Marmite, Shandy, Heinz Beans on Toast

But nothing beats a shandy on a hot day




Gotta agree with you there. Shandy suits a hot day! I keep thinking of that song by Kiss, though. If you are going non alcohol on a hot day ginger beer's the ticket.
Personally I love Marmite, real comfort food. I have to admit that I thought it tasted like kitchen magic whan I first tried it. I've learned to love it.
Has anyone tried jellied eels yet? That is hands down my favorite british food. There is a place in the greenwich (cutty sark) DLR that makes them fresh. Tastes a bit like Inagi in a japanese restaurant. You either love it or hate it.

And it is excess.  It is having an entire grocery aisle for cake mix.  It is chocolate flavour cool whip.  It is bigger,larger,jumbo size.  It is additives and preservatives.  It is food developed by scientists.  Cereals with sugar as its main ingredient.  It is having no knowledge or interest in farming methods, production methods, or place of origin-as long as the price is right and corporate America gets it profit.  It is a constant bombardment of advertisments.  It is more, more, more.  
Just another view.  
 

In a past life I was a chef (for 15 years) and I gotta respectfully disagree with you there Mindy.
There has been a huge food culture revolution in the States over the last 20 years or so.
I can see what you mean though, I think that whole 1950's jetsons freeze dried/ flash frozen food phase is still with us to a large degree.

What exactly is Shandy?

What exactly is Shandy?

Beer & lemonade mixed together.

And who mentioned jellied eels?!   
I tried them... after the first one, i wanted to vomit, but i knew people were watching 'the foreigner', so i ate the whole plate... without chewing!  I took the middle bone bit out of each piece, and swallowed the rest whole, washing it down with Coke, cos i couldnt bear to chew it... the texture was pure revolting.

Beer & lemonade mixed together.

Or beer and ginger beer mixed together (NB:  proper ginger beer, not ginger ale like Canada Dry).

Mmmm... I love ginger beer, but  usually mix it with a wee voddy!

my fiance's friends thought it would be funny to hit me with marmite........telling me it was sweet (i am notorous for my sweet tooth).  I almost spit it at them when the all laughed at me for eating it.

BLECH. 

Beans on toast, that i can get used to.  And i haven't tried a shandy yet although it sounds good!!!!

Mmmm... I love ginger beer, but  usually mix it with a wee voddy!

  'Tis nae bad wi' a wee gin either, dear Broxi!

Will  huv tae try that, Howard... I've got some duty free Dutch gin (jenever) I could try it with!

oh my god i used to live on beans on toast as a teenager - it is a surprisingly nutritious, er meal? snack? great with some cheese melted in the beans too mmmmm

anyone who thinks that is bad obviously hasn't tried tinned spag on toast

marmite? mmmmmm has to be spread sparingly but is quite yummy nothing quite beats a boiled egg with marmite soldiers; i have been eating heaps of marmite sandwiches as snacks while i've been pregnant, not exactly a craving, but I do seem to like it a lot more just now, probaby the need for the B12 & folic acid in it.

LOL!!!  This is so funny!  I have to say, the beans on toast thing does not bother me,  Richard eats it all the time for dinner.  It's like eating ceral for a meal to me!  Which I used to do all the time!  Funny thing, my mom was on the phone with my MIL before the wedding.  She and her BF were staying with my parents this week after the wedding.  My mom asked what they liked to eat.  When she got off the phone, my mother looked at me and said, what the hell are beans on toast.  I was rolling on the floor!!!!  My parets are not into cooking much, so I think they all ended up going out a lot to dinner!

Shandy's, not my thing, thoug I tried ginger beer and yum!

Marmite, I'd rather eat my foot!!!!!

American cuisine is the best the world has to offer and, best of all, it's all made in America.  That's my take on it. 

I’ve been wondering about NYSoM’s bizarre assertion for some time, a statement which I would have thought would have had most other nations of the world howling with derision and delight, holding their sides, and attempting to dry away tears of unseemly mirth.  But obviously her view is a subjective one, and judging by the smiley at the end of it, made with some humour.

Nevertheless I set about seeing how her view could be more objectively tested, and eventually came across the 50 Best Restaurant 2004 awards. The way the Best Restaurants are adjudicated is as follows:
"Organised by the trade title Restaurant Magazine in association with Penfolds, the awards were based on a worldwide poll of over 300 chefs, critics and industry professionals  […]” See http://www.squaremeal.co.uk/news/display.php?CategoryID=41

Knock me down with a feather if the top restaurant of the Top 50 for the second year running was not an American one – The French Laundry in Yountville, California!  So NYSoM is partly vindicated, much to my astonishment!

Seen another way, however, the countries with the most restaurants in the Top 50 list are: France and England with 13 each, followed by the US with 9.  Using a per capita calculation, England has  0.26 ‘top restaurants’ per 100k of the population, France 0.22, and the US only 0.03.

Or if you are interested in a points system, with 50 being given to no. 1 in the list, 49 to no.2, etc., England scores 383 points, France 311, and the US 229.  You could do a points per capita calculation, too, but that's quite enough of figures for one day ... !

While we are talking about good food, may I say how much I enjoy NYSoM's signature text:

the LOUD MINORITY that CONSTANTLY WINES

... perhaps we can add "AND DINES" to that?

God ...The French Laundry and Thomas Keller are just simply amazing.  His take on food is nothing short of awe inspiring and brilliant.  I would love to eat there one day.  I have the cookbook and it too is a lovely thing to behold.  He won the James Beard award and the likes of Alice Waters think he is great and yes I do love my food!

I have to say that aside from one meal at the now defunct 4 star Chez Nous in Plymouth (why oh why did they shut it I am so sad) most of my memorable meals have been in the USA. 

I think the thing with France and Spain is that you can get a pretty decent meal in even a cheap bar type place, where that is harder to find here.  Though that's just my opinion.

Anyway back to packing!