Differences in eating habits and eating out between US & UK!

[2BoysMum&Dad]

Loose tea leaves (and using a strainer) is supposed to be a better way of making tea, but in most people's opinion tea bags are perfectly good enough and sometimes more convenient.

2BoysMum&Dad

 

[BCV23]

Originally posted by 2BoysMum&Dad
Loose tea leaves (and using a strainer) is supposed to be a better way of making tea, but in most people's opinion tea bags are perfectly good enough and sometimes more convenient.

I think this is probably how most of us who are tea lovers in the US feel about it too. I prefer loose tea but bags do just fine when I'm in a hurry which seems to be most of the time!

 

[otownguy]

What a great thread. I live very close to WDW and often eat in restaurants in that area. There are several sure fire ways to spot Brits:

- Always eat with fork pointed down and knife in hand as has been stated here. but also :tongue
- Someone in crowd almost always has on football (soccer) apparel.
- Someone appears to have a very painful sunburn.
- Are generally very friendly and interesting to talk to.

Now (I know this is already been discussed, just wanted to get my 2 cents in.)

BBQ - People in the US take this very seriously. I love all kinds of BBQ. To be considered real BBQ meat must be cooked low and slow 200 - 250 degrees for several hours with some kind of wood smoke. Anything cooked fast on a grill is considered grilling not BBQ. BBQ varies according to the region. The following is where BBQ is most famous:

North Carolina: Pork (pork butt pulled, ribs) Western NC sauce is tomato based, Eastern NC sauce is vinegar based. South Carolina sauce is mustard based.

Texas: BEEF!!! , brisket, short ribs, tomato based sauce, mesquite wood.

Kansas City: Pork (ribs, sliced pork) tomato based sauce.

I also love the bacon/sausage with maple syrup (Real maple syrup not the imitation stuff you get most places). I have to have the saltiness of the meat to counteract the sweetness of the syrup. Also same concept with chocolate covered pretzels, which you must try.

Just had to mention that I really enjoy talking to and getting to know the many UK visitors that we get here. In general they are very friendly and polite, which is more that I can say for a lot of the other visitors. Just a note that my best experience at WDW was one day I spent about 2 hours in Rose and Crown drinking beer and talking with the bartenders and other people. My favorite beers are Harp and Tennents, can't decide which I like better. They are even starting to show up in our local grocery store. Sorry so long but I just found this thread very interesting, need to start more like it.

 

[KilleriMac17]

My wife loves to eat her sausage with syrup. I do not, my mother is from ireland, that could be why, but I also prefer Irish Bangers to American sausage.

 

[2BoysMum&Dad]

I have started a few threads like this which people seem to enjoy, mostly based on the differences between the Brits and Americans.

I am also pleased that most Americans who have chatted with Brits at WDW have found us friendly. I like to think the positive American attitude brings out the best in us!

2BoysMum&Dad

 

[jann1033]

Originally posted by 2BoysMum&Dad

I always envisage being eaten by cowboys in those old American “westerns” around a camp fire.



2BoysMum&Dad

well I always envisage the campfire scene in the movie "BLazing Saddles "when I envisage cowboys, beans and campfires

a note on tea...when we went in Jan. we missed the little tea/triffle wagon that used to be to the left of the R&C. we had a hard time getting a cup of tea to go along with our walker's shortbread that are so necessary during illuminations at any place in UK Epcot ! what is up with that! the time before last a cute little British boy at that cart stressed to me with a horrified expression that whatever I did with my tea.."DO NOT "dunk" the bag". very cute moment.

as far as smoked "BBQ", well, unless you go to Texas or the Carolinas, imo forget it, just not the same ( sorry,never tried it in Kansas). around here ( Ohio)you CAN get some good ribs....grilled with tomatoie sauce ( which I know my BBQ cookbook calls "BBQed" also )

 

[tar heel]

There must be a better place in Orlando to get BBQ than Sonny's -- that would be a little like sending you to McDonald's to get a really good hamburger. There's a Sonny's here, but I don't know anyone who eats at it -- can't imagine who would go there when there is the real stuff nearby.

 

[UKDEB]

I've been watching this thread with interest over the last couple of days. It's hugely entertaining, but I have to say I don't recognise a lot of the traits ascribed to Brits!

As a general rule, I'm not a fan of traditional savory with sweet (pork with apple sauce; gammon and pineapple; turkey and cranberry sauce), but I have grown to love pancakes with smoked crispy bacon and (real) maple syrup. In fact, I made it for breakfast on Sunday. Mmmmm!

