What should I *not* serve my English and German guests?

[Susan in TN]

What is weird about fried onions? :confused1:

 

 

(If you'd been in Oz, you'd have got tinned beetroot and possibly pineapple on it too.)

That would be a $16 burger at an upscale restaurant around here. Including the egg. So much fanciness! :)

[Annie G]

I may give this biscuit and gravy thing a try. Can I use ground pork with some spices for the sausage or is that something different?

 

Is anything else served with it?

 

 

I often split a biscuit, top it with scrambled eggs, and then put the sausage gravy on top.  During summer tomato season I serve it with a thick slice of fresh tomato on the side, making sure the tomato has salt and pepper on it. Yum!  

[Ellie]

Clearly you weren't in the part of New Jersey that is near Philadelphia, because there gravy is red and goes on pasta! ;)

 

Oh, that's the other weird thing--calling red stuff on pasta "gravy"!!! What?!

[Ellie]

 

They also put, get this, canned asparagus and cranberry jelly on their turkey sandwiches.

 

 

:blink: :ack2:

[Ravin]

Hamburger Gravy over toast = S.O.S. ( s_____ on a shingle ) It was a staple meal for my Granny.  

 

S.O.S. was a staple in the mess when I was in the Navy. And there were endless variations. Basically, random leftover meat (and sometimes veggies, but not usually) in whatever sauce was on hand and plentiful, and throw it on toast. Could be white gravy, could be tomato sauce, could be brown gravy, or...really anything. You just had to guess by looking. There was usually something of the sort available several times a week on my ship; fortunately there were usually other options to eat, too.

[Ravin]

I will agree that Midwesterners are the mutts of the food world, based entirely on the weird things my girlfriend (family is from Michigan) thinks go well with noodles.

 

She puts chili on noodles (I spent enough of my formative years in Texas to find that blasphemous).

 

She also puts noodles in New England clam chowder. It's gross. I avoid the kitchen when she makes it. 

Edited May 24, 2016 by Ravin

[Scarlett]

Our British friends nearly vomited when they saw a plate of biscuits and gravy for breakfast.

LOL.....a southern thing I guess. I am not a fan even though I grew up on it.

[Lady Florida.]

It is, but I've never seen canned pork in it. Normally it would be fried bread, sausage, bacon, egg, and maybe fried tomatoes or mushrooms. Baked beans are common but easy to avoid.

 

I think it was already pointed out, but canned baked beans are almost the same as canned pork and beans. The "pork" is really just a piece or two of pork fat. <shudder>. 

 

A funny: When I went to England years ago it was an overnight flight. In the morning shortly before landing they served us breakfast, which was a croissant with jam and a piece of fruit. The English woman sitting next to me shook her head, spat the words continental breakfast, and said "They really don't know how to serve breakfast on the continent". :D

 

I do like protein at breakfast whether it comes in the form of meat (bacon, sausage) or eggs. Or as in the case this morning when I had an apple with peanut butter. 

 

Clearly you weren't in the part of New Jersey that is near Philadelphia, because there gravy is red and goes on pasta! ;)

 

Oh no, no, no! That's sauce. Sunday sauce to be specific. I'm from the part of Jersey that's 15 minutes from NYC. And my cred is this: family surnames names on my mother's side include Cappasola, Covino, LaVecchia, and Taino (pronounced Tie-on-oh). ;)

Edited May 24, 2016 by Lady Florida.

[Laura Corin]

I think it was already pointed out, but canned baked beans are almost the same as canned pork and beans. The "pork" is really just a piece or two of pork fat. <shudder>. 

 

Ah.  Okay.  Our tinned baked beans don't have pork in them.  They are veggie only.  The ingredients are here:

 

http://www.heinz.co.uk/en/products/beans/ranges/beanz/heinz-baked-beanz

 

It's essentially beans, tomato and some flavourings.

 

They aren't my favourite things in the world, but they are not gross in the particular way you mention.

 

 

[Anne in CA]

Our British friends nearly vomited when they saw a plate of biscuits and gravy for breakfast.

We serve biscuits and gravy at our restaurant and lots of foreigners who visit the national park by us try biscuits and gravy here for the first time. Most people like it and think it's very tasty. Some people go on and eat it every day they are here. Of course, our biscuits and gravy is really good, lol.

