liuzhou

Were they dried or fresh?

No. But there were very good reasons for that, which I'm getting to.

2B - Cheeses According to the British Cheese Board, a trade body formed to promote British cheeses, the country has around 700 named cheeses, some made in huge quantities in factories; the majority made in very small quantities by hand, in farms and dairies. This compares to France and Italy with around 400 each. These 700 include some world famous cheeses. Obviously, I’m not going to list all 700, but here is a small selection, all of which I have tasted. Blue Cheeses Stilton is probably the best known British blue cheese. This takes its name from the village in what is now Cambridgeshire, England where the cheese has long been sold. The village lies on one of the main routes north from London and villagers sold the cheese to passing travellers. Still do. Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe mentions the village and the cheese in his 1724 book A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain. There were probably no maggots. He is more likely referring to the blue veins. The cheese has a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status within the European Union (still) which requires that it can only be made in the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. You will note that this does not include Stilton itself, but it was probably never made there anyway. Stilton is also produced in a soft white version.. Blue Stilton is exported and is even sold in France, where it has recently become a fashion. I have bought it in China, a country which supposedly doesn’t do dairy. Stilton in China Other blue cheeses include Dorset Blue Vinney (also PDO) made in Sturminster Newton in Dorset. This is a hard, crumbly cheese with a distinct, strong flavour. Dovedale (PDO) is a full-fat cow’s milk semi-soft cheese made from cow's milk and is from the Peak District. Stilton is made from pasteurised milk, but there is a Stilton-like cheese known as Stichelton which uses non-pasteurised milk and no factory-produced rennet. Not to be left out, Scotland throws its hat into the blue cheese ring with Dunlop cheese and Lanark Blue. Hard and Semi-Hard Non-Blue Cheeses Here is where we find the world’s most popular cheese, Cheddar. Originally produced in guess where – Cheddar, a village in Somerset, England, the cheese has no protected status so can be made anywhere. I buy cheddar cheese made in Shanghai or in Inner Mongolia. I can also buy imported Australian, New Zealand and Irish cheddars. In fact "cheddaring" is a technique used in the production of the cheese and there are many varieties. “West Country Farmhouse Cheddar” does have PDO status and can only be made in Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall from local milk and made by traditional methods. It is delicious. Sadly many so-called cheeses are sold under the cheddar name, while bearing no resemblance to the real thing. That travesty, American cheese, is often sold labelled as cheddar. It is certainly the most popular cheese in many countries. Only mozzarella outsells cheddar in the USA. (Did someone mention cultural appropriation?) Other British hard cheeses include Caerphilly, a cow’s milk cheese from Wales; Cheshire Cheese; Lancashire, which comes in three varieties; Double Gloucester; Sage Derby which is coloured green with sage, which also gives it a mild herbal flavour; Red Windsor, flavoured and coloured with Bordeaux wine or a mixture of port and brandy; the very popular Red Leicester which, in Britain, is Cheddar’s nearest rival; and Wallace and Gromit’s favourite, Wensleydale. Wensleydale Cheese with Oatcakes Soft and Semi-Soft Cheeses Perhaps the most famous of the British semi-soft cheeses is the relative newcomer, Stinking Bishop. This is a cow’s milk cheese which, as it matures, is washed every four weeks in perry, an alcoholic drink similar to cider, made from the Stinking Bishop variety of pear. Many people think the name refers to the smell of the cheese, but although the cheese does have a distinctive smell, few people, if any, would describe it as ‘stinking’. Instead the name comes from a local bishop and landowner who had a stinking temper. The cheese was first made in the 1970s. I first tasted it in 2019. Stinking Bishop As a handmade artisan cheese, this is only produced in small quantities and is not sold in supermarkets, but only specialist cheese shops and delis, although London’s world-famous Harrods does stock it. Scotland’s second oldest cheese is Caboc, an oatmeal-wrapped cream cheese with an interesting story. It was developed in the 15th century by Mariota de Ile, the daughter of the chieftain of the Clan MacDonald. The recipe has remained a secret to this day. The oldest is Crowdie, a soft fresh cheese which was influenced by methods learned from the Vikings, who invaded Britain in 793 AD. There is evidence that it may in fact date back further to the Picts in the early Middle Ages. Much later, the crowdie makers also took to making a variety flavoured with wild garlic, after a bunch of cows accidentally wandered into a field of wild garlic, accidentally flavouring their milk. Traditionally the cheese was made by crofters and small land-holders, using the milk from the family cow. Unfortunately, the name is unprotected and a number of industrial cheesemakers are now producing their variety which has very little in common with the original. A few traditional makers still exist, but they are a dying breed. Efforts are being made to revive the cheese. One more to mentions is the delightfully named Renegade Monk , a soft blue cheese made in England by only one farm in Somerset, England. It won first prize in the 2020 Best British Cheese awards ceremony, held virtually due to COVID restrictions. This is obviously a ridiculously small sample, but hopefully it gives an insight into the wide variety of cheeses on offer. Visitors to London (when it's allowed) can do no better than visit the legendary Neal's Yard Dairy in Covent Garden, which only sells British cheeses in perfect condition.