 

[sha_lyn]

Originally posted by tar heel
There must be a better place in Orlando to get BBQ than Sonny's -- that would be a little like sending you to McDonald's to get a really good hamburger. There's a Sonny's here, but I don't know anyone who eats at it -- can't imagine who would go there when there is the real stuff nearby.

My thought was it was like sending someone to Taco Bell to get authentic Tex Mex food.

Did a search and came up with

Bubbalou's Bodacious Barbeque
and
Smokey Bones

As rated 2 of the best in the Orlando area

About Bacon, sausage etc... It is very common here to cure pork with sugar. Sugar cured (sometimes brown sugar) bacon and ham are very common.

 

[jann1033]

a smokey bones just opened near us so in the interest of scientific investigation I may force myself to try it this weekend!

 

[kennancat]

Smokey Bones is a Darden restaurant (think Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Bahama Breeze). The pulled pork is generally regarded as very good. I also like Sonny's, but not as much as Smokey Bones or Babbalou's. I believe Bubbalou's is a local chain. I heard that they've recently added pulled pork to their menu, so I need to go try that out at some point here. There are other non-chain BBQ places in Orlando as well - our local food critic prefers O'Boys. Don't expect too much from Orlando BBQ though; we are geographically in the South, but not culturally, so the BBQ suffers!

 

[2BoysMum&Dad]

jann - please don't make yourself suffer tooooo much purely for the purposes of scientific research! I hate the thought of anyone torturing themselves by going out for a good meal at a nice restaurant! LOL.

By the way, I would love to know what Americans think of burgers at McDonalds. Give me a choice between a burger from Burger King or a burger from McDonalds and there's no question that Burger King wins hands down by miles. How do McDonalds manage to make so much money when their burgers are so disgusting! I have had McDonalds burgers in the US and Britain and are just as bad in both countries.

2BoysMum&Dad

 

[TandyR]

How do McDonalds manage to make so much money when their burgers are so disgusting!

I don't eat red meat since I was about 6 years old so I can't speak for their burgers....but I think they make their money from their marketing to children...I know of many people around here hit McD's often in the winter because of the wonderful inside playplace so they will stay at McD's all afternoon...then add on top of that the Disney Happy Meal toys and then there are a ton of families roped in. Also the fact I personally think their fish sandwhich is better then BKs. (That is what gets us there on freezing cold well below 0F winter days when my girls need an inside playplace. ) So I don't think they ever marketed their burgers as being good.
The only time I have ever looked forward to McD's food was when I was a teenager and I was coming home after spending 3 weeks in the USSR and I had a layover in Sweden....I saw a McD's and I ran to it for a fish sandwhich that I knew basiclly what it was.

 

[AlisonB]

I'm really loving this thread!!

I've just starting working with a guy from Minnesota - and we spent all day today talking about food differences between the UK and the US!

Apparently the things he misses most from the US are Mountain Dew (can't buy it over here), ice in drinks and lobster tail.

He loves British chocolate (candy) and our crisps (chips).

 

[mslangen]

Hi all,

I thought I should add my thing about this food treat.
I'm living in the Netherlands, so our food habitats should come more close to the people in the UK.

Here is how we do it here in the Netherlands.
1. Eating with knive and fork.
While eating we have the knive in our right hand and the fork in our left hand. Also if you don't need to cut anything the knive is used to put food on the fork. If we need to cut a piece of meat we turn the fork 180 degrees so its easyer to put it in the piece of meat to hold it in place while cutting it. If we a piece of meat we also use turn the fork to prik in the meat and wile bringing the fork to our mouth we turn the fork 180 degrees before we put in in our mouth.
Think what we do is the most simular how they do it in the UK.
At school we learned that how we eat are known table manners.
Of course at home things can differ. At breakfast we don't use a fork most of the time and eat the food with our hand and we use the knive only to cut the bread and to put butter or anything else on it. Our breakfast don't have hot dishes, only bread with cold cheese, meat or something sweet.

2. BBQ or Barbeque.
I think barbeaue is much different here in the Netherlands.
When we talk about Barbeque or a barbeque we are reffering to a most times sunny evening when people use their Barbeque. The equipment to bake/prepare pieces of meat above a fire is called a barbeque. Its placed outside the house because of the smoke comming from it.
A barbeque is also called a party someone organizes. The invited people are comming can eat pieces of meat from the barbeque. This goes allong with a buffet with bread, salads, dipping sauces and the like. However its possible in the cold winter months a barbeque is most known as a summer event. On those days that you can sit outside your home to eat.
When people do a barbeque its an event for at least an hour or two or three. You don't eat all in once but its spread out over the evening.

