marshamallow Fluff- for "fluffernutters" and fudge <BR>#2. Bay seasoning for Maryland Crab Cakes <BR>#3. Clabber Girl Leavening Powder (like baking powder, but better for biscuits <BR>#4. Folgers ground coffee <BR>#5. B & M canned baked beans- why these are superior to others I don't know, but they are unbeatable <BR># Friendly's Peanut Butter sauce for sundaes <BR>My list suggests the most appalling food habits, so you'll just have to trust me when I say that ALL other Canadians are more sensible than we are and eat better than we do and when my husband, kids and I can't get our US treats, we ONLY ever consume whole grains, fruits and veggies!!Good eating, Fodorites...

To Ursula and Lesley...thank you for the time you took to educate me in the use of chutneys.....I have a farm journal-type cookbook just full of chutney recipes.....with all the fruit ripening now, I am going to put up several chutneys for winter...now that I know how to use them! <BR> <BR>to Lesley: Loved your list!! But you got me with "fluffernutters"...what are they? I think I love them just from the name!!! <BR> <BR>I agree with all that you listed, especially the beans...I have three huge cans on my counter right now since I have to bring 'baked beans' to my Dad's birthday party tomorrow. I always add a little molasses, mustard, onions,cooked bacon and chopped breakfast sausage....mmmmmmmmm! <BR>I am so glad that you normally have such good eating habits! LOL I am not that good.....I am hooked on food and will try anything..and I loved fried things....right now we have a zillion zucchini plants and lots of jars of Kraft horseradish sauce to dip the battered and fried zucchini in. Last month it was fried cheese sticks and marinara sauce.......It could be worse...I was in the grocery store yesterday and stood in line in front of a very pregnant woman who was telling her husband how she was going to scoop out the pickles and fill them with the cookie dough ice cream they were buying.....

From my mispent childhood-- a "fluffernutter" is a peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwich

(To Laura-I should have known I would find a fellow Farm Journal Cookbook lover on this site! They are the best source of ideas for using all the produce flooding our gardens right now on both sides of the border...) <BR>FYI, a Fluffernutter is a recipe from the fifties, and very simply, a peanut butter and Marshamallow fluff sandwhich. My kids have been known to add bananas and real chopped peanuts to the white bread mess. I am not the only baby-boomer Canadian addicted to this stuff...when we were kids our TV was pretty much all US based and we would bug our Mums to buy the things we saw advertised on the US stations...Maypo, Hostess Twinkies, Fizzies...these still spell exotica to many of us here, even though I am aware that the US culinary arts are hardly well-served by these childhood associations. But its Marshmallow Fluff that I am ALWAYS asked to bring home from trips to Maine!

to DOdy: About bringing flour home from Europe.....remember to bring a sturdy sealable plastic bag to put it in......my daughter brought home some flour for me from Germany once and placed it in her suitcase near her perfume.....the flour picked up the scent and the whole bag was ruined.

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Laura-Thanks for the tip. Just so you don't have to wait till fall for a wonderul soup and also to help with the zucchini crop I'm emailing you another wonderful summer soup recipe, great hot or cold!!

Laura, I don't know where you are, but many shops with Italian imports will carry tubes (like a toothpaste tube) of sundried tomato paste and reg. tomato paste as well. I love the latter because you just keep it in the ridge for when you just need a tablespoon or two in a recipe, and you don't have to fuss about what to do with the rest of the can. Plus, the quality is very good.

Miriam. <BR> <BR>Rutabaga in German is Kohlrube, also called swede in UK or sometimes swedih turnip. <BR>In the US kohlrabi is another veg altogether. By the way I use a program called "Atomica", you hit ALT, and click on a word it gives the definition, then there is also a translation bar, it gives the word in several languages, actually much better than Babel fish for single word translationsn.

Miriam- <BR>In Netherlands(dutch) it's koolrap <BR> <BR>I know there's a Miriam in Belgium, but don't know if you are the same one!

If you want to blow the minds of friends overseas, take them a jar of watermelon pickle. My wife used to make it by the gallon, made from the rinds of watermelon. Korean friends used to roar with laughter...and reach for more. "Here you are rich Americans...and you eat what we throw away!" they said. Nowdays, with watermelons grown with thinner rinds, it's not as easy as it once was to find thick-rind melons. But if you choose the bigger melons, the chance of getting thicker rinds increases. And they are the best for making pickle. Serve ice-cold. Great condiment. Try it -- you'll love it.

