Gosh, I really fancy egg and chips for tonight now I've read this again. Mmmmmmmmmm. With tomato ketchup.

And onion vinegar....heaven.

And a big mug of tea.

I haven't heard of half of these ;-)

hi, nona1,

"onion" vinegar????

otherwise, I'm with you all the way.

regards, ann

Well I thoroughly enjoyed my egg and chips last night (with peas and pickled onions) and ketchup and onion vinegar (the vinegar from the pickled onion jar). I even made proper chips (twice-fried) which are a heart attack on a plate but tons nicer than oven/bought chips.

hi, nona,

got it now.

Pickled onions [or shallots, we live on the high here] are a favourite of my DH and DD; I and DS can't stand them. must be the genes.

regards, ann

This is all "too much" for me. I'll stick with fish and chips (would those be twice fried)?
Seriously, I will be in England next week, on the Isle of Wight for three days before touring other parts of the UK. What would be a specialty from IOW that I should not miss?

hi, margo,

i remember the glass lighthouse filled with coloured sand that my parents bought as a momento of our family holiday 40+ years ago, but that probably isn't the sort of thing you're taliking about.

can't say that I'm too aware of IOW specialities [ locals may know more].

have a great time - It's a lovely place.

regards, ann

I should clarify my last note--I was intending to ask about food specialties. Would that be sea food?
I will be looking out for those bacon butties as well but in all my trips to the UK I have never seen them on the menu.

These days the foodstuff most closely associated with the IoW is garlic - they grow enormous amounts of it there, I believe.

Otherwise, I think it's probably too small to have developed its own type of biscuit or cream or whatever. The standard thing for most seaside resorts in the UK is "rock" - hard peppermint candy canes in US terms, with the name of the resort built into it. Or you can get it made into mock false teeth or bacon and eggs.

The Isle of Wight doesn't have any specialities that I'm aware of - and it's not a fishing area either. There will be the usual resort stuff - rock as mentioned, toffee apples etc.

Margo - you won't find bacon butties at restaurants. What you need is either a 'greasy spoon' type caff (cheap and cheerful basic food in generally grotty looking premises full of locals not tourists, usually with 90% of the customers smoking and tucking in to a 'fry-up'. Or look for a burger van, they usually do them.

OR go to a market and follow the smell of frying bacon.

Did you see the show the other night on Britain's fattest man?(50 stone, or 700 pounds) He said he'd eat 9 butties at a go (part of the 29,000 calories he consumed daily, along with up to 40 pints of lager).

I feel so sorry for people who get in that sort of state. What quality of life can they have?

...but who brings them all the food? Sorry but if a relative of mine took to their bed, imobilised, just stuffing their face I'd just start bringing them normal quantities and ignore any tantrums etc. What can they do? They'd thank me later.

I don't know about thanking you later, but I can just see him shouting "where's my forty pints of lager? Come here, you, and bring me my sandwiches, or I'll... I'll... I'll...." What? Chase you? Not very rapidly, at 700 pounds.

Patum Peperium (Fortnum & Mason).

Or maybe he says "bring me my bacon butties" (that's plural, or course)

When working in a hospital I used to have to take a man who weighed 6-700 lbs for a walk. He told me his parents owned a hot dog stand and his favorite "snack" was hot dogs, cold right out of the package by the case.

thereyet

You could bring some faggots.