So, having heard all the stereotypical horror stories about blood pudding and steak and kidney pie, I went to England expecting to live off fish and chips, ethnic restaurants, and whatever vegetarian dishes the dining hall was serving.
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| Mmmm, pasty. Photo courtesy of my friend Caitlin. |
And I sort of did do that, but I'm happy to report that English food really has received a splendid makeover in the past decade or so.
There is more to English cuisine than just fish and chips. Cornish pasties, Sunday roasts, soups, salads, sandwiches, and all sorts of tasty vegetable and meat pies are just some of the things that await your taste buds as a visitor to this fine country.
"What is a Cornish pasty?" you may now be wondering to yourself if you're a non-Brit. First of all, it's pronounced pa-sty (the 'a' sounds like the 'a' in the word 'cat'). It is NOT pronounced pAY-sty. Cornish pasties (sometimes called 'oggies') originated in Cornwall like their name suggests, but they are found throughout England. They are essentially little handheld pies, filled with any combination of meats, cheeses, and/or vegetables. They can be made vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free and are delicious as hell.
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| Sunday Roast served at the Firehouse |
One of my favourite things about eating in England was the Sunday roast. Sunday roasts, as the name implies, are only served on Sundays. They are popular in pubs and restaurants and, depending upon the location, there are vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options available. A typical roast consists of meat (or vegetable pie if vegetarian), potatoes, seasonal vegetables, and Yorkshire pudding (a fluffy, tasty pastry-thing). It is usually served with gravy.
No mention of food in England would be complete without Indian cuisine. Indian food is quite popular in England (not surprising given England and India's history) and some restaurants even have their own variation of the Sunday roast with tasty buffet options. I had never eaten Indian food prior to coming to England and completely fell in love at first bite. If if you haven't tried any yet - DO IT. It's delicious!
Worried about spiciness? Don't be! Certain Indian dishes definitely cater to the spice connoisseur, but there are plenty of tasty non-spicy options available for the more taste bud timid.
Of course, English Indian food is not nearly as good as India Indian food, and unfortunately American Indian food is not nearly as good as English Indian food most of the time, apparently. Still, I'm going to hunt for the best Indian restaurant in my area and try to recapture this experience.
Like the U.S., England has different chains of grocery stores and supermarkets. The most popular of these, at least in the areas we frequented, are Tesco, Sainsbury's, and Waitrose. Tesco is the cheapest and often operates like a convenience store. This was where I usually did my shopping. Sainsbury's is your standard supermarket and Waitrose is the upscale food store (sort of like Wegman's or Whole Foods in the U.S. if you're familiar with those). I was unpleasantly surprised to see Aldi in England. We have Aldi in the U.S. too (it's a German company) and it was horrible to see that its windowless, prison-like, poorly-designed, poorly-stocked stores had been exported further than I had originally thought (no offense to anyone reading this who likes or is involved with Aldi). Needless to say, I avoided those and made a beeline straight to Tesco.
When ordering and eating food in the UK, I discovered many cultural differences. For instance, tipping is optional and is never done in pubs. In the U.S., we always tip in restaurants and bars because of 1) cultural etiquette and 2) because our servers are often paid below minimum wage and are expected to make up the rest through tips. The UK does not have this system - all servers are paid at or above minimum wage.
Another thing I picked up on right away was that, if your food should come out before the rest of the table's, it is impolite to start eating before everyone else is served. This is something that perhaps some people in the U.S. also observe, but it's not something I've ever seen in New Jersey!
Other differences I noticed were actually in the language. British English obviously differs from American English in some ways (lift is elevator, toilet is restroom, lorry is truck, etc.) but I never realised this extended to the food!
When I was at Embercombe a dish was served that looked like fried pieces of zucchini. I asked someone if it was, indeed, zucchini and they gave me a confused look and said, "It's courgette!" I had no idea what a courgette was, had never even heard the word before. After a simple taste test, I soon figured out that courgette was simply the British term for zucchini. (Note: The word for eggplant in Britain is also different. They call them aubergines.)