[Matryoshka]

Ah.  Okay.  Our tinned baked beans don't have pork in them.  They are veggie only.  The ingredients are here:

 

http://www.heinz.co.uk/en/products/beans/ranges/beanz/heinz-baked-beanz

 

It's essentially beans, tomato and some flavourings.

 

They aren't my favourite things in the world, but they are not gross in the particular way you mention.

 

Baked beans here typically have bacon and brown sugar or molasses in them (everything in the US must be sweet...)  Had a hard time tracking down an ingredient list, but here... (and apparently no tomatoes...)

 

http://www.amazon.com/Original-Baked-Beans-Ounce-Cans/dp/B002W00254

Edited May 24, 2016 by Matryoshka

[Ravin]

To be fair, you can get vegetarian baked beans in the U.S. They're still probably sweeter than the English version.

 

And no matter how they're prepared, I have trouble wrapping my head around beans on a breakfast plate. 

 

As far as the regionality of biscuits and gravy, I think that speaks more to what people actually cook at home than to what can be found in national chain restaurants.

[itsheresomewhere]

I recently made chocolate gravy and biscuits at a church potluck here in Texas. They had never had it even though it is very common for breakfast in Arkansas where I grew up. Anyone else ever had chocolate gravy?

 

As for your guests, since they've been in the US a while, I'd probably just make something that your family really loves or something with a story behind it, like a recipe passed down in your family.

Love chocolate gravy. I never had it until a friend from OK introduced it to me.

[Chelli]

Chocolate gravy originated in parts of the Ozarks and Appalachia. If someone has it in their family recipes, at some point someone either was from one of those regions or was introduced to it by someone from those regions. That's why it would be in parts of KY but not all of KY and parts of many other states. Both sides of my family have Appalacchian roots which is the only reason I know this random factoid.

 

Interesting. It explains why my family and everyone I knew growing up would eat it. My family is all from and still lives in the Ozark Mountain area of Arkansas. If you have a restaurant or cafe there that serves breakfast, you better have chocolate gravy on the menu or you'll go out of business pretty quickly.

[KarenNC]

NC born and bred chiming in---

Never heard tomato sauce called gravy until I met a friend raised in Philadelphia (family is Sicilian).

 

Sausage gravy is a milk gravy and totally different animal than brown gravy made with stock. I've eaten biscuits and sausage gravy and it's fairly common around here, but not a big thing in our family. My husband isn't fond of it, but his family is from upstate NY.

 

Now red eye gravy and country ham (must be country ham, btw) was a big thing with grits, not really with biscuits for us. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes-menus/best-red-eye-gravy-recipe-article  Not a big fan, as I hate coffee in all forms (including coffee ice cream---it's tolerable in a very chocolate recipe, though), but my dad loves it (he grew up as the son of a Southern sharecropper). Grits aren't made for sugar, they do best with salt, pepper, cheese, butter, possibly with a scrambled egg and bacon mixed in, or as shrimp and grits. It's possible my very Southern stepmother would put sugar on her grits, but she likes things super sweet and even adds add extra sweetener to thousand island dressing on her salad, so I don't use her as a guide for what normal folks eat!

 

Chocolate gravy is new to me, but sounds great as a dessert, not breakfast. :)

[Amy in NH]

They also put, get this, canned asparagus and cranberry jelly on their turkey sandwiches.

 

We always put (canned jellied) cranberry sauce on turkey sandwiches, along with onion, avocado, and spinach.  Yum!

[LucyStoner]

To be fair, you can get vegetarian baked beans in the U.S. They're still probably sweeter than the English version.

 

And no matter how they're prepared, I have trouble wrapping my head around beans on a breakfast plate.

 

As far as the regionality of biscuits and gravy, I think that speaks more to what people actually cook at home than to what can be found in national chain restaurants.

I love beans on pretty much any plate. There's really no logic to what is a "dinner food" and what is a "breakfast food".

 

Offer me collards, bacon and baked beans on a plate and I will eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. On a train or in the rain...

[LucyStoner]

It's funny to think of baked beans for breakfast, as they are a dinner food here. Fried tomatoes for breakfast are not really a thing, either, although some people might put tomato in an omelet.

