American cookery terms

thriftlady_2

An American cup measure holds 8 fluid ozs.Recipe quantities are based on volume rather than weight,so 1 cup of flour does not weigh the same as 1 cup of rice, or 1 cup of broccoli.I find it inconvenient to measure things like veg in cups but for baking they are great.If you do a lot of baking from US recipes get yourself a set of cup measures-makes life so much easier.

westwardbymanier

Does anybody know what canned deviled ham is.I am presuming its smoked ham.Is this correct?

HOLsale

thriftlady wrote:

An American cup measure holds 8 fluid ozs.Recipe quantities are based on volume rather than weight,so 1 cup of flour does not weigh the same as 1 cup of rice, or 1 cup of broccoli.I find it inconvenient to measure things like veg in cups but for baking they are great.If you do a lot of baking from US recipes get yourself a set of cup measures-makes life so much easier.

you're absolutely correct on all accounts there thriftlady!

being an avid baker you can imagine my frustration at the system here

when i first got here we were really really skint and i do mean it as bad... i couldn't afford to buy scales and lived on skye at the time so i couldn't find american measuring cups. i gave up on baking for awhile til i finally found some on a very rare trip to inverness a year after we'd been on skye!

the easiest way to measure veggies and fruit in cups is to slice them so they'll fit BUT usually with fruit and veg you don't have to be precise, i never have been and things usually turn out at least ok if not really tasty

the butter thing is a pain but that's not really an issue in the states since most of it comes in sticks with tbsp and cups markings (check the link above for this type of conversion, can't remember anymore!)

i've now got 2.5 sets of american can measuring cups, 1.5 sets of american measuring spoons, 2 jugs with pints and mls on and a huge thing that has every thing known to man on it (almost!) that with my kitchen scales which i have to remember to retrieve from my ebay sales area, i do ok but i still prefer the american way over all because i think it's just easier for a cup to be a cup no matter what it is

HOLsale

thriftlady wrote:

Hi,Holsale,
Am I right in thinking cucumbers are smaller in the States?

I've seen US recipes that call for what seems like an enormous amount of them,and also recipes that call for 'English cucumbers'.

I'm assuming English cucumbers are the ones we have here and the others are those little bumpy ones about 6-8 inches long that you sometimes find at farmer's markets.Is that right?

I've made bread and butter pickles with the little ones,very nice too

cucumbers are weird if you compare the two

english cucumbers are longer (generally though you get some whoppers in the states) and are ridged

american are rounded without ridges and do have wee bumps here and there. they are bigger in circumfrence normally though so bigger is a bit relative the they also tend to have more/bigger seeds. taste is fairly similar though and after 7 years i can't say there's enough of a difference that i'd remember

also, american cucumbers don't come wrapped in condoms :eek: sorry, couldn't resist, that's what they always seem like to me, i have no clue why they need to be wrapped in plastic! i don't think the skin is any thinner than american cucumbers which i have NEVER seen wrapped in plastic ever! (well, not in store for sale!)

here's a few photo's for you. these seem to be about the size you mentioned however i know many folk that grow their own and they are usually bigger than these







bread and butter pickles are quite nice

i quite miss the HUGE kosher dills you can get in the states, mmmmmm

and sweet pickles, gherkins are the closest here but they aren't sweet enough

also sweet pickle relish is beautiful and egg salad and potato salad aren't quite right without it, and then there's hotdogs without relish, very tragic

HOLsale

atrebor wrote:

A british block of butter works out at just about as 2 american sticks so if you just want to cut 1 block exactly in half you get 2 sticks and no scales to wash up.

see i've been here 7 years and i didn't know that :eek: according to the butter converter link given above 1 stick is 113.bunch of decimalised numbers so that's just about spot on, close enough for me!


thank you!

i go between weighing and american cups, just depends which one will be easiest overall if the recipe gives both though i prefer american measurements

HOLsale

westwardbymanier wrote:

Does anybody know what canned deviled ham is.I am presuming its smoked ham.Is this correct?

i couldn't really explain it so i looked on the website for the largest known brand of it in the states

>>Around 1868, Underwood's sons began experimenting with a new product created from ground ham blended with special seasonings. The process they dubbed "deviling," for cooking and preparing the ham, was new. But best of all, the taste was unique.

Soon thereafter, the "Underwood devil" was born. In 1870, the Underwood Company was granted a patent on this now world-famous logo. Advertising showing the little red devil began to appear nationally as early as 1895. Today, the Underwood devil is the oldest existing trademark still in use in the United States. <<

here's the link if you want to check out the site for yourself Deviled Ham

jennybegoode

Hi HOLsale,

Fantastic thread! I got the Anthony Bourdain Les Halles NY cookbook for Christmas and have been wondering about "dutch ovens" and "rutabagas". I'm sure there are a bunch more, but the book's at home.

On a similar note, I remember being in the states and discovering baloney was actually spelt bologna and consists of luncheon meat - made me laugh!!!

xx

borntoshop

You can get Flaxseed in sainsbury now.

HOLsale

jennybegoode wrote:

Hi HOLsale,

Fantastic thread! I got the Anthony Bourdain Les Halles NY cookbook for Christmas and have been wondering about "dutch ovens" and "rutabagas". I'm sure there are a bunch more, but the book's at home.

On a similar note, I remember being in the states and discovering baloney was actually spelt bologna and consists of luncheon meat - made me laugh!!!

xx

a rutabega is a swede

a dutch oven is a large heavy cooking pot, usually made of cast iron, used for stewing and braising on the hob or in the oven.


'...my baloney has a first name
it's o-s-c-a-r
my baloney has a second name
it's m-a-y-e-r
i like to eat it everday
and if you ask me why i'll say
cuz oscar meyer has a way
with b-o-l-o-g-n-a'

and thus, with that one commerical every person in the states knows how to spell bolgna (or baloney )

Wendrie

I love my dutch oven and my cast iron grill pan, use them for so many things. You can use a large cast iron covered casserole (Le Cruset or similar) as a dutch oven - but it won't have the nifty iron handle to hang from tree branches over open fires. I astonished the Woodcraft Folk when I dragged my with me and then cooked everything in a combination of those two pans and a couple of cast iron roasting tins <G>

We had british pancakes/crepes on Pancake day and to my British Dh's disgust our properly brought up British children both said very politely, "Could we just have proper American pancakes next time please?" <G>