Pronouncing place names (and how to eat food politely)


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Not seen them, but I adore those croissant twisted things with chocolate in, especially when warm !  

Mmmm must get up, something tasty beckons !

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I can honestly assure you RR.that don't hang listening at bog doors. I have more important things to do, like knitting spaghetti or filling ravioli parcels. ( Got tired of counting mushy peas in a pot

5hit hole for Derby

How typical of Nottstalgia, but lovely ....... we moved effortlessly from pronouncing place names to eating spaghetti.   Situation calm on the site! 

I just love Nottstalgia what other forum would allow the topic start on pronouncing place names and drift through other subjects to what type of butter you like and with such friendliness . 

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1 hour ago, FLY2 said:

Actually, any butter that is nicely salted. Sod what the health police think !

If you took any notice of the health police, you wouldn't be eating butter at all.

Having said that, have you tried Normandy butter with little salt crystals embedded in it - it's available in the UK called something like Buerre d'Isigny. Really nice spread on bread when you get little salty bits dissolving on your tongue.

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We hardly use salt at all in cooking. Haven’t done for many years. The only exception is sprinkled on broad beans! I do realise that salt is a seasoning and a flavour enhancer and can be part of the ‘chemical’ cooking process but  when you get used to going without you don’t miss it.

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The composer, Haydn was named after Hayden road but johnny foreigner can't spell. Also you cannot beat stork or echo margarine !!

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We don't have salted butter unless its Lurpak and Lidl sometimes has salted butter in. I hated it at first but you do get used to it and I like it now. 

I've spent the afternoon making ravioli again with pumpkin and amaretti. Made a load of gnocchi the other afternoon. Called my granddaughter to help me as I was getting a bit tired. 

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Just thinking back, there did used to be a traditional English restaurant on Mansfield Road, on the corner of Chatham St. where you turn up to go the Arboretum on Sherwood St. I think it's a bookies now. It was called the Old England and they served proper English Food. We went once and had something like steak and kidney pie. I don't know how long it survived.

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2 hours ago, philmayfield said:

I bet you can't pop out to a proper 'English' restaurant like we can go to an 'Italian'. Do other countries have 'English' restaurants - you know - roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, Lancashire hot pot, battered fish and chips?

I wish sometimes. Tonight I was so tired , Deborah suggested a chinese takeaway. So she ordered by phone and we went to collect it. Podged now but after that and a couple of glasses of chinese beer I feel quite relaxed.

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14 hours ago, philmayfield said:

I bet you can't pop out to a proper 'English' restaurant like we can go to an 'Italian'. Do other countries have 'English' restaurants - you know - roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, Lancashire hot pot, battered fish and chips?

 

So-called English restaurants appear here with great rapidity - and disappear even faster. I think one of the problems is that English cooking (good as we think it is) has no defined style - it's a melange of cooking techniques probably collected from all over the world when 'Britannia Ruled the Waves'.

I have a friend (English) who runs a fish restaurant on the Croisette in Cannes. He has often tried to introduce an English aspect to the menu, always with failure. The only success he has had in this field is English chips  - proper fat chips cooked in dripping, not those skinny strips of spud cooked in olive oil that the French serve. The problem he has with that is obtaining enough dripping to keep the fryers topped up.

 

There are, however, loads of so-called English Pubs and especially Irish Pubs in the tourist areas. Their resemblance to a real pub is about zero. They sell English beer (Guinness in the Irish pubs) but that's where the similarity ends, they're just a French bar otherwise.

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Over here in Goa, they have plenty of English restaurants, obviously some better than others but some are on par with the cooking back home.

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1 hour ago, jonab said:

 

So-called English restaurants appear here with great rapidity - and disappear even faster. I think one of the problems is that English cooking (good as we think it is) has no defined style - it's a melange of cooking techniques probably collected from all over the world when 'Britannia Ruled the Waves'.

