Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Food, glorious food


Okay, it's Holy Week at last, so my fasting of chocolate, candy and desserts is nearly at an end. I think that I've done okay, as well as finding out who my true friends are (I still love you Lyn)! Part of being tempted by anything is thinking about it and this has given me cause to think of food I miss, food I like and food I dislike.

What food do I miss from England? Not as much as I would have first thought but here is a list:
Meat pies (they are not readily obtainable here, the Americans think of a pie as being mainly dessert), especially Cornish Pasties (the genuine article, not the normal supermarket imitations), pork pies (Melton Mowbray of course), and steak and kidney pies - Mmmmm! On the sweeter side I also miss Battenberg cake (although a friend did bring me some on her return from a visit to London, thanks Hannah). Jacobs custard creams - now there's a real biscuit (not a cookie). McVites digestives you can get here, at a horrendous price though and good old Bird's Custard powder is available too. Cadbury's chocolate is missed terribly. Again, I'm talking about the real stuff, not the poor imitation made under license by Hershey's. Finally, I never thought I would say this, but I do miss the occasional British Banger. I do enjoy American sausage, but wouldn't mind savoring a tasty Cumberland sausage.

What American food do I like? Nearly all Southern foods for sure. Most of it isn't good for me I know, but all things in moderation. I love grits, fried chicken, okra, clam chowder, chicken dumplings and barbecue (the dish, not the grille). I enjoy waffles and/or pancakes for breakfast, biscuits and gravy, glazed donuts and horror of horrors to the average English, iced tea. The latter took some getting used to believe me.

And what don't I like? Hardly anything really, in fact probably the same foods I didn't like in Europe. The one which springs to mind (and I still won't eat) are Brussels sprouts - Ugh?

Can I hear lunch being prepared? Oh yes, I've worked up quite an appetite writing this.