UK Foods you have NOT learned to love

We have a lovely local bakery chain called Harry Gows which makes amazing cakes.  If you're lucky enough to get a Harry Gow birthday cake, life is good! 

I've got a funny US-UK story though about cake. I volunteer with a group called Children with Diabetes, which is a US based charity and they have huge conferences in Orlando every year, but started doing  UK conferences about 7-8 years ago.  The charity has dieticians who are amazing and work with the kitchen staff to get accurate carb counts and to cater for Coeliacs (Because Type 1 Diabetes and Coeliac go hand and hand).  So working from afar, they had requested that one of the lunch desserts to be yellow sheet cake with chocolate frosting (the very thing US school cafeterias are really good at).
Well I'm not sure why the kitchen staff didn't ask for clarification or at least hit up google or something, but out came this strange gloopy concoction that was definitely not yellow and no chocolate frosting!  I'm guessing they were trying to make something like tiramisu ,but it didn't work and was really pretty gross.   

The next year, they asked for sponge cake with chocolate icing 

A similar dessert confusion episode happened at the Thanksgiving event that was catered by the UK dining hall staff at my university. The American student group that organised the event made a list of the food they wanted to have and then the catering staff made it. The group requested "pumpkin and apple pie" and that's exactly what was made. A pumpkin pie with apples it, rather than pumpkin pies and apple pies. It was an interesting dessert. The staff who made it must have thought that Americans are so strange.

Why does the cottage cheese taste off?  And skipjack tuna is not a favourite of mine.

Why does the cottage cheese taste off?  And skipjack tuna is not a favourite of mine.

Never even noticed until you mentioned it but yes, the cottage cheese does taste a bit more sour doesn't it?!

How do people find good coffee (beans)? I think it always seemed like all the supermarket stuff had no oils on it and was really bland, so presumably you need to order it online? And I was not impressed with instant coffee being served in lieu of the real thing...

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How do people find good coffee (beans)? I think it always seemed like all the supermarket stuff had no oils on it and was really bland, so presumably you need to order it online? And I was not impressed with instant coffee being served in lieu of the real thing...
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I have a small independent coffee shop by me that sells good coffee beans. Perhaps try to find one near you? I think Starbucks beans are okay too but can be expensive (and I've only tried the ones from the US to be fair so not sure it's the same here?)

How do people find good coffee (beans)? I think it always seemed like all the supermarket stuff had no oils on it and was really bland, so presumably you need to order it online? And I was not impressed with instant coffee being served in lieu of the real thing...

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I never understood the instant coffee everywhere! I actually started bringing some from the US for my trips to see my husband, the coffee from tesco just doesn't compare. I will probably stock up again before I move but it only stays fresh for so long! I will definitely be seeking out the small good cafes wherever we live (sounding like it will be in/around Bromley) because a perfect cup of coffee is one of my favorite things.

The more I drink instant the more I can tolerate it, but when I get real coffee that's actually good I'm in heaven.


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Ground coffee can be like sawdust. It is true.

How do people find good coffee (beans)? I think it always seemed like all the supermarket stuff had no oils on it and was really bland, so presumably you need to order it online? And I was not impressed with instant coffee being served in lieu of the real thing...

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There are several types at M&S that I like.  Worth the trial and error there--sometimes they have deals on.

English bacon is an abomination. I miss crispy bacon.

Buy streaky instead of back bacon.
Or pancetta. 

English bacon is an abomination. I miss crispy bacon.

The best streaky bacon I've found is from Tesco! They have smoked and unsmoked versions. Just make sure there is enough fat on it or it's weird.

The high quality streaky bacon was always nicer than most stuff we get in the US! But I preferred their normal bacon when I still ate mammals. Re: coffee, does anybody know if there is shade grown coffee easily available? Trader Joe's has a nice one. I'm thinking about bringing a ton from here and vacuum packing it, which I think would work OK.

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English bacon is an abomination. I miss crispy bacon.

Sometimes Aldi has a really nice smoky streaky bacon. 

I'm thinking about bringing a ton from here and vacuum packing it, which I think would work OK.

I think I saw on a show or something once that drug dealers often use coffee as a way to disguise/mask their product.

Would showing up with a lot of sealed bricks of coffee get you pulled aside?