BS: London Groceries

Subject: BS: London Groceries
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 09:57 AM

Okay, here's an odd one for you, need to know a little about buying food in London.
Newlyweds leaving USA for London next month, to spend 5 years.
We are digitizing the family cookbook so they will have familiar recipes handy on a disk.
Here's the rub: lots of the recipes call for stuff I don't know if they can get. What are the odds of them being able to get:

Flour tortillas
Salsa
green enchilada sauce
green chilies (can)
Jell-o
marshmallow fluff
Mogen David wine
Beau Monde seasoning

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 10:05 AM

Us food in UK First four items should be OK but don't know about the others, try this web site link I've inserted.
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From:
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 10:06 AM

You shouldn't have any problems get any of those over here...just one question, whats jello?

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: MMario
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 10:14 AM

a flavoured gelatin dessert.

Beau Monde Seasoning:
1 tablespoon ground cloves
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon ground bay leaf
1 tablespoon ground allspice
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground mace
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 tablespoons ground white pepper


so if they can't get it - they can make their own.

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From:
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 10:18 AM

Cheers MMario.. we call it Jelly....and you can buy it almost anywhere!

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: artbrooks
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 11:20 AM

Green chili and Mogen David? Oy gevalt!

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 11:59 AM

Wow, did I ask at the right place. Thank you!! I will try the link. I'm putting a few conversion-of-measures links on the disc, maybe I can add that one too.

No, the green chilis and Mogen David don't mingle much, two separate meals! :-) The mogen david and fluff are actually used for a traditional item we like to call 'Drunken Jello'.

Thanks for the Beau Monde recipe. Are spices overpriced in UK shops I wonder. Here I have to track them down in a whole-foods coop or discount store in order to not get ripped off. I'm afraid the couple will be starting with a very small spice rack to get started. The Beau Monde goes in a great dill dip for veggies that is very handy, but it might be impractical for them to fool with.

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: Paul Burke
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 12:16 PM

Not sure about London, but spices etc. are usually cheaper from Indian/ Pakistani supermarkets round here. Even so, the health food shops and the like are usually not too bad, I don't suppose you'll be buying them by the hundredweight. Chilis usually come in jars rather than cans if you don't want fresh. I'd never put bay leaves in anything, as I've never found it does anything, maybe I'm missing a gene for it or whatever. I've never seen MD wine, but then I don't live in London, but kosher wine is available in most larger supermarkets. What's marshmallow fluff?

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: PoppaGator
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 12:27 PM

Lots of foodstuffs well known to Americans are available in England, but under unfamiliar names; someone has already mentioned that the gelatin dessert Americans know by the brand-name "Jell-O" is called "jelly" in the UK. I don't know what the British term is for what we call "jelly" ~ they have "jam," "preserves," "marmalade," etc., but I don't know the name for a fruit spread that is more solidified/gelled than jam is.

You probably already know that the fried potatoes Americans know as "fries" are "chips" across the ocean, and that the prepared snacks known as "chips" in the US are called "crisps" over there.

"Marshmallow Fluff" is white gooey stuff in a jar that is equivalent to the inside of marshmallows. It makes a nice messy junk-food sandwich when combine with peanut better ~ called a"fluffernutter."

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 12:40 PM

Marshmallow fluff turned up in British supermarkets a few years back but, to be honest, I haven't looked for it lately.
Look in the area of the shop that has jams, marmite, peanut butter and such like.
A thicker type of jam is traditionally known as 'cheese', as in damson cheese.

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: artbrooks
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 12:42 PM

Click here: Food names translated

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: GUEST,Sooz sans cookie
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 12:44 PM

PoppaG - We have a fruit spread like the one you describe - its known as fruit marmite in our house. Only available in health food shops though.

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: Bill D
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 01:14 PM

there is an old song with the line "must be jelly, 'cause jam don't shake like that"
(play)


"Jelly, jam and preserves are all made from fruit mixed with sugar and pectin. The difference between them comes in the form that the fruit takes.
In jelly, the fruit comes in the form of fruit juice.
In jam, the fruit comes in the form of fruit pulp or crushed fruit (and is less stiff than jelly as a result).
In preserves, the fruit comes in the form of chunks in a syrup or a jam.

Pectin is an undigestible carbohydrate (fiber). It is found in the cell walls of most fruit. When heated with sugar in water, it gels, giving jam, jelly and preserves their thickness.

Jell-O is entirely different. It is made from gelatin, which is a protein made from animal skins and bones"

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: MMario
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 01:28 PM

but then you have "beef jelly" and such - which are gelatin based - so I can see where the dessert gelatins came to be called jellies. If the brand name hadn't taken off so fast in the US - they would probably be jellies here too.

