Britishness

[elisi]

So, I have lots of political links & stuff waiting to be posted, but right now I am going with something that's pure fluff:

26 British Food Quirks That Brits Don’t Realise Are Weird

My question is - are they really that weird? As in, are you unaware that British people eat this? Or do you find it odd that anyone would?

Like, chip butties. I had never come across this concept before moving here, but zomg they're wonderful!

(Basically a white bread sandwich/bread bun with chips. English chips, not french fries.)

So if there's anything that actually strikes you as odd and unknown (like, I presume everyone knows that British people love beans on toast), you are more than welcome to tell me so! :)

Also, I get to use the mood for 'curious' which is rare!

Comments

[promethia_tenk]

I was ready to tell you 'no everybody knows about that, whatever.'

Except, yes, actually, quite a lot about that is quite weird. I note especially the general theme of putting carbs on top of carbs.

I don't know what they're on about with cheese and crackers being weird, though. Surely everybody does cheese and crackers? Americans certainly do.

Every time I hear about brown sauce I think about the first clip here: https://youtu.be/sdAwrMRhGGQ

[yourlibrarian]

Are they weird? Ok, I'll bite ;)

Well, I have to say beans on toast has always been baffling to me. For starters this sounds messy, as in how do the beans stay on the bread? Second, beans with rice, sure, they intermix well. We also eat beans with pasta regularly, though with angel hair not larger kinds. Beans and potatoes I'd also say don't really mix. So yes, it's a very odd combination I can only assume came about because it's a form of cheap food that's filling and, thanks to the beans, nutritious.

I've never tasted Marmite, so I can't say.

Wait, what? Spaghetti on toast? Frankly, that sounds like the sort of meal a kid who can't cook comes up with out of leftovers from the fridge.

Jelly on ice cream. I don't know as that's any stranger than hot fudge, caramel, or marshmallow. Ditto on sausage rolls, batter, or clotted cream.

Bread and fries? Not as messy as spaghetti and toast but chips are already finger food. And carbs.

Mushy peas? I'm not sure what's added to them besides the mashing but no, not strange.

Chips and gravy I'd also say is no different than what a lot of people do adding either cheese or chili or both. Personally I find the idea of mushy fries revolting since the whole purpose of fried food is for it to be crisp (and hot) but otherwise this is a jelly on ice cream comparison to me.

I don't know why anyone dunks anything they eat in liquids but it does seem particularly odd for something which does not need to be moistened to get it down your throat.

I'm not sure what a Branston pickle is vs any other kind, but pickles and cheese just seems like an incomplete sandwich rather than something strange.

Prawn cocktail crisps -- they've made chips for virtually any flavor these days so I'm not sure how these could even be in the running.

Cheese and crackers? It's so common we even have a shop named that in town. Personally I think crackers go better with really soft cheeses but that's a practical issue rather than a taste one.

Fish fingers in a sandwich seems redundant but there are fish fillet sandwiches and the taste is the same, plus you could add toppings.

We've done virtually everything that can be done with a potato in the U.S. too, though it's usually the fried kind that are served to kids.

Pub food presumably is like bar food here. Bar food tends to be limited in scope and usually goes for the sandwich or fried items, more because it's finger food I'm guessing.

Baked beans and ketchup seems to defeat the purpose of baked beans or is apparently visual acknowledgment that the bean sauce is inadequate.

Our version of brown sauce is generally used for steak or beef products here.

I would think heavily buttered crumpets are a way to get them down your throat. They seem like excellent butter delivery vehicles and terrible as actual bread.

No idea what a Viennetta is. Big breakfasts are uncommon here unless it's on the weekend. People just don't have time -- it's more likely to be a breakfast sandwich and a coffee assuming one eats breakfast at all.

[elisi]

I note especially the general theme of putting carbs on top of carbs.
This is probably why we're catching up with the Americans when it comes to being overweight. Although chip butties are wonderful.

I don't know what they're on about with cheese and crackers being weird, though. Surely everybody does cheese and crackers? Americans certainly do.
That was one of the things that threw me. Don't most people have cheese & crackers?

Every time I hear about brown sauce I think about the first clip here
Made 'of Brown' sounds about right, yes.

[promethia_tenk]

Although chip butties are wonderful.
See, that sounds awful and stodgy and bland to me. Do you put anything else on it?

That was one of the things that threw me. Don't most people have cheese & crackers?
I always thought so? The other two that were 'yeah, whatever' were the biscuits/cookies dunked in tea and the sausage rolls. Yeah, maybe other countries don't have those exact combinations, but they sound great and don't tell me there's a place that doesn't have it's own variation of dunking a cookie in a beverage or processed meat product wrapped in pastry. Oh, and we have school lunch potato products too.

