My mum told me turkeys sit on leaves in trees. She said the leaves fall off the tree in the autumn and that's why Americans call it the Fall. Turkeys fall out of trees in autumn because they were sitting on the leaves. That's why Americans celebrate Thanksgiving in the Fall and eat turkeys. We never have any turkeys sitting in our tree so we don't celebrate thanksgiving. Dad put a birdbox in the tree but I suppose the turkeys dont like it or maybe the cats scare them away. oh well.
Do British people understand American slangs?
Turkeys are generally flightless (no more than a few meters) so they don't end up in trees that much... We eat turkey because, story has it, that's what they ate at the First Thanksgiving. In reality though it was probably a lot of fish and corn.
If anyone dares suggest that British people talk like Americans I'm a gonna hunt chu down and pop a cap in yo ass muthaf****.
The town that I live in (In California) was once 80% Cornish, so we actually do get a fair amount of influence from that culture, especially at Christmas, believe it or not.
I read somewhere that the word broil is used primarily on the West coast and is actually a Cornish word that came into regualar usage on this end of the country, but not elsewhere. I'm not very tended to believe that, (I mean, ovens have a broil setting) but I still wonder if its true. Can anyone verify that? Damian?
I read somewhere that the word broil is used primarily on the West coast and is actually a Cornish word that came into regualar usage on this end of the country, but not elsewhere. I'm not very tended to believe that, (I mean, ovens have a broil setting) but I still wonder if its true. Can anyone verify that? Damian?
As far as I can make out the word "broil" can have several meanings, but it's most often used in a culinary sense - similar to "grill", by which we mean cooking food under the source of heat on a grilling pan - the ones with ridges in them, usually. My dictionary says that "broil" (as in cooking) is use mostly in North America, whereas here in the UK we tend to use "grill".
Broil can also mean becoming extremely hot, as in exposure to searing, direct sunlight, as when sitting down to a picnic, without any shade, at midday, in the sands of the Libyan desert with the nearest oasis 500 km away to the north of you, in a temperature of 50C. It can also mean fury, anger - as you would experience on discovering that you had left your parasol back at base camp.
Broil can also mean a brawl, a skirmish, a violent encounter - and being involved in this sort of caper is to become "embroiled" in it.
Apparently the word "broil" is believed to be Old French in origin ("bruillir" - to burn) but it's all a wee bit uncertain. If the Cornish use the word "broil" more than they do "grill" then maybe there is some kind of Cornish connection, but we never heard it used when we were down there, and we sure as hell never became embroiled in any kind of fracas either. (Pronouced "eye-thurr" btw!) ;-)
Another definition of origin could be another Old French word "brouiller" meaning a combination of to mix and, for some strange reason, "broth", the stuff they usd to eat long ago in Victorian times when they were feeling "unwell" or going into a "decline".
I never knew there was a Cornish colony in California. Is that because the surfing there is better than it is on Perranporth beach? You just cannae get a more Cornish name than Perranporth! The "porth" bit is Celtic for a harbour or a coastal haven, I believe - the same as in Welsh...all part of the bond of Celtic Brotherhood! ;-0
I loved driving across Bodmin Moor - in the middle of the Cornish Peninsula - you can see both the Cornish north coast (Atlantic) and the Cornish south coast (the English Channel) in both directions. The south coast is crap for surfing.
Broil can also mean becoming extremely hot, as in exposure to searing, direct sunlight, as when sitting down to a picnic, without any shade, at midday, in the sands of the Libyan desert with the nearest oasis 500 km away to the north of you, in a temperature of 50C. It can also mean fury, anger - as you would experience on discovering that you had left your parasol back at base camp.
Broil can also mean a brawl, a skirmish, a violent encounter - and being involved in this sort of caper is to become "embroiled" in it.
Apparently the word "broil" is believed to be Old French in origin ("bruillir" - to burn) but it's all a wee bit uncertain. If the Cornish use the word "broil" more than they do "grill" then maybe there is some kind of Cornish connection, but we never heard it used when we were down there, and we sure as hell never became embroiled in any kind of fracas either. (Pronouced "eye-thurr" btw!) ;-)
Another definition of origin could be another Old French word "brouiller" meaning a combination of to mix and, for some strange reason, "broth", the stuff they usd to eat long ago in Victorian times when they were feeling "unwell" or going into a "decline".
I never knew there was a Cornish colony in California. Is that because the surfing there is better than it is on Perranporth beach? You just cannae get a more Cornish name than Perranporth! The "porth" bit is Celtic for a harbour or a coastal haven, I believe - the same as in Welsh...all part of the bond of Celtic Brotherhood! ;-0
I loved driving across Bodmin Moor - in the middle of the Cornish Peninsula - you can see both the Cornish north coast (Atlantic) and the Cornish south coast (the English Channel) in both directions. The south coast is crap for surfing.
<<I read somewhere that the word broil is used primarily on the West coast and is actually a Cornish word that came into regualar usage on this end of the country, but not elsewhere.>>
Just out of curioity, what word do we use on the East Coast in place of broil?
Just out of curioity, what word do we use on the East Coast in place of broil?
Damian- It was a mining town and apparently times were tough for the hard rock miners over in Cornwall, so somehow they all landed here.
Thanks for your rather discriptive definitions of the word "broil". So do ovens in Britain come with a broil setting?
It sounds like this is similar to the difference between what a Texan means when he says barbeque and what a Californian means by the same word.
Thanks for your rather discriptive definitions of the word "broil". So do ovens in Britain come with a broil setting?