 

There are regions in the US where sliced tomatoes are a breakfast staple, both fried and not.

[Ellie]

I love beans on pretty much any plate. There's really no logic to what is a "dinner food" and what is a "breakfast food".

 

Offer me collards, bacon and baked beans on a plate and I will eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. On a train or in the rain...

 

:iagree:

[Ellie]

 

 

As far as the regionality of biscuits and gravy, I think that speaks more to what people actually cook at home than to what can be found in national chain restaurants.

 

:iagree: :iagree: :iagree:

[hornblower]

nm

Edited May 24, 2016 by hornblower

[Scarlett]

It's sort of similar to an inside out chocolate croissant. The chocolate goes on the outside of the baked good and not the inside.

 

Chocolate gravy originated in parts of the Ozarks and Appalachia. If someone has it in their family recipes, at some point someone either was from one of those regions or was introduced to it by someone from those regions. That's why it would be in parts of KY but not all of KY and parts of many other states. Both sides of my family have Appalacchian roots which is the only reason I know this random factoid.

Interesting. I am from AR and it is a recipe I've always known existed. I had it at friends houses only because my mom hated it.

[MFG]

When we lived in NZ for a while, we were super poor, but once I ordered a hamburger at the school cafeteria. I was missing home, I guess.

 

I watched in horror while they made it: first they fried the meat patty (fine), then an egg (why? I have no idea), then the onions (okay, weird but okay), then the lettuce, then the tomato, then the bun, then they slopped it all together into a paper envelope thing.

 

It was actually pretty tasty. I think it was also likely 2000 calories. I did not order another hamburger in NZ.

 

They also put, get this, canned asparagus and cranberry jelly on their turkey sandwiches.

 

NZ food itself was really good, though - great fish and chips, meat pies, etc. I think it's just when you eat something you think sounds like something from home that it is a bit alarming.

 

They had what in the US would be little smokies once - they boil them and then serve them with a sort of ketchup on the side. They were not surprised when I told them we fried them, then coated them in a sugary bbq sauce.

Best. Burgers. In. The. World.

http://www.fergburger.com/index.php

[JustEm]

So, I'm 8 weeks pregnant and nauseous and exhausted all the time. I somehow decided reading a thread about food would be a good idea even though just the mention of food has made me gag. There are very few foods I can actually eat and even fewer foods that sound appealing. Biscuits and gravy has always been something I couldn't wrap my mind around. Surprisingly, reading this thread has really made me want to try it. So I just made biscuits from scratch for the first time ever and made sausage gravy. I'll have to admit it was pretty darn good.

 

But I doubt I'll like it when not pregnant. I think I like it because it doesn't have a strong smell.

[Anne in CA]

The recipe posted on the board did not include all the butter and black pepper we put in ours, lol. It has a strong smell here.

[LucyStoner]

Interesting. I am from AR and it is a recipe I've always known existed. I had it at friends houses only because my mom hated it.

Arkansas would be prime chocolate gravy land with the Orzarks and the spread as people started to more heavily concentrate into cities.

[KarenNC]

I grew up in the PNW but with Amish/Mennonite heritage.  We  made the white sauce and add fried hamburger to it---with lots of pepper.   Hamburger gravy was served over cornbread, biscuits, toast or baked potatoes.  Creamed eggs, which is sliced hard-boiled eggs in a white sauce, was eaten over biscuits or toast. 

 

Eggs a la goldenrod! A favorite of my home ec teacher in the 70's, the only place I've ever heard of them. We had to hardboil the eggs, chop the whites up into the cream sauce and pour it over toast points, then push the yolks through a sieve to sprinkle on top of it all. Not a fan, I'm afraid.

 

We use brown gravy for hamburger, if we have gravy.

[JustEm]

The recipe posted on the board did not include all the butter and black pepper we put in ours, lol. It has a strong smell here.

I didn't use the recipe on the board. But butter and pepper aren't the type of smells that turn me off to food right now. I haven't pinpointed what smells do but it seems that most of them do because I usually can't eat.

[ktgrok]

So, after this thread I admit I got curious. I made hamburger gravy tonight, with biscuits. One kid liked it, the 6 yr old. One didn't, the teen, and one refused to taste it, the three year old. Hubby is going to be working late, but he eats anything. 

