Brits Eat..?

spotted dick in a can
My original thought was that I needed to come up with something in honor of Gary Gygax now that he has passed on to that campaign setting in the sky. This may still happen after I’ve finally come to accept its truth. Until then, I’ve made some startling discovery at what our friends the British apparently eat.

As a disclaimer, yeah, McDonalds is from over here and it’s gross. I’m sure there are other nasty things that make it out of our borders that I don’t eat, like Jello. As far as I’m concerned, none of it comes even remotely close to what I have discovered…

1. Spotted Dick: This is one I’d actually heard of. What I didn’t know is that it comes in a can. Also horrifying is that on this can it says you can microwave it. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, because last I checked metal cans and microwaves don’t mix. I knew this, but didn’t know the extent of it until my little sister blew up the microwave trying to make Jello one day.

I have not tried spotted dick, but one of my friends has (see photographic evidence). Let’s see what she has to say on the matter:
eating spotted dick

“It’s as good as can be expected considering it’s cake from a can cooked in boiled water…”

I think that’s as good a review as we’re going to get.

2. Mr. Brain’s 4 Pork Faggots in a Rich West Country Sauce: I barely know where to begin. I am trying to figure out what about this meal is a faggot. I am searching my definitions… homosexual man? No. Bundle of sticks? Nope. Measuring those bundles of sticks? No again. Cigarette? Uh-uh. All right… I’m just going to have to assume that one of these weird meatballs is also known as a faggot.

Pork Faggots

My next question is what is so west about this sauce. The spotted dick friend tells me: “…the West Country (where my Brit ancestors originally hailed from) is a region of England.” This is good to know, but it tells me little about the sauce. Another friend who tried the ‘faggots’ recalled the experience like a horror story. She had this to say on the matter:

“I shudder to remember. This was back when I was eating meat, but no amount of creepy processed fast-food spaaaaaaaaaace meat could have prepared me for this. Pork faggots are basically these meat balls made not out of what we would typically define as “meat”, but instead is ground up pig’s liver and possibly some other organs covered in some disgusting gravy. Ugggh!”

So far, spotted dick in a can is better than microwavable Mr. Brain’s pork faggots.

Toad in the Hole
3. Toad In The Hole: So… you put sausages in “Yorkshire pudding” batter and bake ’em. Now I’m out of willing candidates to try these things, but my spotted dick friend did have this to say:

“Oh, SHIT, Toad in the Hole? That looks terrible. TERRIBLE.”

Brits need to stop taking their sausages and putting them in everything! …

…!

…we’ve already mentioned spotted dick, so I’m sure that couldn’t have sounded much worse.

Also on the subject of Brits and sausage…

4. Black Pudding: It’s sausage made with congealed blood. Brits like sausage apparently, and need variations.

5. Brawn apparently is a sausage form of head cheese. This has nothing to do with cheese, but everything to do with a head of a calf, pig, or sheep. It also can contain meat from the feet or heart. It’s even eaten cold. At least then we won’t smell it if someone reheats it. Thank heavens for small favors. I am not posting a picture as I’m afraid to try and find one.

Alright. This is about as much on the subject I can look into right now. If any Brits are out there reading this, we could use some insight into your cuisine. I for one, don’t get it. This is coming from someone who loves sushi, so I’m thinking the average American would be even more lost.

I guess my biggest questions are, do you actually eat this stuff, eat it often, and like it? …or is this just food propaganda that makes it across the borders to frighten us? I mean, there’s fish and chips, and that’s great.

Inquiring minds in the U.S. want to know!

  • Okay, a few points.

    Spotted Dick – I’m sure the instructions will point this out, but if you do microwave your spotted dick, you remove it from the tin first.
    And always serve it with Custard. This goes for all british steamed puddings with the exception of chocolate ones. (Treacle tart should be server with a toffee sauce ideally though.) Spotted dick isn’t as good as a Jam Roly-Poly to my mind, but to each their own.
    Also, it should be noted that the “in a tin” version is never as good as the proper home-cooked one.
    We don’t get to eat these often, as we don’t own a microwave, and boiling these puddings takes ages. We used to eat them at Uni quite frequently though.

