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Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by DoingIsLearning on Monday August 10, 2020 @06:35AM (#24107634)
I think most folks are missing out if they just try the british version of orange marmalade.

The Portuguese original 'marmelada' made from quinces is sooo much better IMOH.

But (again in my opinion) nothing surpass the Brazilian take on marmelade, the "Goiabada", which is made with guava.

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by Nursie on Monday August 10, 2020 @07:21AM (#24108008)
Marmelada (and by the looks of it goiabada) are a very different thing to Marmalade. I have had quince cheese here in the UK which effectively seem to be a form of marmelada.

Both are tasty but I wouldn't consider one to be "better" than the other, any more than I would consider peanut butter to be "better" than dijon mustard.

Marmalade is a form of citrus jam, very sweet, usually very sharp, and containing candied citrus peel. It's generally eaten on toast for breakfast. Quince cheese (in the UK) is generally less sweet, is a quince paste rather than a jam, and is used as an accompaniment to hard cheeses as an alternative to chutney. I believe this is how it is largely eaten in Spain, too, with manchego.

So while both marmelada and goiabada are great (I presume, having not tried goiabada), it's really a different thing to marmalade.

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by teleforce on Monday August 10, 2020 @08:23AM (#24108479)
I've spent many years living in the UK, to put it politely British food is rather fulfilling but it is nothing to write home about. Fun fact, British will happily tell you that they are eating out for X dinner tonight, and X can be Arabic, Chinese, Indian, etc but never British :-)

I kind of like British fish and chips, the staple food for British people. But then once I've tasted Spanish fish and chips in Costa del Sol, I have just realised that I've not tasted a real fish & chips!

But the main reason I am looking forward for breakfast in any British eatery or any of their Bed & Breakfast apart from their wonderful Earl Grey tea, it will be their delicious marmalade. If I've remembered correctly, I have fallen in love in the very first bite!

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by Nursie on Monday August 10, 2020 @09:45AM (#24109143)
> but never British :-)

To be fair though, a lot probably wouldn't consider the main place you get "British" food, the pub, as "eating out" because it's rather less formal.

> but it is nothing to write home about

I'll grant you that it's very, very variable, and the quality of a lot of pub food is crap in a lot of places. However there are lots of pubs that you can get very good British food (my local, for example - https://www.dancingmanbrewery.co.uk/food-glorious-food/resta...). You just have to know where you're going. And probably pay quite a lot for the good stuff. And avoid the chains.

There are many good, British restaurants around too - places like the Hawksmoor in London, or the Oxford Brasserie here in Southampton (the menu is here - https://www.theoxfordbrasserie.co.uk/menu). I wouldn't necessarily say I was going out "for British food" when I was visiting them though.

Do Thai people say they're going out for Thai food if they head out to eat in their home country? (I have no idea!)

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by teruakohatu on Monday August 10, 2020 @04:13PM (#24113491)
Your local is a nice looking pub, and I like the doggie menu, but would you call it Birtish food? The starters seem British but the mains are burgers, ribs and fish.
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by Nursie on Monday August 10, 2020 @05:37PM (#24114294)
Why would fish not be a British food? We are an island nation and fish has always been a big part of our cuisine.

The rib meat in that main is slow cooked, shredded meat from short ribs, not served as "ribs". And with a horseradish gravy, yes that's very british.

It's a shortened menu due to Coronavirus, usually there is a roast lamb and a pork belly dish too.

Plus there are three shortcrust pies, not explicitly called out as they are rotating specials, served with gravy and mashed potato.

All in all it's a very British menu, though yes there are two burgers on there. There are burgers literally everywhere these days!

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by teruakohatu on Monday August 10, 2020 @06:15PM (#24114685)
Sorry, no offense was meant. In my defense basic fish dishes are generic Western fare and burgers made up 50% of the mains menu. It does all sound delicious and that English take on ribs is mouth watering.
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by Nursie on Monday August 10, 2020 @06:17PM (#24114714)
No defence needed, and yes, the burger has conquered the world :)
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by teruakohatu on Monday August 10, 2020 @06:26PM (#24114810)
One of these days I will summon the courage to try the famous English jellied eels :)
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by Nursie on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @04:58AM (#24118507)
Ha! Rather you than me! There are some things that are just a step too far :)
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by DC-3 on Monday August 10, 2020 @06:08PM (#24114612)
https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwel...

