liuzhou

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.

I'm betting you aren't going to find this down your local "Peking Garden" or whatever. Duck heart fried rice. Rice, soy braised duck hearts, garlic, ginger. chilli, scallions and coriander leaf / cilantro. Note lack of egg or soy sauce. This is Chinese.

Britain. Baked Beans. Pay attention! No. 1. Only Heinz Baked Beans from a can are permitted. Violations of this law are dealt with strictly. You will be laughed at by your family, mocked in the streets and be called rude names! It should be pointed out and I'm about to do so, that British Baked Beanz (as we like to spell them - Heinz Meanz Beanz) are different from US baked beans. They are somewhat sweeter and come in day-glo tomato sauce. No. 2. Only white bread is permitted. Preferably pre-sliced and plastic-wrapped Chorleywood process bread. Artisan bread is a big no-no. Your social standing and credibility will be ruined forever. Sourdough will get you deported! No. 3. The toast may be toasted to your preference, so long as that is medium brown. No. 4. The toasted bread should be lathered with butter or, if you want to really fit in, margarine. Healthy spreads are strongly discouraged. Cutting the toast into triangles attracts the death penalty! No. 5. The beans should be heated through, but never allowed to reach 100℃ which is the boiling point of water in civilised countries. No. 6. The beans should be liberally spread over the hot toast, then salt and pepper added even more liberally. Then add some more pepper. Always black pepper. No. 7. Excuses such as "I can't buy British beans here" are not accepted. If I can buy them in China, you can buy them! No. 8. Eat and repeat and smile!

Who told you that? It is nonsense. If anything, British food tends to be over-seasoned.

Brussel sprouts are almost unknown in China. I'd never found them. However, on May 20th, my birthday, I found some for sale online. Of course, I ordered some. By May 23rd, not only had they not arrived, but the website tracking service was showing no movement. They promise to ship within 48 hours. It was now 60 hours. So I contacted the sellers. No reply, but I was able to leave a message. May 24th, I get the news that the package has been lost in transit. I ask them if it was in transit, why didn't the tracking say that it had been dispatched. I'm still waiting for an answer to that question. Anyway, they said they would re-ship them immediately. May 26th Still no sprouts. Still no tracking information. I contact them again. "Oh! It's been raining for two days, so we couldn't pick them! We are picking them now and will send later today!" Yeah, right! Anyway, later I'll update this mini blog of my sprouts adventures en route from Shanghai to me. If they ever get en route. I was tempted to tell them where they could put their sprouts but we are only talking about $4 USD (plus $1.25 delivery) and it has become quite amusing to see what happens next. I just hope they are here for Christmas dinner!

I have never heard of the practice.

桂林米粉 (guì lín mǐ fěn) - Guilin Rice Noodles.

Not in the least. Rather confirming what I've long thought. People are strange and some are stranger than others. Some are nice strange; some are stupidly strange; some are sadly strange; some are PIA strange; some are dangerously strange. Perhaps we are all strange in some way. Some just need to give themselves a good talking to. Some just never grow up. I once worked with a world-renowned linguist, now deceased. He was also my PhD supervisor. He was the most childish, boorish, rude, socially dysfunctional human being I ever met.

Pork with pumpkin greens. Pork tenderloin, garlic, ginger, chilli, Sichuan peppercorns, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, oyser sauce. Served with rice, of course.

Here are a couple of Sichuan related ingredients I picked up today. First up is the oil I referred to in the previous post. This bottle is from western Hunan where I lived 25 years ago. Note it has both alternative Chinese names on the bottle - 山胡椒油 - shān hú jiāo yóu and 木姜子油 - mù jiāng zǐ yóu. Secondly, although Zhenjiang vinegar* is the top choice for black vinegar in most of China, Sichuan prefers this local Baoning vinegar. It is rarely seen outside China. Rarely seen outside Sichuan. I had to order it online. i * inexplicably called Chinkiang vinegar in the US.

I agree.

Fried noodles with beef and maitake. Garlic, Shaoxing, soy sauce, scallions. Fresh noodles.

OK. I misunderstood.

Is that unusual? It is compulsory in the UK and normal here. And while I'm here, Bamix all the way.

I'm fairly certain those are maitake, (Japanese: 舞茸 or マイタケ), aka hen-of-the-woods, ram's head or sheep's head, Grifola frondosa. Definitely not matsutake. I hope you didn't pay matsutake prices for maitake!