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Food that is Unique to the UK.


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1 hour ago, Shadow said:

Haggis

There's some dispute about the origins of haggis. Some say Scottish, some say Roman, some say other.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Every so often some foreigner on social media 'discovers' that Brits eat baked beans on toast and gets thoroughly confused.

One that caught me out a few weeks ago was the incredulity of a group of Americans about "things on top of a baked potato" being fine for lunch.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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Suet puddings - you don't see them often in other country's cuisines.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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21 minutes ago, DavidM said:

Kendal mint cake 

A few years I brought some Kendal mint cake back from a trip to visit customers in the lake district for the girls in the office.

We had to stop the 17 year old apprentice eating it as it gave her a massive sugar rush turning her into a hyperactive three year old. It was funny but draining.

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1 hour ago, Shadow said:

Prawn Cocktail skips

 

35 minutes ago, hindle xiii said:

Most likely to be the most accurate. Sweets, confectionery and snacks seem to be more unique to the UK than regular dishes.

I said it partly as a joke but I have genuinely never seen Prawn Cocktail crisps anywhere else in the world.

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11 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Every so often some foreigner on social media 'discovers' that Brits eat baked beans on toast and gets thoroughly confused.

Yes! I saw this on YouTube a month ago or so. And of course when the Americans try it they obviously get it wrong.

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1 hour ago, Shadow said:

Haggis

 

I am unashamedly showing my Aberdonian roots here!

First, my wife and I had haggis (with clapshot...I'll let you Google that, if you want to) for lunch today.

Second - and this is the real Aberdonian speciality - I recently took delivery of another batch of butteries (aka 'rowies') from this website:

The Bread Guy - Bakery, Aberdeen (thebreadguysbakery.co.uk)

These are not the cheapest butteries online, but very good.

Tradition in Aberdeen has it that the once large, deep sea fishing community challenged the city's bakers to come up with something that was tasty, filling and wouldn't quickly go 'off' during weeks at sea.  The outcome was the buttery, which in my childhood holidays back in the family home I also heard called 'rowies'; I've also seen it said that they were called 'Aberdeen morning rolls', but don't recall ever hearing that name being used.  I do remember being sent by my granny to purchase some fresh from the corner shop bakery early in the morning.

So what is a buttery?  Well, it is a pastry, of inderminate shape, but loosely circular, and quite nobbly.  It tastes a wee bit like a croissant, but much more salty, and doesn't have the light, crumbly nature of a croissant.  The best ones are made with lard (which helped to preserve them for deep sea fishermen), so none of your Fancy Dan, modern, vegetable oil nonsense which I believe some bakers use now!  Serve warm and spread with lashings of butter melting into them.  Mmm, I am salivating uncontrollably just typing this; thank goodness we still have a few in the freezer!

Health merits?  Are you kidding?  Absolutely none, in fact a thrombosis more or less guaranteed, but what the hell...

To stress, this is an Aberdeen speciality, not generally a Scottish one.  So your chances of finding them in traditional, small baker's shops diminishes the further you get from Aberdeen; maybe within a hundred miles radius, you should be lucky and in the northern isles, Orkney and Shetland, which of course traditionally link to the Scottish mainland via ferries to and from Aberdeen.  That said, Scottish supermarkets may have packeted versions which are just about OK.

I am saddened that I can go into a supermarket in England and get any number of bakery specialities from around England, plus Welsh and Irish items (eg soda bread), not to mention various continental options, but of the good old Aberdeen buttery, no sign whatsoever!  There again, maybe we shouldn't let too many folk know about them!

Education lesson over...

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8 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

To stress, this is an Aberdeen speciality, not generally a Scottish one.  So your chances of finding them in traditional, small baker's shops diminishes the further you get from Aberdeen; maybe within a hundred miles radius, you should be lucky and in the northern isles, Orkney and Shetland, which of course traditionally link to the Scottish mainland via ferries to and from Aberdeen.  That said, Scottish supermarkets may have packeted versions which are just about OK.

One of the B&Bs we stayed in during our honeymoon in Orkney included butteries with the breakfast. It did mean that you weren't really hungry again until the evening.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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15 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

I am unashamedly showing my Aberdonian roots here!

First, my wife and I had haggis (with clapshot...I'll let you Google that, if you want to) for lunch today.

Second - and this is the real Aberdonian speciality - I recently took delivery of another batch of butteries (aka 'rowies') from this website:

The Bread Guy - Bakery, Aberdeen (thebreadguysbakery.co.uk)

These are not the cheapest butteries online, but very good.

Tradition in Aberdeen has it that the once large, deep sea fishing community challenged the city's bakers to come up with something that was tasty, filling and wouldn't quickly go 'off' during weeks at sea.  The outcome was the buttery, which in my childhood holidays back in the family home I also heard called 'rowies'; I've also seen it said that they were called 'Aberdeen morning rolls', but don't recall ever hearing that name being used.  I do remember being sent by my granny to purchase some fresh from the corner shop bakery early in the morning.

So what is a buttery?  Well, it is a pastry, of inderminate shape, but loosely circular, and quite nobbly.  It tastes a wee bit like a croissant, but much more salty, and doesn't have the light, crumbly nature of a croissant.  The best ones are made with lard (which helped to preserve them for deep sea fishermen), so none of your Fancy Dan, modern, vegetable oil nonsense which I believe some bakers use now!  Serve warm and spread with lashings of butter melting into them.  Mmm, I am salivating uncontrollably just typing this; thank goodness we still have a few in the freezer!

Health merits?  Are you kidding?  Absolutely none, in fact a thrombosis more or less guaranteed, but what the hell...

To stress, this is an Aberdeen speciality, not generally a Scottish one.  So your chances of finding them in traditional, small baker's shops diminishes the further you get from Aberdeen; maybe within a hundred miles radius, you should be lucky and in the northern isles, Orkney and Shetland, which of course traditionally link to the Scottish mainland via ferries to and from Aberdeen.  That said, Scottish supermarkets may have packeted versions which are just about OK.

I am saddened that I can go into a supermarket in England and get any number of bakery specialities from around England, plus Welsh and Irish items (eg soda bread), not to mention various continental options, but of the good old Aberdeen buttery, no sign whatsoever!  There again, maybe we shouldn't let too many folk know about them!

Education lesson over...

I'm a big fan of the Logan McRae books by Stuart Macbride which feature Rowies quite frequently so thanks for the explanation. I may need to investigate further.

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51 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

There's some dispute about the origins of haggis. Some say Scottish, some say Roman, some say other.

You could well be right, Futtocks.  I imagine the reality is that most civilizations learn to (a) use the off-cuts of, and offal from, cooked meat carcasses, rather than waste them, and (b) to extend their storage life by adding flavoursome preservatives.

For that reason, another Scottish speciality, a sort of white pudding called a 'mealie pudding' probably has equivalents in other countries, where people were eager not to waste any oatmeal.

I fully accept the uniqueness of a Cornish pasty, but also note is similarity to another Scottish gem, the Forfar bridie.

Other Scottish fair includes a tasty fish soup called Cullen skink, Cullen being a town on the great Scottish fishing coast that runs west from Peterhead ('the Blue Toon') and Fraserburgh ('the Broch'); and a great dessert course called Cranachan, which includes whisky, honey, toasted oatmeal, cream and fresh raspberries.

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1 hour ago, Futtocks said:

Suet puddings - you don't see them often in other country's cuisines.

Baked suet , every thursday when I was a nipper , it soaked up the gravy of liver and onions. Mam just made the dumpling mix then stuck it in a yorkie pud tin to bake.

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