    Brain’s Faggots – and I think faggots generally just comes from meaning bundles of anything much. (Which is pretty much what they are.) are just kinda meaty balls of stuff… The contents are going to be no worse than the average sausage, but I still haven’t eaten these since I passed 11 years old. (Although they just kinda tasted like gravy, even then.)

    Toad in the Hole – again, depends on the quality of the product, but generally it’s a delicious dish. You get all the meatiness of your sausage, and a nice cakey batter instead of having to have potatoes or something. Can be quite greasy though. Also I should add a side note about yorkshire puddings, which are savoury batter cakes, usually served with a roast dinner (generally beef.) They’re an excellent absorber of gravy, and because they usually form little cup shapes children love to fill them with gravy, and wait for them to start leaking.
    Both of these dishes are staples of British cooking, and many families don’t consider Sunday to be complete without a roast dish and yorkshire puddings.

    Black pudding – or “blood sausage” apparantly for colonial types. Are delicious, horribly bad for you, and eaten by the french as well. French black puddings tend to have chunks of white in them, which is fat. British ones will have oats or wheat in them, I can’t remember which. Much like haggis, black pudding is meaty and spicey and an excellent addition to a friend breakfast.
    These are commonly eaten by anyone who has their breakfast at a “greasy spoon” style cafe. (Pronounce caff by the people who frequent them, generally builders.)

    Regarding the british need for sausage variations, you ain’t seen nothing yet. There’s a sausage shop just down the road which servers about 30 different kinds of sausage, and that doesn’t even include the more common regional sausages. Basically everyone everywhere makes their sausages differently (and out of different things), nothing beats Pork and Apple though. Although I’m quite fond of the sausage they sell which is made of pork and maple syrup.

    I’ve never eaten Brawn though, I think that’s a myth.

    It should also be noted, that the two most popular dishes in Britain are Indian Curry (usually actually versions of Bangladeshi or Pakistani curries invented in Britain, such as the infamous Balti) followed by Fish and chips. We’ve become so good at curry that we export them back to India.

    All that being said, at home most of the food we eat is of Italian derivation, or Thai.

  • :D Thanks for clearing some of this up, Massif!

    “And always serve it with Custard.”

    My friend who ate the spotted dick did not do so with any topping. Perhaps we need to redo this.

    “I’m sure the instructions will point this out, but if you do microwave your spotted dick, you remove it from the tin first.”

    You have to understand that in the U.S., people have sued coffee places for their hot coffee burning them. Now takeout coffee cups from eateries need warnings on them that the beverage is hot, lest they be held liable. So, if it says Microwave and has no warning on it… some idiot will do it and sue.

    “Spotted dick isn’t as good as a Jam Roly-Poly”

    !!!! Dead Man’s Leg?!? Holy crap! Crazy! …the recipe looks good though- so long as it is not steamed and served in an old shirt sleeve as done traditionally (are they serious?).

    You guys are really into your puddings too. Sausage and pudding are your staples?

    “…proper home-cooked one.”

    Until we find a proper, genuine British cook States side, we’ll have to make due.

    “…we don’t own a microwave,”

    What? How?

    “Brain’s Faggots… I still haven’t eaten these since I passed 11 years old.”

    So, while I was eating peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and ramen…

    “…a roast dinner…”

    Okay, that I can understand.

    “Much like haggis, black pudding is meaty and spicey and an excellent addition to a friend breakfast.”

    You lost me again. Haggis is weird enough, but for breakfast? Isn’t that a bit heavy?

    “I’m quite fond of the sausage they sell which is made of pork and maple syrup.”

    Okay, now we’re back into the realm of overlap. The ‘traditional breakfast’ over here has pork breakfast sausages, often containing maple syrup or people will pour it over them.

    “I’ve never eaten Brawn though, I think that’s a myth.”

    And I was afraid it was all true. At least the weirdest of the weird got thrown out. *phew*

    “the two most popular dishes in Britain are Indian Curry followed by Fish and chips. We’ve become so good at curry that we export them back to India.”

    That’s a load off my mind. When I do get around to visiting England there will be things I can eat without being adventurous.

