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#3100 06/03/00 07:57 PM
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Hi, juanmaria!
No, there is no secret gastronomic society. :-)
Jo just asked me to send her a sample of biscuits thru the
wires. Since my software does not accept biscuits, I sent
her the recipe instead. Its cookies are good, though!
She was kind enough to send me a scone recipe, which I shall
endeavor to mix up (and probably will, too!) as soon as I figure out what caster sugar is.

Jo!--that reminds me!--'Nother question: what on earth
is a crumpet??

To all: isn't it difficult, but interesting, to try and
describe something to someone with whom you have no
common frame of reference?


#3101 06/03/00 11:25 PM
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I'm happy to mail any recipes to anyone - even Juan Maria - I just thought this site should not be cluttered up with recipes! Maybe our minds are on higher things. Just send me an e-mail and I'll forward anything you like (maybe not quite anything).




#3102 06/04/00 12:15 AM
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On the subject of bread rolls - here is a selection from my school lunches:

Round shaped rolls:
Soft rolls
Crusty rolls
Barm cakes
Tea Cakes (with or without fruit)
Muffins (not like American muffins)
Oven Bottoms
Buns

Long/Oval shaped rolls
Bunnies

Crumpets (sometimes called Piklets) are rather different, a flat bread like thing, with holes in the top
http://www.ichef.com/ichef-recipes/Breads/18769.html
http://www.family.go.com/Features/family_0000_01/dony/breakfast/0327pikletbrk.html

The strangest thing I found on my travels was an “English Muffin”, discovered when I was living in New York. I had never seen anything like it in England. It was a little like a double crumpet with a flat top and bottom and a holey middle.

At that time I had a friend from the USA who was living in London. She was always discovering rather strange items purporting to be “American” so she told me not to worry. Recently a supplier must have discovered “English Muffins” in the USA and they are now on sale in England as “muffins”.



#3103 06/04/00 09:41 AM
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I'm intrigued - what are "oven bottoms"?

A well-known fast-food chain here sells a breakfast McMuffin, which fits the description you mention as "English Muffin".

The other reason I don't eat it is that it looks totally unpalatable!





#3104 06/04/00 12:26 PM
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Oven bottoms are flat(ish) round soft bread rolls with the middle indented very slightly. They use up the space in the bottom of the oven when the baker is baking the loaves, hence the name. They were originally sold cheaply, I guess, as they were more of a by-product of the baking but in my local area became very popular.

As I said at the beginning, there was never any need for the names of bread items to travel very far, so it is probably very local to my part of North Manchester.

Yes I believe that the well-known fast food chain does sell "English Muffins" and puts unpleasant things on them.



#3105 06/06/00 10:16 AM
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> Jo's right about our pints. Hers are imperial and ours are colonial.
A liquid-measure cup in the US is half a pint, or 4 ounces.
A dry-measure cup in the US is 16 tablespoons. A tablespoon is 15 milliliters. Which is a liquid measure. (???)
I tend to squidge the butter in, Jo.

I think it's time for a pint without being in my cups.

Hmmmm....... Seems that if I go drinking in 'Fado's' I'll get short-changed on my 'pint', Anna.


#3106 06/06/00 10:31 AM
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> Soft rolls
Crusty rolls
Barm cakes
Tea Cakes (with or without fruit)
Muffins (not like American muffins)
Oven Bottoms
Buns

I know them all, Jo, except for the oven bottoms. Are barm cakes what we know in Ireland as 'Barm brack'? They are rich fruit cakes usually eaten at Hallowe'en and baked with a 'gold' ring in them. Delicious with butter!


#3107 06/06/00 03:43 PM
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Re: Barm Cakes - They are just ordinary medium sised soft rolls.

I'll have to try out Barm Brack - is the "gold ring" a bit like the cross in hot cross buns or is it marzipan?

It sounds a bit like Bara Brith (I think) a rich fruit cake kind of thing. I've seen Yorkshire Brack which may (or may not be similar).

Here's a link to a picture of Yorkshire Brack (its linked to an advert but I have no financial interest in the goods being sold, although it is all rather wonderful - yum) http://www.botham.co.uk/brack.htm



#3108 06/06/00 04:10 PM
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> I'll have to try out Barm Brack - is the "gold ring" a bit like the cross in hot cross buns or is it marzipan?

It sounds a bit like Bara Brith (I think) a rich fruit cake kind of thing. I've seen Yorkshire Brack which may (or may not be
similar).

They are identical, Jo! I thought it was solely an Irish dish but now I see that it is quite widespread across Britain, too.

The ring is real. Most Bracks have a soft metal one (something for the kids) but there are some bakers who put real gold rings into a (small) percentage of their bracks in order to boost sales. Since everyone eats brack at Hallowe'en this is a very clever marketing ploy considering the amount of competition.


#3109 06/06/00 08:05 PM
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I think you were right the first time - it probably is mainly Irish but with little enclaves around Britain that produce something similar.

The rings sound fun, like putting a silver sixpence in a Christmas Pudding.


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