Different names for foods - UK/US

DawnieB1977 wrote: »

shaumom wrote: »

UK-US
herbal infusion - herbal tea - this is for those that solely for drinking
tisane - still called herbal tea - this is for those that are supposed to be medicinal

Oh, and to add to the fun apple cider issue, in the USA, we also have something called Apple Jack - where you take alcoholic (hard) apple cider and cool it to freezing, skimming of the ice that forms and therefore raising the alcohol content.

Rootbeer (a soda) is an American thing that you don't really find in the UK - most UK folks I know who tried it when they came to American thought it tasted like cough syrup.

Most common chocolate in the UK: cadbury
Most common chocolate in the US: Hershey's

I thought root beer was like our ginger beer? I've never tried it in the US though.

Jacket potato (UK) = baked potato (US)

I always used to wonder what a biscuit was in the US! When I read a book and they'd have biscuits and gravy. I thought it would be a bit weird pouring gravy over a custard cream! I think gravy is different too, more creamy in the US?

Root beer -- traditionally it was brewed from a combination of lots of different roots, including birch and sassafras and sasparilla (or however it's spelled). I think most of the root beer sold in the U.S. today is just flavorings -- no real roots or brewing involved. I don't think there's any ginger (or ginger flavor) in root bear. I think if you didn't grow up drinking it, it would probably taste medicinal.


Gravy: it can mean a number of different things in various regions and cooking cultures of the U.S., including a long-simmered tomato-based sauce (called gravy by many Italian-American families, or more broadly in regions that have a large Italian-American population) or the fat and crisp cooked bits left in the pan after cooking sausage or ham (possibly steak or pork steaks as well), loosened with milk, cream, or coffee, and cooked to thicken (by reducing the liquid) (I tend to think of this as southern, but it may be more widespread).

Most typically in the U.S. gravy means the drippings (fat and juices) of a roast or bird, thickened with flour (in the U.S., flour generally means milled wheat unless otherwise specified -- I don't know if that's a given in other English-speaking countries) and cooked long enough so the flour isn't raw, perhaps thinned with water, stock, or additional pan juices, if you separated the fat and juices before starting, and seasoned with salt and pepper (and if you didn't have a flavorful piece of meat to begin with, some people with add bouillon cubes/granules or worcestershire sauce, etc.). If it's made from a bird (turkey, chicken, etc.), chopped cooked organs such as the heart and gizzard can be added, and the result is known as giblet gravy. I'm not sure what exactly would make it more "creamy" -- the fat and the starch create the "mouth feel" of richness (fat) and thickness (starch), and proper technique renders it smooth rather than lumpy.

WhoWasGivenToFly wrote: »

not to mention the different names for foods within the US

pop/soda/coke
hoagies/sub/grinder
gravy/sauce
stuffed cabbage/pigs in a blanket


and Tylenol is a brand name for acetometaphin
I digress.....

Hunh? Every time I've ever seen pigs in a blanket, they were an appetizer of mini hot dogs that had been cooked in some kind of flaky pastry that was wrapped around them, and I've never had cabbage that was stuffed with hot dogs -- usually loose meat like ground beef (mince) or ground sausage, plus onions, etc., usually topped with tomato sauce, and served as a main dish. I don't think the two dishes have anything to do with each other.

And in my neck of the woods, it's not a grinder unless it goes through the oven (generally a pizza oven) after being assembled, and hoagies don't go in the oven. Subs can swing either way, although even if they're hot, they often don't go through an oven as hot as a pizza oven.

LeslieTSUK wrote: »

bubble and squeak = sausage and mash
...
hotpot = meat n potato pie with no pastry base
...

Not where I come from:

Bubble and squeak is fried potatoes and cabbage (and whatever other veggies left overs)
Hot pot is a stew, not a pie

britishbroccoli wrote: »

Salad Cream (UK) = Salad Dressing, sorta (US). There's no exact equiv. in the US. Tastes a bit like mayo.
Whelk (UK) = Snail (US)

There's a brand called Miracle Whip in the U.S. that is essentially mayo with sugar in it, I think (I don't like it, so I don't know for sure) - is that "salad cream"?

