I should have specified it is Butter Flavor PAM.

Occurs to me that my comment about Dr. Pepper in Ireland was not appropriate for the "UK" part of the title....but I didn't find them in Northern Ireland either. And now that I'm diabetic I won't be finding them in my fridge in Texas. Sigh.

Ah, ok on the PAM. We do have one butter flavoured spray here (and it's good for baking), but not sure about in the UK.

>>I have to imagine they have spray oils to coat pans in the UK, don't they?<<

Conceivably (someone, somewhere, will have just about anything for sale in the UK), but I've never noticed anything like that in the supermarket. What's wrong with just pouring out a teaspoonful from an ordinary bottle? Why bother with the added cost (however marginal) of a spray gizmo (plus whatever additives are necessary to prevent clogging) for such a trivial "saving" in labour?

PS. There are probably still people in the UK that use what's left on the wrapping paper for butter/margarine to grease their pans.

Hi Patrick. They just spray a fine mist and end up using a lot less oil. And less oil on the food as a result, in my experience. I like them. They have store brand versions here in Australia as well of different types of oil.

I tend to use the spray more for things like coating a baking pan or baking sheets lightly, or maybe a grill. Not so much for frying pans. I still have my bottle of olive oil or a pat of butter around for that.

I suspect some people in the U.K. still fry in lard, or maybe dripping from the Sunday joint. This is why a full English breakfast is also known as a "heart attack on a plate", and why most British people rarely eat them, except when staying in hotels.

You can get that spray stuff in UK supermarkets. I Think it's called FryLite or something similar.
To return to the OP. If your friends say, "Oh I really loved blueberry flavoured peanut butter or whatever when I visited the US", then bring it. Otherwise I wouldn't bother.

One should be careful with PAM. The emulsifiers in it (Soy Lecithin, I believe) can accumulate in the pan over time, resulting in a somewhat gummy texture that no longer resists sticking as well as smooth steel, much less a non-stick surface.

Personally, I just use oil/butter and wipe it into the cold pan with a paper towel if I'm trying to minimize the oil used.

Quite. That was my worry, travelgourmet.

I suspect dripping from a Sunday joint is a real rarity nowadays.

Was thinking about that and what I used it on this week. And it was in some cake pans - with circles of baking paper at the bottom; sprayed on foil wrapped over a broiler pan to keep satay sticks from sticking; a cookie/baking sheet with baked chips and that was with a foil lining too.

But I have used it on the pan itself and I have went after them with Barkeepers Friend later - probably as a result. I'll have to watch that.

I've never used it with roasts and things though. I perch a roast up on celery stalks or big chunks of onions anyway. A little oil pour and wipe at the bottom for the potatoes, carrots, parsnips, brussel sprouts.

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Interesting conversation/devolution on what is British (or American?) cuisine - or any multi-cultural state with not a lot of exported food history. Not sure I'd equate ingredients and recipes as having the same meaning. When I go for kebabs here, I'm I now going out for German food?

On the other hand, and when time allows, we find it interesting to see how cuisines get re-interpreted and evolve for local tastes and wants. Chinese in one place might included a satay sauce option for your stir fry, as it does here Melbourne (as well as on your Pizza or kebab, dishes where sweet chili is equally at home). In another, Chinese buffet style is ubiquitous. "Crab Rangoon" is a must on any Chinese menu worth it's MSG back where I come from.

But, in the end, we're still going out for <i>Chinese</i>. So... hmmm...

<i>But I have used it on the pan itself and I have went after them with Barkeepers Friend later - probably as a result. I'll have to watch that.</i>

Barkeeper's Friend is the best stuff ever. The problem with PAM is much less an issue with stainless steel, as long as you really go after any stuck on residue. Using it in a nonstick pan is more problematic, since aggressive cleaning threatens the nonstick surface.

