And here's an American perspective...though possibly not as typical as possible.
1. Describe a muffin : pretty much an un-iced cupcake, often with fruit or bran. Quite yummy. We also have English muffins, which nobody from England would likely recognize. They have a holey texture on top and in the middle with a fairly hard crust. Tasty, but I have no clue why anyone would call them English.
2. Describe a pancake. How would you serve it? A breakfast item made with a slightly levened batter. It's cooked on a griddle (or failing that, a frying pan), sometimes fruit filled (as in a few berries or slices of banana tossed into the batter before frying), and usually served with butter and maple syrup. What you call a pancake, I call a crepe.
3. What's the difference between a tart and a pie? Tarts do not have top crusts and are often baked in shallower, wider pans with fluted edges to make them pretty. Really, as much as anything it's the attempt to make them prettier.
4. What does the word "flan" make you think of? A delicious light custard usually served with caramel sauce. I want some now.
5. What is pudding? A soft, creamy dessert served in a bowl or else (because I'm not like most Americans) a slightly cakey sweet (though it can also be savory) treat made with suet and boiled for a long, long time. The suet version is the one I prefer.
6. What's an entree? Main course. Makes no sense, I know, but there it is. I think this was determined by someone who had no clue what the word meant but figured calling it something French would make it classier.
7. What is mincemeat? Finely chopped meat and fruit with spices, usually served in pies at Christmastime.
8. What's a bun? A two-part bread item used for holding a piece of meat, usually a hamburger or hot dog.
9. Porridge: seasoned with salt, seasoned with sugar, or best avoided? None of the above. I prefer mine with berries and honey. Sweet, but not cloying. I may be of Scottish extraction, but I still think it's nuts to salt porridge or oatmeal.
10. How should beer be served? To someone who is not me.
11. Name for small, sweet items of food particularly eaten by children Candy.
12. Particular items of no. 11 that you remember from your childhood : Walnettos, licorice whips, candy bars (most are chocolate-based), candy cigarettes (no longer made), wax lips, Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Pops, Pop Rocks, saltwater taffy...and about a bajillion more things.
13. What's a catch-all term for the (usually metal) items you eat food with: silverware or cutlery
14. Fruity stuff that comes in a jar and can be spread on bread : if it's soft and spreadable with chunks of fruit in it, it's jam. If it's more gelatinous in nature and sans chunks, it's jelly. If it's a more bitter with fruit chunks, it's marmalade. I don't like jelly very much.
re. English muffins: I'm always amused by the fact that pretty much anything that has another nationality attached to its name turns out to be something that people from that country wouldn't recognise at all. evilmissbecky was outraged by the pizza topping that was named "The American" on the menu of a London restaurant. I can't remember what it consisted of, but she swore that no American would ever put that thing on top of a pizza.
evilmissbecky was outraged by the pizza topping that was named "The American" on the menu of a London restaurant. I can't remember what it consisted of, but she swore that no American would ever put that thing on top of a pizza.
Okay, now I'm curious. Considering the range of things I've seen put on pizzas in this country, I'm beginning to wonder what Americans won't put on them. Maybe we wouldn't put octopus on pizza, but I'm having trouble thinking of much of anything else considered a food item that I haven't seen on one.
Of course, one must remember that I live in California, and the coasts tend to be fairly adventurous in a culinary sense.
I could be remembering wrongly, but I believe it was sweetcorn - which Americans just call corn, don't they? (To us, "corn" is something different.) I think the topping might have been pepperoni and sweetcorn.
I'm having trouble thinking of much of anything else considered a food item that I haven't seen on one.
I haven't seen just kernals of corn on a pizza, but some places started putting the tiny baby cobs on pizzas in the late 80's or early 90's in a fit of pretentiousness. It's definitely a coastal foodie thing that's now hopelessly outdated. They would not have been combined with mere, pedestrian pepperoni, but might have gone with prosciutto or duck or even asparagus. Told you it was pretentious.
Okay, I haven't actually seen chocolate on a pizza that I can recall ATM, but I did recently see a show about pizza on the Food Channel. They profiled a place that was reknowned for their peanut butter and jelly pizzas. I think I'd rather have the chocolate pizza. Peanut butter and pizza crust just don't ring my bell as an appetizing combination.
1. Describe a muffin : pretty much an un-iced cupcake, often with fruit or bran. Quite yummy. We also have English muffins, which nobody from England would likely recognize. They have a holey texture on top and in the middle with a fairly hard crust. Tasty, but I have no clue why anyone would call them English.
2. Describe a pancake. How would you serve it? A breakfast item made with a slightly levened batter. It's cooked on a griddle (or failing that, a frying pan), sometimes fruit filled (as in a few berries or slices of banana tossed into the batter before frying), and usually served with butter and maple syrup. What you call a pancake, I call a crepe.
3. What's the difference between a tart and a pie? Tarts do not have top crusts and are often baked in shallower, wider pans with fluted edges to make them pretty. Really, as much as anything it's the attempt to make them prettier.
4. What does the word "flan" make you think of? A delicious light custard usually served with caramel sauce. I want some now.
5. What is pudding? A soft, creamy dessert served in a bowl or else (because I'm not like most Americans) a slightly cakey sweet (though it can also be savory) treat made with suet and boiled for a long, long time. The suet version is the one I prefer.
6. What's an entree? Main course. Makes no sense, I know, but there it is. I think this was determined by someone who had no clue what the word meant but figured calling it something French would make it classier.
7. What is mincemeat? Finely chopped meat and fruit with spices, usually served in pies at Christmastime.
8. What's a bun? A two-part bread item used for holding a piece of meat, usually a hamburger or hot dog.
9. Porridge: seasoned with salt, seasoned with sugar, or best avoided? None of the above. I prefer mine with berries and honey. Sweet, but not cloying. I may be of Scottish extraction, but I still think it's nuts to salt porridge or oatmeal.
10. How should beer be served? To someone who is not me.
11. Name for small, sweet items of food particularly eaten by children Candy.
12. Particular items of no. 11 that you remember from your childhood : Walnettos, licorice whips, candy bars (most are chocolate-based), candy cigarettes (no longer made), wax lips, Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Pops, Pop Rocks, saltwater taffy...and about a bajillion more things.
13. What's a catch-all term for the (usually metal) items you eat food with: silverware or cutlery
14. Fruity stuff that comes in a jar and can be spread on bread : if it's soft and spreadable with chunks of fruit in it, it's jam. If it's more gelatinous in nature and sans chunks, it's jelly. If it's a more bitter with fruit chunks, it's marmalade. I don't like jelly very much.
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Okay, now I'm curious. Considering the range of things I've seen put on pizzas in this country, I'm beginning to wonder what Americans won't put on them. Maybe we wouldn't put octopus on pizza, but I'm having trouble thinking of much of anything else considered a food item that I haven't seen on one.
Of course, one must remember that I live in California, and the coasts tend to be fairly adventurous in a culinary sense.
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I'm having trouble thinking of much of anything else considered a food item that I haven't seen on one.
Chocolate?
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Okay, I haven't actually seen chocolate on a pizza that I can recall ATM, but I did recently see a show about pizza on the Food Channel. They profiled a place that was reknowned for their peanut butter and jelly pizzas. I think I'd rather have the chocolate pizza. Peanut butter and pizza crust just don't ring my bell as an appetizing combination.
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