Wining and Dining in England

I’ve written about my housing, so I figure the next step in my Domestic Report is on the food over here. I have to admit, the food over here isn’t radically different from what you’d find in the US. Sure, there are a few quirks.

For example:

-They are very big on parsnips over here. Mashed parsnips, fresh parsnips, frozen parsnips, parsnips and potatoes… I will have to try my hand at cooking some parsnips one of these days.

-I can’t find turkeys in the grocery store. I know they’re a New World domesticate, but can’t believe they haven’t exported some over here. Have seen lots of chicken and duck, though.

-Marmite. Not that jam-like stuff made with oranges. Not the woodchuck-like creature that lives in North America. Marmite is a yeast spread. Brits tried to describe it to me, and it just sounded worse and worse. Apparently, it takes a very special person to be able to eat this stuff, but it’s still considered a national treasure. The English equivalent of haggis, perhaps?

-Digestive biscuits. The name sounds kind of gross, but all it means is “graham cracker shaped like a cookie.” Sometimes they even come half-dipped in chocolate. Mmm….

-Generic brand beer. Seriously. I saw a guy at the Morrisons supermarket with a Morrisons brand lager 6-pack.

-The Brtis are obsessed with Cheddar. In the cheese section, it’s a safe bet that at least 70% of the selection will be different types of cheddar.

-It is almost impossible to find a box with only 20 bags of tea.  They usually come in boxes of 40, 50, or 80 tea bags. I am certainly glad I like the varieties I’ve chosen- otherwise, I would have had a lot of unwanted tea on my hands.

-Pickle doesn’t necessarily mean pickled cucumbers, and flavor varies wildly. Caveat emptor!

-High fructose corn syrup is no longer a concern: everything’s made with cane sugar or similar natural sweeteners.

-The Fanta over here is made with real fruit juice. You can see the pulp settle in the bottom of the bottle. Pulp! In soda!

-The plums over here are tiny. Maybe half the size of plums in the US. They must give American plums steroids or something to make them that big… They also have really tiny lemons. And tiny zucchini. Lots of cute, tiny produce, really…

-Speaking of tiny, the grocery stores over here are really single-person friendly. They sell part of a head of broccoli, ½ pound of ground beef, ½ of a cucumber, 1 pint of milk, a carton of 4 eggs. For someone with limited fridge space and only one person to feed, it’s really nice.

Things I’ve started eating/drinking since coming to Britain:

-Wine: After several wine and cheese socials during the introduction weeks, I finally decided I was just going to drink it and like it. To my surprise, it isn’t all that bad. I still have to stay away from anything expressly labeled “dry” though, and whites have been more palatable than reds.

-Cucumbers: They come on a lot of sandwiches over here, and I have simply given up avoiding them and picking them off things. Not all that bad, actually. I’m not quite sure why I hated them so vehemently.

-Tea: Kind of a staple of life in Britain. I was half convinced that they wouldn’t let you into the country until you proved you could drink tea. And with how crappy their coffee is, I now understand why everyone over here drinks a lot of tea. And it is very calming.

-Also, I may have to reverse my fiercely negative opinion of gravy granules.

Out and About:A Sampling of Restaurant Culture

-Cider, cider, cider: For the person who doesn’t like beer, but still would like to order something cheap on tap, England is heaven. Hard cider is big over here, and actually comes in several varieties. Some are nastier than others (Strongbow!), and some are good, but harder to find on tap (Gaymers). They even have pear ciders. It’s nice to be able to order a pint, and no one’s the wiser that you don’t like beer. Plus, the cider over here is delicious. For those who do like beer, the options are often extensive.

-Cheese-lover’s heaven: At the local pub the archaeologists frequent, you can order something called a Cheese Board. This consists of four varieties of cheese and crusty bread, served on a wooden cutting board. Stilton, Brie, Red Leicester, mozzarella… Amazing.

-Traditional English Breakfast: Having opted for the morning meal at the Your Hostel on the Hadrian’s Wall trip, I was excited to see what was included in a traditional English breakfast. What I discovered was that the Brits are obsessed with protein when it comes to their morning meal. The menu included eggs, baked beans, bacon (which is really more like Canadian bacon), sausage, some form of bread with butter and jam, yogurt, and fruit. I am assured that this is not a common breakfast menu, but rather something for special occasions or eating out. Still, protein overload!

-Yes, you can find a good cheeseburger at an English restaurant.

-There is a Subway restaurant in my dorm complex. It’s a bit surreal for me, since I don’t really associate Subway with European food. Ah, globalization…

-Two most common types of restaurants I’ve seen so far (besides pubs)? Curry houses and fast food fried chicken places. The curry I understand, the chicken I don’t.

Tune in  next time for more travel reports. Up next: The Great Hadrian's Wall Adventure!