Bacon Sandwiches

" quote"   howard -Forgive a benighted Englishman, but what actually is the difference between American and Brit bacon?  And how do the respective nationalities of baked beans actually differ? You good Yanks invented baked beans, I always thought! I would love to know. Howard.

     Well me old mate, bacon here is like having just the rind, hard as rock,no meat as for beans yuk, these are not baked beans(no taste) we even bought heinz baked beans in florida to bring home to eat.  

Forgive a benighted Englishman, but what actually is the difference between American and Brit bacon?  And how do the respective nationalities of baked beans actually differ? You good Yanks invented baked beans, I always thought! I would love to know. Howard.

Well me old mate, bacon here is like having just the rind, hard as rock,no meat as for beans yuk, these are not baked beans(no taste) we even bought heinz baked beans in florida to bring home to eat.

I might just have to disagree with you, waterg.  While I'll admit that most US bacon is mainly fat, with very little meat, I used to make chewy bacon rather than crispy, so it can be done.  I do love UK bacon and wouldn't trade it for the US kind, but oddly enough, I like my UK bacon really crispy!

As far as the baked beans go, I find the UK kind so horribly bland that I don't even bother.  I suppose I was rather spoiled as a child because we never had baked beans from a can; instead we had the homemade kind with bacon, mustard and brown sugar.  Mmmm ... talk about lovely.  In a pinch Bush's baked beans would suit, but I'd take homemade over the canned any day.

Well, I never!  I really didn't think there could be such a difference between the national varieties of breakfast staples!  (Two nations divided not so much by a common language, as by what constitutes two of the main ingredients of 'the full monty'?!)

I have a rather old cookery book which gives Brit - American conversions (Brit cup measure = 10 fl.oz, Am = 8 fl.oz, pints different etc.) and translations (spring onions = scallions, etc.)  When it comes to bacon, it says the American equivalent is "Canadian bacon".  Is that right?  Or am I moving into "moving staircase" (qv.) territory here (lol)?

I'm fascinated by the bean thing.  Heinz beans outsells any other baked bean brand in this country, yet Heinz is an American brand, and it was HJ Heinz who first introduced them here:

Henry J. Heinz first created baked beans in tomato sauce in Pittsburgh, USA, in 1895. They were introduced to Britain 9 years later, and were first made in UK factories in 1928. The slogan ‘Beanz Meanz Heinz’ was used for more than 22 years to advertise the product.

World War II increased the demand for beans as they became a staple in the C-rations used by US servicemen around the world. After the war, as the US’s food relief efforts around the world intensified, so did dry bean production.

-or so the BBC/Open University site says.

So are we Brits addicted to the original formula, while you Americans have gone your own imaginative ways (as always!)?

Actually we do have "novelty" baked beans here - curried baked beans, HP Sauce flavoured beans, beans and chippolata sausages etc, but none has challenged the ascendency of the "original" product so far as I know.

BTW, have any of you kind Americans got a *really* authentic recipe for Boston Baked Beans?  Or would divulging it to a foreigner be like passing to him the security codes to Fort Knox?  Would you be risking an embarrassing and probably tiresome visit by the FBI for betraying state secrets?

From what little I've been able to learn about BBB (my intelligence agents are everywhere!) it seems the dish bears a small resemblance to the French cassoulet - perhaps Bostonians were influenced by French Canadian cusine in the 18th C?

Now I'm almost ready to write my PhD thesis on the subject.  It's going to be entitled "Beans: their Rôle in International Understanding"!  I shall make sure you are all mentioned in my acknowledgements!

Howard

I really didn't think there could be such a difference between the national varieties of breakfast staples!

Ahh see, that's the rub, Howard.  Baked Beans aren't really a breakfast food in the US (or should I say they weren't a breakfast food in my corner of the US).

I notice, dear Caitlinn, that you mention in your post not one iota on the subject of BBB.  A loyal and patriotic silence was noisy!  I should have expected that.  But: Meestair Bond, vee haf meanz off mekking you tolk!

Look, Caitlinn, you and I, despite our transpennine differences have got on reasonably well on this board: can you give me the essential secret of American meatloaf?  Or does it take twelve years in an appropriate (and certificated) ashram?

Lots of love,
Howard

Howard, my dear, I will find my BBB recipe and post it today.  I apologise for not mentioning them in the previous post, but it was 4 something in the morning and I had just stumbled out of bed to see hubby off.

Now, as far as the meatloaf thingie ... I'm afraid someone else will have to help you with that.  Meatloaf was not served in our home when I was a child and I've never quite acquired a taste for it. *shudders*

If you want an UK type bacon in the US use canadian bacon ......there ya go lets put three nationallities together to get the right stuff lol.

Okey-dokey, I found a recipe that's darn close.  See, I've never made them from scratch.  It was always my mum who did and unfortunately, I didn't ask for that recipe before she passed away.  I did, however, remember watching her make them and most of the ingredients, I simply didn't remember the proportions.

Boston Baked Beans

Now the nice thing about this website is that you can scroll to the bottom of the page and convert from US measures to metric.

Just a few comments for you on some of the ingredients.

• Bacon: you could probably get away with pork belly here or slightly thicker than average streaky bacon
  
• Molasses: I don't remember mum using molasses and I know that it's hard to find over here.  I remember mum using maple syrup instead or I suppose you might be able to use treacle in a pinch.
  
• Ketchup: Looking through my US cookbooks, that was the one ingredient missing and I distinctly remember mum putting that in the recipe.
  

This recipe calls for them to be baked slowly in the oven.  I think  mum used to do hers in a crockpot and allowed it to cook for about 8-12 hours on low heat.

So there you have it, my dear, the Boston Baked Beans I used to eat as a child.  Enjoy!

Here is another recipe Howard using Kidney Beans.....though I think Navy Beans are more traditional.  
Epicurious Baked Beans

Treacle does work well for molasses.  My best adivce is to do things to taste.  That goes for the mustard and the ketchup and the sweet things you add.  You can subsistute various types of mustard for the dry mustard.

They really are quite good.

Stupid question how do you get just the title to appear?  I seem to have forgotten. :-/

{url=http://www.someurlhere.com}Title of Link{/url} ... instead of the squiggly brackets I used, substitute square brackets [ ].

Thanks!  Much better...

Caitlinn and Vnice, you are both perfect models of kindness, and I thank you profusely.  By way of recompense, would you like my recipe for Lancashire Hotpot? It takes only a modicum of preparation and then sits in the oven for a couple of hours quietly doing its own thing.  Also it is a one-vessel meal, which cuts down the amount of dish-washing (and rinsing!   ) you have to do.

Sure..always after a good recipe!

By way of recompense, would you like my recipe for Lancashire Hotpot?

Does Lancashire Hotpot have lamb in it?  If so, I may have to skip that one.  However, if you happen to have a good recipe for sticky toffee pudding, I'd be all ears!  Yum!