 

I don't think I'll make it again, although the 6 r old REALLY loved it. 

[Dicentra]

This thread is fascinating.  Here's what I've learned - even though the closest town to me is literally on the border with the US, our food and groceries are much more British-like than American-like. Huh.  We buy those exact vegetarian Heinz beans that Laura shared the link for all the time. :)  I also know that if we go over to the States to have supper in a restaurant and I order fries, I'll get a weird look if I ask for vinegar.

 

My uncle and aunt from Germany LOVED ice cream when they would come to visit.  Even non-highend stuff like Dairy Queen.  Apparently, it wasn't common in Germany and didn't taste like the stuff here.  You could have ice cream for dessert. :)

[JustEm]

So, after this thread I admit I got curious. I made hamburger gravy tonight, with biscuits. One kid liked it, the 6 yr old. One didn't, the teen, and one refused to taste it, the three year old. Hubby is going to be working late, but he eats anything.

 

I don't think I'll make it again, although the 6 r old REALLY loved it.

I made sausage gravy with biscuits today and only one of the 4 kids refused to eat it. He just wanted the biscuit. The other 3 devoured it all. Dh wouldn't have liked it because he hates gravy on anything so I didn't even attempt to save him any. Now I know what to make when I dont want any arguments about food. It won't be a regular thing but my pickiest eater loved it so it has to be in some sort of rotation now.

[KarenNC]

 I also know that if we go over to the States to have supper in a restaurant and I order fries, I'll get a weird look if I ask for vinegar.

 

 

 

Depends. There are even a few places here in NC where malt vinegar is actually already on the table for fries, mostly fish places. My husband likes vinegar on fries, so I do buy malt vinegar in the grocery store for him. Some bbq places will also have vinegar on the table, but the vinegar will have peppers in it and be intended to be put on the bbq (which is chopped pork in a vinegar-based sauce, but that's a totally different discussion ;) ). https://www.texaspete.com/product/green-pepper-sauce/?item=about

[aug17girl]

This is my grandma's recipe:

 

1 cup of sugar

2 Tbsp of flour

2 Tbsp of cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp butter

 

Whisk together the sugar, flour, and cocoa really well in skillet. On medium heat add warm water. As it's cooking add more water if it's too thick or more flour if it's too runny. When you have the consistency you want (kind of a thick syrup, but not as thick as pudding), add the vanilla and butter. Serve over biscuits.

 

 

It's thicker than chocolate sauce but not as thick as a pudding. Kind of in between those two consistences.

 

My grandmother would make this, put it on German chocolate cake, and serve it warm.  Other than the cup of sugar she eye-balled the rest of the ingredients using a regular spoon from her tableware and the cap of the vanilla container.

[katilac]

 

I grew up in HI and went to college in the northeast and had never heard of biscuits and gravy until we lived in MS. I didn't not gain a taste for biscuits and gravy. No catfish, either. OTOH I do like fried okra. But I'm still not brave enough to try chit'lins.  :tongue_smilie:

 

Try them. Chit'lins will rock your world! 

 

Midwesterners must be the mutts of the food world, because nothing here sounds odd or gross to me. Although I think it's a bit strange to think food typical of one meal can't be served at another. I'm known to heat up last night's dinner/supper for breakfast and eat a cold leftover pancake with my hands for dinner/supper.

 

 

Midwesterners have been known to offer unsuspecting southerners salad and then serve them green jello, so yes, y'all are a bit suspect. 

 

White gravy is for people who haven't the patience or skill to darken the roux a bit. White gravy is a lesser gravy!  

 

Blasphemer! You know not of what you speak. White gravy is a completely different gravy. 

 

Biscuits and gravy is a forgiving dish, so I'm adding my aunt's wonderfully imprecise version:

 

You will need pork/breakfast sausage (like Jimmy Dean), milk, flour, seasoning to taste; can make as much or as little as you like, just adjust pan size accordingly. 

 

Break apart the sausage while browning it in the pan; you want it all crumbly like ground beef. When it's good and brown, lightly sprinkle some flour into the pan (she never measured and neither do I, but maybe a tablespoon for a pound of sausage?). If you want a bit of seasoning, add it now as well. Stir it all up and let cook for another little bit to brown the flour, and then add enough milk to cover the sausage. 