> It will be seen that we have no cause to be ashamed of our cookery, so far as originality goes or so far as the ingredients go. And yet it must be admitted that there is a serious snag from the foreign visitor’s point of view. This is, that you practically don’t find good English cooking outside a private house. If you want, say, a good, rich slice of Yorkshire pudding you are more likely to get it in the poorest English home than in a restaurant, which is where the visitor necessarily eats most of his meals.

> It is a fact that restaurants which are distinctively English and which also sell good food are very hard to find. Pubs, as a rule, sell no food at all, other than potato crisps and tasteless sandwiches. The expensive restaurants and hotels almost all imitate French cookery and write their menus in French, while if you want a good cheap meal you gravitate naturally towards a Greek, Italian or Chinese restaurant.

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by musicale on Monday August 10, 2020 @08:57PM (#24116114)
> British food is rather fulfilling but it is nothing to write home about

What about sandwiches(!), desserts, and gastropub fair? Tasty.

Not to mention afternoon tea (a fine tradition) and lots of nice grab-and-go lunch options in many shops. And items marked as suitable for (usually ovo-lacto-)vegetarians.

And cheeses, many cheeses (though they may not all be strictly British in origin.) And chocolate - even the humble Cadbury bar seems better than its US version.

There is also something to be said for the full English breakfast vs. the anemic "continental" breakfast.

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by ljm on Monday August 10, 2020 @03:20PM (#24112980)
You rarely get local recipes in pubs. Lancashire hotpot, roast dinner with a yorkshire pud, breast of lamb and peas, scotch broth, and other wonderful delicacies like the pie barm, a fish supper with good gravy, black pudding with your breakfast, mash potato with cheese and beans, etc.

The reason you don't see them on a restaurant menu is because they're mostly functional meals you can leave in a slow cooker, or throw together with whatever you've got in the cupboards.

You will never know local british cuisine unless you were raised with it.

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by KineticLensman on Monday August 10, 2020 @03:19PM (#24112971)
> but never British

Rules [0] in Covent Garden, London's oldest restaurant, established in 1798, disagrees.

[0] https://rules.co.uk/

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by cstross on Monday August 10, 2020 @01:26PM (#24111714)
BZZZT

Pedant alert: Fish and Chips is not originally British! (It's only been a staple over here since the 1860s.)

The chips had their origin as Belgian frites, and the fish is from Sephardic Jewish immigrants from Holland, who picked up and modified the recipe for pescado frito. (Fried fish could be eaten cold the next day, so was suitable for shabbat.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_and_chips

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by Nursie on Monday August 10, 2020 @01:57PM (#24112053)
Counter-pedantry alert: does a food or way of cooking have to all be 'originally' from somewhere, to be said to be characteristic of that place?

For instance, chili peppers were introduced to asia by the portuguese during the 15th century, but now chili-heavy dishes are characteristic of much SE Asian and Indian cooking.

Is pasta characteristic of Italian cooking or do we need to look further back to ancient greek origins and say it's not really from there?

Are we sure we should credit either France or Belgium with the British 'chip'? While they argue over the origins of fries between themselves, and certainly their 'frites' pre-date the British chip-shop, they are cut very differently. Or do they both owe their heritage to Spanish "Patatas", as Spain had the potato first, and really, frying the damn things is pretty obvious when you think about it ...

Personally I think things cross-pollinate constantly, and very little can be considered solely and exclusively the property of one culture or other.

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by rsynnott on Monday August 10, 2020 @02:51PM (#24112669)
Funnily enough, like British Chinese and Indian food, fish and chips are likely a pseudo-fusion import (they're believed to have been invented by Sephardic Jewish immigrants).
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by flir on Monday August 10, 2020 @03:38PM (#24113185)
Chinese food is supposed to be remarkably good at adapting itself to local tastes and ingredients (I remember the gloopy dayglo orange sweet and sour sauce from 80s UK Chinese takeaways). Cuban Chinese is apparently amazing.
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by wst_ on Monday August 10, 2020 @06:53PM (#24115056)
Not sure about Chinese, but Japanese food in UK is mostly not edible, by my standards at least. Being fusion is a huge disadvantage for me. I go to Japanese restaurant when I want to taste original Japanese cuisine not some generic Asian mishmash. Either this or some obscure version of the dishes. Like, where does it come from that kare (curry) must always be katsu? Funnily enough this katsu is chicken. First time in my life I see katsu chicken. It should be pork. Or katsudon without an egg on top. Or tonkotsu ramen (in super hyper popular and regarded place) that doesn't look nor taste like one. It was good enough ramen, but why call it tonkotsu if it doesn't resemble it? Sure there are one or two good restaurants in city but that takes 1h minimum from zone 4 - one way.
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by Nursie on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @09:56AM (#24120263)
I've never been to Japan, so can't comment on how authentic anything in the UK is, but ...

