British Food

To live in Britain there are three main stereotypes that have to be overcome once you've arrived. The first is that they drink loads of tea, well that's mostly true but don't forget the alcohol. The second is that it always rains, this is not true, it does not rain all the time. It is however very cloudy many days of the year. And thirdly is that the British food is bland and boring, well let me correct that stereotype right away, baked beans, potatoes and peas are not bland and with some variations on a theme several meals can be created.

Let's start with potatoes which have a special place in the British heart. Potatoes in Britain, as in American, are very versatile, in fact I've only found one use for a potato here that I never heard of in the States. There is a dish called a Chip Butty, chip being British for fries, and butty is a sort for bun. Now this may make those Atkin's Diet followers of you cringe, but the idea is very simple, you take some fries and eat them on a sandwich. Great. It's filling, it's warm, inexpensive and can be dressed with either butter or ketchup (or tomato sauce as it's called in Britain).

Now let's move on to Baked Beans, they're so versatile that the British eat them for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Baked beans do not usually contain weenies or sausages they're just beans alone. You can buy beans and sausages but they're on a different aisle at the grocery store from the regular baked beans aisle. Heinz is the king of baked beans as is noted in their own ad campaign that has been running for roughly fifty years, "Beanz Meanz Heinz". There are other brands and even, GASP, store brands. Beans, like potatoes go good with bread, usually toasted, or combined with potatoes in a form called a jacket potato (stuffed baked potato). Heinz even makes a cookbook for their Baked Beans where one can find interesting ideas like Baked Bean Sushi.

Finally onto peas which are sold separately in the frozen food section from the other vegetables. I'm assuming this is so regular pea consumers who don't like all other vegetables won't be dissuaded by their affiliations. Peas are the number one green vegetable on British plates. But to make plain old English peas (now you know why they're called that) more interesting, sometimes they're mushed up and called mushy peas. See not boring in the least.

Tea is Better than Penicillin

In my time here I have discovered that no beverage sums up a nation better than tea does for Britain. Sure they drink alcohol, and lots of it. The French have their wine, Americans have coffee and soda, but I don't think there is anywhere in the world where almost every aspect and circumstance or event can be tied to a single beverage. In fact when I mentioned the title of this post to some British friends of mine I received no argument.

If you're cold, have a nice cup of tea. If you're hot, have a nice cup of tea. They swear that the hot tea cools you off, "cleans your pores". I have trouble following this logic when it warms you up as well, but don't argue just say thank you and drink it. There is yet to be a situation that couldn't be fixed with a nice cup of tea. 

A few weeks back I had to have a minor procedure that required a little local anesthetic. Once it was all finished, I gathered up my belongings and made my way to the door. Promptly I was stopped by my nurse. She looked very worried. "Oh no dear, you can't leave yet, you've not had _____". I thought she was going to say " a doctor check you out" or "your sign-out papers" or "enough time since the procedure to make sure you're all right". No, what she said was "...you've not had tea and biscuits". I was not allowed to leave the hospital because I had not been witnessed consuming tea and biscuits. Swiftly I was lead into a waiting room with other patients who were already drinking their tea and eating their biscuits. I was  given tea and a choice of biscuits. Once consumed I was allowed to leave.

I'm sure that I'll touch on the subject of tea many times, but here is one tip: If you're ever in a awkward situation with a Brit, the best thing you can say is "I'll go and put the kettle on".

Hello

Hello and welcome to my blog. 

I don't waste enough time on the computer yet so I thought I'd sign myself up for another activity. 

This will be  a chronicle or journal of observations of an American living in Britain. I'm not trying to please anyone, or offend either, I'm just going to tell as  I see it.

I've been living in Britain for 6 years now have finally started to feel comfortable here. There are things that still bother me, or that I find irksome since my emigration. To be fair, there are lots of things in the States that I now find annoying which I didn't while living there.

So here I go.... I hope you enjoy reading this, especially if you're American and want to live here, or if your British and wonder what your world looks like to an outsider.