Made 'of Brown' sounds about right, yes.
Lol. I've never had it, but I love that line. (It's from Dollhouse. ENTJ boss Adelle and NTP programmer Topher have accidentally gotten high and the results are five minutes of comedy gold.)

Also of interest: that pressed, toasted sandwich towards the bottom of the list? We had a sandwich press like that growing up, though I've never seen another one anywhere. I think my mom got it at a garage sale. I went like this when I saw it on the list =D (Though I do have to note the superiority of a classic, pan-fried grilled cheese sandwich. Because it is a universal truth that things fried in butter are superior to things not fried in butter.)

[watervole]

I've seen most of those and enjoyed several, especially as a kid, but I would never (as a true Brit) have anything on my chips but sale and vinegar.

[promethia_tenk]

I'm trying to think what the American list would look like, though this is slightly difficult given that 1) the point is that one does not realize one's own ways are strange and 2) so many of our food eccentricities we have exported to the rest of the world.

Our love of peanut butter would certainly make the list.

And we really are fanatical about breakfast cereals, which are not just for breakfast.

Many of my countrymen and women will put ketchup on absolutely everything, though I do not approve of this as ketchup is vile.

Oooooo! Ice in drinks! This is a national right. I am fairly sure it is enshrined in the constitution somewhere.

[elisi]

but I would never (as a true Brit) have anything on my chips but sale and vinegar.
Funny thing, isn't it? I don't like vinegar, but where I come from we have salt, vinegar AND Soy sauce.

[elisi]

See, that sounds awful and stodgy and bland to me. Do you put anything else on it?
Salt I suppose. Vinegar/Ketchup/HP sauce to taste. But bear in mind these are CHIPS, not french fries. They're fat and soft, not crunchy.

Lol. I've never had it, but I love that line. (It's from Dollhouse. ENTJ boss Adelle and NTP programmer Topher have accidentally gotten high and the results are five minutes of comedy gold.)
I recognised them!

that pressed, toasted sandwich towards the bottom of the list? We had a sandwich press like that growing up, though I've never seen another one anywhere.
Huh. They're such a staple, we even got one as a wedding present.

Though I do have to note the superiority of a classic, pan-fried grilled cheese sandwich. Because it is a universal truth that things fried in butter are superior to things not fried in butter.
That just sounds sickly to me! :)

[elisi]

1) the point is that one does not realize one's own ways are strange and 2) so many of our food eccentricities we have exported to the rest of the world.
Uh-huh.

Our love of peanut butter would certainly make the list.
Oh aye. And your 'peanut butter and jelly sandwiches'. Most of the rest of the world doesn't realise that what you call 'jelly' is actually jam, and think that you have jelly in sandwiches & is weirded out.

And we really are fanatical about breakfast cereals, which are not just for breakfast.
I think that one's pretty universal. It might just be a level of fanaticism.

Many of my countrymen and women will put ketchup on absolutely everything, though I do not approve of this as ketchup is vile.
I like ketchup! :)

Oooooo! Ice in drinks! This is a national right. I am fairly sure it is enshrined in the constitution somewhere.
And your massive fridges with ice cube makers. That's downright weird.

[elisi]

So yes, it's a very odd combination I can only assume came about because it's a form of cheap food that's filling and, thanks to the beans, nutritious.
Pretty much. :)

Wait, what? Spaghetti on toast? Frankly, that sounds like the sort of meal a kid who can't cook comes up with out of leftovers from the fridge.
It is mostly consumed by children & students. Cheap & easy.

Jelly on ice cream.
It's more jelly AND ice cream. No children's birthday party is complete without.

Bread and fries? Not as messy as spaghetti and toast but chips are already finger food. And carbs.
But it's in a sandwich, so much easier to eat. And it tastes gorgeous. Also, it's NOT french fries, but fat, soft British chips. Big difference. :)

I don't know why anyone dunks anything they eat in liquids but it does seem particularly odd for something which does not need to be moistened to get it down your throat.
Same here. And then there are wet soggy crumbs at the bottom of the cup. :(

Prawn cocktail crisps
I guess because they're so ubiquitous? Like, they're not an 'odd' flavour, they're as normal as salt or cheese & onion.

Pub food presumably is like bar food here.
No, pub food is stuff like... baked potatoes or shepherds pie or chili con carne or chicken tikka. Simple everyday meals. No frills. (Unless it's a fancy gastro-pub giving itself airs & graces.)

I would think heavily buttered crumpets are a way to get them down your throat. They seem like excellent butter delivery vehicles and terrible as actual bread.
In case you are thinking that a crumpet is a muffin there is a comment here which explains it. Mind you, I find crumpets somewhat rubbery.

