Oh, you crazy Brits.... I need help understanding our language difference.

[lio45]

OK, so I realize that there's a good bit of terminology that's different (elevators and lifts, trucks and lorries, apartments and flats), but it's usually a straight translation. However, I'm always a bit flummoxed by biscuits. My understanding is that they are more cookie-like than American biscuits, but the context clues I try to take are always confounding any attempt to lock it down to a specific food. Are they like generic American cookies? Are they some form of British cookie that I cannot experience without going to a Sir Fancy-Pants World Food Store? Is it punishable by law to have a British author write a book or story that doesn't include the eating of biscuits in a unique setting or time?

What's the deal with biscuits?[/seinfeld]

I remember having breakfast at a place called Biscuitville (a chain, IIRC) while visiting a customer in North Carolina, so the biscuit exists in the US, it's even prominent enough to have a chain named after it.

I had grits, which is the blandest type of food I ever ate :p though their coffee was decent.


Edit: www.biscuitville.com

[BannedInSchool]

Your sopaipilla looks like a good ol' New Orleans beignet, with less happiness.

Sopaipillas (U.S.A. version) are sheets of rolled dough that blow up like a balloon when you fry them, so not really fritter-like even though they may look like that when inflated.

[Peelee]

OK, so I realize that there's a good bit of terminology that's different (elevators and lifts, trucks and lorries, apartments and flats), but it's usually a straight translation. However, I'm always a bit flummoxed by biscuits. My understanding is that they are more cookie-like than American biscuits, but the context clues I try to take are always confounding any attempt to lock it down to a specific food. Are they like generic American cookies? Are they some form of British cookie that I cannot experience without going to a Sir Fancy-Pants World Food Store? Is it punishable by law to have a British author write a book or story that doesn't include the eating of biscuits in a unique setting or time?

What's the deal with biscuits?[/seinfeld]

I remember having breakfast at a place called Biscuitville (a chain, IIRC) while visiting a customer in North Carolina, so the biscuit exists in the US, it's even prominent enough to have a chain named after it.

My understanding is that they are more cookie-like than American biscuits

Hidden in the middle, I'll admit, but I think you may have skimmed over an important part of it.

Now, if you can find a restaurant called Eggs Benedictville, I'll buy you breakfast.

[TheThan]

What the brits call chips we called French fries, or if you’re feeling particularly patriotic, freedom fries (unless you’re French, than I guess calling them French fries would be patriotic as well).

But they come in about four different bases, potato, corn (tortilla chips) rice and multigrain. But they come in a variety of different brands, shapes and sizes.

[Mx.Silver]

So somehow jam-filled doughnuts are popular but cream-filled cakes are repulsive? Heh.

Your twinkies have about as much to do with actual cakes as your 'Kraft slices'* have to do with actual cheese



*I think this is what they're called?

I have actually gotten crumpets over here, but I don't recall being impressed.

Toast them, apply butter, accompany with mug of hot English Breakfast tea. Perfection is achieved.

Of course, this is assuming that what you have over your side of the atlantic that's calling itself a crumpet is a proper crumpet.

Well we are called the Mongrel Nation and apparently the most eaten dish is the Tikka Marsala, so I would suspect it holds true over here as well.

In fairness, the Tikka Masala was invented in Britain anyway.

[tomandtish]

I thought what the Americans called "biscuits" was most similar to some sort of plain unsweetened scone.

My main evidence for this is a picture I saw of "biscuits and gravy" which appeared to be scones liberally coated in baby vomit.

That's probably buttermilk biscuits, which are leavened and savory and I would compare to a dense french bread in texture and flavor more than scones, which are completely different, and are commonly served with sausage gravy (which isn't the best, being made from drippings from bacon or sausage and combined with milk, flour, and pepper I find it overly salty and insufficiently gravy, and it does look kinda like baby vomit).

Britain and the US. Two nations divided by a common tongue.

