Cultural Conundrums.

[sunandshadow]

Last I hear there were 4 kinds of gravy: brown gravy is made from beef stock/bullion, golden gravy is made from chicken or turkey stock/bullion, sausage gravy is pinkish gray and has sausage bits in it, and white gravy is made from cream. Not a big fan of beef gravy personally but I love the other three. Sausage gravy on fluffy white biscuits is wonderful, and cream gravy on country fried steak or chicken is also wonderful. Gravy is good on french fries too.

 

[Etaski]

Love culinary exploration!

Love the "white" gravy, too. It's made with milk usually, not cream (too much fat, there's already fat present from the sausage). Form a roux with flour and the fat over heat from your cooked breakfast sausage, add milk to desired thickness, salt and pepper to taste. Other names: Country gravy, Sawmill gravy, Breakfast gravy.

One can make fabulous Thanksgiving gravy the same way. My Californian grandmother (rest her soul) always started with a roux: the turkey fat that seeped out from beneath the skin as it cooked, add flour to form roux. Add hot water and cook to desired thickness, salt and pepper to taste. Yum!

Flour and fat. Any kind of gravy can be made that way: add milk, water, stock, broth, some kind of flavorful water-based liquid!

Bless the Cajun-French for the roux!

It was actually my British friend watching her with the "Bisto" I didn't get....the taste wasn't as good, either. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisto

 

[BrazenFellow]

The roux is truly outstanding, I agree. A fantastic alfredo sauce can be created in fifteen minutes from a roux; butter melted in a pan, flour to make the roux, toast the flour, add milk, heat to a simmer, add desired cheeses. Traditional blend is parmesan, mozzarella, and asagio, I believe. Keep adding cheese until you're at the desired thickness, add milk to thin it out if needed.

A touch of garlic powder works for an incredibly smooth sauce. Otherwise you'll be mincing garlic and letting it "steep" in the simmering milk as you prepare the cheeses. Need the garlic in there to compliment the parmesan's slightly nutty flavour.

 

[Cattypuss]

Wedges agreed

Chips agreed

Chips mostly, although crisps is used by some. Nope - here they are definitely just crisps.

Chips or fries, just fries, neither French nor freedom. Most of the fast food resta...eating places have them listed as fries,
so it's pretty common for most people to ask for chips. Pretty much agreed. I agree they're never French or freedom. But they only tend to be called fries in American fast-food places like KFC and McD and even then many of the customers will call them chips rather than fries.

I love these differences.

 

[Cattypuss]

Don't forget sweaters Vs jumpers :

As an Aussie, when I hear sweater, I think of this :


And a jumper is this :

not this :

Agreed!!

 

[Cattypuss]

Around here, a fanny pack is also called a belt pouch, which seems like the most simple and logical term for it.

An asshat is definitely not an accessory for one's derriere lol. An asshat is someone who has their head (metaphorically) stuck up their own ass such that they are wearing their ass as a hat. Basically, a pompous prick.

I have only ever heard the "fanny pack" (smirk!!) referred to as a "bum bag" over here.

(ooh there's another one.... "bum" here as a noun is only an arse - i.e. a pair of buttocks. Never a hobo (who we wouldn't refer to as a hobo in any case - we'd use the term "tramp")).

I have seriously never heard or seen the term "asshat" except on Literotica.

My fave equivalent term is "tosspot".

 

[PertPerth]

G-strings :


Thongs :

 

[infinity706]

I have only ever heard the "fanny pack" (smirk!!) referred to as a "bum bag" over here.

(ooh there's another one.... "bum" here as a noun is only an arse - i.e. a pair of buttocks. Never a hobo (who we wouldn't refer to as a hobo in any case - we'd use the term "tramp")).

I have seriously never heard or seen the term "asshat" except on Literotica.

My fave equivalent term is "tosspot".

Yeah, but here, tramp is another word for whore or slag as those in the northern UK would say.

I don't get white gravy, but I am a northerner. We do have sausage links and sausage patties though.

I found that out when I went to a McDonald's in Detroit, Michigan. They had everything they usually do except there was no gravy and you got margerine instead of butter. It was 8 in the morning and I wanted my fucking gravy biscuit after flying in.

White gravy is called southern gravy, unless you're a southerner at which point it's gravy, we call that brown stuff burnt.

Sausage and gravy is a great breakfast, you get the tasty butter biscuits buried under a ton of gravy and peices of sausage, see there is sausage usually it's just small pieces cooked up in the gravy.

I have to admit i don't get the toast with the sauage and gravy, you get biscuits in it what do you need toast for.

There is another name for it, shit on a shingle, used to be or still is what they give you in bootcamp for the military here. Same idea just with bread not biscuit. Which of course to me sounds totally wrong, the biscuits add alot to the flavor.

