Jul 4, 2023·edited Jul 4, 2023Liked by Mike Sowden
Always a fun trip Michael. My eldest son is a US Navy ex-pat. JPJ is the father of the US Navy in lore. A fun tale to remember. For me, a food lover, I am so thankful we went our own way. Nearly 250 years later we ended up with so much including tons of great fusion cooking styles and we still seem to get on pretty well. I gladly forego beans on toast and embrace the Banh Mi & Cajun food. Now in my 60s, I've managed to avoid black pudding also. Thanks for surrendering at Yorktown. I have great respect for our British legacy since you invented the sandwich and named it after a Lord. What is the best sandwich in Britain (let's exclude organ meats)? We offer the Beef on Weck, the Muffaletta and the Banh Mi. American fusion cuisine at its best. Immigration and its nurturing is our best invention. As according to CK Steefel in the comments, the tea was a good thing too we decided to keep. Thanks.
Nice sandwiches, but do you have roast chicken, stuffing, and sliced roast potatoes in a Yorkshire pudding wrap? That’s high cuisine round these parts!! Also, I’m assured by friends in California that you can’t get ‘proper’ fish and chips there! Disgraceful! 😉😂
Hi Kathlyn -- Fish and Chips is the most wonderful thing we would be wise to co-opt !!! There are an awful lot of poorly executed attempts and I wish we had some ones properly inspired. Despite the ludicrous number of condiments that fill the grocers, more malt vinegar would be a great thing. It is curious to me that despite our long-standing crisscrossing immigration, specialties in Britain have never seemed to emerge in the States broadly while the dishes one associates with other nations find a cozy home.
What we name stuff affects things. I love the ingenious Yorkshire pudding wrapper. Food marketers in the States love the sound of the variations popovers and puff pastry. I think if the wonderful chicken thing you described was offered on a menu in the three options, people just wouldn't know what Yorkshire pudding is and would go for the puff pastry :) I think the French won the chicken thing with better names with flowing language we embrace (Coq au Vin & rotisserie) -- they just sound great!!!
Most food things seem to sound much tastier in French! Or Italian, or Spanish...there’s something about English that makes food sound dull, even when it’s delicious!
Exactly!!! I am in a Scotch Club and have enjoyed exploring the regional specialties. While inferior, at least in perception, Bourbon rolls off the tongue much better than Scotch. I remember during the Iraq War the news networks droned on with "war news". Instead of saying, yep, we loaded up 200 bombing runs, Americans got inundated with sortie. It just sounds nice :)
A great point Oh Susanna -- my error -- I have a couple of favored restaurants here -- thanks for correcting me. My heart skips a beat when I see Lu's food truck -- the best Banh Mi's in town -- in a tribute to mashup culture, Minnesota was a preferred relocation for the Hmong people of Laos and we retain a large ethnic community as a result -- their markets all sell Banh Mi's -- probably cultural appropriation since the French mostly imposed their world on the Vietnamese people. I kinda love the idea of someone putting baguettes to good use in a new and novel way :)
Yes! I well remember being very surprised when I discovered the Vietnamese love affair with baguettes and its roots in the French colonization of Vietnam, something I had been totally ignorant of. I've only tried banh mi once; it's not really my cup of tea, but it certainly is an interesting example of how cultures meeting creates new and delightful food mashups.
While it is a carbohydrate minefield, the French Baguette gets put to great use in the Oyster Po' Boy -- another gem of a sandwich in that mix of cultures in southern Louisiana -- all hail the baguette -- sounds better than loaf
Interesting! That's a sandwich I'd never heard of. I like to slice a baguette, cover it with butter, and fill it with slices of ripe real tomatoes, avocado, and well-aged Cheddar cheese, sprinkled with sea salt and fresh-ground black pepper. An occasional indulgence but a very yummy one.
I am insulin-resistant and a convert to plant-based eating. It doesn't mean we cannot dream and occasionally indulge. Tomatoes at peak season are AMAZING -- your sandwich sounds amazing it needs a French name to succeed
This seems true C.L. -- there have been failed national attempts to franchise it (like Buffalo Wild Wings in its early stages). Sometimes these great things travel from either outside or inside the country. I think regional Southern food and the obsession with BBQ is an example. When I lived in the SE, it was crazy how much better the BBQ was in the SE compared to what you would get elsewhere. A melting pot takes time I guess. I have only managed to convert the people in my circles of friends to Weck. Life's mysteries. Maybe some things are destined to remain regional forever. Pit beef in Baltimore is a unique food thing and it has not migrated much. Maybe all of this is long-term immigration trends and perhaps the recent increase in tendency for Americans to travel more abroad.
