I am always amazed that the average American is seemingly incapable of comprehending the culinary complexities of the British staple food of beans on toast.
I just saw a video where British schoolboys have their first taste of biscuits and gravy (with fried chicken too of course) and they are astounded at how good it is.
Luckily our mutual Australian cousins aren't so biased and a young Aussie friend of mine has continued to thank me for introducing him to real BBQ (which usually comes with baked beans not on toast) 2-3 years ago. His US mother-in-law sends him care packages including different sorts of barbeque sauces, for there are many styles, of which Texas is... not the best and indeed too sweet and not spicy enough. Young Aussie did some up for his family and friends with proper slow cooking instead of quickly charring it over charcoal and they were forced to admit he wasn't exaggerating. He's coming back this summer and says he'll only come to my house if I take him there. His American vegetarian partner kindly puts up with him streaming all the US BBQ competitions for tips.
Even the supposedly spicy food in Britain invented by non-British people tasted very bland and mild to me while the Brits around me were fanning themselves and consuming so many dairy products. And you certainly ought to have many of the styles of real Mexican food in Texas (Hint: Not from chains. And Tex-Mex is entirely American so it isn't even Mexican).
As for things being too sweet, I recall looking at a bottle of Lucozade (I think) in the British Museum eatery after tasting it and noting that it had both sugar and two other sweeteners, at least one of which was artificial. "Pick a lane!" I said to my English friend. I couldn't finish it. Also, your "tomato sauce" isn't a patch on US ketchup (and all wrong for anything in the fried potato family); we had to add vinegar to it on every occasion it was offered, because it had more sugar than any other tomato product I'd ever tasted in my life -- and tomatoes are naturally sweet and fruity.
But you're right about the salt thing! I suspect the meat the Romans had when hunting or slaughtering wasn't available was more than salty enough for anyone's taste. Probably just associated with money distribution thanks to the taxes bringing in stonking amounts of provincial sestercii for the tax farmers, governors, and such. You should edit Wikipedia and recruit others!
The Victorians really have a lot to answer for, worldwide! Catullus is properly LOL when not bowdlerized and I for one am glad not to have grown up when women had to be covered from neck to toes in layers, with corsets. I thought my mother's 1960's girdles were quite too much, but at least she didn't have to lace them up. And even she gave them up in the 70s.
Lucozade is a medicinal glucose solution that was rebranded as a 'sports drink' in the 80s. The name comes from 'Glucose - aid'.
I have boys, who are grown now but were very much British schoolboys at one point, and much as I love them, I wouldn't trust their opinion on food, given that they think Chicken and Mushroom Pot Noodles are 'delicious'.
I just saw a video where British schoolboys have their first taste of biscuits and gravy (with fried chicken too of course) and they are astounded at how good it is.
Luckily our mutual Australian cousins aren't so biased and a young Aussie friend of mine has continued to thank me for introducing him to real BBQ (which usually comes with baked beans not on toast) 2-3 years ago. His US mother-in-law sends him care packages including different sorts of barbeque sauces, for there are many styles, of which Texas is... not the best and indeed too sweet and not spicy enough. Young Aussie did some up for his family and friends with proper slow cooking instead of quickly charring it over charcoal and they were forced to admit he wasn't exaggerating. He's coming back this summer and says he'll only come to my house if I take him there. His American vegetarian partner kindly puts up with him streaming all the US BBQ competitions for tips.
Even the supposedly spicy food in Britain invented by non-British people tasted very bland and mild to me while the Brits around me were fanning themselves and consuming so many dairy products. And you certainly ought to have many of the styles of real Mexican food in Texas (Hint: Not from chains. And Tex-Mex is entirely American so it isn't even Mexican).
As for things being too sweet, I recall looking at a bottle of Lucozade (I think) in the British Museum eatery after tasting it and noting that it had both sugar and two other sweeteners, at least one of which was artificial. "Pick a lane!" I said to my English friend. I couldn't finish it. Also, your "tomato sauce" isn't a patch on US ketchup (and all wrong for anything in the fried potato family); we had to add vinegar to it on every occasion it was offered, because it had more sugar than any other tomato product I'd ever tasted in my life -- and tomatoes are naturally sweet and fruity.
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But you're right about the salt thing! I suspect the meat the Romans had when hunting or slaughtering wasn't available was more than salty enough for anyone's taste. Probably just associated with money distribution thanks to the taxes bringing in stonking amounts of provincial sestercii for the tax farmers, governors, and such. You should edit Wikipedia and recruit others!
The Victorians really have a lot to answer for, worldwide! Catullus is properly LOL when not bowdlerized and I for one am glad not to have grown up when women had to be covered from neck to toes in layers, with corsets. I thought my mother's 1960's girdles were quite too much, but at least she didn't have to lace them up. And even she gave them up in the 70s.
Lucozade is a medicinal glucose solution that was rebranded as a 'sports drink' in the 80s. The name comes from 'Glucose - aid'.
I have boys, who are grown now but were very much British schoolboys at one point, and much as I love them, I wouldn't trust their opinion on food, given that they think Chicken and Mushroom Pot Noodles are 'delicious'.
Yes, I remember: ‘Lucozade Aids Recovery’.
"I know about American food because I live in Texas" 😜🤪😜🤪
"I'm saltier than American food."
The question (s) about beans on toast is not about what it is.
Its #1 why make it?
Then #2 why eat it?
Then there is the American invention’Spam’ which is illegal to eat in the US