Oh, yeah, everyone needs to come visit the south. We fry everything down here. Tomatoes, zucchini, squash, potatoes, bread, cheese sandwiches, cakes, any kind of meat... It's amazing that we don't all weigh 300 pounds.

 

[Quoll]

Fast food places, Maccas and KFC or Tucky fry.

 

[Cathleen]

Pertperth, I had forgotten we used to call thongs, well, thongs, now they're usually called flip-flops. The word G-string seems to have taken over by thong.

The whole "Freedom Fries" thing was in response to the French not supporting us in the Gulf region. I haven't seen the term used in a long time and mostly they are just called fries. Chips here usually potato chips.


That thing you call a jumper is very funny. This is what a jumper (clothing, not to be confused with a skydiver etc)

"Tosspot" is a great word, Cattypuss. I'm going to work that into my vocabulary soon.

Fun thread, Qman (btw, indoobitally is one of my favorite words, Qman).

 

[Cattypuss]

G-strings : Agreed


Thongs : Nope, those are flip-flops!

I thought of another thing while I was out today and now I'm home I've forgotten. Old age is a terrible thing.

 

[Quoll]

cattypuss: interestingly, i've recently begun using the word "asshat" in casual conversatio. my wife looked at me after a while and asked, "what precisely is an 'asshat'?" without missing a beat, i replied "it was an acccessory for one's derriere" unconvinced, she retored, "so...it's a fannypack?"

quoll, a very interesting question. however, b/c i sometimes don't recognize americanisms as being so, i can't think of any offhand, other than the usual british/american vocabulary stuff such as boot/trunk or pram/stroller.

i should work on developing my scatalogical vocabulary, though...

ed

Well I guess you could keep your asshat in a douchebag instead of a fanny pack.

I don't think it's just Americanisms though Ed, sometimes it regionism and stateisms as well as other countryisms.


I simply don't get the whole sausage and biscuit thing, the closest I can imagine is a muffin with a sausage mince patty on it.


It turns out that a fluffernutter does not work on the set of a porn movie. We have no equivalent here that I know of.


We had scottish cousins over for a visit a few years ago, they spent ages in the supermarket looking for "dilutin", I suspect this was a familyism as I have never heard anyone else use it. We did eventually work out what they were looking for, feel free to try your luck.

 

[Quoll]

Pertperth, I had forgotten we used to call thongs, well, thongs, now they're usually called flip-flops. The word G-string seems to have taken over by thong.

The whole "Freedom Fries" thing was in response to the French not supporting us in the Gulf region. I haven't seen the term used in a long time and mostly they are just called fries. Chips here usually potato chips.


That thing you call a jumper is very funny. This is what a jumper (clothing, not to be confused with a skydiver etc)

"Tosspot" is a great word, Cattypuss. I'm going to work that into my vocabulary soon.

Fun thread, Qman (btw, indoobitally is one of my favorite words, Qman).

That's a tunic Miss Cate.

The only problem I have with indoobitally is, is it indoobitally or is it indoobitably, after typing this I think it might be indoobitably.

"After you.", "No no, after you, I insist." "Why thenk you."

 

[NippleMuncher]

Quite the quollnundrum you pose, dear sir.

I've never heard of "fanny" referring to front butt, only rear butt

 

[Quoll]

This one is an Americanism, every time I hear someone say they root for their team, this is what I see.

We barrack for our team, rooting is a whole 'nother thing.

 

[PertPerth]

Flip-flops?!!
*ppffft*

I wear sandals, I wear thongs - on my feet, but I'll never wear flip-flops!

I wear Bathers or bikini's when I go to the pool or beach. I'll never wear "swimmers" or "togs"!

 

[Quoll]

Flip-flops?!!
*ppffft*

I wear sandals, I wear thongs - on my feet, but I'll never wear flip-flops!

I wear Bathers or bikini's when I go to the pool or beach. I'll never wear "swimmers" or "togs"!

Flip flops are what a fish out of water does.

Might be an East coast West coast thing PP, I grew up with togs, although bathers is also used.

 

[VelvetDarkness]

Grit

Apparently, Americans eat it for breakfast.

Also, in the UK, this is a purse...

and this is a handbag.

 

[emap]

Yes well our grits are about as chewy as your grits until they are soaked and boiled. Well boiled isn't exactly the right term but more or less what you do. I never did understand the point to grits, unless you add alot of sugar or honey they are pretty bleh. Oatmeal is better, don't have to add either to have it taste better than grits.

Course I don't really think it's possible to not taste better than grits. Personal preference thingy.

Speaking of Debbie Does Dallas, I think it's rather insulting, I didn't have that many lovers until after high school and she did all that in one day so to speak.

 

[VelvetDarkness]

Yes well our grits are about as chewy as your grits until they are soaked and boiled. Well boiled isn't exactly the right term but more or less what you do. I never did understand the point to grits, unless you add alot of sugar or honey they are pretty bleh. Oatmeal is better, don't have to add either to have it taste better than grits.