    “…at home most of the food we eat is of Italian derivation, or Thai”

    I’d say for the average American (at least in the North), most of it is Italian derived too. Thai food is considered weird to all but the open minded and city folk.

    We’re such a big country- it’s hard for me to speak for the whole when most of my life has been in New England.

  • The Cowboy

    1) McDonald’s is not food. http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/06/mcdonalds_exper.html
    It’s part of an alien plot to kill the humans.
    2) When I was in England, I didn’t notice anything too inedible (I certainly wasn’t served anything called spotted dick). The family I stayed with though, made their own wine from strawberries and blueberries (rather than grapes). It was awesome. I wish I could get some more of that.
    However,
    3) In Germany, I was served something I was never able to identify. It’s been suggested that it was a dish that somehow involved some kind of brains. I’m not sure, however, whatever it was, I kindof liked it. Okay, I really liked it. I hope it wasn’t brains. That’s also the first last and only time I’ve ever eaten rabbit. … okay I liked that too….

  • 1) I believe it without even clicking on the link.

    2 & 3) If you didn’t notice you were eating brains in Germany, who knows what you were eating in England.

    But then, maybe these things taste great. Who knows? They just have scary names, look funny, and contain things I’m not used to in my diet.

    I’ve also heard most of these dishes are pretty bad for you. I know the U.S. has a problem with obesity and malnutrition, but I can’t imagine eating much greasy sounding food high in saturated fat is good for you either.

    I like sausage, I’ll admit, but I can feel my pores questioning my tounge as I eat them. Eating a bunch of it just sounds dangerous.

    How often do you eat sausage, Massif?

    This article is from last year, but it’s about a boy accused of assaulting someone with a sausage in the UK.

  • Also, I’d like to point out that I meant “fried breakfast” when talking about sausages and haggis being excellent additions.

    How often do I eat sausage? Well, sausage and mash from the sausage shop has become a tradition on Wednesdays, so at least twice a week. I don’t have a fried breakfast normally as my brain doesn’t really start functioning until much later than breakfast time, and I don’t want to risk setting fire to the house.

    I would point out that combining such things as maple syrup with pork is not something normally done in the UK (and the sausages mentioned don’t have very much in them). Generally we think you yankees are extremely odd because of the way you combine sweet and fatty. It is also held as a sacred belief in the UK that having maple syrup on sausage or bacon is the major reason Americans are reputedly all obese, and when we start doing it over here it’ll be the downfall of society as we know it.

    Which reminds me, those adverts for “Chilli’s” which we managed to get on TV in Belize while I was lying indoors with sunburned scared me, because of the way they proudly pointed out their bacon was roasted with sugar. Seriously…? Generally speaking British food is much more savoury than the US versions, even down to our bread. (US hamburger buns are practically cake for heaven’s sake.)

    Anyway, on the subject of UK foodstuffs, organic, local and fairtrade food has become an obsession across the country in the last year or two. As such British food is generally reaching a pretty high quality. We’re not quite up with France yet, but give us a few more years.

    Oh, and as for how we live without a microwave, that would be because we cook almost everything from scratch at home. I’ve become a bit of a foody and control freak, whereas my wife grew up quite poor and she always had to cook everything from scratch. About the only thing we routinely eat that isn’t prepared from raw ingredients (aside from sausages that is) is stuffed fresh pasta. (and Ice-Cream I suppose.) A microwave would only be used in our house as a rapid de-frosting machine, and as such we can’t be bothered sacrificing the precious work-surface to have one. We don’t even have a toaster for heaven’s sake.

  • SteveJ

    No toaster!?!?! What kind of barbarianess is this? I have lived my life without a microwave (canned food and sandwiches being my primary staples), but no toaster? I don’t even USE my toaster and I can’t imagine this. They’re like $10 US which has to be, 2p in UK right? They take up .75 ft2. My british (and some welsh) friends seem to eat A LOT of toast (and bitterly complain about US bread as well), but I always assumed they used a toaster. You do eat toast, right? Do you use a wrench on screws?

    I once made grilled cheese with an iron…maybe that’s how it’s done. Works ok, but you really can’t use the iron on clothes after that.