Whelks -- there is a (not very commonly available) food called whelk in the U.S.; it's a sea creature, I guess you could call it a shell fish, since it lives in a shell (very pretty shell; we used to be very happy when we found one on the beach as children). Something like abalone or scallops, I think; I don't remember ever actually eating one. Or is the whelk in the U.K. a sea snail? When you say snail in the U.S., people generally assume you mean a land snail. And in the U.S. people generally call land snails "escargots" when they eat them.

dammitjanet0161 wrote: »

UK: Dairy Milk, Cadbury's Roses, Twix, Kitkats etc = normal everyday chocolate that is considered cheap and definitely not posh high end chocolate.

US: the same brands of UK chocolate are considered gourmet high end chocolate with prices to match. At least it was in a shop I once visited in Carmel, where a box of Roses was about $20 and Twixes were about $5 each, which I found hilarious. Or maybe that's just Carmel...

I think that's probably just cos Cadbury's chocolate is imported to the US - I don't *think* they make Cadbury's there? Carmel is a super-posh area so everything would be more expensive there!!

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

britishbroccoli wrote: »

Salad Cream (UK) = Salad Dressing, sorta (US). There's no exact equiv. in the US. Tastes a bit like mayo.
Whelk (UK) = Snail (US)

There's a brand called Miracle Whip in the U.S. that is essentially mayo with sugar in it, I think (I don't like it, so I don't know for sure) - is that "salad cream"?

Whelks -- there is a (not very commonly available) food called whelk in the U.S.; it's a sea creature, I guess you could call it a shell fish, since it lives in a shell (very pretty shell; we used to be very happy when we found one on the beach as children). Something like abalone or scallops, I think; I don't remember ever actually eating one. Or is the whelk in the U.K. a sea snail? When you say snail in the U.S., people generally assume you mean a land snail. And in the U.S. people generally call land snails "escargots" when they eat them.

Nope, salad cream is very different from mayonnaise. It's runnier, and much more vinegar-y.
Agreed on the whelk/snail thing. Land snails we Brits would call snails (or escargots if in a French restaurant) and whelks are a specific type of sea snail.

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

britishbroccoli wrote: »

Salad Cream (UK) = Salad Dressing, sorta (US). There's no exact equiv. in the US. Tastes a bit like mayo.
Whelk (UK) = Snail (US)

There's a brand called Miracle Whip in the U.S. that is essentially mayo with sugar in it, I think (I don't like it, so I don't know for sure) - is that "salad cream"?

Salad cream is more vinegary than mayo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salad_cream

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

Hunh? Every time I've ever seen pigs in a blanket, they were an appetizer of mini hot dogs that had been cooked in some kind of flaky pastry that was wrapped around them

That sounds like a Sausage Roll (UK).

Pigs in blankets (UK) = sausages wrapped in bacon.

Sausages (UK) = Links (US) ? (if not a tubular thing it would be called "sausage meat" in the UK)

lisaabenjamin wrote: »

KarenJanine wrote: »

yarwell wrote: »

Heavy Whipping Cream (US) = Whipping cream (UK)

Double cream (UK) = no equivalent ? (>=48% fat)

Half & Half is another for which I didn't think there was a UK equivalent. Here's a useful chart though:

US:

Nonfat milk: 0%-1%
1% milk: 1%-2%
Lowfat milk: 2%-4%
Whole milk: 4%
Half-and-half: 12%-15%
Light cream: 18%-30% (generally unavailable)
Whipping cream: 30%-36%
Heavy whipping cream: 36%-44%
Manufacturer's cream: 44%+

UK:

Skimmed milk: 0%
Low-fat milk: 2%
Homo milk: 4%
Half cream: 12%
Single cream: 18%
Whipping cream: 35%
Double cream: 48%

Um....no.
Skimmed milk is usually more like 1%, but you can also get 0.1% at some shops.
We don't generally call 2% milk "low-fat", it's "semi-skimmed milk".
I have no idea what homo milk is - milk for gays?? Full cream milk is called "whole milk" or "full fat".
I've no idea what half cream is either!

Homo is short for homogenised, which is 'standard' milk - or whole milk as it's usually called. I've never seen half cream either.

LeslieTSUK wrote: »

bubble and squeak = sausage and mash

Never had bubble and squeak with any meat in it!

It is usually a mash of leftover root vegetables....potatoes, carrot, parsnips, turnips etc, sometimes cabbage.
Mash up last nights vege with butter and milk and serve....or you can mash and fry in a frypan to give it a crunchy outside!

I'm from New Zealand We do a lot of British stuff still!