We have 'wagamama' which at best can be said to be japanese influenced, and a few chain sushi places (like Yo Sushi) across the country. They really aren't all that great. But if you look at some of the smaller/independent Japanese places that are around and about, they seem to be far better quality. I think London probably suffers from its centre being dominated by chains.

But on katsu ... I've had Chicken Katsu Curry in the UK, sure, but also in Australia, in Singapore and in Bangkok. If that's not a big thing in Japanese Cuisine then quite a lot of the world might have grasped the wrong end of the stick!

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by rsynnott on Wednesday August 12, 2020 @09:40AM (#24131957)
> But on katsu ... I've had Chicken Katsu Curry in the UK, sure, but also in Australia, in Singapore and in Bangkok. If that's not a big thing in Japanese Cuisine then quite a lot of the world might have grasped the wrong end of the stick!

While I don't know about this specific case, it wouldn't necessarily be surprising to see 'fusion' food exported. You can get chicken tikka masala, which is a British Indian invention, all over the place these days (and in fact even the katsu curry might be a remote descendant of British Indian 'fusion' food; AIUI the Japanese navy adopted curry from the British in the 19th century).

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by wst_ on Friday August 14, 2020 @02:21AM (#24154373)
I'm not saying that katsu kare is not existent in Japan, but in the UK it is basically the only kare you can get. On the contrary in Tokyo you have it among ten other options and it is definitely not the most popular one. I can say only about my experiences but I'd say the most popular is one with beef which is put in the stew.

The name of the dish is simply kare rasiu (curry with rise) and that's most common form. It's also super simple to make if you have rice cooker at home. Just pre-fry some onion, carrot and potatoes on the pan, then boil it with considerate amount of water and add curry blocks to it - done. You may add meat but it's just an additional ingredient which can be easily omitted. You can make it once and it lasts for couple of days. You can even freeze it if you want.

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by Nursie on Sunday August 16, 2020 @12:01PM (#24178838)
I already do make that at home sometimes, it's delicious :)
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by bserge on Monday August 10, 2020 @03:44PM (#24113236)
British sausages are better than any German wursts. Change my mind (don't try if you only had the cheapest stuff).
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by iggldiggl on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @03:00PM (#24124421)
You mean "Emulsified High-Fat Offal Tubes"?

(No offence to British sausages intended, but I just had to sneak in that reference)

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by kroltan on Monday August 10, 2020 @03:27PM (#24113060)
If you ever get the chance, do try goiabada! It's not the same kind of taste (goiabada is usually very sweet rather than sharp, though some can be both - the "goiabada cascão" as it is called is usually sharper, but still predominantly sweet).

It is also often paired with cheese, both hard as well as the local "queijo minas", especially the "frescal" variety, which is a very young kind of cheese.

That being said, I haven't had UK marmalade to be able to compare, I'm coming from my experience in marmelada and extrapolating from there.

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by pythonwizz on Monday August 10, 2020 @03:49PM (#24113273)
It is also often paired with cheese, both hard as well as the local "queijo minas", especially the "frescal" variety, which is a very young kind of cheese.

"Romeo e Julietta"

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by kroltan on Monday August 10, 2020 @05:34PM (#24114263)
Yep, I didn't mention it because it is just the name of the pairing, not a specific product, and I'd already mentioned a lot of names.
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by Nursie on Monday August 10, 2020 @06:56PM (#24115094)
It's definitely going on the list :)
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by DoingIsLearning on Monday August 10, 2020 @07:59AM (#24108312)
I disagree, just because they are different in taste doesn't mean they are not historically related.

Portuguese 'Marmelada' is absolutely a historic ancestor of the british version. Atlas obscura has a good article on this. [0]

[0] https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-is-marmelada

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by Nursie on Monday August 10, 2020 @08:14AM (#24108413)
Sure, the word for one was derived from the other, but the recipes are very different, as are the end products. So much so that they occupy separate culinary niches, and I wouldn't consider them to be 'versions' of the same thing.

See also US/British flapjacks.

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by DoingIsLearning on Monday August 10, 2020 @08:33AM (#24108556)
Again, it is not just shared words.

The earliest references to the orange version of marmalade, was marmalade made for Queen Catherine of Braganza (A portuguese noblewoman in the british court). It's innacurate to claim they are just phonetically related.