  • We have very little work surface in our kitchen. A toaster would literally take up too much room.

    We use the grill, it’s slow and inefficient, but there you go. We don’t actually eat a lot of toast, so it’s not a major problem.

  • “…sausage and mash from the sausage shop has become a tradition on Wednesdays, so at least twice a week.”

    Okay, that’s not so bad. I got an image of fried breakfast, Mr. Brain’s Faggot for lunch, and toad in the hole for dinner. :)

    “…you yankees are extremely odd because of the way you combine sweet and fatty”

    No, you’re weird. Sweet + savory is a winning combination.

    “…the major reason Americans are reputedly all obese.”

    It’s more of a amount of processed foods thing I believe. Add that to extreme inactivity, and you have your average American. Though, if on average we’re sitting at a desk working 60 hours a week… it’s no surprise we don’t cook or exercise.

    “UK foodstuffs, organic, local and fairtrade food has become an obsession across the country in the last year or two”

    Here too. That’s good.

    “…we cook almost everything from scratch at home.”

    But what about heating up leftovers? Do you not have them, or do you just always use a pan?

    The only way I have time to cook my own meals is leftovers and microwave.

    “…stuffed fresh pasta. (and Ice-Cream I suppose.)”

    We’re not so different… :)

    “…sacrificing the precious work-surface…”

    I can sort of understand this having a livin-kitchen. I’ve had to be creative about what to do with my ‘kitchen gadgets’. For the most part, I just put them away in the cupboard when not using them. That’s easier than grilling toast or a bagel. (Also, I don’t have a grill- this is the first apartment I’ve had with a real yard)

    “toasters…$10 US”

    Mine was $5. Booyah thriftiness. It has a Pop Tart setting which I find amusing. There’s another ‘food’ I’d be embarrassed to associate myself with.

  • SteveJ

    “We use the grill, it’s slow and inefficient, but there you go. We don’t actually eat a lot of toast, so it’s not a major problem.”

    Is there any advantage to grilling? I find when I make a grilled cheese it’s much better if I put it on low heat and fry it for what seems like an hour.

    “It has a Pop Tart setting which I find amusing. There’s another ‘food’ I’d be embarrassed to associate myself with.”

    LOL. I actually just set up a subscription with amazon to get my pop tarts delivered (brown sugar UNfrosted). I can’t find them here anywhere, only the frosted kind, ewww. I don’t toast them though, I eat them with my coffee. They’re like 1000000 grams of sugar a pop though, so I usually only get through half of one before I have to put it aside.

  • “a grilled cheese it’s much better if I put it on low heat and fry it for what seems like an hour.”

    Anything is better fried a bunch… Better tasting at least.

    “…set up a subscription with amazon to get my pop tarts delivered…”

    Now that is 100% pure American geek.

    “I don’t toast them though, I eat them with my coffee. ”

    Pop Tarts- the American version of biscotti…? Do you put sugar in your coffee too? At least they’re not frosted on top of it all.

    I’m getting a good idea of what a British blog post about American food would be like…

  • SteveJ

    “Do you put sugar in your coffee too”

    I only drink sugar in my coffee if it’s some fru-fru starbucks thing. Otherwise just black.

    “I’m getting a good idea of what a British blog post about American food would be like…”

    Grits

    Going along with Massif’s complaint: https://www.jimmydean.com/sitecontent/pancakes-sausage/2007/10/10/pancakes-and-sausage-on-a-stick-chocolate-chip.aspx

    Fruit flavored snacks (and every other kind of “convenient sugar in a box” snack that appears good for you).

    pickled eggs

    velveeta / cheezwiz

    spam

    beef jerky

    Doesn’t seem fair to go into chitlins, burgoo, sweetmeats, etc, even americans think that’s bizarre.

  • “Grits”

    That’s southern. It doesn’t count. ;)

    “spam”

    No one actually eats this anymore. Spam is like WWII food.

    “pickled eggs”

    Never had one, never even seen one. Are you sure this is American?

    “velveeta / cheezwiz”

    Yes, cheese product is a strange, scary American widespread thing.