As an Oregonian descended from stick in the mud Missouri folk, I take exception to disparaging remarks about my beloved sawmill & red eye. I prefer the former; a staple growing up was creamed spinach sawmill over buttermilk drop biscuits (not flaky like cut biscuits; drops are crumbly and hefty). Stick to the ribs food, good to keep you going during a day splitting and stacking wood, repairing fences, hoeing, and bucking hay. For relatively low-calorie lifestyles (*cough* city-slickers) I can somewhat understand turning the nose, but you'd keel over by noon if you tried to work on nothing but a bagel and hardboiled egg, or a quiche, or crepes. That's snacking material for farm folk.

Being from Misery... I'm sorry, Missouri myself, my objection to Sawmill is the salt content, not the calories! The taste is the problem! I've had so many delicious fried thinks I lost count: I've had deep fried ice cream, which everyone initially thinks is impossible. I've had Deep Fried Ravioli, a food that folks out here in california think I made up! I've had delicious Pasties and other forms of hand pie, I love sausage and bacon and buttermilk biscuits (and your mention of drop biscuits, take a look at my most beloved type of biscuit earlier in the thread), and so many other lovely foods!

Sawmill gravy is an abomination unto the good old comfort foods I love. Though it's better than Pepper gravy/southern gravy without the sausage. It's salty and gross and tastes like sausage mixed with despair and bad milk.

Biscuits and gravy are great, but please could we move to turkey gravy? Turkey gravy is real gravy. Or mushroom gravy, or beef, even, but turkey's my fave. Drizzle it on stuffing, or sandwiches, mop it up with a good biscuit... Mmmm...

Southpaw is partially right. When done well, biscuits and gravy can be a wonderful meal. The spiciness of the sausage, the creaminess of the gravy, it tastes excellent.

However, it can also be a very cheap dish to make, and made even cheaper by using poor quality ingredients. It's the meatloaf of the breakfast world. A good one is really good. A bad one is really bad.

[BannedInSchool]

Your twinkies have about as much to do with actual cakes as your 'Kraft slices'* have to do with actual cheese

The existing cheese makers actually lobbied that processed cheese be called "embalmed cheese". I do prefer aged sharp cheddar myself, but in terms of preserving food processed cheese isn't that bad. It's no Surströmming (many months old rotten canned fish), and cheese itself can be seen as a horrible thing to do to milk if one doesn't come from a cheese-eating culture. Then there's that cheese with live maggots in it; they make the cheese nice and soft. I didn't say Twinkies were good, but in concept as a cream-filled cake there are much worse things out there, IMO. But then I like scrapple (with fried eggs).

[golentan]

Southpaw is partially right. When done well, biscuits and gravy can be a wonderful meal. The spiciness of the sausage, the creaminess of the gravy, it tastes excellent.

However, it can also be a very cheap dish to make, and made even cheaper by using poor quality ingredients. It's the meatloaf of the breakfast world. A good one is really good. A bad one is really bad.

Hmmm... I think part of it, I just don't like too much salt. I love salty things, but I hit my limit earlier than most folks.

My ideal breakfast meal remains, and always will, french toast stuffed with cream cheese and strawberries, dusted with powdered sugar and with a side of soft boiled eggs.

I'm such a fatty...

[factotum]

Then there's that cheese with live maggots in it; they make the cheese nice and soft.

Casu Marzu. One of the many things (along with stuff like surströmming and balut) that I have no interest in ever eating...

As for the aforementioned muffins, the things you find in supermarkets labelled that are usually just slightly odd-shaped bread rolls these days. I remember when they had different ones with some sort of crunchy coating, but haven't seen those in years.

[Brother Oni]

Cakes with cream are pretty common in England. Cream filled doughnuts and cakes are available in most bakeries but they tend to be cut open rather than have it injected inside.

Indeed, we do have a fairly large selection of fresh cream cakes available in bakeries for the dairy intolerant to pine over.

