Josser

Also did you notice the enormous pile of chips that came with it? No wonder they bulge over plane seats. You just wonder if they actually notice what it tastes like.

MissPrism

I lived in the US for a couple of years in the late 60s. I can only remember one fat woman at work and nowadays, she would probably only count as overweight. You just didn't see grossly obese Americans. What has happened? I suspect a combination of fast food, grazing instead of family meals and huge portions as in that revolting video.
Mind you, in the UK we are beginning to waddle in their wake

PatrickLondon

>>Mind you, in the UK we are beginning to waddle in their wake<<

Or not even that: just gawp and point.

annhig

Pret [a manger] do what is IMO a very good pastrami sandwich which fulfils its brief admirably ie sufficient filling to make you feel that you've eaten something substantial, not so much that you can't eat it without a bib.

sojourn - you know very well that corned beef in the UK [and lots of the english speaking world] is not the same as the meat of the same name in North America. You are comparing apples and pears.

bilboburgler

Mrs Prism, you are so right, I have done a check on our local Northern town and at the weekend there are no fat people in sight, but come the weekdays they crawl out of the woodwork.

Lois2

wow 104 replies to a tipping post that has moved to fat people and corned beef!!!

Sojourntraveller

Oh come on people, you are free to put as much beef on your sandwich as you wish. If you want to skimp to save money, go ahead.

A corned beef sandwich is made up of very thin slices piled up. If you flattened out/smoothed out each slice and then stacked them neatly on top of one another they would not result in nearly as 'big' a sandwich in appearance. The question is how much WEIGHT of beef is there. Just like good old MickeyD's who advertise, 1/4 pounders, 1/3 pounder Angus Beef, etc.

I personally am not a big eater in terms of how much I consume at a meal. I venture to say I probably eat less than most of you. I cannot for example finish a MickeyD's quarter pounder with cheese, medium fries and a coke. I eat an equal amount of a corned beef sandwich and fries. How much you eat is not a function of how big something is.

Annhig, I am familiar with Pret and they do use decent ingredients although I don't think much of their breads. Their New Yorker on Rye(they don't actually have a pastrami on rye on their menu and they use UK salt brisket in their New Yorker which is not quite pastrami, different spices basically)is not a bad sandwich but cannot be compared to a real New York deli serving Pastrami, Corned Beef or Montreal smoked meat sandwich. This is your Pret sandwich.
http://thewindsorwriter.files.wordpr...19722339_n.jpg

Hooameye, the average mainland European watching the average Brit consume a 'full English' breakfast might well make the same commment.

Sojourntraveller

Then there is the issue of brand new homes and notels who still have separate hot and cold taps for the bathroom sink. What is with that?

Any house built since around 1950 in N. America has mixer taps.

Dukey1

I've decided that when I am in London in a couple of weeks I will gladly tip any of the locals who are not WHINING!

chartley

SoJo, I'll explain at length to you about traditional British plumbing if you could tell us why Americans cannot cope with chip & pin cards in 2014.

annhig

Then there is the issue of brand new homes and notels who still have separate hot and cold taps for the bathroom sink. What is with that?

Any house built since around 1950 in N. America has mixer taps.>>

so what? are you incapable of mixing the water to your taste in the bowl? I cannot for the life of me see why mixer taps can be considered superior to separate ones. but doubtless, sojourn, you'll be able to tell me.

Hooameye

"Hooameye, the average mainland European watching the average Brit consume a 'full English' breakfast might well make the same commment."

If they're German they won't

Dickie_Gr

Anyone eaten a Bavarian breakfast recently?

Cream cakes, ham, beef eggs, cheese?

Tulips

Nothing to do with skimping to save money, I just don't like to have that much filling on my sandwich.

I wonder why someone who wants everything abroad to be the same as at home even bothers to travel. If you want American sandwiches, American plumbing and American tipping, why not spend your holidays in Canada or the US? They will have no problem understanding what an over easy egg is, and will gladly grovel to you if you wave your dollar bills.

bvlenci

I should have remembered that you people are too intellectual for the Daily Mail, but I didn't think they would make up such a detailed story out of the whole cloth. Here are a few other sources, which I hope are more acceptable, with exactly the same story, almost in the same words.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/...n-restaurants/

(They stipulate that beef can be served "pinky-grey", which isn't rare, neither in the US nor in Italy. Maybe we're facing a difference in definitions here.)

http://www.hospitalitymagazine.com.a...the-chop-in-uk

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/f...cle3846509.ece

Maybe the restaurants I frequented had already had the riot act read to them.

annhig

The FSA has defended its guidelines, arguing they apply to poultry, pork and mince meat.

An FSA spokesman said "It’s safe to eat rare beef and lamb steak because searing the outside surface of a piece of steak will kill any bugs that might have contaminated the outside.

"However, the same doesn’t go for minced products like burgers.">>

I reproduce this quote from the link to the hospitality magazine that you gave us, bvl, which makes it clear that in theory, the guidelines are not meant to refer to beef or lamb steak. Where it probably falls down is in translation to the inspectors on the ground. it is ironic though that they are bothering with what decent restaurants like the ones you would patronise are doing to their prime cuts, when what they should be concerned with is what goes into the low end stuff churned out by cheap takeaways.

Josser

I also took the trouble to read the article. The rules make excellent sense.

BSE and its human equivalent were probably spread by feeding bits of cow to dairy cattle and then slaughtering them to make cheap processed beef.

I notice that our gourmet friend who criticises Britsh cuisine frequents that Mecca of gastronomic exellence, MacDonalds

Of course, his favourite meat is probably goat of the gruff variety

RM67

Did we not have an individual with mixer tap obsession on here before? Reincarnation anyone?

RM67

Btw, as someone who is waiting for both an internal and external stopcock to be repaired before I can get my taps repaired or changed, I can tell you that one big advantage of having separate hot and cold is the ability to isolate the hot water supply and make the hot tap 'worrkable on' simply by turning off the combi boiler. Couldn't do that with a mixer tap as the cold would still be running.

Nikki

RM67, I had the same thought about the poster who complained about the separate hot and cold taps before. But the style is different.

On the other hand, I do find separate taps much more inconvenient. This is probably why I remember the comments by that older poster.