So glad I am not the only one

I have just read the to rinse or not rinse thread and i am pissing myself laughing. i have been over here for three years now and the culture shock has not worn off for me or the poor people who have to put up with me. i have not met any other americans while i have been here and most of my friends and family here don't know any others. it is still a great rinse war in our house. i still try to remember that my punishment if i do not do the dishes is soap bubbles as far as the eye can see. bernie tends to look at me like i am a freak when i rinse compulsively. none of my friends rinse and it is an unending debate. and what is with the amount of beans eaten in this country??? it's fiber from hell!! the one food that has really scarred me for life besides the hockey puck they call black pudding is steak and kidney pie...we were drinking in the pub one night and i got the munchies so i decided to try a pie..how very foolish of me to think kidney meant bean!!! it tasted like i was chewing someones intestine. bernie and the barmaid were weak with laughter as i spit rinsed and wiped my tounge for an hour. and i would love to know why they must batter and fry every known food group? does cholesterol exist in the uk???
any thoughts or scary food experiences
luv and kisses
traceylee

any thoughts or scary food experiences
l

Yeah......head north to Glasgow and try a real culinary delight...............a deep fried Mars Bar ........just what you're in the mood for after a night in the pub

God!  I just saw that on the news this am!  Deep fried MArs Bar?  Ew.  Almost as bad as a deep fried Twinkie oh and today I saw the most glorious of deep fried discoveries next to the fried pickles at the local BBQ joint:  fried corn on the cob. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?  

Oh this inspires a new food thread!

 

besides the hockey puck they call black pudding is steak and kidney pie...we were drinking in the pub one night and i got the munchies so i decided to try a pie..how very foolish of me to think kidney meant bean!!! it tasted like i was chewing someones intestine,bernie and the barmaid were weak with laughter as i spit rinsed and wiped my tounge for an hour.

           
 Iam with you on the black pudding,yuck  [smiley=bleck.gif]LOL.I made my husband some steak and kidney pie not too long ago,and he liked it,so I guess I passed muster ;)It was alright I guess,but I couldnt get pass the smell of the kidneys :-/

ty ty ty...i have a list of things that don't hit my tounge and kidney is second on the list lol

Tracey, you poor thing! There are loads of Americans in the Cardiff area. Heck, we're probably an hour by train. You need an ally, quick! You can't let those Welsh beat up on you like that.

It is NOT normal to pour a cup of coffee into a mug and have it bubble with foam!

As for deep fried Mars Bars...it's because I'm not even remotely close to Scotland that I'm foggy here. I thought, but could be wrong, that deep fried Mars Bars were de rigeur two/three years ago, but they've pretty much faded from the chip shop menu now...pretty much relegated to the "ask and we might fry one up for you" possibilities. But on the news recently? Goodness...are they making a come back?

Black pudding skeeves me out totally!  I won't allow it on my plate () along with chicken skin and organ meats.  Then there's haggis.  I'm giving myself the willies writing this.

On the good side, I tried a deep fried Mars Bar just to say I had one.  It was OK, but not a fave.  What I really love is deep fried pizza with salt and vinegar.  Yes, I had it in Scotland.   Chris

I have to join in on the crazy fried food you can get here. They say Americans have so much junk food but the British aren't far behind!

I also have to chime in on the rinsing dishes theme. I just don't get it! These are intelligent people here, aren't they?! I finally convinced my fiance of the logic of rinsinig (he is a scientist thank goodness!) by showing him the food that was left on the dishes. It's quite simple, isn't it? You wash dishes in soapy water, food gets suspended in the soap and water, ergo, if you don't rinse, some food will inevitably stick to the dishes. Ack!

I met my fiance when we were at Univ of Reading where we lived in a hall of residence with a guy from Chile. I'll never forget the time Pedro saw my fiance washing dishes...he's a food scientist and he yelled 'Argh! You are washing dishes like an English!' I rolled laughing!

To just further this, I can also add that my future in-laws both wear glasses but for some reason, never seem to while washing the dishes. You can just imagine the state of them...food and soap everywhere!   [smiley=worried.gif]

My sister and I thought her DIL just didn't know how to wash dishes when we noticed that she wasn't rinsing.  I volunteered really fast to do the dishes the next day.  When she saw me rinsing, she said that the detergent biodegraded, so rinsing was unnecessary.  She says she learned this from the Fairy bottle.  Fairy tales!  I love blowing bubbles but not in my tea.

On British junk food: In the US we have chips that come in 4 or 5 flavors (plain, barbeque, salt and vinegar, ranch).  In the UK, there must be 12 or more flavors of crisps (roast beef, tiki masala, cheddar and onion, etc.).  The only time I eat chips/crisps is in the UK.  I'd love a bag of Walkers Sensations Thai sweet chili crisps right now.  Chris

I have found one bad side effect from soap on dishes..... bloating and gas.....    I am insisiting on a two sink sink and a dishwasher.  

You know...I am really "opened minded" and do not think there is one "right" way to live and do things...but, I really do not understand the lack of rinsing dishes? Not only the food particles left behind, but another reason I learned to rinse really good was that the soap residue left behind would cause gastrointestinal problems, (like, diarrhea you know.) Perhaps we were all taught wrongly? Maybe there is no reason...as why would a whole country of people continue to not rinse? Luckily for me my fiance doesn't care if I rinse or not as long as I am the one doing the dishes! Just kidding...he even rinses when he does them!

I have to confess that I grew up in an English 'non-rinsing' household - didn't start rinsing till I got married, although my husband's family always did. Now it seems perfectly logical and right to rinse, but we were and are an extremely healthy family (my father died aged 87, my mother is 87 and still going strong) so maybe the malign influence of Fairy Liquid is overrated.  

Ugh.. Sean and I had a 'discussion' about this not even a week ago.  He washed the dishes while I was at work.. I came home, got out a glass, filled it with water, and watched the bubbles line the rim of the glass.  He grabbed it out of my hand and looked at it in disgust, as did I.  "What is that?.. Didn't you wash the dishes?"  "Yes??"  "Did you rinse them?"  "No.. they don't need to be."  "obviously they do, look at that!!"  I dumped the water out and rinsed it thoroughly before refilling it.  How can you NOT think to rinse dishes?  It smelled and tasted funny.  It made his tea and my water bubble.  Ughhhhhh  

(He usually does SOME form of minor rinsing.. but none this time, and it showed.)

I still think the non-rinsing thing is for regularity.  My MIL rinses, but insists on eating at least two pieces of fruit a day for just that reason.  So if soap residue is a cheap 'n easy way to keep everything moving...Bob's yer uncle!

I've tried haggis-it actually tasted pretty good, but about halfway through it it sort of hit me just what I was eating and I couldn't finish it.

I've tried kidneys as well-again, didn't mind the taste, but didn't like the texture, and after a few I had to stop.

Don't mind the thought of black pudding...but anything with liver, especially chicken liver, ech.  Absolutely not!

I'm always fascinated by the "on toast" foods.  The first time my dh mentioned "spaghetti on toast" I thought he was joking.  Anyone else suspect this is a holdover from the days of trenchers?

it is still very much a ww2 mentality here..take a look at a sunday lunch. 500 pounds of veggie on your plate and roast beef you can read the new york times thru. i don't the toast thing at all.. i have made it a point not to as i am not in world war 2 or rationing. bernie calls me an evil colonial when i refuse to eat stuff. and has anyone else seen the crisp sandwich??? what is up with that?