WTF Food

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Page 14 of the This Is The Most Recent Recipe Thread thread, post #198. We've analyzed biscuits to death somewhere around here.

Most of my acquaintance with scones has been through Starbucks. A rather dry, crumbly but somewhat soft texture, moderate sweetness, sundry pastry flavors. Possibly glazed on top. Good with coffee, best eaten over a table or plate to catch the crumbs. Not remotely like the American biscuit, a quick-raised simple bread type starch food.

[Perry Winkle]

Here's some WTF for you: British sandwiches. They are absolutely horrible. They're usually a "filling," or a (thin) slice of meat and a slice of cheese, with or without "salad" and possibly mayo or mustard. They're anemic.

Fillings are things like egg mayonnaise (egg salad), ham salad, savory cheese salad (WTF!?! Ok, it's like that polenta cheese spread shit my mom loves... BLECH) and prawn salad (mmm, grey shrimp and mayo!). I'm not going to mention the pastes (salmon, chicken, for example) *shudder*

When I get back home, I'm going to have to spend a month in NY eating at delis.

[Perry Winkle]

Another WTF. This time about Newcastle. There is one bakery in the Newcastle city center, and it's a chain (Peter's Bakery).

Ok, it's true that Marks & Spencer and Fenwick bake stuff, but they don't count. There's also a little Polish cafe in the ghetto shopping center (The Newgate) that bakes some stuff. Their stuff is good, though they really focus more on the "cafe" aspect, if you know what I mean.

[DanaC]

Perry, just go to a subway and get a proper sandwich. The sandwiches Brits really like aren't the ones you get in shops. They really are an anaemic version. The proper British Butty is a 'doorstep'. Very thick bread, with thick fillings.

[monster]

Subway's American.

I hear you Perry, although I do enjoy sandwiches with only one or two things in them so you can really taste them -just a hell of a lot more than you get in the limp cardboard triangles. Here is seems compulsory that every sandwich comes with lettuce, tomato and cheese, and whilst I know you can leave all those things out, it then feels like you're not getting your money's worth. How do the prices of Subway sandwiches there compare to the triangles in plastic boxes? In fact was is the price of a 6" sub? And what's the price of a cheeseburger in McDonalds in the UK? I've been wondering these things.

[monster]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

Page 14 of the This Is The Most Recent Recipe Thread thread, post #198. We've analyzed biscuits to death somewhere around here..

Some discussion are worth repeating. Like the one about how annoying you can be

[DanaC]

Subway's American.

Yeah, I know, I was directing him towards American sarnies that are available in the UK. They don't sell doorsteps

[DanaC]

@UG.....you glaze scones?

[Perry Winkle]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Perry, just go to a subway and get a proper sandwich. The sandwiches Brits really like aren't the ones you get in shops. They really are an anaemic version. The proper British Butty is a 'doorstep'. Very thick bread, with thick fillings.

Subway is disgusting, though I do get their meatball sub occasionally. I wouldn't touch their lunch meat for anything.

I'm not just talking about those prepacked horrors that American's never see outside of vending machines. Even the mom & pop sandwich shops here serve anemic sandwiches: enormous amount of bread with nothing in between.

Originally Posted by monster

I hear you Perry, although I do enjoy sandwiches with only one or two things in them so you can really taste them -just a hell of a lot more than you get in the limp cardboard triangles. Here is seems compulsory that every sandwich comes with lettuce, tomato and cheese, and whilst I know you can leave all those things out, it then feels like you're not getting your money's worth. How do the prices of Subway sandwiches there compare to the triangles in plastic boxes? In fact was is the price of a 6" sub? And what's the price of a cheeseburger in McDonalds in the UK? I've been wondering these things.

I like simple sandwiches, too. One of my favorite things is pastrami and swiss on rye bread with mustard. Simple, simple, simple.

I almost always get my sandwiches vegetable-free. If I'm buying a sandwich the only way I'm getting my money's worth is to get it the way I'll enjoy it most.

Triangle sandwiches are usually between £1.10 and £3, unless you go to a "fancier" place. I think you can find them for more than £3.00 at places like Starbucks and Pret a manger. A 6" sub at Subway is between £2 and £3. I haven't eaten at a McDonald's in 6 years or so. But I know from the ads I've seen that you can get a single cheeseburger on the £1 menu; I don't know what a quarter pounder or the like costs. I'll have to go look, now that I'm curious.