 

Lower the heat and stir occasionally. Cook for, hmmmm, a good few minutes? Until it looks less like milk and more like yummy white gravy! Can make thicker or thinner to your taste. 

 

If you are me, serve with buttermilk biscuits and call it good. Maybe scrambled eggs if it's the weekend. If you are channeling the spirit of my Aunt, add in bacon and toast for good measure, and offer to cook eggs three different ways for fifteen people! Either way, a strong cup of coffee is the perfect beverage to drink.

[Emba]

I love beans on pretty much any plate. There's really no logic to what is a "dinner food" and what is a "breakfast food".

 

Offer me collards, bacon and baked beans on a plate and I will eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. On a train or in the rain...

 

You're right, there is no logic, but some things just don't make good breakfast.  I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador, and while my host mother gave the oatmeal I offered her a look one might give a dead rat (because they just don't eat it that way, they use it in small amounts to thicken soup and fruit juices), I woke up one morning and she had fixed boiled crabs for breakfast.  I begged off with an excuse about a headache. She would also fix fish for breakfast. 

 

Really, I stayed with host families in the coast and in the Andean region of Ecuador, and they didn't seem to have many breakfast foods as such.  Most of the same foods would appear at any meal.

[LucyStoner]

So, after this thread I admit I got curious. I made hamburger gravy tonight, with biscuits. One kid liked it, the 6 yr old. One didn't, the teen, and one refused to taste it, the three year old. Hubby is going to be working late, but he eats anything. 

 

I don't think I'll make it again, although the 6 r old REALLY loved it. 

 

It requires sausage to be good.  Or goodish anyways.  That's how my mom made it anyways.  I've never been a fan of white gravy or any milk based gravy (likely because I am highly intolerant to milk!)

[mazakaal]

Have you ever had Mexican food in Germany? It's a completely different beast. :D Not my preference either.

 

A few people have mentioned corn on the cob, and I agree that there's a shock factor to it. The younger, more adventurous friends of ours loved it - 3 couples sans kids, living in the US for two year stints (not at the same time)... All 3 learned to make it and served it at their "American" BBQs later. So, again, YMMV.

 

For the older executive types (DH's CEO and CFO make annual trips as well), we've never gone that casual. Though I'm guessing the CFO might love it.

 

I ordered veggie fajitas in a restaurant here in England, and they looked amazing, but I nearly spit them out I was so shocked by the taste - BBQ sauce!!!!! Talk about an abomination! I ate the meal to be polite, because that's what British people do - stiff upper lip, don't complain, keep calm and carry on, but I don't think I'll ever order Mexican here again.

 

The lasagne here is completely different to American lasagne as well. It's like a whole different food that just looks like lasagne, not bad necessarily, but so unlike 'real' lasagne that I don't order it out either. 

 

So I have to agree with the other posters who said that you shouldn't prepare any British or German food. You will almost certainly do it differently than what they're used to. Of course, the British person won't say a word about it! ;-) 

[ktgrok]

It requires sausage to be good.  Or goodish anyways.  That's how my mom made it anyways.  I've never been a fan of white gravy or any milk based gravy (likely because I am highly intolerant to milk!)

 

Oh, sausage gravy I've had and like. It was hamburger gravy that was a new experience. One I don't think I'll repeat. 

[Lady Florida.]

Ellie, have you come up with a plan? Your thread took so many turns lol.

 

Something that you might not think of: I was confused when I first went to the States and salad was served as a starter.  I had grown up with French habits: salad followed the main course.  I messed things up in a restaurant by not eating the salad that arrived, so everyone was waiting for the main course which didn't come because I hadn't started my starter.

 
I grew up in an Italian-American home where the salad was served with the meal. We do know that when we're out it comes first, but at home it was served like a side dish.
 

If these people have lived in the States for a while, I think you can probably serve them what you like.  I do find American portions large, so I'd always rather serve myself and not be pushed to eat more.  Steaks can be a problem if they are put straight onto the plate; maybe ask the guests if they want a whole steak or if they would prefer to start with half.  And if you are serving baked potatoes, have a variety of sizes on a serving dish.

