What I Miss about the UK/USA

I've been looking at a website* by a Florida woman whose moved to London and she blogs to tell US visitors what to see and how to manage in England. She also has an intresting list of what she's missing from the USA, one of which are certain foods.

Got me thinking. My first pass is

What I like in the USA and miss in the UK

Tangy orange tomato "French" salad dressing
Multiple free refills of coffee
Fried eggs 'easy over'
Good waiter service as standard

What I like in the UK that I miss in the USA

Hot 'English' mustard
Back bacon
Fish'n'Chips
HP Sauce
meat free Baked Beans
Branston pickle

Hot mustard is my number 1. All those great steak houses and no mustard. I now take a jar or two of Colmans with me on my US trips.
And I've brought home American French dressing, and I'm sad to see that its out of favour now so many restaurants no longer have it.

* http://sunnyinlondon.com/american-items ... in-the-uk/

[Jenise]

Peter, you can make your own version of American French dressing as I believe you have Campbell's tomato soup there. In a quart sized jar, add the tomato soup, then add half a can of canola or other neutral-flavor oil, about a quarter can white wine vinegar, same of water, several spoonfuls of sugar and 1-2 teaspoons of Colman's mustard powder. That will give you a tomato-y sweet-sour base which you can thin further with water or vinegar, and embellish with fresh garlic and finely grated fresh or powdered ginger to taste. I add both garlic and ginger. Better than anything that you would spend $4-5 a bottle on.

But--come back to the Pacific Northwest. Lots of Fish & Chips up here!

After living in the UK for about 4 years, that is a pretty fair list. I don't really care for French dressing or HP sauce, so that is OK. Most of the well stocked shops around here have a variety of mustards, including the English, so that isn't a big deal. There were a lot of mediocre fish & chips places around, but if you could find a good one, it was great.

I miss real ale (cask conditioned) served in a nice pub. From what I understand, the UK beer lovers have moved on a bit to what we would call 'craft beer' here in the US, and I have no problem with that either, as long as some traditional styles are being preserved. Rural pubs are said to be struggling, and that makes me sad. And after closing time, I often enjoyed picking up a kabob or a couple samosas to eat on the walk home. Dark chocolate Hob-Nobs are nice - I hope some US multinational has not bought them up and ruined them.

[Jenise]

It's been 30 years since I lived in the U.K.--back then the list of American things I missed was pretty long (and most of the items were Mexican-oriented or items of fresh produce.) When I left, I had another list of things-British I'd come to love and missed a great deal, like being able to buy pates sliced to order at Tesco, the sausages at Marks and Spencer and Double Diamond (think it was) pale ale in the can. When I moved to Britain, I didn't like beer at all, but pale ale converted me. I also missed french fries, or chips if you will, made from real, fresh potatoes instead of frozen. In the U.S. we do see more fresh chips nowadays but frozen still dominates the marketplace.

Today things would be quite different, I'm sure.

It's been 30 years since I lived in the U.K.--back then the list of American things I missed was pretty long (and most of the items were Mexican-oriented or items of fresh produce.)...Today things would be quite different, I'm sure.

Of course. And beyond all the specialty shops which would probably be of more interest to you, even in the large supermarket chains, Mexican/Tex Mex foods are fairly popular in the UK. In some respects, they seem to filter US influences through the Southwest! (e.g. chilli, bbq sauce, vaguely Mexican products)

Fun. I'll give this some thought. It has been 20 years since I lived in the UK but I am back 3 or so times a year. When we moved there, the hardest bit was no mexican food. Well except for at our flat. But we did discover Indian food which at the time was not up to snuff in Southern California.

Sticky Toffee pudding was a revelation.

And I didn't bother drinking beer for about 2 years after moving back.

But now it seems like most stuff is available. Coleman's is on the shelf of any grocery store and in my fridge right now.

Brown sauce was a discovery as well.

Jason

Coleman's is on the shelf of any grocery store and in my fridge right now.

I've seen tins of Colmans Mustard powder in some supermarkets, never seen jars of the made mustard.

I've never been in any restaurant in the USA that had hot mustard: Frenches, yes, Grey Poupon Dijon, mostly, grain mustard very rarely, but English? Never.

I'll be in Southern California next month so I'll be looking for jars of Colmans there -- but I'll still take one just in case..