Found that flapjack recipe at last. The chocolate cornflake one I've remembered doesn't actually use Golden Syrup - I was getting it confused with a similar one with Rice Krispies instead of cornflakes and Golden Syrup instead of chocolate! Sorry. Here's the flapjack one anyway. <BR> <BR>Makes 8 (or more if you want them smaller) <BR> <BR>2 ounces butter <BR>2 ounces demerara sugar <BR>4 ounces golden syrup <BR>4 ounces rolled oats <BR> <BR>Grease a 7 1/2 inch square baking tin. Place the butter, sugar and syrup in a saucepan and heat gently, stirring, until melted. Add the rolled oats and stir well. Press the mixture into the tin and bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius/350 degrees Fahrenheit/Gas Mark 4 for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool slightly until firm and cut into pieces, but leave in tin until completely cool. When the flapjacks are cool, they should be a lovely golden brown - not too dark, and chewy in the middle, with slightly crunchy edges. <BR> <BR>You can also cover with melted chocolate for a really rich treat, or add chopped up glace cherries or choc chips to the mixture just before baking. <BR> <BR>Enjoy!

AnnaC.....thank you for looking up that recipe for the flapjacks...I told my Dad today about it and he said his mother (German) used to make them! ANd that they are great...will make them soon. <BR> <BR>JOdy.....the Zucchini soup recipe looks wonderful..I am going to make it this week. Do you think rosemary and thyme would be good in there too, instead of dill? I am going to try it both ways...thank you so much..I love cold soups.

I *always* bring home Bassett's Jelly Babies from England! I love these silly little candies!!

Have enjoyed reading this thread and it has taken me back to my sister and I's visits to family in Florida as children. <BR> <BR>(I rewrote that as my sister and mine, my sister's and I's and a few other ways and then gave up since I am sure the Fodor's grammar police will correct me). <BR> <BR>We used to love Lucky something cereal (dip?) and it wasnt available in the UK - nothing like it was... you know the cereal with little marshmallows of different colours and shapes. <BR> <BR>We used to pack boxes of it in our case to bring home and any time any family came to UK via USA they had to bring a few boxes!!! <BR> <BR>As for sundried tomatoes, a work colleague was talking to me about them a year or so ago and said he creates a similar affect by drying tomatoes incredibly slowly at the oven's slowest setting (i think it may have been for at least a day). Presumably you would then make a paste from the resulting tomatoes? <BR> <BR>Re chutneys - there is such a huge variety of chutneys in Indian cuisine from the very liquidy saucy Green Chutney to the ones which are more like jams or pickles. <BR> <BR>In India one often eats with fingers and makes a morsel containing rice or indian bread, then whatever dish (vegetable, meat) with a little tiny bit of chutney. <BR> <BR>Mum has various recipes for chutneys on her website, hope no one minds me posting on here www.mamtaskitchen.com <BR> <BR>I love banana and peanut butter sandwiches but never did take to that fluff stuff!! <BR> <BR>Kavey

It was Lucky Charms!!! <BR> <BR>(Which did come to UK years and years later but I dont think it ever took off in the same way...)

I always go to a supermarket and buy a few bottles of cheap local wine to take home as gifts. <BR> <BR>As long as the bottles are sealed with a cork as opposed to a screw top the recipients don't know the difference.

anyone else, Americans or Europeans?

From Thailand, I usually bring banana chips home. But I think they taste better while in Asia... ;-)

Laura, <BR> <BR>Lyle's syrup is my morning mainstay! Some granola, some plain yogurt, and a teaspoonful of Lyle's--wonderful! <BR> <BR>When I was in France I brought home some Nestlés Marronsuis--little chestnut mousse-like things. I suspect now, as they were perishable dairy products, that Customs would have made me throw them out. But they didn't see them, and I had a small tast of France to savor upon my return. <BR>Also, I've brought home herbes de provence--I have a bunch in my freezer that have remained flavorful for two years!--and marrons glacées. <BR> <BR>Liz <BR> <BR>