Mumsnet Talk

I agree, booge. English mustard is a wonderful, irreplaceable condiment.

I hereby maintain that whether a tomato is a fruit or vegetable, or one masquerading as the other, once in a domestic setting it has No Place within a refrigerator.

Why has no one defended English Mustard, I can't eat a sausage or ham sandwich without it. It's the only thing.

aham.

The botanical definition of a fruit is an organ that contains seeds, protecting these as they develop and often aiding in their dispersal. This may be at odds with everyday usage of the word "fruit." Botanically, pineapples, oranges, and apples are fruits, but so too are "vegetables" like tomatoes and cucumbers. The pods that contain peas and beans are fruits, as are the dry, inedible structures that bear the seeds of many wild plants.

Read more: www.biologyreference.com/Fo-Gr/Fruits.html#ixzz2FVX14gj1

'Snacky tea' that's another one that makes me shudder.

>tomatoes are fruit not veg
and in case that's not clear, tomatoes are botanically fruit but colloquially/in culinary terms vegetables. So its scientificall correct to say they are fruit but incorrect to say therefore they are not veg. Logic fail.

>But there is no botanic definition for a vegetable! It is a purely culinary term. And people spout that shit about tomatoes being fruits as though they are scientific genii (sp).

But there is a botanic definition of a fruit. Problem that the word fruit is used loosely to mean 'sweet edible plant thing' and vegetable is 'savory edible plant thing' (more or less). So I think its as inaccurate to say 'There is no botanic difference between a fruit and a vegetable' as to say that tomatoes are fruit not veg.

Now, this being a pedantry thread, we have to query 'scientific genii'. Is that a genie who emerges from an electric lamp? Using latin plurals wrongly looks a bit thick

Now I understand the mince rinsing <boak>

amberleaf with you on the gravy have never used gravy browning but always wondered what on earth it was for because my gravy is perfectly good without it.

ethelb and I am f*confused

poor chaolas.

ethelb, sorry, I don't get the olives/basil thing ...

[slow on uptake]

Comma.

And a Happy New Year to you, too ethelb.

@ladyclarice that reminds me of the time I was sold olives in basil paste. With garlic.

Still no need to call someone thick even if it is Chaos. Just make your point without being snippy.

But there is no botanic definition for a vegetable! It is a purely culinary term. And people spout that shit about tomatoes being fruits as though they are scientific genii (sp).

Don't hold back ethel It's a light-hearted thread.

My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow

<irrelevant>

>There is no botanic difference between a fruit and a vegetable

There can be. Some vegetables are not fruits. Some are roots, tubers, stalks. In the case of rhubarb, we have a 'fruit' that isn't a fruit.

>I don't think Americans really understand cheese to be honest
Very few do. We lived there and found a deli which had a Stilton. I'm pretty sure we were the only people who ever had any of it before it got totally past it (but still sadly on display).

I was always rather worried by the pizze etc claiming to be topped with '100% real cheese' ... or rather, by those without this wording, WTF was the yellowish rubbery stuff on them?

"Tomatoes and cucumber arre fruit."

Do you know how thick this one makes you sound?

There is no botanic difference between a fruit and a vegetable.

Yes they are fruit (as well as vegetables) but why stop there?

You're right, Fellatio.

Ugh, 'cuppa' makes me feel ill too.

I don't think Americans really understand cheese to be honest.

Browning liquid is nasty bitter stuff, I can always taste if its in something.

For gravy I use a cornflour paste at the end. My best gravy is made with a mix of vegetable cooking water, meat juices, onion and a bit of 'this and that' [seasonings depending on what Im cooking]

I think the mince rinsing came about from a misunderstanding

If you put cold water into mince, the fat on top will harden and its easier to remove it.

I saw a friend rinse mince with hot water, she said she was getting rid of the fat, I told her she was also getting rid of the flavoursome juices too!

Personally I try to use the best quality mince I can [lean steak mince] and let it cool then pick the fat off once its cold.

'only available in French' is really making me giggle, for some reason.

Mardy, there was indeed a mince-rinsing thread, and does that sound like a dreadful euphemism or what?

At the end of dinner in a restaurant in New York once I asked the waiter what the cheese in my salad was, as I'd really liked it. Response: 'Blue cheese.' Me (Englishly): 'Yes, but – sorry – what sort of blue cheese?'. Waiter (slowly, with a supercilious mini-smile, as if to a simpleton): 'Bl-u-u-ue cheese. It's blue cheese.'

Wanker.