Sat here having eaten my dinner. Very nice it was too. Egg salad, no mayo, bit of salt and pepper, on a lump of granary bread the shape and size of a rugby ball and I got to wondering what I should call said lump.

Here in Salford, Lancs, England, it would be a French Stick. A white circular lump of bread approx 5" in diameter and 2" deep would be a balm cake. Similar size and shape with currants is a tea cake. Similar to a balm cake but twice the size would be an oven bottom. A roll is a spherical lump of doughy white stuff that you dip in soup. A cob is similar to a roll but baked longer to give a hard crust. A muffin is like a balm cake but smaller and denser, made specialy for toasting and scone rhymes with gone.

Incidentaly, I am having my dinner because it is dinner time (noon) and I will have my tea (main evening meal)when I get home. Supper is a light snack between going to the pub and going to bed. Anything between two slices of bread (of any description) is a butty - except when you put a pie in a sliced balm cake at which point it becomes a pie burger.

Anyone got any other good regional variations so we can argue who is right;-)

Cheers

Dave the Gnome