US-to-UK food names/substitutions/equivalents

Aha!  Higher melting point. That makes perfect sense!


Vicky

Shortening is very evil, but DW roasted potatoes in it for Christmas lunch, WOW they were so good, but so rich you could only eat a few little pieces and so bad for you.

I would love  a Red Velvet recipe that doesn't have shortening!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sara-moulton/southern-red-velvet-cake-recipe/index.html

You beat me to it! I don't think shortening is mandatory in red velvet cake or any cake.......

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sara-moulton/southern-red-velvet-cake-recipe/index.html

My recipe uses 1/2 c shortening instead of 1 1/2 c vegetable oil. Other than that, it looks pretty much the same.

I think it might be a texture thing - butter is more liquid-y. Ages ago my mom used to make chocolate chip cookies with shortening rather than butter to keep them from spreading out and getting really thin.

Another reason is the percentage of water that is in a lot of bitter (especially American butter). If you are making something like a pie crust the water content can make it hard. Of course there are a couple ways to fix that. First use vodka in place of water in the pie crust recipe. Two, use lard or suet, it just tastes better.