Replacing impossible ingredients

[MeanAndMeaslyMiddleAges]

I tend to use Pinterest a lot for recipes, but so many of them seem to require ingredients I can't get in the uk. I can't be the only one! Sometimes I wonder if it's just a question that we don't have certain products in the uk - other times I wonder if we simply call it something else. So I thought we could help each other out by sharing knowledge of where to get things or if they're known by a different name here, or if any substitutions might do. My two are:

Liquid smoke (for making your own barbecue sauce) - I suspect this just doesn't exist in the uk.

Red chilli flakes - so many of my recipes require this, it must be something I can get, but can I find it ANYWHERE??!!

liqued smoke here

red chilli flakes

Waitorse / Ocado sell chilli flakes here or you could grind dried chiilis in a mortar and pestle.

Not sure about liquid smoke though. I've got a BBVQ sauce recipe that works well but doesn't need it

Ooh, that Stateside Candy store is just up the road from where I work!

www.souschef.co.uk/mesquite-liquid-smoke.html - sorry, can't link from phone

BBQ sauce.

Fry one onion, finely chopped for 5 min.
Add 150mL ketchup, 3tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 2tbsp brown sugar and 2 tbsp wine vinegar and simmer for 5 mins.

I bought some liquid smoke during the summer at a market in London - have never used it - not helpful! Get a smokey flavour from chipotle chillis or smoked paprika or Discovery chipotle paste. Red chilli flakes we available in any supermarket - I like the M&S version for heat and flavour. Alternative just crush whole dried chillies or use fresh.

Agree you can get smoked BBQ sauce by adding smoked paprika.

This is the best one I've tried.

mudpiesandfries.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/epic-pork.html?m=1

Red chilli flakes are available in with all the herbs & spices in the supermarket, though they are sold under "crushed chilli flakes". I put them on everything. Lol.

I have some us-centric cookbooks and find they do have some odd ingredients that put me off the recipe. One I would buy if I could lay my hands on it though is maple extract.

I work with an American who needs quite a lot of equipment for his job and found himself frustrated with the more limited range of stuff he could get in the uk. He has the theory that because the us is so much bigger it can support a wider range of niches since the relative market would be larger - eg (plucking numbers out of the air) a producer of maple extract might sell 200 bottles a month in the uk which wouldn't be enough to maintain a business but in the us that might be 1500 bottles plus bulk orders to small confectionery/cake businesses also supporting their own niches therefore making a decent business.

maple extract!

Wow, thanks everyone for replying - that's really really helpful!

I'm trying to respond properly but the site's gone weird on my phone! But I wasn't expecting so many quick responses to my post, so thanks all!

Sorry late back to the thread but thanks Dwells! Perfect!