 
They are ridiculously large, and have grown over the years. Apparently it's becoming a problem in the UK as well. 
 

My favorite thing ever?  Creamed corn over biscuits.  Better than gravy any day.  It is either very regional or just my family! lol.

 
Blech! My mother served what we called simply, corn on bread. It was canned creamed corn over buttered white bread. It was our poor people food. She served it because it was cheap and filling and my brother and I actually loved it as kids, but now even the thought of it makes me sick.

[Cinder]

Try them. Chit'lins will rock your world!

 

That's what I'm afraid of!  :laugh:

 

 

The thought of it dredges up bad memories of my mom's tripe stew. Which was pretty good--if you like tripe. Which none of us kids did. Unfortunately mom would make a whole big pot of it and, since we never ate much of it at one sitting--just enough not to starve--we always got to eat it for dinner again the next day. And sometimes even the day after that. Until it was all gone.

 

I think I'm a bit traumatized by my experiences with non-flesh meat products. :lol:

[Laura in CA]

On the eating with hands thing: a bookclub member was talking about their French exchange student who ate everything with a knife and fork including hamburgers and sandwiches.

 

I haven't read the whole (interesting!) thread yet, but my German friends eat French fries and pizza with a knife and fork. I have to say, their fingers don't get greasy!  :lol:

[SparklyUnicorn]

For sure you should not feed an English guest to a German guest.  And not the other way around either.

 

 

[Ravin]

That's what I'm afraid of!  :laugh:

 

 

The thought of it dredges up bad memories of my mom's tripe stew. Which was pretty good--if you like tripe. Which none of us kids did. Unfortunately mom would make a whole big pot of it and, since we never ate much of it at one sitting--just enough not to starve--we always got to eat it for dinner again the next day. And sometimes even the day after that. Until it was all gone.

 

I think I'm a bit traumatized by my experiences with non-flesh meat products. :lol:

 

For similar reasons, my younger sisters do not like pancakes much and I detest Hamburger Helper or Tuna Helper of any sort.

[JustEm]

That's what I'm afraid of! :laugh:

 

 

The thought of it dredges up bad memories of my mom's tripe stew. Which was pretty good--if you like tripe. Which none of us kids did. Unfortunately mom would make a whole big pot of it and, since we never ate much of it at one sitting--just enough not to starve--we always got to eat it for dinner again the next day. And sometimes even the day after that. Until it was all gone.

 

I think I'm a bit traumatized by my experiences with non-flesh meat products. :lol:

Pepper pot soup, which has tripe, was my favorite growing up. I haven't had it in years. Thanks for making this pregnant lady crave a childhood favorite :)

[El...]

I like biscuits with sausage gravy for breakfast, but only on vacation!  As comedian Jim Gaffigan puts it, the South will never rise again if they keep eating that stuff; they'll never find the energy!

[wintermom]

There are so many processed food items I wouldn't serve anyone. I'd avoid dairy products or pastries unless they are excellent quality. The dairy products and pastries in Germany so amazing and many of the ones in the US are very disappointing.    Fresh, local produce and fish/meat would probably be really nice.  

 

Personally, I'd avoid biscuits with or without gravy altogether. The American biscuits I've seen are white and doughy with little flavour - hence the desire for gravy, I guess. German bread tends to be much more heavy, stronger in flavour and whole wheat or rye. It's really hard to go from being used to bread with substance to fluff, I find.  On that same note, I'd not serve American beer, either. 

Edited May 26, 2016 by wintermom

[AndyJoy]

Depends. There are even a few places here in NC where malt vinegar is actually already on the table for fries, mostly fish places. My husband likes vinegar on fries, so I do buy malt vinegar in the grocery store for him. Some bbq places will also have vinegar on the table, but the vinegar will have peppers in it and be intended to be put on the bbq (which is chopped pork in a vinegar-based sauce, but that's a totally different discussion ;) ). https://www.texaspete.com/product/green-pepper-sauce/?item=about

When I worked at Cedar Point in Ohio, vinegar on fries was common there. It was my first encounter, and I was sold. I've always loved salt and vinegar potato chips, and the malt vinegar was even better. The burger chain Five Guys has malt vinegar for fries too, yum.