Which of these British foods should this American try first?

[BananaPudding]

My little Texan village grocery has expanded and is trying to be very posh all of a sudden (which is a change from the standard Velveeta and Hamburger Helper choices) and has put in a British section of food! Imagine my shock to find some of the things you talk about in my own store here. It's quite pricy as it's all imported, so I want to try just one or two things at a time. Here's what they have to offer:

HP Brown Sauce and Fruity Sauce
Branston Pickle
Marmite
Heinz Baked Beans (apparently different than ours?)
Blackcurrant jam
Galaxy bars
Bounty bars
Bird's Custard
Bisto granules
Robinsons barley water

Think there are more but can't remember. Of these, what should I try?

Oh, almost forgot the Heinz Spotted Dick. It's creating hilarity/shock throught the town

I really don't think I could move to America because they don't sell proper cheese.

Ant whaton earth is up with the grated imitation cheddar and mozzarella? Thats just too weird for words.

5inthe bed, iagree with you. i grew up near Amish country where they make their own 'swiss' cheese which sounds lovely but even the amish make a rubbery pseudo-cheese or they mixit with herbs/garlic that doesn't quite disguise the substance. however, in more recent visits back there i think a lot of places (mostly bigger cities and markets) sell proper, artisanal or imported cheese now. some even unpasteurised.

imitation cheddar/mozz sounds disgusting but i suppose they can't label it the real thing if they don't use the right process in the making.

I'm just flabergasted tht America doesn't sell proper cheese, or that they import the stuff. It never occured to me that a country as big as they are wouldn't!

no, no. they do make good stuff. it's just called 'artisanal', from the smaller manufacturers/farms so not taking up the biggest shelf space in the supermarkets. the imported stuff is best in my opinion though.

It really is a Foreign Country!

Free chocolate you say, justagirl?

Cream in tea?
I did this once by mistake and the tea was disgusting and undrinkable.

I can't understand how a country can exist without squash.

What do you have as a cheap cold drink?

Some pizza takeaways over hear use imitation cheese. It's cheaper apparently but you can always tell.

Midnight Express: the trick is to sound both plaintive and worried. Yup to Cadburys ownership. That's what got me worried - you know, that they were planning to lower the tone of the product to suit a mass market.

Off to have some G&B milk chocolate with almonds. Yum.

Oh, I forgot to say - I think the reason they sent me vouchers is that I gave them detailed feedback on why I thought the new lighter milk chocolate wasn't so good. (I spose that's called market research??)

Import vendor is here today and just brought in cadbury bars. I bought a Dairy Milk with roasted almonds and eagerly tore into it. Not impressed-tastes like slightly richer Hersheys. I inspected the package to find the stupid thing is made in Pennsylvania by Hershey! Anyone want to send me a real cadbury?

i think whole foods, trader joes & even places like target stock cadbury's, though i have never bought any to check if it's made in the UK or US, so you should be able to get some.

i shall now check every packet most carefully before making a purchase. i hope you pointed out to the import vendor that if it's made in penn. it doesn't really count as an import?

A friend of ours who emigrated to the US a decade ago has told us on several occasions that you can get Cadburys in the US, but that it is always the fake that you describe (i.e. made in the US, tasting nothing like the real thing). It must be something to do with the quality of the milk. Anyway, I'd avoid it like the plague.

That reminds me that said friend always goes for an Indian when he's here. Even though there are Indian restaurants in NY, where he lives, they somehow don't taste the same (perhaps it's because 'Indian' restaurants here have traditionally been run by Bengalis and have developed dishes for the English pallate? I'm digressing - to a subject about which I know not a lot!)

Bananapudding, I'll send you a real Cadbury's bar. And a jar of Marmite that doesn't cost $7.

Bananapudding I'd be happy to send you a cadburys food parcel! Seriously, have always been a bit enamoured with the ole US of A and would be great to have a cyber buddy there.

In return you can send me this

justagirl
I think that most foreign restaurants adjust their menu to the local tastes. I know that after years of going to Italian restaurants in Germany, we were amazed at Italian restaurants in UK. Some of them even offer Lasagne with chips

I love this thread.

Although it is worrying me a bit, in case we ever do get moved to US. I will demand regular food parcels as part of DH's relocation package.

Fake Cadburys!! How could they!! It's an outrage!

Proper Cadbury's Dairy Milk comes in lots of different varieties....which ones would you like?

Cadbury Dairy Milk

Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel

Cadbury Dairy Milk Fruit and Nut - almonds and raisins

Cadbury Dairy Milk Whole Nut - hazelnuts

Cadbury Dairy Milk Double Choc

Cadbury Dairy Milk Turkish - Turkish delight

Cadbury Dairy Milk with Crunchie Bits

Cadbury Dairy Milk Apricot Crumble Crunch

Cadbury Dairy Milk Cranberry and Granola

Cadbury Dairy Milk Bubbly

You also need a Creme Egg when they come back out at Easter...

Lyra, I nearly threw up looking at that picture

Goldensnitch, you could always send a creme egg Dary Milk, although they are clearly not the same.

Bounty Bars are delicious if you eat them properly of course, you have to remove all the chocolate and eat the coconut all on its own

Just to get of the subject of chocolate and cheses which is the direction that this thread seems to be going in. My DH loves a can of heinz baked beans, cold, with a huge spoonful of branston pickle stirred in. You could try that but even I think that this is an aquired taste.

As for chocolate, it has to be Dairy Milk Whole Nut everytime. There is nothing better.

Even those "Twisted" bars just aren't the same 5inthebed! It's got to be a proper egg shape!

Um, what's the temperature in Texas at the mo, bananapudding? I think you'd better wait till winter because the Cadbury's chocolate will melt in transit.

By the way, I've just finished reading "The Secret Life of Bees & there's a paragraph where they're all just standing smelling the bananapudding that's baking.

Do you know a really good Key Lime Pie recipe?

thank you for teh pictures Banana. Took me back, I do like wondering round supermarkets abroad, and teh US is my fav, just sooooo many things on teh shelf we don;t have here in UK.