Earlier the same day, I was asked by Lyndon, our programme coordinator, if I would like a flapjack. I knew that there were no pancakes at Embercombe, nor was it the typical time of day for pancakes (it was lunchtime). It also seemed strange to me that I would be asked if I would like one singular pancake. Having no idea what else a flapjack could be, I asked, rather incredulously, "Do you mean like a pancake?" Lyndon decided that the best way to explain a flapjack was to bring one out. It looked like a small, fatter and squarer version of a granola bar. And it was delicious! Softer, moister, and tastier than a granola bar, flapjacks quickly became my new favorite snack.
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| Cake or biscuit? The world will never know! |
Another snack I discovered, though I didn't like them nearly as much as flapjacks, was the Jaffa Cake. Jaffa Cakes are small chocolate-covered cookie-biscuit-things that are also coated with jam, giving them a fruity flavour. They are about the size of an Oreo cookie, though much thinner. The Jaffa Cake was involved in a huge controversy around twenty years ago when the value added tax (VAT) classifications stipulated that chocolate-covered biscuits (or cookies - yet another British v. American English discrepancy) were to be taxed, but chocolate-covered cakes were exempt. A debacle ensued and the question of whether Jaffa Cakes constituted cakes or biscuits went all the way to court, where allegedly, McVitie's (the company that produces Jaffa Cakes) presented a giant Jaffa Cake as evidence that the product was indeed a cake and not a biscuit. The court agreed and now you don't have to pay VAT on Jaffa Cakes, but the debate remains...biscuit or cake? Read more about this hilarious court case here (make sure to scroll down until you see the heading, Jaffa Cake or Jaffa Biscuit? but the rest of the article is interesting too if you'd like to learn more about VAT): http://www.which.co.uk/news/2010/06/what-you-do--and-dont--pay-vat-on-217890
Many Americans are probably familiar with the following British concept: chips are fries and crisps are chips. I went to England confidently expecting to order chips and crisps properly and was rather disappointed when the majority of food service employees asked me if I wanted fries or chips with my order (maybe they heard my accent and thought they'd make it easier for me). When picking out crisps to go with my meals on the go however, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the flavours were different than in the U.S. As an American, I'm used to seeing sour cream & onion, barbecue, salt & vinegar, and plain flavours. Sometimes there will be an exotic sriracha flavour or chicken & waffles or something like that, both of which are fairly recent phenomenons, but aside from that, the flavours are pretty standard. In England, the plain chips are 'sea salt' and there was no sour cream & onion that I saw, but rather 'cheese & onion.' Most amusing to me however, was the everpresent 'prawn & cocktail' flavour which both tempted and repulsed me.
Perhaps the most surprising thing I discovered in England was that they served some of the best pizza I had ever had in my life! Between the Old Firehouse and On the Waterfront, there was a veritable party in my mouth.
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| And who said vegans didn't eat good? My tasty vegan mushroom dish at the gala dinner |
You may have noticed that I mentioned vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options several times throughout this post. Whilst in England I met several vegetarians, vegans, and gluten-intolerant people (and one gluten-intolerant vegan!) so I became more in tune with their dietary needs as we traveled throughout the southwest of England. I found that the UK generally has more vegetarian options than the U.S. and is also *somewhat* more accomodating to gluten-intolerant and vegan people (though not simulataneously - my gluten-intolerant vegan friend couldn't order this tasty vegan wrap we were all eating at this one place because they only made gluten-free paninis not gluten-free wraps, which I found rather stupid). As someone who is an aspiring vegetarian/vegan, I found myself eating mostly vegetarian dishes and the abundance of vegetarian, Indian, and Mediterranean restaurants in Exeter made this quite easy. So, if you're planning on travelling to the UK and have any sort of dietary restrictions, chances are, you will be able to find accomodations somewhere that are definitely better than those found in New Jersey!
So there you have it. Tune in next time for a post on pubs and alcohol! I start class tomorrow, so I may be a bit slow on updates. I'm expecting to put up about three more posts before retiring this blog. Thanks for reading!
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