okra vs. lady fingers?
Knickers for panties, shite or drop the e and so on. I think I have told this story sometime before, but when my UK colleagues came to town when a certain movie was playing in the theaters, they were stunned that you could put a certain word on a marquee. The Spy Who Shagged Me. Not a word used in polite company there versus a rug here. Thereās another word that I wonāt use but would normally stop a conversation here but is commonly used in the UK and doesnāt mean much more there than arse. Then thereās the mistaken perception of what the word is. For example there is a store FCUK. French Connection UK. When they opened up in NYC and had adds out, people were just aghast. I told some people look again at the sign and read the letters. That was amusing.
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That gets confusing in places where lady fingers could be a vegetable, or a baked good.
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Such as the UK, where trifle sponges are also known as ladyās fingers
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Same here. Both the soft lady fingers used for Charlotte Russe or trifle and the hard Italian lady fingers that get soaked for tiramisu.
But I assume okra is okra in Canada?
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Itās okra in most stores, lady fingers in some stores with more South Asian shoppers, sometimes the label says āokra/lady fingersā. Iāve seen it labeled āokra/bamiesā in Torontoās Greektown.
Sometimes translated to Lady Fingers in Indian restaurants in Canada, usually along with bhindi.
I would think some grocers have it labelled bhindi, in some suburbs of Toronto and Vancouver.
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But ābhindiā is just the Hindi word for okra, not (yet) an alternative Eng-language word. Itās like seeing garlic labeled āajoā in a bodega.
As for ālady fingersā meaning two different kinds of foods, consider ādolphinā .
And similarly, dishes in our house are not āhotā; they are either ācalienteā or āpicante.ā
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Ohhhh letās talk about āandouilleā vs āandouiletteā. Not the same thing at all
Isnt this a French/American difference? AFAIK, neither generally appear in British culinary language.
FWIW, I have eaten both and despise the latter - especially Andouilette de Cambrai (which I bought in Cambrai as an edible souvenir).
The people in Canada who call okra lady fingers in English tend to overlap with the people who call okra bhindi.
I know a couple dozen Greek-Canadians who call okra bamies, while speaking English, and donāt ever call them okra. If I post a photo of okra on Instagram, someone will comment: nice bamies!
Might just be a metropolitan Toronto and Montreal thing.
In the States and Canada, Andouille will mean the sausage from Louisiana, used in Jambalaya and Gumbo, which isnāt stinky and doesnāt contain chitterlings.
This is the culinary misunderstanding that led me to unintentionally ordering the Stinky type in France.
It would be a ballsy French chef in North America who would serve the stinky type of Andouille / Andouilette with a warning.
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Definitely a word to either read or have the context of.
Bhindi - okra
Bindi - the coloured dot on the forehead, often worn by Hindus
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Thirty years ago (or so) I read a novel in which someone encountered andouilette in some rural town. From the description, I was sure the author was making it up.
Unlikely. It is one of the most awful things ever.
While the origin of the name is French, the products exist in the English speaking world enough to ensure that confusion will happen.
I tried to like itā¦I really did. I appreciate the tradition of āeverything but the oinkā, and J appreciate the skill it takes to make the perfectly formed spirals.
I tried it from Medaille dāOr winners across Franceā¦enough to say I made the effort and that I dont feel bad for disliking it.
When it was on the menu in the cafeteria wherein worked, Iād pack my lunch and eat in another building. I canāt even bear the smell.
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I have only ever tried the one from Cambrai. This genuinely smells like shit and tastes what I assume shit would taste like. I cannot recall ever trying to eat anything else so unpleasant. One bite and I was done with andouillette for life.
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Pasta marinara (US) - pasta with a tomato sauce
Pasta marinara (UK) - pasta with seafood in a tomato sauce
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The UK definition is totally logical, linguistically (moules mariniere anyone?)
Even though Iāve spent a considerable amount of time in the UK (work and holiday that one would trip me up.
Cocktail sauce:
In the UK, isnāt cocktail sauce usually Marie Rose sauce?
North America:
Cocktail sauce= Ketchup & horseradish
It did with us in reverse many years back. Ordered it in the States and nearly sent the dish back as there was no seafood in it.
Usually but not always. The story goes that the chef making lunches for the conservers working on the Tudor warship, Mary Rose, made it from mayo and ketchup, in the 70s. But I gather thereās some evidence of something similar predating that.
FWIW, a celebration meal in the 1970s for people like me usually invloved a visit to the Berni Inn steakhouse chain. The classic meal of the time would be prawn cocktail, steak & chips (always with a grilled mushroom and half a tomato), followed by Black Forest Gateau.
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