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: Jos
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 02:01 PM

Bramble jelly is a clear, set jam made from blackberries - not the thorny stems!

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: GUEST,Sooz sans cookie
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 03:19 PM

We vegetarians make our fruit jellies from agar agar which is derived from seaweed rather than bits of animals.

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: lady penelope
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 04:23 PM

Firstly, where in London are they moving to (roughly, I don't need details)? It makes a huge difference to what's easily available. I live in east London (Walthamstow) and there's very little you can't buy in local supermarkets or in the markets.

But on the whole -

Flour tortillas - most large supermarkets (like Sainsbury's) sell a ready made version by a firm called Old El Paso.

Salsa - you're kidding me? 1 can plum tomatoes/medium size onion/clove of garlic/tinned or pickled chillies to taste. stick in a blender - voila!

Green enchilada sauce - no idea but they may sell a version with the Old El Paso stuff

Green chillies - tinned or pickled over here - mainly Turkish/Cypriot supermarkets are your best bet depending where you are in London.

Jell-O - Jelly - Normally fruit flavoured over here - best known brand, Rowntrees. You can get veggie versions (no animal extracts) and sugar free versions in most supermarkets.

Marshmallow fluff - used to see it regularly over here but it's died a death - best bet ex-pat shop.

Mogen David wine - what's that? Alcoholic? Wine vinegar?

Beau Monde Seasoning - the recipe given up above should be a snap to round up the ingredients for. Best places to buy fresh and cheap spices in London - Indian, Turkish/Cypriot supermarkets. Usually sold in roughly 4oz bags and upwards (my local supermarket sells paprika in kilo bags!!!)

If they're moving into or near a very Jewish area (Golders Green, Hampstead Garden Suburbs etc.) they'll find a lot more american style stuff.

Just chuck me a pm if they need specific locals etc. for stuff.

TTFN Lady P.

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 05:09 PM

Paul - are you using dried or fresh bay? Fresh make all the difference. With dried, you can never tell how long they've been hanging round. The longer they're stored, the less flavour they retain, so fresh is best.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: Paul Burke
Date: 24 Aug 05 - 07:01 AM

Liz, we've got a bush in a pot outside. Made no difference to my inability to comprehend it. Taste buds blasted by years of vindaloo and cheap Rioja, perhaps.

Passing through the supermarket last night, I checked on the kosher wine- they only had Palwin's available. But that was in Ripley.

Does 'digitising the family cookbook' mean you get to lick your fingers?

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 24 Aug 05 - 07:43 AM

London is a big interntional city. If you look, you will be able to find almost anything, especailly food wise. You can find people from just about anywhere there, and if you find the people, you'll find most of their food.

There are a few things people might miss. Asda supermarkets are now owned by Wal-Mart, but it doesn't stock rifles....

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: KateG
Date: 24 Aug 05 - 07:46 AM

If they're going to spend five years in London, why not spend it exploring the delights of English food instead of recreating American dishes. After all, the whole point of travel is to broaden horizons.

There are all sorts of taste thrills awaiting them: proper marmelade, chocolate digestives (choccy bickies), mackrell, gooseberries, black currents, smoked salmon (!!!!), shortbread, clotted cream, crumpets, chickens that taste like chicken instead of tofu, tomatoes with flavor (imported from the Mediterranean)... I could go on and on. I moved back to the States 25 years ago and there are still things I miss.

As for Marshmallow Fluff ... shudder. Have they ever read the ingredients? I have never understood why anyone, anywhere would touch the stuff, let alone allow much-loved children to eat it. I'd as soon feed them strychnine.

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 24 Aug 05 - 09:36 AM

Vindaloo and cheap Rioja.. well there you go... no wonder you can't taste the sutble delicacies of a chicken stew flavoured with bay.....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Aug 05 - 09:41 AM

Bless you Lady Penelope (and Bunnahabhain and all). That gives me a much better idea what's available. Glad there is an outlet for El Paso, that will go a long way. As for salsa, well, they are going to have very little equipment to work with so it would be easier to buy some Pace than to buy a blender. No idea what part of town they are in yet, but just didn't want to assume all things would be available. No doubt they will have many more choices than if they were in a small town.

KateG, what's your problem?   Of course they are going to spend lots of time eating local style and in season. As I explained, we are sending a special family cookbook with them so they can start their family off with some food traditions and comfort foods at hand for when they need them. The fluff is an ingredient in a cherished and delicious family recipe eaten once a year.   And they are not 'traveling', one is having to take a professional course of study there because it is not available at home.

Subject: RE: BS: London Groceries
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Aug 05 - 10:44 PM

What is a Kosher Jew doing eating Jello?