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

Marmite is frightfully good for you (salt aside), and

it keeps the midgies off. They don't like the tqaste of it in yer blood.

It is also ambrosia. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I may have to go and have a slice of toast and marmite right now.

Yum.

BP, Blue Bell Ice-Cream - I'm sure I bought some of that in Dubai and it proclaimed 'hand-cranked flavor' on the tub. Also, I had to laugh at 'Homemade Vanilla' and underneath 'Natural and artifical flavor added'.

What are grits? What is Hamburger Helper? What are Hush Puppies?

Haven't read whole thread so apologise if repeating.

banana: a package swap sounds fab, but I think postage from USA would be a lot for something heavy like jelly! I've been thinking that I must remember to get any visiting family member to bring me some over in their suit case ... but I'm sure they'd never forgive me if the bottle burst and they had all their clothes stained with grape jelly!

No, breakfast tacos don't feature over here - but we can get flour torillas, so it's easy enough to make your own tacos - though I hate british sausages! (no offense to all of you here! LOL) But I'm very thankful for Lidl (German supermarket) which has some lovely sausages - very cheap too!

Now, Branston pickle is fab! I could eat a whole jar with cheese on homemade bread!

midnight: I am in Scotland! LOL Right in the middle of the lovely Highlands though. So I'm far enough away from the west coast to have to worry about midges though!

grumpy: Blue Bell ice cream is the best! It was made only a very few miles from where I come from in Texas, and I associate many happy memories with Blue Bell Ice Cream - it was at every birthday party for all of my 6 siblings & I, and all my cousins and every other get-together and party ... part of life! And I remember the many times we'd get 2 half gallon tubs for an amazing $5! (And no, I'm not ancient!) Though I think by the time I left Texas it was more like 2 half gallons for $10 (when on sale). But really, it's fantastic ice cream - made with real milk ... unlike all the fake ice cream here in UK which is made from reconstituted whey protein! Yuk!

Mmmmmm Bluebell. I just bought a half gallon of Peaches & Homemade Vanilla. It really is fabulous. In the UK ice cream isn't made with real milk? How bizarre, considering the slander being done to US milk with regard to chocolate and cheese I paid $6.19 for one half gallon.

Speaking of chocolate, what is the general consensus on Milka chocolate? I just found it genuinely imported from Germany in a store in the next town.

The most common breakfast taco around here is a flour tortilla with a filling of scrambled eggs, bacon and cheese (cheddar though not to your standards). I don't eat eggs, so I usually get potato home fries instead of the eggs. Home fries are boiled potatoes that have been cooled, diced and fried crisp. And every breakfast taco must have Mexican hot sauce on the side. Dh does pico de gallo instead sometimes.

Grits are eaten like a hot cereal, I believe it's pretty much the same thing as polenta. It's made of ground corn. I seem to remember that grits are made from ground hominy rather than straight corn but I could be wrong. Hamburger Helper is a packet mix with a sauce mix and pasta. You brown the hamburger (mince), add the sauce powder with water/milk and the noodles, then cook until liquid is absorbed. Extremely popular in Texas. I'm sure the UK would find it unimaginably vile! Hushpuppies are wonderful. The are a thick batter of cornmeal, minced onion, minced bell pepper, milk and eggs. They are dropped by spoonful into hot oil. Usually served with fried catfish around here.

Bama jelly is in glass but Welch's is in a sturdy plastic jar so shouldn't burst in a suitcase. Hope you get a delivery!

Every icecream that I've had here,Scotland,has been made from real milk and cream.Perhaps if you buy the cheapest of ice creams then alternatives are used.

About Milka I like it. It isn't my favourite but it's a very pleasant chocolate.

And as for the poster who mentioned strong cheeses? Do you mean that we have cheese that actually has a flavour?

Indeed we do have real dairy icecream in the UK, it's just the cheapest of the cheapest of the cheap that is that awful not dairy stuff.

Milka is nice enough. Better than US chocolate anyway

Fluff - what can you use it for apart from on a PBJ?

I wouldn't mind some of that peanut butter and jam/jelly spread. Would save me precious seconds

Oh I really, really want some hush puppies and a breakfast taco now. I'm feeling strangely drawn to the Hamburger Helper, just to see if it's a VILE as it sounds .

I remember the Blue Bell ice cream being delish, my Dad & I just liked the expression 'hand-cranked'.

I love Vegemite more than Marmite, it's thicker and has more oomph about it......

No, Vegemite is disgusting
Bananapudding, of course UK ice cream is made from milk. As others have said, only the very cheapest, nastiest ice cream would be made with anything other than milk.
I like thew sound of hush puppies (over here Hush Puppies are shoes). Do you have a recipe?
Hamburger Helper doesn't sound too bad to me.
Our local pick-your-own farm has an American foods section. Maybe I'll go and have another look after this thread.

hush puppies

Onion and green onion are interchangeable. This recipe doesn't list it, but around here hush puppies have as much minced bell pepper as onion in them. Some people also add pickled jalepenos (also known as nacho peppers) and cheese.

Think I may be making hush puppies tonight

Thanks BP. What size should they be when you fry them? Meatball-sized? Or bigger?

About the size of an unshelled walnut is how I do them. Are you going to make them?

Well, I'm not meaning the value range of ice cream, but just store brands always have precious little milk. I guess it's also the price you have to pay for real milk ice cream - soooo much more than the price for a half gallon of Blue Bell in Texas! And even ones that do have milk, seem to always also have the reconstituted whey protein (whatever it is!).

BUT, you can get fantastic ice cream from Lidl! Very luxurious tasting, lovely & super creamy - and nice when they do it on sale on occasions for GBP 1 or 1.50 for 1 litre (or 750/900ml). But it tastes very rich indeed!

Thanks for the key lime pie recipe, bananapudding. Of course, we can't get graham crackers here (memories of smores on camp outs when a Camp America counselor back in the 80s), never mind the key limes! I shall improvise & let U know how I get on.

What a shame you spent $7 on a jar of Marmite & didn't like it. How did DS get on with it?

I think I will BP. It'll be something different for the DC to try.

Nope. Can't fathom it.

BP ta for the Hush Pups recipe - it will be on my menu tomorrow. Have you tried everything you listed at the start of this thread yet?

You can use crushed digestives or even any kind of choc biscuit crushed for the key lime pie crust, and although the key limes have the best flavour, any lime juice will be ok.

Am eating a cheese and branston sandwich. Now this is divine. I am in love with Branston Pickle. I'm putting it on a bacon sandwich next!

I wasn't expecting the chunk-factor. It says on the bottle that a smoother spread is made but I doubt that I'll ever find that here! I'll be happy with my chunky pickle.

I can't get dh or dd to try it. Dh says it looks like weird chunky brown jam "and that's just wrong"...dd just says it smells yucky. Oh darn, I'll have to eat the whole jar myself

There is a 'small chunk sandwich pickle' which is the same stuff with small bits.

You can get it in squeezy bottles rather than jars too to make it easier to apply.

Yey! Glad you found an English food you like

At last, something you like!
Over here you can get traditional, which has big chunks, but also small chunk pickle and smooth. I find small chunk spreads easier and smooth is, well, too smooth.

Not sure how well it will go with bacon, but then y'all have weird bacon over there.
We put it on ham sandwiches as well as cheese.