On Food

To be honest, the food here has not taken much getting used to. There are certainly more meat pies and their variations (pasties, etc.), but aside from a few things, I'm able to get most of what I need/want. I can't say much about the restaurant scene, as I've only been to two or three thus far, but the curries are AMAZING and generally, the quality of prepackaged foods are years ahead of what we have in the U.S. Also, food is far less expensive.

I'm not going to get into a rant about food politics, though I certainly could, but needless to say, it is far more likely that someone of limited means could buy a healthy meal here than in the U.S. What's interesting is that looking at people and the kinds of food they have in their carts, even though healthier options are cheaper, people still load up on the processed carbs in the form of sausage rolls, bakewell tarts, and mince pies. This is making me somewhat reconsider my stance on food politics in America. Although I wish that the fruits and veg were cheaper at my local Whole Foods or Safeway in the States, there is a very large cultural barrier that may never be broken down when it comes to getting people to eat healthy. Simply put, tradition often rules out over logic. I truly think the only way that food policies could get people to eat healthier would be to tax the hell out of the foods with higher calorie/fat ratios, to discourage people from eating them. This is not something that will likely happen anytime soon, though. Nor should it. In spite of what the hall monitor in me wants.

What is nice though is that I don't have to worry about high fructose corn syrup when I go to the store, since it's banned here. So many food companies have complained that they would have to reformulate all their brands and food prices will go up, etc. Given what I've seen, this doesn't seem to be the case, since most of those foods are produced globally. Honestly there's not THAT much difference in taste between an Oreo here and one in the States, I don't think most people would be able to tell the difference unless they were looking for it.

I know I said no food politics. I lied.

Anyway, I'm a big fan of the Indian food over here. It outranks the U.S. stuff by a mile. But given Britain's colonial dealings with India, I suppose it should. The pizza here is by-and-large pretty weak. I have yet to find a proper stonebaked pizza with the charred crust. I'm still feeling around for a decent sushi place. Unfortunately the "New York Maki Rolls" (whatever THAT is) at the sushi place on campus are pretty crap, though the fish itself isn't too bad. I haven't tried it here yet, but from what I hear, Mexican is pretty much a lost cause. And barbeque? Ha. I was pleasantly surprised by a nice Italian place only a few (30) minutes walk from me. I'll probably be spending more money than I should there.

Burgers, despite their ubiquity here, are generally pretty average. I'm not sure what the British definition of burger is, but in the states, it's generally meat, salt, pepper, and maybe a bit of garlic salt/onion powder. Apparently it's common to put in things like breadcrumbs, egg, and onion. To me, this is a meatball, but to each their own, I suppose. I did make a proper burger tonight, with Shake Shack sauce (nb: the sauce recipe is amazing, I highly recommend you try it), which was exciting. It was probably 90% of what I was expecting, though the meat was a bit different, and I can't find a Kosher dill here to save my life.

Also, I miss delis. I'm really considering opening up a (sustainable) kosher deli with decent pastrami here. Max's doesn't look to promising from what I can tell online. I have yet to head to Myers to see if I can procure some pastrami, but I'll probably head over there soon and bring back a proper deli sandwich for my coursemates. Hopefully they'll have kichel, my all time favourite jewish food (aside from mandel bread).

Either way, I'm slowly readjusting to my D.C. routine of cooking decent food. But it's hard with limited pots, pans, and cookware. I make do, though. At least I can find most of the same food.

So far, so good on the food front. I'm going to keep my eye out for decent mexican and sushi. I'm sure there's a proper pizza place SOMEWHERE. I continue to add to my list of British foods I don't (and probably will never) understand, like Salad Creme and various fermented yeast products. But, the pasties are amazing, the water is potable, and the veg is fresh.