I have the privilege of living in Yorkshire. With a population of roughly the same as Scotland, and about as many MPs you would think it would be agitating for independence. But it isn't, because it is! Try getting a Yorkshireman to do anything they don't want to do. I was not born here (Lincolnshire) unfortunately, but I intend to die here, so I might make it to the heavenly cricket team. Every day is a nice surprise here.
I’m in the same boat as you mate - born in North Lincolnshire, albeit to transplanted North Yorkshire parents, I’ve been living in East Yorkshire for years now, and love it. 🥰 (it’s helps that I’m my father’s daughter, so I had “‘Ow much?” down pat before I moved over the Humber Bridge 😂)
I live in Yorkshire’s forgotten city, hanging off the far end of the M62, and the only one with a seaport (a clever trick, multiple miles from the coast!). We’d have a better argument for independence from Westminster if Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Rotherham, etc would remember that there’s still the rest of us away from that cluster!
It’s so hard to resist picking up the accent, isn’t it? 😉 (especially as my OH is from Gainsborough, so I’m always trying to dodge getting his accent too 😂)
Also, do you fetch *real* Lincolnshire sausages over the Humber Bridge, cos I can’t find decent ones here 😂 I’m a convert to patties tho!
As a Yorkshireman this post was enlightening. If you do get the change to visit Flambrough Head I would recommend a trip up the lighthouse. It’s a starter of bonkers with a main of scary.
Sounds like a fascinating place! I didn’t know that bit of history either...but then again, how little we are taught of our own history. Lol, and I bet less than .1% of Americans have thought of King George today.
John Paul Jones is a fascinating Scotsman born near my home of Dumfries. The did quite a bit of raiding on the Solway coast as well kidnapping various gentry to raise funds and get supplies.
Excellent stuff as always. The cliffs at Bempton are indeed high and terrifying and spectacular, and are also home to thousands of magnificent seabirds – puffins, gannets. guillemots, razorbills, fulmars, kittiwakes and of course loads of much maligned gulls. There’s also been an albatross there for the last few summers, which is a distinctly unusual thing because they are overwhelmingly birds of the southern hemisphere, where Bempton (you may have noticed) isn’t. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to have been there this year, so either it died or (*enable ‘provocative’ mode*) it’s had enough of Yorkshire.
Celebrating America's Independence Day by watching "Scott & Bailey" on BritBox -- it's an utter delight, BTW. (See my post tomorrow on how I feel about today.) Love this post, Mike. And here was me thinking John Paul Jones was just a member of Led Zep. Cheers. xo
Aye, an visit Withernsea, Spurn, Whitby and Staithes for the full experience. Eboracum is interesting but don't ang about - too commercial. Richmond Castle an Thirsk to Pickering grand. That's all E.&N. Yorks, but if yer a Barra, then W. Yorks is also a must. Enjoy, Maurice
You bet! Almost makes up for the thousands of awkward conversations about the surname (mostly about “the right pronunciation “). Our family rhymes it with “flow”, by the way.
I had no idea. Thanks for that history lesson. Happy we still drink tea here-- tho reasonably taxed.
"reasonably taxed" hahahaha
Always a fun trip Michael. My eldest son is a US Navy ex-pat. JPJ is the father of the US Navy in lore. A fun tale to remember. For me, a food lover, I am so thankful we went our own way. Nearly 250 years later we ended up with so much including tons of great fusion cooking styles and we still seem to get on pretty well. I gladly forego beans on toast and embrace the Banh Mi & Cajun food. Now in my 60s, I've managed to avoid black pudding also. Thanks for surrendering at Yorktown. I have great respect for our British legacy since you invented the sandwich and named it after a Lord. What is the best sandwich in Britain (let's exclude organ meats)? We offer the Beef on Weck, the Muffaletta and the Banh Mi. American fusion cuisine at its best. Immigration and its nurturing is our best invention. As according to CK Steefel in the comments, the tea was a good thing too we decided to keep. Thanks.
