Favorite British Kitchen Words

Dana Velden
Dana Velden
Dana Velden's first book, Finding Yourself in the Kitchen: Kitchen Meditations and Inspired Recipes from a Mindful Cook (Rodale Books) is available where ever books are sold. She lives in Oakland, CA.
published Jul 21, 2008
pinterest
comments
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Post Image
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Pudding, meaning dessert. Biscuit, meaning cookie. Clingfilm, meaning plastic wrap. I love the differences between British and English cooking (cookery!) words.

It’s always disappointing when American publishers edited out the ‘dessertspoonfuls,’ ‘mince,’ and ‘courgettes’ when revising British cookbooks and I have never really understood why. ‘Sultana’ and ‘aubergine’ are such lovely words and it’s not that difficult to figure out what’s going on when you’re asked to ‘blitz’ something in the food processor.

Here is a partial list of some of my favorites. What are yours?

blitz = process in a food processor

tinned = canned

cling film = plastic wrap

wholemeal = whole wheat

gas mark = oven temperature (doesn’t apply to American ovens, I know, but still has charm)

courgettes = zucchini

aubergine = eggplant

sultana = golden raisins

pudding = dessert

mince = ground meat

washing up = doing the dishes

cooker = stove

soldiers = food cut into thick rectangles (toast soldiers)

BONUS: For a nice defense of British food, visit Becks and Posh.

(Image:

Filed in:
Ingredient
Word of Mouth