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by setr on Monday August 10, 2020 @08:03PM (#24115721)
The question isn't whether they're historically related, but whether they are sufficiently similar as to be comparative -- the american hotdog and the german sausage may have shared elements, and presumably shared roots, and I wouldn't doubt that the hotdog is a modified sausage -- but they are so distinctly different in taste, texture, quality, usecase and goals, that it doesn't really make sense to say that the german sausage is a better hotdog, or vice versa. Even if the hotdog was still called a sausage. (and sticking a full sausage on a hotdog bun? A criminal act if I ever saw one)

If it doesn't look like a duck, and it doesn't quack like a duck, then it ain't a duck. Even if you called it a duck the last 500 years, it still ain't a duck -- at least, it's not a duck like my duck's a duck.

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by Nursie on Monday August 10, 2020 @09:50AM (#24109183)
Right, but since then "marmalade" has become a citrus jam containing the candied peel of the fruit, far more like other jams, and really quite dissimilar to the quince product from which it draws its name.

It's merely a categorisation thing I suppose, but to me they occupy very different niches, and saying one is better than the other is comparing quinces to oranges...

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by JoeAltmaier on Monday August 10, 2020 @07:54AM (#24108279)
A different history, credits Marmalade as a successor to decades of Marmelada import - that it simply got less leathery and more jammy to suit the market. But that sounds apocryphal once I read the OP.
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by ufo on Monday August 10, 2020 @04:04PM (#24113411)
And last but not least, there is also the mythical goiabada de marmelo from the sítio do picapau amarelo song :)
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by robaato on Monday August 10, 2020 @07:04AM (#24107863)
We have quince jelly too in Britain. As the article says, there are marmalades and marmalades - the good stuff is great!
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by sytelus on Monday August 10, 2020 @04:18PM (#24113540)
Do you have any recommendations that can be purchased from Amazon or elsewhere?
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by DoingIsLearning on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @02:51AM (#24117809)
Assuming from the twitter handle you are Redmond based...

This is a Seattle Brazilian shop who takes covid-friendly online orders (I just searched online don't have any experience with them):

https://www.kitanda.com/shop/predilecta-guava-cream

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by Konohamaru on Monday August 10, 2020 @06:41AM (#24107660)
This is the most posh thing I've read on HN so far. Don't share this with strangers unless you want everyone to know you're elite.
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by DoingIsLearning on Monday August 10, 2020 @06:46AM (#24107692)
Perhaps it's posh from an american centric point of view. If you are in Portugal or Brazil it is as posh as eating butter.
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by bserge on Monday August 10, 2020 @03:49PM (#24113280)
I don't know why some Brits keep saying this. Wine is not posh, expensive sausages are not posh, quality food is not posh.

Why are you trying to create a divide, and why are you on the "lesser" side? Ignore the strange "posh" elite, they're morons. You can do whatever you want in Britain, no matter your situation (coming from an actually divided poor country, yes, really).

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by celticninja on Monday August 10, 2020 @04:11PM (#24113468)
Why do you assume the GP is a Brit?
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by bserge on Monday August 10, 2020 @04:15PM (#24113509)
Heard quite a few Brits saying that. I guess it was their "if only I".

If only I was born to different parents, if only I was born in a different country, if only I had more money, if only I had friends in high places, if only the elite didn't keep us down. Lots of excuses, sometimes valid, but often not.

Working class Brits don't realize how much opportunity they have in their own country, and it's sad.

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by celticninja on Monday August 10, 2020 @04:25PM (#24113586)
Personally I think that a pretty stupid generalisation. Yes there are more opportunities in the UK, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a class divide too.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_t...

Look at the university column.

Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by stordoff on Monday August 10, 2020 @05:49PM (#24114409)
Working class people get the opportunity to go to the top universities as well - which university you went to isn't a definitive statement about your background. I came from a working class background, went to a generic local comprehensive, then was accepted into the University of Cambridge.
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by lucideer on Monday August 10, 2020 @06:55AM (#24107767)
Don't see the poshness? Elaborate?
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by arethuza on Monday August 10, 2020 @07:00AM (#24107817)
DoingIsLearning blatantly admits to eating "foreign" food and from more than one country! Perhaps not being from the UK is no excuse! ;-)
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by me_me_me on Monday August 10, 2020 @07:28AM (#24108065)
You couldn't make this post scream more Americuaaaa!
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by bryanrasmussen on Monday August 10, 2020 @07:47AM (#24108222)
Americans generally don't use the word posh.
Re:Marmalade: A Very British Obsession by Milner08 on Monday August 10, 2020 @07:40AM (#24108173)
wow ok, eating food thats common in your region makes you elite. OK... makes you seem like a fool.