Cheese and Pickles, Pickles and Cheese, Gimme Gimme Some of That Sandwich Please!

[poppy]

There is a kid show where a character sings about her love of pickle and cheese sandwiches. I thought she was just being eccentric.

Now I see a reference to eating a pickle and cheese sandwich in a Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling) book.

 

Is this a thing? An English thing?

[nevergiveup]

I don't know but I have always liked eating bread and butter pickles with Swiss cheese.

[Cinder]

I don't know either. My dh always makes his grilled cheese sandwiches with pickle relish. I've never heard of anyone else doing that. He's not English, though.

[TheBugs]

Yes, it is an English thing. Cheese with  Branston pickles. 

[NoseInABook]

I'm not sure but they're delicious together.

[Baseball mom]

I love dill pickles on my grilled cheese sandwiches.  Put the pickles on before grilling :thumbup:  I am not English

[shukriyya]

Yes, it is an English thing. Cheese with Branston pickles.

Swoon. I grew up on this stuff. Nothing like a sandwich made with sharp, white, aged cheddar and some Branston pickle :D

[poppy]

Are they sweet or sour?

Now I want to try one....

[Jayne J]

I love cheese and pickle sandwiches! (And I'm not British. Never have been. :tongue_smilie: )

[Susan in TN]

A German neighbor once made me what has become one of my favorite (low carb) snacks - pickle wraps.  A thin slice of ham (not honey ham) spread with some cream cheese and wrapped around a dill pickle.  Mmmmmmm. 

[KungFuPanda]

Is this like the canned beans and toast thing?

[scholastica]

I spent pretty much an entire school year eating cheese and pickle sandwiches when I was a kid. Yum. It was easy on my mom, too. She just made the same lunch for me everyday. I am not British, either.

[Desert Strawberry]

Is this like the canned beans and toast thing?

 

 

What? Did I miss something?

[Slartibartfast]

Are they sweet or sour?

Now I want to try one....

 

 

Wikipedia says it is a pickled chutney, not actually pickles.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branston_(brand)

[BarbecueMom]

Thanks, now that song is stuck in my head. Along with every other little tune from that show my kids sing over and over, several times a day.

[HRAAB]

I love cheese and pickles.  Sharp cheddar and a bread and butter pickle.  Dills will do in a pinch.  I eat them without the bread since bread doesn't like me.  I probably eat it 4-5 a week.

[alisoncooks]

A German neighbor once made me what has become one of my favorite (low carb) snacks - pickle wraps.  A thin slice of ham (not honey ham) spread with some cream cheese and wrapped around a dill pickle.  Mmmmmmm. 

 

Don't know about a German thing, but this was a finger-food at nearly every wedding and shower of my childhood (sliced into bite sized spirals). :D  My aunt & I used to eat them by the dozen when we would fix them for parties...my favorite!

[Mrs Mungo]

What? Did I miss something?

Brits eat canned beans on toast. They sometimes eat it with fried eggs, sausages and bacon (different than our bacon), which is a "full fry up." The beans are *sort of*, but not exactly like baked beans.

[Desert Strawberry]

I'm familiar with the full English breakfast, but are the beans and toast served alone? 

 

My grandmother was from Ireland. My mother complained about eating bean sandwiches as a child. I wonder if this is what she was talking about?

 

It sounds good to me :)

[Mrs Mungo]

I'm familiar with the full English breakfast, but are the beans and toast served alone?

Yes, they do. Grilled cheese with "brown sauce" is another common thing. I watched a lot of British TV when we lived in Germany. I should note that TV makes up the majority of my experience with the culture (other than a short visit). ;)

 

My grandmother was from Ireland. My mother complained about eating bean sandwiches as a child. I wonder if this is what she was talking about?

 

It sounds good to me :)

Maybe? Have you actually tried these exact beans? They are sort of...ketchupy? Kind of like beans in spaghettio sauce.

[Cinder]

My grandmother was from Ireland. My mother complained about eating bean sandwiches as a child. I wonder if this is what she was talking about?

 

It sounds good to me :)

 

My mom talked about eating pork-n-bean sandwiches when she was growing up. This was in Hawaii and the beans were Van Camp's. It didn't sound good to me even though I often ate the beans over rice. Maybe it's more of a texture than taste thing for me. I don't like wet bread. I'm glad she never served us bean sandwiches.

[shukriyya]

Are they sweet or sour?

Now I want to try one....

 

It's not a single pickle, it's actually a chutney. Dark in color, sweet and sour and it's plopped on with a spoon. Nothing at all like baked beans. Which, incidentally, as well as being eaten on heavily buttered toast (this was a staple growing up) are also eaten on jacket potatoes aka baked potatoes. I've never had the latter, way too heavy, but popular where we were.

[TheBugs]

I happen to have some Branston pickle. It' a chutney. The ingredients are onions, carrots, rutabega, cauliflower, marrow, gherkins, sugar, vinegar, salt, chopped dates, corn starch, tomato paste, caramel color, spices, lemon juice....

