I
British and American Culinary Difterences I was recently looking at a book on US vs. UK English published in 19781.It was fascinating to see how many terms listed as US English I had assumed2 were British terms. The fact is that in culinary vocabulary - as in most aspects of the language - the two varieties are converging - and not just because of Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay.We should not therefore3 overstress4 the difterence between the two varieties in gastronomic terminology; only a few terms - sherbet, chips, corn, jelly and squash (see below) - are likely t05 cause real difticulty understanding. Indeed6, on some occasions the two varieties have converged. A US chain like Dunkin' Donuts sells both British filled doughnuts and US 'O'-shaped doughnuts. 'Whaf's fhe Dllterence? An Amerlcan¡Brltlsh/Britlsh American Dlct/onaryby Norman Moss (Arrow Books)
61ndeed - (emphatic) in lact
'lo assume - (fa/se friend) take
01 QQYtdered maize used lor thickening sauces 91nUK Engllsh 'squash' [U) Isa 5Oftuncarbonaledlrulldrlnk
lor 9.@!!ted. sup~ 'Iherefore - lor this reason 'Iooverslressoveremphasize 5arellkelylowill QIQbably
71nIhe UK 'corn' refers lo any
US/UK
Fruit & Vegetables alllgator pear /pea'/ avocado beet beetroot corn malze. sweet corn7
- Qry ~ticles
madefromconcentrate
-
~ ~
starch8
corn cornllour
eggplant auberglne garbanzo chlckpea
•
bellpepper green pepper Frenchbean runnerbean
~
IImabean broadbean plt (01a Irult) stone (01a Iruit)
~
.~.-
"')1
.-
~(9)
'e
ralsin sultana romalne lettuce coslettuce
"
rI
ruta baga yellow turnlp/swede scalllon sprlng onion
~
-
gumbo okra (Iady's Ilngers)
edlblegraln 'cornslarch
~
~
squash9 marrow zucchlnl courgette
~
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--More Anglo-American Gastronomic Difterences US/UK
US/UK
Other Ingredients
Other Culinary Terms
.....a-..u .
crawflsh crayflsh
.JIo.~
fT-r~
can tln
hamburger meat mlnce. mlnced meat
~
IIverwurst1 IIversausage lox smoked salmon molasses2 black treacle
d
oatmeal porrldge
"<:::>
powdered sugar3 Iclngsugar
~
sllce of bacon rasher of bacon
pancake turner flshsllce
~ pantry7 larder
taffy toffee
fj
pltcher jug
whlpplng creams double cream '!!verwursla sausage made from QQ!js )jver (= he@tic
substance that floats on milk 'whlpplngcreamcream4
Qfgans) 2molasses /ma'liEsiz/
that has been beaten to make it thicker "InlheUK'nosh'lsanlnformal word forfood In gen-
- a sweet from
plant sugar - confec-
tioner's ~gar, ~ry fine ~gar, ~gar used for making wedding cakes 'cream - (fa/se friend) white
661 VES 2
nosh6 a IIght snack between meals
~
table cream4 single cream
the ~gar '~dered
meat grlnder /grainda'/ mlncer
J
shredded coconut deslccated coconut
viscous )jquid obtained
â&#x20AC;˘ ~~'v
dessert puddlng
eral. The US usage 15more fallhfullo Ylddlsh, whlch 15 where Ihe word comes from 'panlryroom in which food is sto red
sllver(ware) cutlery
â&#x20AC;˘.
~
ss->: ~
~
~
"'-~r.~
stove cooker ~.
-
••
Even More Transatlantic Culinary Differences US/UK
Other Foodstutts candy sweets
English muffin muffin
JelloS jelly
jelly6 jam
catsup ketchup I'ketfApl
jelly roll Swissroll chips crisps
~ .~
mulligan (stew)1 Irishstew
cookie biscuitZ
plckled8 herrlng9 rollmop
popsicle leed lolly
cotton candy candyfloss
sherbet10 sorbet cream of wheat3 semolina
smoked herrlng9 klpper
aflan4 baked custard
'Ioodstuffs - !YQ§ 01 lood Zln US Engllsh 'a blscult' Isa small bread roll similar to a scone 'creamolwheata!iquid dessert made lrom wheat and milk; l.YQically eaten lor breaklast
in the US
<;f)'."....
soda cracker cream cracker
French fries chips
'In UK Engllsh 'a ffan'lsan open cheese-Illled pie slmllarto a qulche, or an open sweet pie contalnlng Irult 5 Jell-O
- a dessert made Irom a mixture 01 gg!atine
and Iruit f@vouring ·~Iy-Iruit~boiled
9herrlng
with ~gar and ~tin (to create a substance ~milar to marmalade) 'mulllgan(stew) - meat (rnutton or beetl and yggetables (potatoes, onion, etc.l cooked toqgther ·~kled
- preserved
/.
---.'.4
- (C/upea haren-
gus) a North Atlantic lish ,osherbet- a lrozen Iruit dessert ~milar to an ice crearn. In UK Engllsh 'sherbet'lsa type 01 powdered candy
in Yinegar
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