Sticky toffee pudding? yummmmmmm. Puddings are a whole new area. What's disappointed me in recent US trips is that, apart from Dennys, it seems restaurants just don't have apple pie any more,

Coleman's is on the shelf of any grocery store and in my fridge right now.

I've seen tins of Colmans Mustard powder in some supermarkets, never seen jars of the made mustard.

I've never been in any restaurant in the USA that had hot mustard: Frenches, yes, Grey Poupon Dijon, mostly, grain mustard very rarely, but English? Never.

I'll be in Southern California next month so I'll be looking for jars of Colmans there -- but I'll still take one just in case..

Sticky toffee pudding? yummmmmmm. Puddings are a whole new area. What's disappointed me in recent US trips is that, apart from Dennys, it seems restaurants just don't have apple pie any more,

Yes. Now we can get the jars and they are date stamped as well. But you are correct, if it is not British themed restaurant, you will not find Colemans.

We have a local place, which I haven't been to in years and I think the ownership has changed but 15 years ago it was amazing. British owned and run. Many dishes already had that Colemans hiding in it somewhere. It actually felt like being in a country pub.

Jason

What's disappointed me in recent US trips is that, apart from Dennys, it seems restaurants just don't have apple pie any more,

????

I'm not sure how extensive your restaurant exposure has been, but in my limited experience, apple desserts (often pie, or a variation therein) are pretty much standard offerings during the fall.

[Robin Garr]

I'm not sure how extensive your restaurant exposure has been, but in my limited experience, apple desserts (often pie, or a variation therein) are pretty much standard offerings during the fall.

Several French restaurants here have tarte tatin, and I can hardly think of a down-home eatery that doesn't do apple pah.

Not as much exposure as someone living full time in the USA thats for sure, but I eat eating out every meal in restaurants .

My weight-loss rule is I don't have dessert unless it's apple pie, because I love apple pie, so I know what I'm not finding it.

What I like in the UK that I miss in the USA

Hot mustard is my number 1. All those great steak houses and no mustard. I now take a jar or two of Colmans with me on my US trips.

Just yesterday I saw Colmans mustard (both mustard powder and prepared mustard in a jar) in my local (Nashua New Hampshire) supermarket. At least in New England, this bit of Old England seems pretty well distributed.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Same here, Paul, but then like you we have Canadians to feed. Chances fade with every mile further south you go.

Colman's is pretty readily available here as well. It's not at every grocery store, but there are several that carry it.

I have a tin of Coleman's powdered mustard, but have recently been using bags of Canadian mustard from Penzey's and like it. I like to mix it with a little beer and put it on hot dogs, as well as adding it to deviled eggs, potato salad, etc.

Mustard made up with beer? Howie, I must try that.

From my trips to the States, the thing I like that we can't get here in Oz is: lemonade. American lemonade is great. I enjoy it a lot.

In Oz, if you ask for "lemonade" what you will get will be a colourless fizzy soft drink like sprite. (Maybe not so sweet.)

And while I'm thinking about it... the range of biscuits (cookies, if you will!) that you can get in the UK is far better than what we see in mainstream stores in Australia.

But the coffee's better in Australian coffee shops

Coffee in Australia all seems to be some variation on the espresso theme, whereas drip-brewed coffee is the mainstay these days in the USA (having replaced percolated coffee in the 1970s).

One thing I miss from Australia is Anzac biscuits.

-Paul W.

Keep 'em coming!

My Swedish friend was dismayed when in UK with the difficulty of buying dill, which is ubiquitous on dishes in Sweden

[Jenise]

You know another thing I did miss when I left the UK? McVittie's digestive biscuits. But now that I live near Vancouver: reunited!

McVities Digestive biscuits are a staple at our place. I like a couple of digestive biscuits with mango chutney and sharp cheddar cheese with my soup at lunch time.

Coffee in Australia all seems to be some variation on the espresso theme, whereas drip-brewed coffee is the mainstay these days in the USA (having replaced percolated coffee in the 1970s).

You mean the famous "flat white"?

Does the UK still hate root beer?

J

A lot of the British stuff you want is no further than the Canadian border - good back bacon, well made fish and chips, and hot mustard (most of the British mustard as well as French comes from produce grown in Canada anyway).

We also have HP sauce - surprised you have trouble finding it down there.