I have a friend (English) who runs a fish restaurant on the Croisette in Cannes. He has often tried to introduce an English aspect to the menu, always with failure. The only success he has had in this field is English chips  - proper fat chips cooked in dripping, not those skinny strips of spud cooked in olive oil that the French serve. The problem he has with that is obtaining enough dripping to keep the fryers topped up.

 

There are, however, loads of so-called English Pubs and especially Irish Pubs in the tourist areas. Their resemblance to a real pub is about zero. They sell English beer (Guinness in the Irish pubs) but that's where the similarity ends, they're just a French bar otherwise.

I think that the English way of eating is traditional ‘home cooking’ and that for many people eating out is a special event. When you eat at a restaurant you’re looking for something more exotic than you have or are able to prepare at home. Pub food tends to follow the home cooking principle but it usually consists of reheated ready meals. In general I don’t think we dine out as much as those on the Continent. There is also the rip off charges for indifferent wines and the drink driving laws that stop us country dwellers going out for a fancy meal. Why have an upmarket restaurant meal when you can’t enjoy a good wine with it?

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On the whole I agree Phil, but there's no harm whatsoever in pushing the boat out once in a while, and going out for a real treat.

However, I do appreciate your predicament regarding living in rural areas, and the drink driving laws. As a past victim of the breathalyser nearly 40 years ago, I can see the difficulty for country pubs too.

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You're dead right, Phil, about the continentals eating out much more often than the English. This means that there are many more restaurants than in the UK and, directly because of this, these places have to be of good or superior quality to be able to stay in business. I have seen loads of people set up, let's say, eating places only to close weeks, days or even the same day (as I am aware happening at least once) because of not having sufficient quality.

 

In this way, much as we may have loved greasy spoons such as the Elbow Caff or the Empire Caff, they wouldn't have lasted (literally) 5 minutes here.

 

I'm pretty certain that nonnaB will agree - and she should know - she's got inside knowledge of the business. I'm just a consumer.

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Many of our locals and friends here have had holidays in UK , mostly London. The majority say that english food is awful, but I reply that theyve chosen the wrong restaurants. English food is simple and if well cooked is delicious. I like lanashire hotpot but can understand why italians dont like it. The italians love tripe and I cant stand it. I suppose its what you grew up with and got used to eating.

I always thought italian food was greasy but no way is it like that, yes we use a lot of olive oil but the oil adds flavour often added a drop or two to soups etc. My husband would never go to Greece because he didnt like the thought of eating greasy food but he went with a nephew and came back loving the food.

Years ago when we still lived in Radcliffe my in laws came to visit and I made a steak and kidney pie. I didnt know what their reactions would be as my mother in law was a fantastic cook as is my SIL , I watched them all in turn for their reactions and when I saw them I breathed a sigh of relief , it had gone down well. My MIL asked me for the recipe and she made it quite often so has my sil who to this day still talks about it. All my sil's are good cooks so when I entertain at home I always make something different to what they are used to. That way they cant critisise me. Same with biscuits I'm not too keen on italian biscuits so I make my own, they always get eaten very quickly because they are different and much more satisfying than the plain taste all the biscuits seem to have

I suppose in a way I try to defend english food.smile2

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Funnily enough mention of the Empire Cafe reminds me that they were a client of my firm when I was in the accountancy profession back in the 60’s. Strangely it was owned by Armitages of Colwick, the pet food manufacturers. Heaven knows what they served up!

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1 hour ago, jonab said:

Tripe = stewed woolly jumpers. My dogs like it, though.

I agree Jonab

It is cooked differently here:wacko: but still dont like it. My daughter has had to learn to cook it many pepole ask for it. She loves it now.:excl:

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I suppose if it’s cooked with appropriate sauces and spices where their flavour can be absorbed to ‘kill’ the tripe taste that might be ok, but is that really the point? We should be eating food for its own unique pleasing flavour - possibly enhanced by complementary accompaniments. I only speak as a gourmet eater, not as a gourmet cook!

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