 

Very different than what Americans think of as pickles. My uncle sent me Branston pickle, a regular jar, a squeezable small chunk pickle and a squeezable smooth pickle which is all blended together into a sort of paste.

[Mrs Mungo]

I happen to have some Branston pickle. It' a chutney. The ingredients are onions, carrots, rutabega, cauliflower, marrow, gherkins, sugar, vinegar, salt, chopped dates, corn starch, tomato paste, caramel color, spices, lemon juice....

 

Very different than what Americans think of as pickles. My uncle sent me Branston pickle, a regular jar, a squeezable small chunk pickle and a squeezable smooth pickle which is all blended together into a sort of paste.

So, you are saying that "a pickle" is similar to saying "a chutney?" What do you call actual individual pickles (genuinely curious)?

[poppy]

This is fascinating.

 

I've actually had beans on toast as an improvised comfort food but I never thought of buttering the bread.  That sounds worth trying, on a lonely wintery day.

[KungFuPanda]

I happen to have some Branston pickle. It' a chutney. The ingredients are onions, carrots, rutabega, cauliflower, marrow, gherkins, sugar, vinegar, salt, chopped dates, corn starch, tomato paste, caramel color, spices, lemon juice....

Very different than what Americans think of as pickles. My uncle sent me Branston pickle, a regular jar, a squeezable small chunk pickle and a squeezable smooth pickle which is all blended together into a sort of paste.

It sounds like giardiniera. My mother and grandmother canned a LOT of vegetables. They liked to pickle things too. We ate pickled cucumbers, okra, even eggs. I don't associate pickling only with dill cucumber pickles, but I know people who do. I'm not sure their mothers preserved food.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I love cheese and pickles.  Sharp cheddar and a bread and butter pickle.  Dills will do in a pinch.  I eat them without the bread since bread doesn't like me.  I probably eat it 4-5 a week.

Yes!  Sharp cheddar and bread and butter pickles!  I haven't had them in forever.  Everyone in my family heckles me when I eat them.  I'm definitely putting these ingredients on my grocery list!

[shukriyya]

So, you are saying that "a pickle" is similar to saying "a chutney?" What do you call actual individual pickles (genuinely curious)?

Hmm, yes it's singular...Branston pickle rather than pickles and yes it's a chutney. For individual sour pickles these can't be beat...once you've tried them you can't go back.

 

 

 

 

Same goes for their bread and butter pickles...

 

 

 

 

I call actual pickles, pickles but chutney isn't really a pickle to me. It's a chutney. Clear as mud? :lol:

[Mrs Mungo]

It sounds like giardiniera. My mother and grandmother canned a LOT of vegetables. They liked to pickle things too. We ate pickled cucumbers, okra, even eggs. I don't associate pickling only with dill cucumber pickles, but I know people who do. I'm not sure their mothers preserved food.

I am from Oklahoma. I am definitely familiar with pickled okra, pickled jalapeños and carrots and so forth. But, we don't call any of those things "a pickle."

[TheBugs]

So, you are saying that "a pickle" is similar to saying "a chutney?" What do you call actual individual pickles (genuinely curious)?

I actually don't know.:/ I think gherkins or pickled cucumbers.

 

"A pickle" I think would be one particular pickled object and the brown stuff that is like chutney and is in jar is just pickle. Though I always thought it was pickles. I grew up mostly in the US so usually when I discuss pickles I am talking cucumbers. I need to ask my mother because now I just need to know.

[TheBugs]

I'm familiar with the full English breakfast, but are the beans and toast served alone?

 

My grandmother was from Ireland. My mother complained about eating bean sandwiches as a child. I wonder if this is what she was talking about?

 

It sounds good to me :)

Beans on toast can be a full meal for breakfast, lunch, or "tea " (dinner) . When I was little we only ate tea which was often beans on toast. We switched to eating dinner when we came to the States and that was also often beans on toast but of course the beans are different here.

[umsami]

This thread has made me want to go to the store, buy a bunch of pickling cucumbers, and make some bread and butter refrigerator pickles.

 

Then, even though they're not a Branston pickle, I'm going to put them on a nice cheese sandwich. 

[KungFuPanda]

I am from Oklahoma. I am definitely familiar with pickled okra, pickled jalapeños and carrots and so forth. But, we don't call any of those things "a pickle."

The only thing I call "a pickle" is a single dill pickle OR a calamity of some sort. "Pickles" covers everything else you preserve in vinegar or brine. Don't tell my mother, but I don't really care for bread and butter pickles, or any sweet pickles for that matter. I even buy dill relish. Mom didn't even know they made dill relish until she saw it at my house.

[Jaybee]

I don't know personally, but grilled cheese made of dense rye bread, cheddar, and jalopeños is delicious. And now I'm drooling. . .

[KungFuPanda]

I don't know personally, but grilled cheese made of dense rye bread, cheddar, and jalopeños is delicious. And now I'm drooling. . .

Hold the phone! I've gone my whole life without trying grilled cheese on rye. Now I'm desperate to try it with with a little whole grain mustard.