Nice sandwiches, but do you have roast chicken, stuffing, and sliced roast potatoes in a Yorkshire pudding wrap? That’s high cuisine round these parts!! Also, I’m assured by friends in California that you can’t get ‘proper’ fish and chips there! Disgraceful! 😉😂
Hi Kathlyn -- Fish and Chips is the most wonderful thing we would be wise to co-opt !!! There are an awful lot of poorly executed attempts and I wish we had some ones properly inspired. Despite the ludicrous number of condiments that fill the grocers, more malt vinegar would be a great thing. It is curious to me that despite our long-standing crisscrossing immigration, specialties in Britain have never seemed to emerge in the States broadly while the dishes one associates with other nations find a cozy home.
What we name stuff affects things. I love the ingenious Yorkshire pudding wrapper. Food marketers in the States love the sound of the variations popovers and puff pastry. I think if the wonderful chicken thing you described was offered on a menu in the three options, people just wouldn't know what Yorkshire pudding is and would go for the puff pastry :) I think the French won the chicken thing with better names with flowing language we embrace (Coq au Vin & rotisserie) -- they just sound great!!!
Most food things seem to sound much tastier in French! Or Italian, or Spanish...there’s something about English that makes food sound dull, even when it’s delicious!
Exactly!!! I am in a Scotch Club and have enjoyed exploring the regional specialties. While inferior, at least in perception, Bourbon rolls off the tongue much better than Scotch. I remember during the Iraq War the news networks droned on with "war news". Instead of saying, yep, we loaded up 200 bombing runs, Americans got inundated with sortie. It just sounds nice :)
Banh Mi is actually French/Vietnamese fusion.
A great point Oh Susanna -- my error -- I have a couple of favored restaurants here -- thanks for correcting me. My heart skips a beat when I see Lu's food truck -- the best Banh Mi's in town -- in a tribute to mashup culture, Minnesota was a preferred relocation for the Hmong people of Laos and we retain a large ethnic community as a result -- their markets all sell Banh Mi's -- probably cultural appropriation since the French mostly imposed their world on the Vietnamese people. I kinda love the idea of someone putting baguettes to good use in a new and novel way :)
Yes! I well remember being very surprised when I discovered the Vietnamese love affair with baguettes and its roots in the French colonization of Vietnam, something I had been totally ignorant of. I've only tried banh mi once; it's not really my cup of tea, but it certainly is an interesting example of how cultures meeting creates new and delightful food mashups.
While it is a carbohydrate minefield, the French Baguette gets put to great use in the Oyster Po' Boy -- another gem of a sandwich in that mix of cultures in southern Louisiana -- all hail the baguette -- sounds better than loaf
Interesting! That's a sandwich I'd never heard of. I like to slice a baguette, cover it with butter, and fill it with slices of ripe real tomatoes, avocado, and well-aged Cheddar cheese, sprinkled with sea salt and fresh-ground black pepper. An occasional indulgence but a very yummy one.
I am insulin-resistant and a convert to plant-based eating. It doesn't mean we cannot dream and occasionally indulge. Tomatoes at peak season are AMAZING -- your sandwich sounds amazing it needs a French name to succeed
You can get ‘beef on weck’ outside of Buffalo?
This seems true C.L. -- there have been failed national attempts to franchise it (like Buffalo Wild Wings in its early stages). Sometimes these great things travel from either outside or inside the country. I think regional Southern food and the obsession with BBQ is an example. When I lived in the SE, it was crazy how much better the BBQ was in the SE compared to what you would get elsewhere. A melting pot takes time I guess. I have only managed to convert the people in my circles of friends to Weck. Life's mysteries. Maybe some things are destined to remain regional forever. Pit beef in Baltimore is a unique food thing and it has not migrated much. Maybe all of this is long-term immigration trends and perhaps the recent increase in tendency for Americans to travel more abroad.
I have the privilege of living in Yorkshire. With a population of roughly the same as Scotland, and about as many MPs you would think it would be agitating for independence. But it isn't, because it is! Try getting a Yorkshireman to do anything they don't want to do. I was not born here (Lincolnshire) unfortunately, but I intend to die here, so I might make it to the heavenly cricket team. Every day is a nice surprise here.
