aries

I certainly agree about the coleslaw! I would also like to have crumbed or grilled fish instead of battered, but as yet fish and chip shops show no interest. Thus I miss out. I even asked at a fish and chip shop with an Australian name in Lincolnshire, but although the owners had lived in Oz for many years and knew of different ways of providing fish and chips Down Under, they said there was no demand for it in England. However, I believe fish and chip shop owners show no interest in change, the status quo is simpler for them. At one shop the people thought I was crazy, but then suggested they could batter the fish, scrape it off and dip it in their deep fry!!

I would also like chips to be less soggy, but once again it seems to be the thing in Britain, battered fish, soft chips and mushy peas. It is a sickly combination, I prefer Chinese and Thai food.

jasper123

Hello ukwinds,
what you say here made me think of years ago in the 70,s 80,s and 90,s when I would come back to England for a visit on my usual visit every 5 years for 3 weeks holiday,
Food was always 100% british, never would you see a hint of American food anywhere, let alone southern food, and there was no problem with that --- just saying, well then all of a sudden a while back, cant really recall how many years ago I first noticed it but Im thinking maybe the late 90,s or say 2000, well then I would start to notice american food products slowly drifting into the stores in UK ----- like for example carrot slaw, potatoe salad, cole slaw, tarter sauce, mayonaise, (but I do miss my Miricle Whip) lots of varietys of salad dressings as an alternitive to the good old british salad cream, and suddenly I would see advacadoes, pumpkins, ke-wee fruit,

and over more recent years the U.K. stores of course are still full of all our favourite British delights that we all love just as always, but now also just about every type of American food you can think of like ----- packaged meat loaf, frozen pizzas, lassauna, chocolate covered custard filled doughnuts Hmmm
and even macoroni & cheese (together) in the box
BQ ribs, ---- oh and Barbaques have really got as popular here now as they have always been in the States,
Since Ive been here I have also noticed a few southern foods like black eyed peas in the can, and pinto beans,
But as I was married for 8 years to an American Black Woman while I was living in Reno ----- I got a liking for a lot of southern dishes that she often cooked like Collard Greens (cant find them here) and ham hogs & black eyed peas, some hot sauce, and all cooked very slowly for hours on a low heat, and served with cornbread which she made from scratch, hmmm heaven, she also taught me how to cook those potatoes, you know where you cut the potatoes into slices, boil them, then dump out most water and adding some milk and butter and I think cheese, she called them smothered potatoes I think, did she bake it in a cassorole dish? I cant remember, but they were great,
And in Reno at that time in the 80's there was a southern style resturaunt, owned and operated by this lovely older black couple, it was not very big maybe 12 tables so some times you had to wait a little while for a seat cause they were always so busy because the food was so good, everything!!!
we went in there once every week for a special treat, we really looked forward to that, all the food was home made right there in front of your eyes,
and the prices were so reasonable, you could go in the morning for breakfast or in afternoon for lunch/dinner, the breakfast would be a full southern style served with grits and home made buiscuits & gravy on the side, dinners well you had about I think 6 or 7 dishes to choose from, and whatever you chose was a true pleasurable eating experience,
and the atmosphere was so down to earth and friendly, I can still remember that lovely smell that came from that restaraunt, I doubt if its still there though, but I miss it a lot,
ukwinds I can see you are quite serious about this venture of the Restaraunt,
I doubt if it would work in a small village or town here in UK but I really do think that it would catch on in a big way in a big city here, but choosing a suitible location would be the most important thing, I dont think it would work here in my city of Portsmouth, not quite sure why but its just my feeling that the people here are just too stuck in there ways and a large elderly population here,
But a real safe bet would be of course the melting pot London, especially around an area where a lot of the 1 million Americans live, and think of all the U.S. tourists too,
I think Manchester would also work, and Birmingham too, and anywhere in Yorkshire as long as the city was big enough, I dont think it would work for example anywhere like Devon/Cornwall/Plymouth,
Baring in mind that Pub food is very popular here, so you would have to set your prices about the same say as a two course pub meal so to be competative, maybe just a little more then weatherspoons pubs which is the big nationwide chain here,
I have had thoughts myself of opening a simular restaurant that would serve good old home cooked American dishes, but the main obsticle I think of is the shop rent, if its on a high sreet or busy area where you have a lot of foot and car traffic then the rent is normally quite high, but having said that we must remember that everything that is worth doing in any business is also worth the gamble right
Rodney.

jasper123

Hi aries,
Well thank you, you are the first person on here to mention the soggy soft chip issue, I have found in all the fish & chip joints here that Ive tried that there fish is great but they always dissipoint me with the undercooked chips,
most people in America at least like there french fries golden brown and a little on the crispy side as I do too,
Even when I cook oven chips here I cook them just right and golden brown, but my Mum says Ohhhhh there so over cooked so I put her portion on her plate while there still soft (just the way she likes them)
and I leave mine in for another 10 minutes untill there actually (COOKED)

I love chinese food, and also Thai too, ----- as for Britains love for Indian Curry take away joints, where the heck did that come from? (there is a very large festation of those places in my Town) most people here from 15 to 50 seem to like that stuff not cheap either ---- they keep puting those flyers through my letter box advertising there dishes and prices,
Oh darn it ---- the spell check is not working again.

curleytops

You guys are making me hungry! We're all crazy about all those UK goodies we were deprived of for all those years but I think we all have a favorite or two we left behind in our adopted countries and miss nowadays.

