Whatever Happened to Fine Olive Oil?

[BigFoot]

[quote=Ishbel;159634]Whenever I'm in Spain, Italy, France or Greece, I always bring back a stock of olive oils - many bottled on the estates where the olives are grown. Between my husband and I, we make sufficient trips (thank goodness for cheap European travel) to keep us more or less well-stocked at all times.

Boy, you Brits really know how to break it off in us poor Yanks. Not wishing you any hard luck buying up all that wine and estate bottled olive oil in Spain, Italy, France, or Greece, but I hope you gain 10 pounds.

[Ishbel]

Hahahaaa, Bigfoot.... envy is sooooo unbecoming

I tell you, that Tunnel under the Channel has revolutionised shopping for many British people. If you could see how many drive over to France, just for the day, to go to their Hypermarkets and fill up with crates of beer, loads of wines and fresh bread and butters, as well as cheeses. Some of them are so stuffed, the vans are overloaded and look like they might collapse!

Edited to add: one woman I spoke to in a checkout queue said she and her husband travelled to France from their home in Dorset (about 2/3 hours away from the port) every 4-6 weeks - and have never been anywhere else in France apart from Calais and the hypermarkets and wine supermarkets just outside the port! Talk about travel broadening the mind....

[BigFoot]

My dear,

Having eaten in England, I can understand why that woman from Dorset goes to Calais to broaden her larder even if her mind is failing to follow suit.

I'm teasing of course, I'm really an Anglophile and have always admired British contributions to western civilization as I do to France's devotion to arcane sauces and crunchy three foot long loaves of bread.

While we don't have a Chunnel here, we Americans are not without our tunnel from Manhattan to Brooklyn — that trip is like going to a foreign country too. I may check out the wine and olive oil in Canarsie one day and report back to this forum.

[Ishbel]

I'm sure you are joking, BF.... England and Scotland has a fair range of Michelin starred chefs nowadays - even in places like Darkest Dorset, I suspect! It certainly has them in darkest Devon!

Hmm, you have the same advantage as the Chunnel? And what language do they speak in darkest Brooklyn? If they grow their own olives... I suspect they have spaghetti trees, too?

[KYHeirloomer]

You have to forgive Big Foot, Ishbell. Manhattenites are very provincial, and think the sun rises in the East River and sets in the Hudson.

>I suspect they have spaghetti trees, too? <

Close. What they have are spaghetti farms. They're 1 inch wide and 20 miles long.

[Ishbel]

Ahhaaaaa - a bit like we citizens of Edinburgh, who think that anyone who lives outside the central belt of Scotland is a 'teuchter' (gaelic word for a yokel!)

The spaghetti farm is a famous UK April Fool's joke from the very serious-minded BBC, way back in the late 50s. People actually BELIEVED that Switzerland had a spaghetti-tree industry! It's explained here...
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/

[Jayme]

Ish-
They actually do have their own language in Brooklyn- their own alphabet too, but it seems to be missing the letter "R" LOL
UK food has not been well received in the US- don't know why.. other foods are prevelant- Italian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, etc... but very little Brit. I think it gets a bad rap here- too bland, too simple, etc... I, personally, love it! But no restaurants here. There is one place in town called "A taste of Britain" supposed to have REAL fish and chips- place is run by a Welsh woman- but it is only open during the same hours I work, so I have never been there.

Mochef- perhaps you have found a niche market here in the US- olive oil importer. Perhaps you could set up a side business.... Bring us the good stuff!!!

[Mezzaluna]

There is one place in town called "A taste of Britain" supposed to have REAL fish and chips- place is run by a Welsh woman-

What irony!

Ishbel, I'm aware that the culinary life of the UK is blossoming as its artisanal cheeses, smoked fish, lamb, etc. are meriting great appreciation. I suffered through many overcooked, mediocre meals there over the years, but my visit in '02 showed me the tide had turned.

Just the same, I have a tin of mushy peas in my kitchen pantry, just for nostalgia.

[Ishbel]

Considering that Americans boast about 'Mom's apple pie' etc.... many Americans have been eating British foods for centuries, but have never acknowledged it!

All the hearty stews/casseroles - the roast beef of England, the wonderful savoury pies - and sweet ones too - all originated in these islands!

Pub food has, in the main, been crap for many years. BUT the gastropub era has helped to elevate our cuisine.

I've eaten at Michelin starred restaurants all over the UK and would certainly rate them as fine as anything I've eaten in France or other places in the world.

Gordon Ramsay is just one of our new wave of chefs. Long may it continue!

[KYHeirloomer]

"Gordon Ramsay is just one of our new wave of chefs."

Not the best example, Ishbel. Ramsay didn't make it in the Big Apple. Maybe he's learned that the only thing worse than being wrong is being loud wrong.

Jamie, while you're right about Brooklynites having their own language (or, at least, an officially recognized dialect) I don't know where you got that "drop the R" from.

I was bred & buttered in Brooklyn. If anything, we tend to add Rs; as in "idear." The real hallmark, though, is the use of a glottle stop in place of a T in words like bottle and mountain; and replacing the T with a D in most other words.

Dipthongs do not sit lightly on the collective tongue. Thus, in the phrase "waddayatink" you'll note the loss of an H.

Much of New York City picked up the Brooklyn usage and inflections through the years. Thus, "djeet" (did you eat) and similar super-contractions are spoken City-wide. But they originated in what, in the hearts of its residents, is still the fifth largest city in the U.S.

[Ishbel]

I understand that his restaurant got some bad reviews - but that there is still a waiting list every night?

I've eaten at most of his London restaurants - and his restaurant in Glasgow (sadly, no more). I can honestly say the his places are the only ones where I have never had a disappointing meal.

He is also a great training chef. People like Marcus Wareing, for instance.