No idea what a Viennetta is.
You poor thing! Here is an ancient advert which gives you an idea.

Big breakfasts are uncommon here unless it's on the weekend.
Oh same here. Although a full English is a great hangover cure. :)

[kikimay]

I'm screaming for the pasta on the toast. THAT'S NOT HOW YOU EAT SMALL PASTA! NOPEEEEE.

The chips in a bread roll ... isn't that universal street food? I eat this too, when I'm out and it's tasty and practical. It's also a tradition in Sicily to put meat in the bread roll. Not as the American hamburger, more like this --> http://isaac.guidasicilia.it/foto/news/cucina/panino_con_meusa_milza_N.jpg

To each his own, I suppose.

Still, that pasta on the toast. BARBARIC.

[elisi]

Still, that pasta on the toast. BARBARIC.
LOL. It's cheap & cheerful pasta out of a tin, barely worth the name 'pasta', not like something that's been carefully prepared. Hence putting it on toast - you make it marginally more substantial.

(Not that I would ever eat it, but that's because I don't eat pasta out of tins.)

The chips in a bread roll
Yeah, I think that's more of a universal thing, even if other countries don't have proper chips. ;)

[wolfy-writing.livejournal.com]

I think I've heard of most of those, but there are a couple that I find weird. I'm not that big on white-carbs-on-white-carbs, so both the chip butty and the spaghetti hoops on toast make me go urgh. (I also reacted like that in the Philippines, where a lot of people would put spaghetti on rice, or eat it with the standard bread, which was white, square, mass-produced, and sugary.)

[kikimay]

The chips ... they kinda look like the ones they serve in Catania (Which is North-Est Sicily) They are larger than regular fries and almost squared? I don't know if it's actually the same type of chips, but I was so puzzled the first time I ate those, because they are different from your standard french fries (Which, I confess, I adore)

(Not that I would ever eat it, but that's because I don't eat pasta out of tins.)

Your safe from the cooking Italian rage XD I saw pasta in a tin the first time this Summer and my goddaughter wanted to buy some, but I forbid her. I can make a proper plate of pasta! I won't have her eating this stuff under my watch. ù__ù

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

But why wouldn't you do any of those things? Although I do think chips with your breakfast implies it is brunch!

Here on the small island we don't just put gravy on our chips, but grated cheese as well - it is a standard on all the chip shop price lists 'chips with cheese and gravy'.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

That's not pasta though - it is Heinz spaghetti hoops... :)

'Sketti on toast' is very much a childhood thing though - adults only eat it in secret!

[kathyh]

Funnily enough, because we had a large lunch, we've just had beans on toast for "tea". My husband didn't add tomato sauce to his but he did add brown sauce! Marmite on toast is my ultimate comfort food. Can't understand why anyone "foreign" would think that strange :)

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, some of those (all the toast ones, for starters) are really weird. Others not so much (mushy peas is just British hummus, isn't it?)

As for rice and chips, my grandfather used to demand potatoes on the side anytime he was served rice, but he was born in 1906 and still thought rice and pasta were newfangled foreign food.

Then again (with apologies to kikimay), I come from a nation who have not only created the kebab pizza, but also figured out how to bake a full hamburger meal including french fries and toppings inside a calzone pizza, so maybe I should just keep my mouth shut.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Well, other than putting cheese on a cracker and butter on a crumpet - Americans would never think of eating any of the rest.

And most Americans have never had a crumpet (you can get them in Canada however).

[kerkevik-2014.livejournal.com]

That's not pasta.

[wolfy-writing.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't think I've ever had a crumpet. I had a scone with some kind of cream (possibly clotted?) on it once, in Fiji. It was nice.

[kikimay]

What does it mean: "it's not pasta but spaghetti hoops"? I really don't understand. I searched on internet and it seems to mean ... just pasta. Pasta horribly mistreated, but still technically pasta. Or not?

From Wiki:

Pasta (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpasta]) is a staple food[1] of traditional Italian cuisine, with the first reference dating to 1154 in Sicily.[2] It is also commonly used to refer to the variety of pasta dishes. Typically, pasta is a noodle made from an unleavened dough of a durum wheat flour mixed with water or eggs and formed into sheets or various shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. It can also be made with flour from other cereals or grains.[citation needed] Pastas may be divided into two broad categories, dried (pasta secca) and fresh (pasta fresca).

I'm puzzled.

[elisi]

Technically yes, it's absolutely pasta.

However, people do not really class it as such, and this lot are being a bit facetious... A bit like how no one would describe 'pot noodles' as in any way similar to real noodles.

[hobbituk.livejournal.com]

They all looked perfectly reasonable to me..... lol.

[kikimay]

Oh, okay! Got it!