A Question For You Englanders

[King Leopold II]

Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is
"Bubble and Squeak".

I've heard it's left over vegetables mixed with mashed potatoes flattened into a pancake and fried.
I've also heard it's a peas and carrot egg omlette.
I've heard a few other things too.

Help me out with this if you could please.

Thanks.

Oh yeah, and how did it get the name?

[Maleficarum]

It's mashed potato with cabbage (other vegetables can be used though), usually fried then served with sausages. As for the name I don't know where it came from dude, nor can I find anything on the net.

[LaTrine Jakscoon]

I've heard its because the boiled cabbage makes a squeaky noise when you are frying it :lol
I prefer making it without boiling the cabbage, with cabbage greens straight from the garden.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_and_squeak

[King Leopold II]

Thanks for the info folks.
I love cabbage and potatoes, although I wouldn't know how to prepare this dish.

About the only "English" thing I can make is "Bangers and Mash"
I later learned from an English friend of mine that American bangers aren't nearly as good as English ones.
I heard this is because England uses mainly Berkshire hogs for pork.
Which have long been famed for the quality of their meat.
Where as here in America, we use mainly Poland-China hybrids, which are famed for their ability to pork-up fast, and not their quality.

If I ever make it to England, I'll drink as much of your beer and eat as much of your food as I can.

Ha! Ha!

[LaTrine Jakscoon]

Thanks for the info folks.
I love cabbage and potatoes, although I wouldn't know how to prepare this dish.

About the only "English" thing I can make is "Bangers and Mash"
I later learned from an English friend of mine that American bangers aren't nearly as good as English ones.
I heard this is because England uses mainly Berkshire hogs for pork.
Which have long been famed for the quality of their meat.
Where as here in America, we use mainly Poland-China hybrids, which are famed for their ability to pork-up fast, and not their quality.

If I ever make it to England, I'll drink as much of your beer and eat as much of your food as I can.

Ha! Ha!

You should try some locally produced sausages, made by the farmers themselves. They have them in all sorts of varieties, including tomato, herbs, mushroom, etc.

[whodatcalldapolice]

If I ever make it to England, I'll drink as much of your beer and eat as much of your food as I can.

Ha! Ha!

You definitely should do that. English food is great, it doesn't deserve the stereotype we Americans hold dear about it's being lousy.
It's getting difficult to find, due to the "multicultural" movement in England. It's less difficult to find outside London, but there still doesn't seem to be as much of it as there was.

I won huge points in England for eating English food. I don't think they'd ever seen an American do that, unless it was fish and chips or something. They gave me all sorts of little plates of things for free to try, because they were just so fascinated by this. Yes, it's true- I like scotch eggs, jellied eels, black and white puddings- I even like haggis, although that's Scottish. It must be in me blood!

[Gnome Sayin]

I spent about 6 months in Britain in three locations: Barnet (far north London), Ft. Augustus (near Inverness, in the Scottish Highlands) and Gullane (east of Edinburgh). I LOVED both English and Scottish food. I'm a real comfort-food-meat-and-potatoes type of person, so British food in general suited me. I didn't really like Barnet, but enjoyed myself in the two Scottish towns I lived in.

British breakfast is the food of the Gods. Nothing beats a good fry up. I preferred Scottish over English, as I'm not one for baked beans in the morning. I love black pudding, as well.

Bangers are a lot different in Britain, as I've ordered Irish-style bangers from two suppliers in the US but they just aren't the same when made in this country. Much blander, and not the same texture. I worked at a B&B at both location in Scotland so I had them nearly every day.

You can order good quality Irish food from http://www.foodireland.com/, one day delivery if you live within 200 miles of NYC. Irish isn't British, of course, but the food is similar. Winston's makes the best white pudding, and Donnely makes the best black pudding and bangers, as well as British style bacon. You can also order complete breakfast packages and have yourself a proper fry up.

I'm always on the lookout for a nice Scottish woman to marry to I can immigrate. :lol

[AngryA]

The English use a lot of lard in their cooking. Fish and chips are really good, but I don't know if it's actually British or not. In a matter of a few decades though, the British National dish is going to be falafel.