Rodney - I know what you mean about the salad dressing situation. We had sooooooooooo many varieties to choose from in North America and it seems over here its either French, Caesar, Italian or salad cream and that's it. I used to make this yummy Greek omelette in Canada where I added a bit Greek salad dressing to the egg mixture - very tasty - but I've never come across Greek dressing here and my attempts at home made have fallen short of the mark. I also miss good old Kraft Dinner but found the Kraft cheesy macaroni you get here will do and hamburger helper was great when you were too lazy to make anything else . My cousin who lives in British Columbia was here a few weeks ago for her sister's wedding and she brought me a couple of boxes of Tuna Helper and Stovetop Stuffing mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Turns out her suitcase was full of the stuff for her nieces and nephews. Funny how you always miss the junk food Does anyone know where you can buy Goldfish crackers over here???? What else do you guys miss from overseas?

dunroving

I miss good Southern grits!

lf1

An"Earls" burger and skinny fries. They are far too big, so I limited my indulgence to once a month.

rebs

I miss Reynolds Wrap - just can't get foil that is as strong as that here... really strong ziplok bags, enormous sweet onions that I used to get in Texas, along with the huge range of squashes that would come in in the fall, guacamole made in store right in front of my eyes, super fresh tortillas also made in store, the large selection of coffee beans that were available in stores like Whole Foods (or our local HEB store).

Whole Foods etc also had nuts that you could squish (technical term!) into butter in the store - and could be bought in really small quantities, I also miss the huge amounts of goods that were sold loose and could be got in whatever quantities suited. There really is nothing like that anywhere near me.

Can't say I really miss any of the processed food - most of the ingredient lists scared me! But I do miss diet Dr Pepper not being readily available in restaurants here - my guilty pleasure

lf1

A lot of what you and Sally have said rings true for me. I never felt a sense of belonging in Canada. Sometimes felt as though I was an outsider looking in. I did try to embrace the "holidays", but they just weren't part of my culture. My primary motivation for becoming a Canadian citizen was to give me the right to vote. I figured as I was paying taxes that I deserved to have a say in matters. I doubt that I would have done it if I had to give up my British nationality.

I think Canada is a great country and I would never discourage anyone from moving there, but at this point in my life I want to be in place where people "get me".

One thing I am really enjoying about being home is that things are still green outside. It may cold and grey sometimes, but the greenery makes up for that. Calgary could be beautiful in the winter too with blue skies and a snow covered landscape, but as soon as the snow melted it turned into a brown prairie. That is something that I didn't find attractive at all.

dunroving

I see the Five Guys burger franchise is coming to Britain.

lf1

Rebs, I have been trying to respond to your post, but keep losing it.

I remember Dunroving talked about the lack of good Ziploc bags, so I brought two boxes with me. They have been safely stored away for special occasions.

lf1

YIKES! I think they are even bigger than an "Earls" burger. Hope you recovery is progressing well.

rebs

Well done, wish I had done that

Every time my husband goes to the US on a business trip I ask him to bring me back some reynolds wrap and ziploc bags, but he things it would look really weird when they x-ray his bag

dunroving

A friend just told me he saw some "real zip" ziplok bags here last week (not sure where but he and his wife usually shop at Tesco). I don't know whether they are the thick quality ones, though. I got a new supply when some friends came here in the summer.

My friend (above) was hugely impressed with Ziploks when we did the Appalachian Trail for a week, back in 2002. They are great for tough storage in all sorts of conditions. It almost seems sacrilege to use them for what they are intended (sandwich bags) - like using a steamroller to crack a nut!

lf1

I agree with you on the tin foil too, it is no where near as strong as the Alcan foil I bought in Canada.

I am still trying to get my head around soap powder here. I am not at all sure what to use. Does anyone have any recommendations? The people who lived in our house left us a big supply of Formil washing powder, so I have been using that and it seems fine and is very reasonably priced. Also, I have never used fabric softener. Am I odd?

rebs

I've not seen the brand anywhere - I get ones with a similar zippy mechanism (probably from tesco), but they are no where near as strong.