Spoiler: Some fresh cream cakes *drool*

Show

[Hiro Protagonest]

Spoiler: Some fresh cream cakes *drool*

Show

...Now I have to go eat some sweets.

[Algeh]

What do you call the rye crispbreads over in Britain? Here in Oregon the common brands I see are European (Wasa is what my family tends to buy - my mom actually tends to call this type of food "Wasa bread"), so I assume this is a thing available there as well. I have no idea what normal people call them here - I would assume they'd be in the cracker or hard biscuit category, probably crackers, although they're too large to really "fit" as crackers here. My family eats them a lot, but that probably has something to do with a combination of Swedish heritage and allergies to things that are commonly added to regular bread here. It's not something I think I've ever been served at someone else's house. (When I got to college, I learned that normal people do not think that either cheese or fish are breakfast foods in America, so my family can be kind of a terrible example for food things. I'm not sure if anyone other than Scandinavians and the Japanese are willing to face cold seafood before fully awake.)

To add to the crumpet discussion, they are even better when you add honey as well as butter. They're basically delicious sponges full of fat and sweetness at that point. They're kind of hard to find around here, unfortunately (there seems to be only one brand, and it's something that disappears and reappears in stores with no schedule that I can discern, so I tend to get them on impulse when I see them).

[Brother Oni]

What do you call the rye crispbreads over in Britain? Here in Oregon the common brands I see are European (Wasa is what my family tends to buy - my mom actually tends to call this type of food "Wasa bread"), so I assume this is a thing available there as well. I have no idea what normal people call them here - I would assume they'd be in the cracker or hard biscuit category, probably crackers, although they're too large to really "fit" as crackers here. My family eats them a lot, but that probably has something to do with a combination of Swedish heritage and allergies to things that are commonly added to regular bread here. It's not something I think I've ever been served at someone else's house. (When I got to college, I learned that normal people do not think that either cheese or fish are breakfast foods in America, so my family can be kind of a terrible example for food things. I'm not sure if anyone other than Scandinavians and the Japanese are willing to face cold seafood before fully awake.)

The only brand of rye crispbread I know of is Ryvita:

Spoiler: Ryvita

Show

They're usually classed as a crispbread or a cracker.


The British were fond of cold seafood for breakfast (smoked kippers mainly) but that seems to be increasingly uncommon.

[factotum]

The only brand of rye crispbread I know of is Ryvita:

Same here, and I've only ever seen people who are either dieting or on a health kick eat the things--I don't think they're particularly popular among the general populace.

[comicshorse]

The British were fond of cold seafood for breakfast (smoked kippers mainly) but that seems to be increasingly uncommon.

And Kedgeree ( Also now uncommon)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kedgeree

[GloatingSwine]

What the brits call chips we called French fries, or if you’re feeling particularly patriotic, freedom fries (unless you’re French, than I guess calling them French fries would be patriotic as well).

You wouldn't recognise what we really call chips.

Fries are weak thin soggy things.

Chips are proud thick chunks of potato (preferably King Edward potatoes, which are big and floury and fry well) deep fried.

[Wardog]

So, probably the dumbest question I'll ask in some time, but what are English muffins called in England?

American-style muffins are getting pretty common here - possibly more so than traditional English ones, and are often just called "muffins" as well - so I've sometimes seen the English ones called "English muffins" to disambiguate them.

[BannedInSchool]

You wouldn't recognise what we really call chips.

Oh, we have thick-cut fries in 'Murica! too, with the skins left on. You? Heh, that reminds me of an Israeli in my high school who thought McDonald's french fries were just the best thing ever.

Hmm, so I'd guess that Brits would at least know of the American tradition of stuffing a turkey for Thanksgiving. I mean just the bread stuffing, not stuffing a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey for a Turducken. But does anyone know about our stuffing pork chops or chicken thighs? I don't think I'm from the only family that does that, ha.

