Michele at Life, Lightly Salted brought a very interesting "One Hundred" list to my attention this morning: The British One Hundred, originally posted by Helen on her blog Food Stories. With it's narrow focus on British specialties, I found it to be an interesting study - and I was surprised at how many of the foods here I'd not only already tried, but that I actually have old family recipes for (mom's side of the family being from the UK.)
So, first the rules:
And on to the list (with commentary in some cases):So, first the rules:
- Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
- Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
- Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
- Link back to Food Stories, if you would be so kind.
- Grey squirrel - Not only have I eaten grey squirrel, I have personally killed the ones I ate.
- Steak and kidney pie - I'm not all that fond of kidney, but I admit the pie was pretty good.
- Bubble and squeak
- Spotted dick - I've only had this canned (by Heinz, of course!) and I bought it because of the giggly name (which is, of course, sophmorically naughty in the US)
- Hot cross buns
- Laver bread
- Toad in the hole
- Shepherds pie - Only when made at home. For some reason, Americans can't fathom the difference between "shepherds pie" (made with lamb) and "cottage pie" (made with beef) and call them all "shepherds pie."
- Cottage pie - see above.
- Scotch egg
- Parkin
- Welsh rarebit
Jellied eelsI can scarcely imagine anything more wretchingly nasty than jellied eels. :: huarrf f::- Stilton
- Marmite - I like Marmite, but I like Vegemite much better.
- Ploughman’s lunch
- Cucumber sandwiches - (yawn)
- Coronation chicken - Helen says, "now THIS is another reason why we have a bad rep," but this is just a rather dull variation on chicken salad.
- Gloucester old spot - If I had a larger yard, I'd try raising one or two, though.
- Cornish pasty
- Samphire
- Mince pies
- Winkles
- Salad cream - but I prefer mayonnaise.
- Malt loaf
- Haggis
- Beans on toast
- Cornish clotted cream tea
- Pickled egg
- Pork scratchings
- Pork pie
- Black pudding
- Patum Peperium or Gentleman’s relish - This list is the first I've ever heard of Gentleman's Relish, and now that I've looked it up and read about it, I MUST FIND SOME because it sounds to me awesomely delicious.
- Earl grey tea
Elvers- Gaaaaah! Seriously, do eels really need two places on this list?? :: hurrrrk ::- HP Sauce
- Potted shrimps
- Stinking bishop - I'll eat it if ever I find some.
- Elderflower cordial
- Pea and ham soup
- Aberdeen Angus Beef
- Lemon posset - Not yet, but I found a recipe for this and I plan to try it soon.
- Guinness - To all of you out there who are ravenous fans of Guinness: If ever we meet, I will happily buy you a pint to keep from having to drink it myself, but on the next round you agree to buy me a lager.
- Cumberland sausage
- Native oysters - Native to me, LOL. If I'm ever in the UK, I'll eat the native oysters there too.
- A ‘full English’ - just once. A New England "farmhouse breakfast" is very similar, though, and that's my family's favorite way to start a Saturday (and our only meal until supper that night!)
- Cockles
- Faggots - Anyone have a recipe for these? It's another thing I've never had that sounds delicious.
- Eccles cake
- Potted Cromer crab
- Trifle - My mother and my aunt discovered trifle in the mid-1980's and it instantly became their favorite dessert for the next fifteen years. I am so sick of trifle.
- Stargazy pie
- English mustard - No spice cupboard is complete without English mustard.
- Christmas pudding - Every Christmas, without fail, as long as I can remember. Thanks, mom!
- Cullen skink
- Liver and bacon with onions - One of my favorite meals when my wife and daughter are away; no one else in my family will eat liver and so when they are gone, I make this for supper and share it with my very appreciative dog.
- Wood pigeon
- Branston pickle
- Oxtail soup - another family favorite.
- Piccalilli
- Sorrel
- Chicken tikka masala
- Deep fried Mars Bar (eewww.)
- Fish, chips and mushy peas
- Pie and mash with liquor
- Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding (with gravy) - This was my grandmother's favorite Sunday dinner, and I don't fault her a bit for it.