The trip from Shanghai to Liuzhou took 31 hours, 44 minutes and 13 seconds, according to the tracking - not unreasonable, I suppose. The package then hopped around Liuzhou for the next 3 hours, 44 minutes and 8 seconds before finally being dispatched from the nearest depot to me (in the next street to my home). 54 minutes later it was in my hands! As predicted, they were wrapped in a styrofoam insolating box with an ice pack (which had almost completely melted). They are in perfect condition and will appear on the dinner thread tonight, all being well! I'll probably post them here, too!

I think the cab driver was pulling your leg. The expression 'bangers and mash' is well known in Britain, although seldom used other than jokingly. I've neve heard it being used to refer to a prostitute, nor is that meaning listed in any of my many dictionaries. The origin of the phrase also seems to be Australian, but it's unclear. The earliest appearance in writing is in an Australian dictionary of slang called Digger Dialects, in 1919.

Not really, but I'll get to what I (and many others) believe to be the reason for the false reputation shortly.

Come on! People have been being negative about British food for decades.

Institutional food is never great in any country or culture.

2. Britain Doesn't Have Good Ingredients - Part A Of all the claims, this one is surely the dumbest. British beef has long been considered among the world’s best. Where does Aberdeen-Angus, sometimes just called Angus come from? Yes, Britain, specifically Scotland. Much of that raised today in Britain is shipped to France, with the top Parisian chefs (and customers) paying top prices. Angus beef is America’s favourite, introduced in 1873. Sorry, folks, it’s British. Today, the breed is found worldwide and is prized for its marbled beef. The Japanese love it, too! Welsh lamb, Queen Victoria’s favourite, is also well regarded, although the French don’t eat so much of that. Leg of Lamb Rabbit, introduced by the Romans, is still popular. Often cooked with the same herbs the animal feeds on. Rabbit with juniper berries is also a classic pairing. Tamworth pigs, Gloucester Old Spot Pigs, Berkshire pigs etc. are prized around the world for their meat as are other heritage breeds. Order seafood in Paris and it’s going to have been caught in Scottish waters- some of the best in the world. Langoustines and brown crab are particularly prized. Scottish seafood is exported to the USA, Spain, Italy and Portugal, with growing interest in Southeast Asia. Loch Fyne, a sea loch on Scotland’s west coast has some of the most highly prized oysters. I’ve eaten them in Paris, too. Traditional foods such as kippers (cold smoked herring) and Arbroath smokies (hot smoked haddock) may be brown but are far from bland or boring. Yes, ‘brown’ is another complaint levelled against British food right here on these forums. Many, maybe most, foods are brown; not just British. Smokies Haggis is neither bland, or boring. Instead it is well spiced. The same with black pudding (blood sausage). Haggis (centre) Coming next: A surprise!

Same here.

I would normally roast or bake sprouts, but I am temporarily oven-less. When (if) the things arrive, I'll share how I cook them. The method you mention does sound interesting.

which as I've pointed out before aren't Chinese. Clams and black fermented beans is a fairly common dish where I am, but not in most of China. Too far from the clam beds I guess. Many years ago, I spent time living in Xi'an (one tear) and later, Hunan (two years). Never saw a clam! Much to my regret.

Yes, tourists generally go to all the wrong places to eat. Not only in Britain. And order bad renditions of every cliché possible. I cringe at some of the videos on YouTube showing people's British food eating experiences and end up shouting at the computer. "Why are you going there! Can't you see a tourist trap when you are in the middle of one!? Don't you realise there isn't a single British customer in there?" Many British sausages are relatively heavily spiced. Not supermarket bangers, I'll admit. And Italian sausages are eaten in Britain just as much as in America. We too have a large Italian population. Few people use garlic powder or garlic salt. We use fresh garlic and salt instead. Anyway, I'll get to sausages in detail later. The traditional pork pie is, again, seasoned but not heavily but name me one cuisine where everything is heavily seasoned? Some things just don't need it.

Indeed I do. In fact, I intend referencing her in a later post.

Your post came to mind when I read this today.

The article doesn't mention it, but loquats are also used here in southern China to make a kind of tisane / "tea".

