The English are not known for their
fantastic culinary arts; yet, they remain proud of their food and serve it with
confidence. At the local grocery store,
called Waitrose, items are labelled as such: British chicken breasts, British
sausage, British bacon, British honey, British cherries, and English tea. Of course, these are only a few examples. In the US we do not go to the local Big Y and
look for American chicken breasts, or American bacon, but we could find some
English tea.
Also, if you walk into a coffee
shop and order a coffee, do not expect to receive what you would in the US…
even if you order a simple coffee with cream.
Upon requesting what’s called an “Americano”
you will be asked “black or white?” The
first time I was asked that, I was slightly taken aback. Of course I knew the barista was asking if
I would like cream in my coffee; still, I couldn’t help thinking about how many
people would take that simple question for racism in the US. Oh I can just imagine the celebrities who
would be bashed for asking their guests if they wanted black or white coffee. Anyways, when the coffee arrived, it was all
frothy and I wondered if I ordered some specialty coffee on accident. Then when I realized that all coffee shops
serve regular coffee this way, I finally realized that they actually heat the
milk before putting it in so it does not cool down the coffee. Hmm… interesting concept, I might try that at
home. Then when I went to the side to
add sugar into my coffee, I found several types of add-ins. There is a cinnamon shaker, a nutmeg shaker, a
vanilla powder shaker, and yes, even a shaker for grated chocolate. But where is the sugar and what are these
brown crystals? It turns out; English
people put brown sugar in their coffee.
There was regular white sugar as well which I used because I wasn’t
brave enough to put brown sugar in my coffee.
Okay so
that’s coffee. The place where I stop
for coffee every morning is a charming little shop called “Wot The Dickens.” It
is owned by a family and has been open for a long time. I was told to go there for an authentic
traditional English breakfast.
Every
morning, the gentleman who serves my coffee asks me to stay and order
breakfast. I tell him that I can’t
because I have to get to class. He told
me that I should wake up earlier. So I told him that I would have breakfast
there on Saturday. He responds with “We’re
closed on Saturday.” I thought he was
joking because I was warned that the English invented sarcasm. He wasn’t joking. So, they are only open for breakfast during
the week and I would have to go before class. Great. So I decided I would go on Tuesday
because I was having my exam that day at noon and there was no regular class
for that day. This way, I would NOT be waking up earlier than usual. Before I left I noticed this clock on the
wall.
Anyone who knows me knows that I
collect interesting clocks. This clock
had the dial in the middle, but instead of numbers had various knick knacks. I loved it so I asked if I could take a
picture. They said of course, but warned
me that there was a pattern in the knick knacks so they will be checking the
shops in the US and they better not find their clock. They were teasing me of course.
So today is Tuesday. I was told this was THE place to go for a
traditional English breakfast, but I didn’t realize they actually have a menu
item called “Traditional English Breakfast.”
Okay, I’ll have that, and my coffee of course. I was asked “white or brown?” Now, by this time the gentleman knew that I
drank my coffee white, but why was he asking me this? He was referring to the toast. Ok, I’ll have brown toast. The food arrived and it was Bacon, sausage, hash
brown, toast with a runny egg on top, toast with sautéed mushrooms and onions
on top, and toast with baked beans on top, yup baked beans. Oh, and a half tomato, fried.
I wanted nothing to do with the tomato so I
put that to the side. The sausage was…different
in flavour. The bacon was wonderful! It
wasn’t streaked with fat, it was thick and meaty. The hash brown was about the same as what we
could get in the US. Now, the
toast. I do not eat runny egg; my fried
eggs must be cooked all the way through so it was difficult to eat without
gagging. I just thought of my mother
eating runny fried eggs, and she is still alive…so that’s what got me through. Then I tried the toast with the mushrooms and
onions. I love mushrooms and onions; I
just never had them on toast before. That
was good. Last, was the baked beans on
toast. They were not brown baked beans
in a brown sugar sauce like in the US.
Oh no, these beans were white and served in a tomato sauce. It was tolerable but I don’t know
that it would be a hit in the US.
All in all, I have enjoyed this
culinary cultural experience thus far.
The British may not be famous for their skills in the kitchen, but they
sure are proud of their fish and chips (found on every corner) and their
English tea. Culture comes from beliefs and values. Therefore, "good food" is relative to the location in which it was made. I think it is misleading to say "The English aren't known for good food" because to them, their food is bloody awesome! That is why they are able to serve baked beans on toast with confidence.
