Posted by Suzanne McMinn on December 6, 2006 @ 8:27 am
Globetrotting, In the Kitchen
I loved English food. Except when they tried to do American food. I ordered a burger in a pub in London. I told the waitress I wanted it well-done. She said, that is the ONLY way we cook them! (Try to get away with THAT in America!) The burger came with a choice of peas or “mushy” peas. I found that peas came with everything in English pubs. Peas came with fish-and-chips, peas came with steak pie, and now I was being offered “mushy” peas….. Of course I decided I had to try it. It was exactly what it sounds like–mushy peas. Peas mashed up like you’d mash potatoes. Odd….. Even odder was that the so-called American hamburger came with cucumbers on it!!!!
Our hostess at the bed-and-breakfast was an awesome cook. She served the biggest breakfasts I’ve ever seen and I ate every bite. She brought us kippers one morning, extra “posh” ones, she said. They sounded disgusting, but I was surprised to find I really liked them. Maybe it was the extra poshness.
I didn’t like black pudding. Black pudding is made of curdled and boiled pig blood, mixed with chunks of pork fat. Doesn’t that sound appetizing? I tried two bites. I was DONE.
I had had had to have a Cornish pasty and I got one at a village bakery and wasn’t disappointed. What I really fell in love with, though, was clotted cream!!! We had cream tea one day at a tea shop in Cerne Abbas–tea, scones, strawberry jam, and clotted cream. ::swoon:: Clotted cream is thick cream made by heating and then
leaving unpasteurized cow’s milk in shallow pans for several hours while the cream rises to the top and clots. This sounds almost as revolting as black pudding but it is SO GOOD.
I swooped up the clotted cream fudge candy they were selling everywhere all over the West Country in village shops and brought it home to my kids. They fell in deep, instant love with it and clamored for more. I found a recipe for clotted cream fudge and an online store where I can buy the ingredients!
Clotted Cream Fudge
Makes 36 pieces.INGREDIENTS:
10 oz superfine sugar
3 oz golden syrup
8 oz clotted cream
1 tsp vanillaCOOKING: 1. Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan and heat gently, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, cover and boil for 3 minutes. Uncover and continue to boil until the temperature reaches 116C/240F.
2. Remove from heat and beat until the mixture becomes thick and creamy. Pour into a greased 8-inch square pan. Leave for 30 minutes. Mark into squares with a knife and let set. Cut into pieces and store in an airtight container.
I’m going to try that!
What I didn’t try–mutton.
I promised my new friends I wouldn’t eat them.
Posted by Suzanne McMinn on December 6, 2006 @ 8:27 am
10:10
am
Laughing here that you promised your friends you wouldn’t eat them……….
I have to give you kudos for trying the Black Pudding - I don’t think I could have brought myself to trying it…… 
11:20
am
11:36
am
When we stayed at a B&B on our trip to the UK, our host family made a HUGE feed in the morning. Including American coffee (clotted cream available but went with fresh cream instead). Coffee was another thing the oldest son picked up during his gap year in the states.
He also liked blue box mac and cheese and cold beer.
I couldn’t stand the peas, though. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER have liked them. Not fresh, frozen canned, or dried.:yuck:
12:15
pm
They’d be sorely disappointed in me. I hate peas. And mushy ones? Yuck! :yuck: I’d pass on the black pudding and mutton, too. But bring on the clotted cream! And I’ve never even had any before.
1:24
pm
Yeah, I think I will pass on the Black pudding and mutton as well…still not so sure about the clotted cream.
7:05
pm
Oh, I love scones as well. Never had clotted cream, but I’ll have to try it next summer when I head across the Atlantic! And black pudding? I tried it before I knew what it was and hated it. Sounds like you had a great time, though!
8:09
pm
We only got to the touristy places when in England and I never got a decent meal, even when we went to expensive places. We ended up at a Pancake House just so we could eat something. I’m sure countryside cooking is a lot better. Just love that sheep pic
9:55
pm
You’re making me hungry and I”m dieting!
10:33
pm
Don’t think I could even try black pudding!
7:35
am
Black pudding — no thanks. The clotted cream fudge sounds good though.