It sounds like this is similar to the difference between what a Texan means when he says barbeque and what a Californian means by the same word.
Rene - ovens can come in all shapes and sizes, but all of them have "grills" (or "broilers" if you prefer....I prefer grills as it sounds nicer) and of course they have different settings. The grills are usually placed below the top plates and above the over proper. When you make toast it's better to place the slices of bread under the grill rather than in a toaster - that doyenne of the culinary arts Delia Smith said that, something to do with the escape of the steam from the bread, but of course you have to keep your eye on it unless you like your toast charred black and your kitchen full of the smell of burnt toast.
Many people like to have Aga cookers (either solely or in addition to "normal" cookers, but I'm not sure whether they have grills (sorry - broilers). I suspect not.
The mines in Cornwall were mainly tin mines - the shafts went down an incredible distance and the tunels extended well out under the sea......a very dangerous environment but the commercial profits at the time (18th-20th centuries) were enormous. Cornwall also had a great many clay quarries, some of which we saw near St Austell. They were blots on the Cornish landscapes, now being aesthetically camouflaged by different means. The highly successful Eden Project is one such - that is one amazing experience - all the world's climates and relative vegetations contained under those massive thermostatically controlled domes.
I was so disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm in the revival of the Cornish Language in Cornwall. We only heard one bloke speak it, and he only had a very limited vocabulary. Maybe we needed to look into it a wee bit more but we had so many other distractions down there in Kernow.
Many people like to have Aga cookers (either solely or in addition to "normal" cookers, but I'm not sure whether they have grills (sorry - broilers). I suspect not.
The mines in Cornwall were mainly tin mines - the shafts went down an incredible distance and the tunels extended well out under the sea......a very dangerous environment but the commercial profits at the time (18th-20th centuries) were enormous. Cornwall also had a great many clay quarries, some of which we saw near St Austell. They were blots on the Cornish landscapes, now being aesthetically camouflaged by different means. The highly successful Eden Project is one such - that is one amazing experience - all the world's climates and relative vegetations contained under those massive thermostatically controlled domes.
I was so disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm in the revival of the Cornish Language in Cornwall. We only heard one bloke speak it, and he only had a very limited vocabulary. Maybe we needed to look into it a wee bit more but we had so many other distractions down there in Kernow.
<<I read somewhere that the word broil is used primarily on the West coast and is actually a Cornish word that came into regualar usage on this end of the country>>
The word "broil" appears in Middle English, no doubt as Damian mentions from (Norman) French.
Here's a short extract from Chaucer (1343-1400) which includes the word:
"He koude rooste, and sethe, and broille, and frye"
http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/cookport.htm
Interestingly we only use the word "seethe" today when we mean someone is furious, whereas in the sentence it means boil - I guess when we say someone is seething, we are effectively saying that their blood is boiling!
The word "broil" appears in Middle English, no doubt as Damian mentions from (Norman) French.
Here's a short extract from Chaucer (1343-1400) which includes the word:
"He koude rooste, and sethe, and broille, and frye"
http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/cookport.htm
Interestingly we only use the word "seethe" today when we mean someone is furious, whereas in the sentence it means boil - I guess when we say someone is seething, we are effectively saying that their blood is boiling!
In San Diego one of my friends told me he bought his girlfriend a barbecue... And I said "a barbecued what...?"
I've always been aware that there are people out there who refer to a grill as a barbecue, but I didn't think in the US... A "barbecue" to me, a Texan, is a type of sauce or a type of party, at which you have food with barbecue sauce, etc.
I've always been aware that there are people out there who refer to a grill as a barbecue, but I didn't think in the US... A "barbecue" to me, a Texan, is a type of sauce or a type of party, at which you have food with barbecue sauce, etc.
I think in the South they're called cookouts. In the rest of the US they're called BBQs (like that Simpsons episode with the BBBQ, etc.).
In Britain a barbecue is a grill-thing that men use to prove why they should never be allowed in the kitchen unsupervised.
BBQ sauce is something poored on sausages and other meat (that is black on the outside, pink on the inside) and is used to embellish the rich flavour of fire-lighters that most Brits seem to find delicious on a summer evening.
Personally I don't attend BBQ's because I have a gas-oven that does the job much better but I'm aware that some people prefer to forget about hundreds of years of progress and use some primative method instead. That's their choice - unless they live next door to me. I don't want your smoke thank you very much.
BBQ sauce is something poored on sausages and other meat (that is black on the outside, pink on the inside) and is used to embellish the rich flavour of fire-lighters that most Brits seem to find delicious on a summer evening.
Personally I don't attend BBQ's because I have a gas-oven that does the job much better but I'm aware that some people prefer to forget about hundreds of years of progress and use some primative method instead. That's their choice - unless they live next door to me. I don't want your smoke thank you very much.
It's strange how hungry you suddenly feel when you become aware of your neighbours' BBQs. The aroma of grilled (or broiled?) steaks or sausages or burgers wafting over the boundary fence or hedge has you running straight for the fridge or freezer.
<<BBQ sauce is something poored on sausages and other meat (that is black on the outside, pink on the inside) and is used to embellish the rich flavour of fire-lighters that most Brits seem to find delicious on a summer evening.>>
I find petrol works best, although this may be a much more expensive option than in the past.
I find petrol works best, although this may be a much more expensive option than in the past.
Rick, if you really want an enhanced and distinct smoky flavour, opt for diesel - if you can afford it.
Ha ha!
Ha ha!