Why Britain is greater than the States?

[Dogsauce]

Normally its 'Alright mate ' and the reply is 'Alright mate' ( you can substitute fella, our kid, pal, duck, etc for mate) .

The direct equivalent over there is ‘what’s up’ (or ‘sup for short). You’re just supposed to repeat it back at them, I think I used to confuse people by actually telling them what was up.

 

[Dogsauce]

Not having two million people in jail.

Ticketmaster are marginally less greedy and cunty over here.

The sea is never very far away.

 

[Monte]

Try the Lidl Low GI loaves. Not stodgy or boring either.

Expensive though.

 

[Monte]

Nah ours was bigger and lasted a lot longer. We oppressed a far greater proportion of the world’s population and stole their stuff for many more years.

We didn't steal it, we swapped it for railways and cricket.

 

[danny la rouge]

Actually listening to the reply when we ask someone "How you doing?"

Round here it’s: “How’s it gaun?” To which the reply is “How’s it gaun?”

No actual question has been asked.

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

Come to Norwich and say that…

next time i'm in Norwich i will say that.

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

The French do fantastic mustard but I don't think they have anything quite as punchy as English mustard.

Maybe I'm a light weight but i have had the odd Dijon that blew my fucking socks off.

 

[JimW]

You get mustard oil in cooking here and have had a cold spinach appetiser that uses it really make my eyes water. Not done as a separate sauce though afaik.

 

[MrsArcanum]

Expensive though.

Still cheaper than other supermarket artisan style bread.

 

[Monte]

I don't think it's the wheat. I watched a very interesting documentary on BBC4 (it's probably still on the i player) about the history of bread baking in Britain. Back in the 70s where demand for bread was high, there was the battle to speed up the baking time, or the time it took for a loaf to rise. And so, the Great British loaf underwent a change. Baking bread became the art of making water and slop stand up.

To do this, the companies introduced chemicals to speed up the process but it made the bread soggy and a bit uncooked inside. So to sell this shit to the masses, the major bakeries launched the "squeeze test" campaign. Those of us around at the time will remember the constant reminder to squeeze the loaf to check if it's fresh in every bleedin' advert for Sunblest or Mother's Pride.

I worked in a supermarket back then and you suddenly saw everyone squeezing the fucking bread just like on telly. Hovis was a decent small and fairly solid unsliced loaf. Pretty soon after, it became squashy half cooked sliced pap, along with the other junk. Today, even the healthy wholemeal stuff is baked with the same level of stodginess (notable exceptions being some eastern European bread and from companies like Kranks).

Bring back the National Loaf, I say!

The Chorleywood Bread Process or CBP.
Not only to speed up the production of bread but to reduce the need for importing better quality flour.
Due to our climate and the wheat varieties available at the time, British flour was lower in protein (gluten) than other countries. This led to large imports from countries such as Canada being used which increased the cost to consumers.
The use of the CBP enabled us to have some of the cheapest bread in the world.

To think that before the CBP our bread was all artisan loaves from the local bakery is misleading though. For 100 years previously industrial bread making followed the method invented by John Dauglish in the mid 1800s where carbonated water was used instead of yeast, like Irish soda bread or Australian Damper bread made with beer.

At the end of the day, you get what you pay for and the great mass of the British public choose cheap over good.

 

[PTK]

We also have one of the most beautiful countries in the world where you can get to almost any biome you want (excepting desert and tundra, and taking latitudinal norms into account), with the kind of drive a US-er would consider trivial for a drive to a day at the beach.

And thers is no part of the USA in which this would also be true?

 

[Monte]

Still cheaper than other supermarket artisan style bread.

Yeah, that's not artisan. I like it but it's just as light and fluffy as any other Chorleywood process bread.
It isn't a sourdough. Being low gluten it will rely on even more flour improvers (vinegar) and extra yeast plus increased salt to improve the taste.

Artisan bread has flour, salt yeast and water.

 

[MrsArcanum]

Yeah, that's not artisan. I like it but it's just as light and fluffy as any other Chorleywood process bread.
It isn't a sourdough. Being low gluten it will rely on even more flour improvers (vinegar) and extra yeast plus increased salt to improve the taste.

Artisan bread has flour, salt yeast and water.

Why I inserted the word "style". Oddly, even a local baker uses flour improver.

 

[Monte]

Most of our industrial bread output, incl the artisan stuff is made form imported grain and IIRC the US is our main source and its been that way for decades. At least since WW2 and possibly before.

Also, look-up the Chorleywood Bread Process - which is used for the vast majority of our industrial bakery, incl dough supply to smaller places. It's vile, then there is another layer of vileness involved in producing rustic/artisan bread doughs.

Sadly the US main process, although not without its issues is actually a hell of a lot more natural, being more based on temperature control/moisture injection and not hard fat/processed offal and human/animal waste like the CBP..!

Not true. Most of our industrial bread is made from UK wheat. This is thanks to the CBP.

How bread is made - Overview - Federation of Bakers

The principal ingredients in all bread are: Flour, Yeast, Salt and Water. Learn more about how bread is made and how the ingredients interact to form it.

www.fob.uk.com

In a year of good harvest a bread grist may consist of 80% or more of home grown wheat. This trend is likely to continue with advances in wheat breeding and technology. However, home grown wheat is not always strong enough to be used in all varieties of bread and baked products and there is no likelihood at the moment of this country being able to do without some imported wheat for breadmaking. Currently about 800,000 – 1,000,000 tonnes of wheat is imported for breadmaking, mostly from North America.

 

[Dogsauce]

At the end of the day, you get what you pay for and the great mass of the British public choose cheap over good.

Except it’s not really cheap, in much of Europe you get much cheaper fresh bread from local bakeries that’s way fucking nicer than anything here. I guess the ridiculous level of commercial rents over here is a factor in that.

 

[_Russ_]

Whilst first making it clear that I don't consider the UK to be any greater than the USA (whatever the fuck that means anyway), I just stuck 'news' in a google search, something I regularly do to see shortly before swearing at the shit it delivers to my screen but forgot I was going through a USA server on a VPN and ...FFS.....jesus fucking wept!!!

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

Although, to be fair, none of them come in an aerosol can, so America does have that.

what is this evil you speak of?

 

[Boo Radley75]

what is this evil you speak of?

 

[Humberto]

For cheesy peas?