3. Tea.
In our country tea is very common. Its allways coffee or tea. Most people actually preffer coffee. I don't like coffee and then its common to drink tea. This are the two hot drinks that are common while working in most offices or anyplace else where you want something hot to drink. Hot chocolate is more a out of the ordinary thing what you don't drink all day long.

OK, thats my part about the food differences.

Marcel.

 

[BCV23]

Marcel, thanks for adding some info on dining differences in the Netherlands. One of my BILs is from Belgium and we enjoy asking him about their customs. It is so fun to learn about other cultures.

Great points about BBQ. When I was young, BBQ as a verb meant grilling in our part of the USA. As a noun, it meant a party as you describe or a grille. Now we say grilling if we're cooking on a grille and don't use BBQ as a noun unless it's describing a party. Otherwise, it's an adjective in these parts...as in BBQ'd ribs, etc..

I really have enjoyed how everyone is describing differences without implying that their way is the best. This forum is so positive!!!

 

[BONZO]

Oooh - don't you just love a food thread?


A couple of observations made over the last couple of years.

Iced water When we used to go to restaurants you'd always be handed a glass of iced water - This only happened in Perkins last year and we had to ask at other places.

Free refills of soft drinks - rarely happens in the UK but some chains like Nando's are offering this.

Bottled water - doesn't have the same taste as "European" bottled water.

Mountain Dew - we can't get it over here as it has too much caffeine and they won't produce a "watered down" version.

Chocolate - Things like Hershey bars taste very different to UK chocolate

Graham Crackers - These are similar to our sweet digestive biscuits

Biscuits - (as in Chicken and biscuits) - we know these as scones and are a savoury item

Marmite / Bovril - Are you familiar with these items?

Chips / Crisps / Fries - for us you have chips with fish, Crisps are a savoury potato snack, and fries are french fries a la McDonalds

Saltines - These are like our Ritz crackers - but why do you get them with sandwiches?

Scrapple - what's that all about?

Bubble & Squeak - anyone tried this?

Back for more later

 

[UKDEB]

Originally posted by AlisonB
Apparently the things he misses most from the US are Mountain Dew (can't buy it over here)

Alison, your collegue can get the genuine article online at CyberCandy.

 

[yecats]

Certainly an interesting thread.

I have worked with a number of Brits and Aussies who know live locally in New Orleans. I've noticed that no matter what they eat it is always with fork even when it is considered finger foods (fries, fried chicken, pizza, etc.). That is certainly one noticeable difference in the way we eat.

Iced Tea - if you've ever experienced the type of hot/humid days here, you wouldn't dream to drink hot tea. In all honesty, all of my friends prefer a very cold Iced Tea during the high humid days than a cold cokecola. We find that if you drink a cold coke during a humid day it really only makes you thirst for another one. A cold iced tea quenches the thirst. We also drink cold iced tea year round here as well. We have a few local places that sell Earl Grey Iced Tea which I really like but can't quite make it correctly at home. Now my mom loves to have hot black tea in the a.m. with a tad of milk.

The previous reason I stated that true BBQ is considered to be pork is because this was recently stated on a national newshow about 3 weeks ago here in the U.S. The show was considering the differences in BBQ in Kansas, Texas and the Carolinas and mentioned that true BBQ is of pork products only. Now I refer to what have sited as grilling. We go outside to grill any meats and may apply BBQ sauce to it.

Lastly, when we were in elementary school, I do recall a teacher instructing the students that it was proper to walk to your next class by walking on the right hand side of the hallway. If you ever go to any grocery store in America, we still stick to this rule. It's funny isn't it.

P.S. Every Brit I've ever met at Disney has always been nice and certainly sometimes better behaved than many Americans that I have witness there.

 

[graygables]

my 15yo DD who was to head "across the pond" for 3 weeks today is having to come home instead for an MRI on her head. She had a CT scan last week (for headaches) and her Dr. called and said for her to come back for the MRI and a neurology visit. Needless to say, we are quite concerned and she's a wreck. I tried to tell her that at least she wouldn't have to try haggis, but she wasn't amused.

Please send her some pixie dust and hopes that she can try the trip again in September!

Thank you!