- Pickled onions
- Cock-a-leekie soup
- Rabbit and Hare
- Bread sauce
- Cauliflower cheese - One of my daughter's favorite vegetable sides.
- Crumpets
- Rice pudding
- Bread and butter pudding
- Bakewell tart
- Kendall mint cake
- Summer pudding
- Lancashire hot pot
- Beef Wellington - Highly overrated.
- Eton mess - No, but Strawberry Shortcake is very similar.
- Neeps and tatties
- Pimms
- Scampi - Not the way in which Helen intends. Also, whenever I hear the word "scampi" I think of this.
- Mint sauce
- English strawberries and cream - I'm counting native strawberries and cream as equivalent.
- Isle of Wight garlic
- Mutton
- Deep fried whitebait with tartare sauce
- Angels on horseback
- Omelette Arnold Bennett
- Devilled kidneys
- Partridge and pheasant
- Stew and dumplings
- Arbroath smokies - I smoke my own trout, salmon, bluefish, etc. so I'm counting this; we're part of a universal brotherhood.
- Oyster loaves (but I wonder if we're referring to the same thing)
- Sloe gin
- Damson jam
- Soda bread
- Quince jelly
- Afternoon tea at the Ritz
So that's it - sixty-eight out of one hundred; I'll no doubt whittle down on a few more of them now that Helen and Michele have me interested. Alas, some of them - Afternoon tea at the Ritz, for example - may never be checked off the list.
I am impressed. A good ratio indeed. I avoided the Omnivore's 100 but I'm tempted to do this one.
ReplyDeleteBut you don't like Guinness?! Eesh. You're missing out.
ReplyDeleteHello! I'm glad you enjoyed the list! Could you please, please tell me what the squirrel tastes like? I have been dying to try it for ages! Also, which oyster loaves are you referring to?
ReplyDeleteAlex: I'm not a fan of any thick dark "bready" beers; porters, stouts, and bocks make me gag. I much prefer dry, hoppy lagers and pilsners, served ice-cold in the American fashion. Oh, and I also enjoy most ales.
ReplyDeleteMichele: That sounds wonderful, thanks.
Helen: Squirrel tastes remarkably similar to wild hare, but the actual flavor varies depending on where they're harvested. Truly wild squirrel - from deep woods, fed on hickory, butternut, black walnut, and acorns - are best if they're immediately skinned and then hung a day or two. They have the strongest "wild" flavor. Squirrels taken closer to home are domestic foragers, living on pilfered garden fruit and veg and stolen seed from backyard feeders, and they have a much milder taste because life isn't so hard for them. But in general, it's a very rabbity flavor.
Re: Oyster loaves - Bivalves on bread; a warm, fresh, soft boule sliced horizontally in half, with some of the crumb perhaps removed, buttered lightly and filled with tender and perfectly cooked creamed oysters (or perhaps lightly crumbed and sauteed oysters); the halves pressed together and served with a great knife for sectioning off and devouring with friends.
Do you think most British would agree with the choices on this list? Would people from other parts of the UK disagree with some of their choices?
ReplyDeleteI wonder what some of the more well known UK chefs would have to say about what makes up the best representatives of British cuisine.
Nate-n-Annie: I'm sure that high-profile chefs in the UK would have differences with the list. I'm born-and-bred American, and I notice some things that are missing that I consider very typical: mushrooms on toast, for example, or potted prawns, or even the dreaded boiled beef (not that a deep-fried Mars Bar ought not to be dreaded in it's own right.) But I think Helen did a good job overall.
ReplyDeleteThe regional variety within the UK is amazing for such a geographically small area - I know I would never attempt an "American Hundred" (though I'm tempted to come up with one specific to New England.)
awwww can't believe you hate deep fried mars bars!! I just can't get enough of it.
ReplyDeleteI don't actually hate deep fried Mars bars...they're just so shudderingly sweet that I can't stand more than a nibble. I just don't have the kind of concentrated sweet tooth necessary to enjoy them.
ReplyDelete