<i>Not sure I'd equate ingredients and recipes as having the same meaning.</i>

Oh, I don't know. The globalization of ingredients has surely had a huge impact on even the most hidebound cuisines. And the introduction of those ingredients, de facto, changes the recipes.

<i>And the introduction of those ingredients, de facto, changes the recipes.</i>

That's true. I'm just not sure if when that happens it's the same thing as when dishes are easily identified globally as part of that nation's cultural identity. ie - you say curry and I will still think India. Not Britain. You say kebabs, I'll still think, well the middle east, even if Australia has tons of kebab joints and has added its own spin. I still wouldn't consider these "British cuisine" and "Australian cuisine." I'd consider them Indian or maybe Turkish cuisine, made and adapted in any number of other countries. Part of the ever changing food scene in those countries, sure - and that's really what matters anyway. What you'll be able to eat when you get there.

Which is why I'd rather live in a multi-cultural environment than one with the centuries old ways and dishes... even if I love those ways and styles. Don't mind a visit, but I'd slowly go mad if I had to live permanently in a small Italian village if all they had were even the best of ingredients and the best of bistros serving even the very best of regional Italian foods. I've come to *need* variety. Some places just have a food history that's unique, even though they've absorbed ideas and ingredients, has evolved enough to become unique and therefor its own cuisine. Italian easily fits the bill there - what with pasta and tomato and, and, and... An Italian pasta dish is not lo main. But some places work better as cultural hubs for the world, but don't exactly have their own complete "cuisine identity." I don't know that Britain has really made something of what it knows of it's contributing dishes so as to set them thoroughly apart from their origins. Curry is still curry and it's still Indian. Maybe someday it will be something entirely different and evolved and more universally than in the unique offerings of a top restaurant here or there. In the meantime, diverse but "of the world" isn't such a bad thing.

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Maybe the OP should take Barkeepers Friend. It's one of only a couple of things I've ever written home to have someone send in care packages. Works like abrasive powder cleansers without abrasives. I don't have non-stick pans so it works great for me. And I've been able to scrub the worst looking glass and painted surfaces with stuff burnt and caked on to clean without a scratch.

PS. There are probably still people in the UK that use what's left on the wrapping paper for butter/margarine to grease their pans.>>

funny you should mention that, Patrick - i save all my butter wrappers for greasing cake and pastry tins.

and i am one of those people who pours the fat off the residue in the bottom of the roasting pan, not just to reduce the fat content of the resultant gravy [made with the giblets of the bird, if available - see another current thread[] but also uses the same fat [or rather last week's!] to roast the potatoes.

I would entirely concur that if you ate like that every day it probably wouldn't do you any good. But once a week in an otherwise healthy diet?

and BTW, you can get Barkeeper's Friend in the UK - try Lakeland.

Is Barkeeper's Friend the same idea as Bon Ami (Hasn't Scratched Yet)?

Can't help the OP but for those who say British Chocolate is awful, I would suggest you try Green & Black. It is IMHO superb, I grew up on Cadbury's but this is now my favourite.

Don't know if this is of any help to the people on this thread from the US & Canada who can't find Canola Oil (you've probably worked this out),in the UK & Ireland it is called Rapeseed Oil.

<i>Is Barkeeper's Friend the same idea as Bon Ami (Hasn't Scratched Yet)?</i>

The primary difference between them is that Bon Ami sucks, while Barkeeper's Friend is awesome. Seriously. Bon Ami may not scratch, but it doesn't clean nearly as well.

I agree with that. Same game plan, different results. Barkeeper's Friend and a wet sponge completely cleaned up a white stovetop in a rental house that had stuff spilled around the gas burners, roasted on and added to for apparently years. Done in about 15 minutes. It had been dark brown to blackened and nothing here worked unless it would have taken off the paint as well.

I've also used it on glass electric cooktops and to take ink off of laminate counters. Bon Ami just didn't come close.

I shall purchase some on my next shopping trip....tomorrow to be exact. Assume I can find it at HEB or WalMart?