Posted on February 22nd, 2009 by admin
Spam is a precooked canned meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation and first introduced in 1937. The original meaning of the name is quoted as being “Shoulder of Pork and Ham”. Spam was one of the few meat products excluded from the British food rationing during World War II, and hence became a very common basis for many menu items at that time. The Monty Python comedy troupe used this as the context for their “Spam” sketch, in which the menu at a greasy spoon cafe consists entirely of dishes containing one or more portions of Spam. This gave rise on the Internet to the term spam as the common term for unsolicited bulk electronic messages. Spam is sold today in 41 countries and in several flavours and varieties.
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Posted on December 27th, 2008 by admin
Once regular trade began out of the Americas, new foods became a popular commodity. While some foods caught on right away, others took several decades, even centuries to gain popularity. Most foods took at least some time to be adopted by Europeans. One exception was the turkey. Cortez discovered the American turkey in Mexico sometime in the 1520s. Turkey, also known as “Indian Chicken” caught on swiftly with Europeans. Besides being delicious, turkey made a fantastic centerpiece for banquets, when dressed in all its feathers and plumes. In fact, at a banquet hosted by Catherine de Medici in 1549, the menu listed “seventy Indian Chickens” as part of one course.
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Posted on October 9th, 2008 by admin
A popular way of serving a sandwich in America is using French bread, and several different names have arisen depending on the area of the States you are in. The most common name for such a sandwich is a Sub, though other names you may come across are a Hoagie, a Hero and a Po’Boy. The latter is a Deep South term and the sandwich is often filled with deep-fried seafood. There are other types of sandwich you will almost certainly come across. A Club sandwich is a large overstuffed sandwich containing tomato, bacon, cheese, turkey, sliced ham, lettuce served with gherkins and crisps. A BLT is a common sandwich comprising bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise inside two pieces of toast. A Muffuletta is an Italian French bread sandwich served in Louisiana.
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Posted on October 9th, 2008 by admin
A few American food terms have found their way across the pond with various fast food franchises, but there are plenty of terms that mean nothing to the average visitor to the States. For example there are three ways to ask for a fried egg. A Sunny side up egg is fried on one side only, so the exposed top of the yolk is uncooked. An Over egg is flipped over so that both sides are cooked and the yolk is hard. An Over and Easy egg is flipped for about ten to fifteen seconds, enough to cook the egg leaving the yolk soft inside. Here’s a confusing one – what we know as chips are called French fries, and what we know as potato crisps are called chips. While on the subject of potatoes, hash browns are grated raw potato fried in either butter or bacon fat (called bacon grease in the States!)
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