[Peelee]

Why are the called chips? I mean, American chips, well, look like chips, or at least more like chips than American fries. Spears would be more accurate, or sticks, splinters, twigs, but chips? I honestly wonder how that got to be the name.

[Heliomance]

Oh, we have thick-cut fries in 'Murica! too, with the skins left on. You? Heh, that reminds me of an Israeli in my high school who thought McDonald's french fries were just the best thing ever.

Hmm, so I'd guess that Brits would at least know of the American tradition of stuffing a turkey for Thanksgiving. I mean just the bread stuffing, not stuffing a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey for a Turducken. But does anyone know about our stuffing pork chops or chicken thighs? I don't think I'm from the only family that does that, ha.

Stuffing is a proud English tradition. It usually gets served as a side, though, rather than literally being stuffed in the meat.

Why are the called chips? I mean, American chips, well, look like chips, or at least more like chips than American fries. Spears would be more accurate, or sticks, splinters, twigs, but chips? I honestly wonder how that got to be the name.

Because they're chips of potato, in the same way that you get chips of wood.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Stuffing is a proud English tradition. It usually gets served as a side, though, rather than literally being stuffed in the meat.

That's how it's been served by my family whenever I've had turkey with stuffing in both Minnesota and Virginia.

[Yuki Akuma]

Why are the called chips? I mean, American chips, well, look like chips, or at least more like chips than American fries. Spears would be more accurate, or sticks, splinters, twigs, but chips? I honestly wonder how that got to be the name.

They are called chips because they are chipped.

Just like you call them french fries because they're frenched.

[nyjastul69]

At Thanksgiving our family has in the bird and out of bird stuffing. It's still served as side though. English chips are akin to American steak fries from everything I can gather.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Just like you call them french fries because they're frenched.

Where is the Like button?!

English chips are akin to American steak fries from everything I can gather.

Steak fries, wedges, wedge fries.

[Spacewolf]

I think Wedges are something different again arn't they? Possibly in that they still have the skin on them, we also have Crinkle cut chips which I'm not sure they have over the pond either.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Chips and crisps are basically both fried slices of potatoes. That the specific names used for them is confused between dialects isn't weird enough to be worth complaining about.

Just like you call them french fries because they're frenched.

That's actually a myth. French fries are called that because they're from France (and Belgium but France has annexed Belgium a lot) and are fried.

Frenching as a food preparation method only applies to meat, not vegetables.

[nyjastul69]

I think Wedges are something different again arn't they? Possibly in that they still have the skin on them, we also have Crinkle cut chips which I'm not sure they have over the pond either.

Yeah, my understanding is that potato wedges have the skin left on them too.

[One Tin Soldier]

What the brits call chips we called French fries, or if you’re feeling particularly patriotic, freedom fries (unless you’re French, than I guess calling them French fries would be patriotic as well).

But they come in about four different bases, potato, corn (tortilla chips) rice and multigrain. But they come in a variety of different brands, shapes and sizes.

Does anyone actually call them freedom fries? I remember a small movement to do so back in 2001, but I also remember it flopping because the idea was some dumb reaction to politics.

I remember having breakfast at a place called Biscuitville (a chain, IIRC) while visiting a customer in North Carolina, so the biscuit exists in the US, it's even prominent enough to have a chain named after it.

I had grits, which is the blandest type of food I ever ate :p though their coffee was decent.


Edit: www.biscuitville.com

I recommend cheese grits. Much better.

[nyjastul69]

Does anyone actually call them freedom fries? I remember a small movement to do so back in 2001, but I also remember it flopping because the idea was some dumb reaction to politics.



I recommend cheese grits. Much better.

Thankfully the freedom fry idea never took root in my locale.

[Peelee]

Does anyone actually call them freedom fries? I remember a small movement to do so back in 2001, but I also remember it flopping because the idea was some dumb reaction to politics.

No. It was a blatant attempt to force an even higher sense of nationalism at a sensitive time, and was basically seen as a joke by most people. At least, in the circles i ran in.