So what grain do you soak and boil?

Speaking of Debbie Does Dallas, I think it's rather insulting, I didn't have that many lovers until after high school and she did all that in one day so to speak.

'Root' is Aussie slang for sex. Therefore, 'rooting for your team' can imply all manner of naughtiness.

 

[emap]

Well that's kinda the funny part, it's not a grain, it's a vegetable.

Here I found a good link for all the information you ever wanted to know on grits, the eating variety of course.

So the LINK and lets move on to Debbie Does Dallas cause dang I've had enough of grits.

Debbie Does Dallas is demeaning because Debbie is a cheerleader and she goes around screwing everybody, with the rest of the squad, it's a small squad. This is demeaning because well I was a cheerleader and I slutted and danged if I didn't get as many lovers, I came in second on that particular race, though I was only beat by two and she started two years earlier.

Well OK so that movie was also part of the reason so many people think cheerleaders are sluts. If it wasn't for that movie and a few of the regular movies saying that, people would only think some of the cheerleaders are sluts instead of all of them.

 

[infinity706]

Yes well our grits are about as chewy as your grits until they are soaked and boiled. Well boiled isn't exactly the right term but more or less what you do. I never did understand the point to grits, unless you add alot of sugar or honey they are pretty bleh. Oatmeal is better, don't have to add either to have it taste better than grits.

Course I don't really think it's possible to not taste better than grits. Personal preference thingy.

Speaking of Debbie Does Dallas, I think it's rather insulting, I didn't have that many lovers until after high school and she did all that in one day so to speak.

Well that's kinda the funny part, it's not a grain, it's a vegetable.

Here I found a good link for all the information you ever wanted to know on grits, the eating variety of course.

So the LINK and lets move on to Debbie Does Dallas cause dang I've had enough of grits.

Debbie Does Dallas is demeaning because Debbie is a cheerleader and she goes around screwing everybody, with the rest of the squad, it's a small squad. This is demeaning because well I was a cheerleader and I slutted and danged if I didn't get as many lovers, I came in second on that particular race, though I was only beat by two and she started two years earlier.

Well OK so that movie was also part of the reason so many people think cheerleaders are sluts. If it wasn't for that movie and a few of the regular movies saying that, people would only think some of the cheerleaders are sluts instead of all of them.

What? Debbie fucks exactly one guy the whole movie and that's only at the very end. It's the other women in the movie that do the threesomes and everything. Debbie's one sex scene is actually pretty vanilla by comparison. While the other women have boyfriends as well as fucking other men and women throughout the movie, Debbie only does her one scene in exchange for the entire remaining amount it costs to take the whole team to Dallas. The others are willing to fuck and suck for $20 or so. (it was worth a bit more back then, but whatever)

 

[silverwhisper]

emap quoth:
people would only think some of the cheerleaders are sluts instead of all of them

um...don't you think that it's simply a stereotype, and hence about as applicable as any other stereotype?

quoll quoth:
you talking talking shit to me ed?

now q, have you ever known me to do such a thing? :>

quoll quoth:
i don't think it's just americanisms though ed, sometimes it regionism and stateisms as well as other countryisms. i simply don't get the whole sausage and biscuit thing, the closest i can imagine is a muffin with a sausage mince patty on it.

well, as everyone else already noted, the issue is that the item we americans refer to as a biscuit is a totally different item than what you guys or the brits conceive of. it's perhaps most similar to a savory rather than sweet scone in terms of consistency and shape. these are recipes for the classic (US) southern staple, biscuits and sausage gravy. this should give you a better idea of what the resulting dish might be like.

brazenfellow quoth:
what americans would call "french fries" (or "freedom fries", i suppose).

happily, i've never encountered any fellow american that i consider possessed of at least 2 neurons who actually used that ridiculous expression.

i've a question of my own: what on earth is a digestion biscuit? part of my family grew up in england and when visiting years ago, one was trying to find digestion biscuits to make some kind of dish but i've no idea what it was anymore. ?

ed

 

[Cattypuss]

i've a question of my own: what on earth is a digestion biscuit? part of my family grew up in england and when visiting years ago, one was trying to find digestion biscuits to make some kind of dish but i've no idea what it was anymore. ?

ed

I think you probably mean digestive (not digestion) biscuits. You can crush them up and use them as the base for a cheesecake, but I like them dunked in my tea best (or as the biscuits to have with cheddar and brie on a cheeseboard).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digestive_biscuit

 

[silverwhisper]

why thank you! and yes, i'm sure it must've been digestive biscuits and i simply misremembered. interestingly, the impression i formed was that perhaps she meant graham crackers--and apparently, that's quite common. :>

i wonder if anybody's compared the two...

ed