1. The British Don't Use Herbs and Spices. In fact, Britain developed herbed stew techniques long before the rest of Europe. Garlic was widely used (Britain still eats more garlic than the south of France, which has what is often considered a garlic laden cuisine - another stereotype.) British food uses more spices and herbs than most! I live in China now and that cuisine is very low on the variety of spices and herbs it uses. No parsley, sage, rosemary or thyme! They do have herbs by the thousand, but they are used medicinally; not as part of dinner. Wild samphire was widely eaten and later cultivated. Rock samphire was mentioned by Shakespeare in King Lear. This refers to the dangers involved in collecting rock samphire from sea cliffs. But people took the risk as the herb was so highly valued. Rock Samphire The Romans introduced, among others, coriander, chives, marjoram, stinging nettles, rosemary, onions, spearmint etc., all of which were happily adopted by the British and became part of the cuisine. The British Empire came about partly because of the search for spices and in the 18th and 19th centuries, Britain was among the leading spice trading nations. Saffron arrived much earlier via the Phoenicians! It is still extensively cultivated in east England near the town of Saffron Walden. I wonder where that town got its name! Mustard had long been grown in Britain before the first prepared English mustard went on sale in 1720. Coleman’s mustard (first produced 1814) from England is sold internationally. English mustard is one of the strongest flavoured mustards you will find. Far from bland or boring! It is coloured with turmeric. Mint sauce with roast lamb has been widely mocked. In fact it has an interesting history. Queen Elizabeth 1 (1533-1603) wished to encourage the wool industry and decided the people were eating too many of the sheep. In order to stop this, she introduced a law (not banning its consumption; that would have been a step too far), insisting that lamb or mutton could only be cooked with “bitter herbs”. Mint was considered to be such a herb. So the cooks complied and discovered that mint with sheep is actually damned delicious. People 1; Queen 0. The ubiquitous Brown Sauce, the nation’s second favourite after tomato ketchup is heavily spiced. Few people can pronounce Worcestershire Sauce (introduced 1837 in England) correctly, but it is used world-wide to add flavour to dishes. I can buy Lee and Perrins Worcestershire sauce here in China, but there are also local versions. Mention has been made of Indian and Pakistani influences on British food. Incidentally very few of the “Indian” restaurants in Britain are either Indian or Pakistani. They are mostly Bengali. And the curries they serve are nothing like what is served in the Indian sub-continent. The worst Indian food I ever ate was in India! British food's adoption of Indian spices and making them their own belies any notion that British food is bland and spice-less. To be continued

Over the years I’ve been on eG, various people have made disparaging remarks about British food, repeating long debunked myths. These I feel I need to re-debunk. The disgraced, corrupt French President, Jacques Chirac, at an international meeting in 2005, said, “One cannot trust people whose cuisine is so bad. The only thing they have ever done for European agriculture is mad cow disease, After Finland, it is the country with the worst food.” This is typical of the propaganda that has been levelled at British food for years. Like all stereotypes it is largely untrue. “British food is (in)famous for being unseasoned...“ claimed one member recently, later adding that he was not referring to salt. It has been suggested that British food is bland and boring. Clichés and stereotypes like this are usually invented by people who have never tasted the food. It is my intention to try to debunk these ideas as much as I can. It won't be difficult.

I love how the tracking is timed to the second, yet they take a week to find and dispatch the things!

May 27th. According to the tracking report 00:03:35, my sprouts have left Shanghai and are on their way to Liuzhou with no intervening stops. I don't know how they are being shipped, but it it is unlikely I'll be hearing any more today. It's around 30 - 32℃ at the moment, so not as hot as it gets. But perishable items are usually shipped in these effficient insulating foam boxes with icepacks, which are good for 2-3 days - the most it takes most deliveries to arrive..

Most people in the UK just say Wooster Sauce. If we do use the 'shire' part, it is pronounced 'shir' and unstressed. Not the 'shyer' I hear from many Americans. There is a reasonably good article on brown sauce on Wikipedia here. I can buy HP sauce here in China. I have a bottle in the fridge, but it easily lasts me a year. Not something I use often.

Yes, the same beans are normally part of a full English (or Scottish etc) breakfast. But not on toast. With toast and the rest.

I was thinking a bit more about this and although I haven't changed my mind about vinegar, I do remember some deviants putting Worcestershire sauce on the dish. Of course, we don't pronounce it like furrners do! Also grated cheese is sometimes applied by heathens.

Well, at 19:21 local time, finally something happened. Tracking is showing that they have been picked up in Shanghai and shipped to a depot elsewhere in Shanghai to be forwarded to their next staging post, wherever that may be. Hopefully, I'll find out in the morning.