I try to avoid American chains, but their food is actually much better here than in America...

A large Pizza Hut pizza is about £12. A burger at TGI Friday's is about £8, and comes with really friggen good fries. The prices at pubs with edible food are similar, but I can't afford that very frequently.

Besides the fact that triangle sandwiches and 6" subs aren't enough to sate me, for 50p more I can go next door and get a small kabob that will fill me up for hours, even if it makes me a tad ill.

That said, there are a lot of things I love here when it comes to food. Cadbury, Milka, certain brands and flavors of ready meals, Gregg's lemon muffins (75p, up from 70p), the huge variety of crisps in ungodly flavors, really good chips if you search for them, the staggering amount of Polish, Middle Eastern and Indian restaurants.

[DanaC]

There's quite a lot of regional variation in food Perry. This is true of pastries and sandwiches. Different parts of the country tend towards different types of flavour and texture (though there are a few staples that are everywhere).

[Perry Winkle]

One of the more charming food habits here is the mostly eaten styrofoam take-away container smashed faced down into the sidewalk. These usually co-occur with piles of puke.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by Perry Winkle

One of the more charming food habits here is the mostly eaten styrofoam take-away container smashed faced down into the sidewalk. These usually co-occur with piles of puke.

Revolting, anti-social and it disgusts decent minded Brits too.
If I did that in front of my Mum (not that I would do it behind her back!) she'd probably still wallop me.

Remember that you are in a foreign country. We have different sandwiches than you grew up with is all. I happen to like them. Occasionally I will splurge on a deli sandwich or bagel or baguette that serves as a meal, but to me - and to most Brits - sandwiches are traditionally part of High Tea. Therefore they are served with a whole host of other items. I'm not suggesting that most people buy supermarket sandwiches to serve with boiled eggs, teacakes, fresh tomatoes, cups of tea et al. But it's how they developed. I like a simple ham & mustard on wholegrain bread.

I do agree about the salad thing though.

Get thee to London child. I'll show you things you never dreamed of.

[BrianR]

Originally Posted by jinx

Damn Rich, that pancake is almost as big as the ones at Jennie's truck stop in Lancaster! It's hilarious to hear the truckers whine about their waistlines when their shortstack shows up...

Been there. Fine flapjacks they have too. But I'm TRYING to gain a few so I eat up! With extra syrup. And butter, toast and slather on the jelly please!

Yum!

[Aliantha]

What I think is confusing is how Americans seem to call pretty much everything a sandwich if it's some kind of bread whether it's in the form of a roll or slices of any kind of bread. Like subway for instance. Over here we wouldn't call that particular combination a sandwich. We'd probably call it something like a salad roll or a meatball roll. (I don't like subway either. Everything seems to taste pretty much the same there no matter what topping you get.)

The confusion starts when Americans start talking about burgers, which can basically consist of all the same ingredients (some kind of hot meat and salad) a subway sandwich would have except it's on a round roll instead. Do you not put salad ingredients such as lettuce and beetroot and carrot on burgers over there? Then there's hotdogs. This I understand refers to either the sausage or the roll (can't remember which now), but over here, a frankfurt (red sausage) on a long roll (hotdog bun) equals a hotdog. Neither of the individual ingredients are referred to as hotdogs without being encased in or encasing the other then being topped with whatever you want on it in the way of sauces and fried onion or bacon or cheese etc.

I think our menus here are more similar to British as far as sandwiches go. There is a lot of variation from place to place here. Some places do good sandwiches, and others do shit ones. Mostly in sandwich bars you only get a choice of white or wholemeal bread though, and a choice of salad or meat toppings with the usual condiments.

[jinx]

Originally Posted by BrianR

Been there. Fine flapjacks they have too. But I'm TRYING to gain a few so I eat up! With extra syrup. And butter, toast and slather on the jelly please!

Yum!

Next time you're thee, get the turkey dinner. It's seriously enough food for 3 or 4 people.... turkey, dressing, mashed, saffron gravy, soup and 2 veggies for like $8. Brilliant hang-over food.