The US & UK: Divided by a common culinary language

Culture, Media, General Culture, Chains, General Discussions
#21

Lot of familiar confusion in my household. I have lived in the UK for 8 years now, but still call things by their American names mostly. My husband is Scottish and too smart to argue.

I was surprised, on moving to the UK, how many foods I enjoyed that I thought were “traditional” for lack of a better word but were American mutts not readily available outside the USA. A couple that spring to mind are classic deli cheeses like Provolone or Swiss. I can buy Provolone or Swiss types of cheese in the UK, but they’re nothing like the rubbery, melty slices at grinder shops (grinders shops!) where I grew up.

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#22

Provolone is not common here, as you’ve probably found. There’s an Italian deli on the far side of the metro area that stocks Provolone piccante (sp), as an eating (not cooking) cheese. I’ll stop and buy some if I’m passing, maybe every year or so, but it’s too far for a special trip just for cheese.

#23

Oh, I can buy it – it’s just a totally different cheese. They sell it by me at Waitrose and at Italian delis, but I’m assuming, like American “Swiss” cheese, that the type I’m used to is some kind of blend made in the USA for deli0type sandwiches because the flavor and texture aren’t at all like the provolone I can buy in the UK.

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#24

Thanks for the mention that Waitrose have it. We go there periodically as a change from Sainsbury. Certainly easier than a schlep round the M60

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#25

@Harters, a friend who lives in Italy told us about the idea of a “cooking cheese” (which you might use in a cooked dish like pasta) versus an “eating cheese” (best enjoyed just as it is, as in a cheese course). We got a chuckle out of this being Americans, having grown up in the era when industrial processed cheese was all our youthful selves knew. Times have changed since then, of course.

Do folks in the UK also have the notion of cooking cheeses and eating cheeses, or is that your discerning turn of phrase? Because I do seem to recall that you know your cheeses.

#26

So kind. But, yes.

We cook with cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan and, from time mto time, a blue cheese or the likes of Gruyere. In fact, we keep a block of “industrial” cheddar just for cooking (for cheese sauce, cheese on toast, Welsh rarebit, etc) and we often have a farmhouse cheddar just for eating. Whilst I’m sure folk do cook with our regional cheeses, like Cheshire or Lancashire, my bet would be that most folk generally do as we do.

FWIW, there has been a revival of farmhouse cheesemaking in the last decade or so. During WW2, the government requistioned all milk supplies which meant small production stopped. Central production of a very limited number of regional cheeses were permitted nd this continued for many years after the war. These were generally poor quality and, certainly, had no individuality about them. As I say, it’s only in recent years that small scale production has been rediscovered. I reckon that’s happened alongside the establishment of farmers markets.

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#27

I may have missed it. But I don’t see hob vs stove top. I remember causing some confusion on CH when I posted a recipe.

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#28

If we include Canada, can we include Australia? I was binge watching “My Kitchen Rules” for awhile, and really enjoyed the new vocabulary.

I have a list somewhere I’ll have to find. In the meantime, my husband from Jamaica uses the word “mince” to describe dishes with ground beef. Is that already on the list?

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#29

I’d transcribed it from the original thread as cooktop vs hob.

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#30

And cider is fermented, no?

#31

Yes.

And let’s get the Aussies and Kiwis in

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#32

Mince is used occasionally up here. Ground is more common.

Does your husband say lolly instead of Popsicle? That was the word my friend’s brother used in Barbados.

Another Bajan word (probably Jamaica, Grenada, etc) is pear for avocado.

#33

The common usage in the US of convection oven drives engineers and physicists nuts. It really is a forced convection oven

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#34

I don’t recall having heard him refer to either lolly or popsicle.

Oooooo! Don’t get me started on different Carribean Island things. Husband is from Jamaica, but my mom’s family is from Nevis, with significant Granadian and Bajan influence. We can’t seem to get past peas and rice vs rice and peas. But I do the cooking, so it’s peas and rice with pigeon peas. He does say “pear” for avocado, and doesn’t like them no matter what they are called. SMH (shaking my head) and moving on.

I think some say we are more alike than we are different.

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#35

Lol. We lived in the Bahamas for most of a year while I was in high school so it was peas and rice with pigeon peas in a tomato based sauce.

In college I had a chum from Kingston and her rice and peas was kidney beans and in a differently-spiced tomato sauce.

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#36

My South African wife also uses “mince” for ground beef.

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#37

Sometimes. Sometimes it is not (orchards may sell it in gallon jugs…speaking from experience, if you left it long enough, it would eventually ferment. At least when I was a kid in the 80s).

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#38

Gallon (US 128 floz, 3.785 ltr) - Gallon (UK 160 floz, 4.546 ltr)

Size is important.

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#39

LOL

Measurement may need its own thread!

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#40

We say that over here as well, only using “ass” rather than “arse”. :grinning:

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