I’m in the same boat as you mate - born in North Lincolnshire, albeit to transplanted North Yorkshire parents, I’ve been living in East Yorkshire for years now, and love it. 🥰 (it’s helps that I’m my father’s daughter, so I had “‘Ow much?” down pat before I moved over the Humber Bridge 😂)
I live in Yorkshire’s forgotten city, hanging off the far end of the M62, and the only one with a seaport (a clever trick, multiple miles from the coast!). We’d have a better argument for independence from Westminster if Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Rotherham, etc would remember that there’s still the rest of us away from that cluster!
We have much in common Lass. Yellerbelly 'n 'Ullite. Trawler 'n chips at Bob Carver's tent wiv minted malt vinegar. By Go !! Peace, Maurice
It’s so hard to resist picking up the accent, isn’t it? 😉 (especially as my OH is from Gainsborough, so I’m always trying to dodge getting his accent too 😂)
Also, do you fetch *real* Lincolnshire sausages over the Humber Bridge, cos I can’t find decent ones here 😂 I’m a convert to patties tho!
I make trips to Lincolnshire to get real sausages. I even wrote a little article about it: https://titusarrius.substack.com/p/in-pursuit-of-the-perfect-sausage
As a Yorkshireman this post was enlightening. If you do get the change to visit Flambrough Head I would recommend a trip up the lighthouse. It’s a starter of bonkers with a main of scary.
We celebrate this victory every year by eating red, white, and skwoooons.
😂
Sounds like a fascinating place! I didn’t know that bit of history either...but then again, how little we are taught of our own history. Lol, and I bet less than .1% of Americans have thought of King George today.
I had forgotten this battle, shameful for a US historian, so thanks for the reminder!
I had no idea about the history of the place and I was there! Back in 2014 as it happens, as I caught a pic of one of those gannets.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/safarfiertze/13930357161/in/datetaken/
Thank you for bringing back the memory :)
John Paul Jones is a fascinating Scotsman born near my home of Dumfries. The did quite a bit of raiding on the Solway coast as well kidnapping various gentry to raise funds and get supplies.
Im from East Yorkshire and have lived in the US for 10 years. This is the first I have ever heard of this battle and I am flabbergasted! thanks
Excellent stuff as always. The cliffs at Bempton are indeed high and terrifying and spectacular, and are also home to thousands of magnificent seabirds – puffins, gannets. guillemots, razorbills, fulmars, kittiwakes and of course loads of much maligned gulls. There’s also been an albatross there for the last few summers, which is a distinctly unusual thing because they are overwhelmingly birds of the southern hemisphere, where Bempton (you may have noticed) isn’t. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to have been there this year, so either it died or (*enable ‘provocative’ mode*) it’s had enough of Yorkshire.
Lovely description, lacking only that the wind tries to blow you off the edge to join said seabirds!!
Nope, not rising....
"Down here on the beach, you hear everything at least twice" - what a line!
I can confirm! The beaches at Flamborough are tiny, even with the tide out, and the cliffs loom, so yes it all echoes a bit!
Celebrating America's Independence Day by watching "Scott & Bailey" on BritBox -- it's an utter delight, BTW. (See my post tomorrow on how I feel about today.) Love this post, Mike. And here was me thinking John Paul Jones was just a member of Led Zep. Cheers. xo
Well, that was damn delightful.
Indeed!
Wonderful. Someday I will visit Yorkshire (home to my Barraclough ancestors) but for now, I rely on you!
Aye, an visit Withernsea, Spurn, Whitby and Staithes for the full experience. Eboracum is interesting but don't ang about - too commercial. Richmond Castle an Thirsk to Pickering grand. That's all E.&N. Yorks, but if yer a Barra, then W. Yorks is also a must. Enjoy, Maurice
The location that shows up most often is Wakefield. Many burials at Sandal Magna.
did you ever look up the etymology of Barraclough ?
You bet! Almost makes up for the thousands of awkward conversations about the surname (mostly about “the right pronunciation “). Our family rhymes it with “flow”, by the way.
Oh yes, the "pronownciation" Barra cluff barra kloe, M'rees Morriss, lol, Maurice
Ah, Yorkshire being important never surprises me