The Post About Food

A lot of people have been asking about food, so let’s talk food; one of my favorite subjects so probably the first of many posts.

Food has presented PLENTY of challenges and taken A LOT of planning.

Our friend, Lee Montgomery, asked if I will be translating my own recipes or working off of what I can find here.  The answer is a bit of both; what I can find here initially and eventually translating well-known and well-loved recipes as time goes on. 

Even though I have been to the store here many times during past trips, I have never done a full shop for 5 people and a dog for a lengthy amount of time at a store I’ve never been to in a country I’ve only visited. However, I went into this knowing it would be a learning process so it hasn’t bothered me too much. I like learning new things and this is just simply a part of moving any where outside your local community. Has it been frustrating at times? Sure. But we also aren’t complete Scottish noobs.

Our first challenge was getting groceries while not permitted to go to the store because of quarantine. Luckily, we were told by friends that everyone here has their groceries delivered because of covid. Anthony, our “landlord”, let us know which stores would deliver to the Cottage. We signed up with two, Tesco’s (similar to Kroger in the US) and Morrison’s (similar to Publix). However, because nearly everyone gets deliveries, the delivery slots fill up quickly; at least a week in advance.  I had two deliveries booked before we ever left the US.  (I have to have at least £50 in the basket to book a time for a certain day. I then have up until 24 hours before delivery to change the order. I can also pick another slot and start another basket which is how I book multiple deliveries.)

The challenge after figuring out getting groceries delivered was knowing what we might need immediately versus what could wait. Sometimes it was just a guess. Related to that, but different was not knowing what was available in the kitchen at the Cottage until we got there (while having to order food before we got there).  We were told “basic necessities” by Anthony. We assumed plates, utensils, pots, and pans. But casserole dishes? Big pots for pasta? Measuring cups? How big was the refrigerator? How many days of food would it hold ? (As it turns out, a fourth the size of our old one.)

I had to plan what to eat each day, two weeks in advance. Honestly, not a big deal as I often planned a month in advance during our busy times. The challenge really was shopping in an unknown store online. Finding alternatives and substitutions is far easier when you’re standing in the store looking for what you need; especially when you don’t necessarily know the alternative term or name.

I decided to go with basic family meals, like frozen lasagna or frozen Salisbury Steak.
Except I couldn’t find any. 
So, “What’s another word for . . . ?” or “What’s the Scottish word for . . . ?” were often asked.
Sometimes I knew (biscuit instead of cookie, crisp instead of chips, chips instead of fries); sometimes I didn’t.     

Many conversations went something like this:
Me to E&W: Hey, what’s a British word or words for frozen family meal?
E&W : What to do you mean?
Me : You know, pre-made, frozen, feeds a family, not just one?
E&W : Did you try premade?
Me : Yep, tried it. Nope, wasn’t it.
E&W : Oh, do you mean “ready meals”?
A few clicks later, Me : Yes, apparently, I meant ready meals.

Then came the challenge of finding ready-meals that would feed a family of 5. There really weren’t any.  So, I had to buy in multiples. The question was how many?  Not as easy as it sounds since the UK system of measurement is a hybrid, albeit mostly metric (grams and litres), and the US is imperial (ounces and cups; and what I’m use to).  I had to trust A LOT.  If it said “Serves 2”, I bought 3.

But for other items, I had some converting to do. Luckily, I landed rather quickly on 500g equaling about 17 ounces, close enough to one pound or 2 cups to work for me. It threw me when something was in kilograms and let's just talk about litres later.

In addition to a couple ready-made meals, our first order contained A LOT of well-known favorites that we can only get in the UK. Prawn sandwiches, Jaffa Cakes, pork pies, picnic eggs (miniature Scotch eggs), sausages (amused because the package we got called them “Dinky Posh Dogs”) that we usually had for lunch.  I also tried to include enough of “home”  to help the kids know they weren’t losing all their favorites.

In addition to human food, I managed to find our dog's regular food, her favorite treats, and new food to try.

Our first delivery arrived the morning after we did (we arrived very late and had a picnic dinner on the road to the Cottage). The driver delivered baskets to our door and I retrieved the bags from the baskets and brought them into the house. He was exceptionally friendly, bemused by our quarantine, and his heavy Glaswegian accent threw me at first, but I managed to catch on fast enough.

So, on to the real question, what have we had to eat?

The first night we had pre-packaged ready-meal Fish Pie and Roasted Asparagus. The fish pie came in these little bamboo / wooden baskets that were used to cook them in. 

 

Servings here are smaller and I wish I’d gotten a third package of asparagus, but no one starved, and the fish pie was actually very good.

As an aside : Food here doesn’t have all the chemical and preservatives in it and is held, generally, to a much higher standard than in the US, so it will go off faster than food in the States. Therefore, buying for a week at a time, doesn’t make sense. I felt I was pushing it when I purchased for 4 days, but it worked. However, 3 days might be the magic number because of the build up of items over time (ie mayonnaise, butter, etc.; things you have on hand in general), that take up valuable real estate in the college fridge.

The second night we had Bangers and Mash (sausages and mashed potatoes) with Broad Beans. This was a hybrid meal. I learned to cook A LOT of easy, comfy British meals from scratch before E&W and I married; Bangers and Mash was one of them. It seemed a pretty easy recipe to cook (partially) from scratch. I bought pre-made mash because I didn’t know what the Cottage would have on hand as far as being able to actually mash the potatoes. Now that we’re passed that moment in time, it seems silly to assume a Scottish house would not have a masher. There are two.  The broad beans were good, but could have been better.  I remembered to get chicken broth/stock for the gravy, but forgot to get some to cook the broad beans in.  Still, no one went hungry.

Then we had Pasta Carbonara, another hybrid meal. I cooked part and purchased part.  I bought the sauce (because we have “white” sauce in the US; usually alfredo, but this specifically said “Carbonara” and E&W and I love carbonara). I added extra bacon, onions, and peas.

Last night we had steak pie and goose fat roasted potatoes. Both items were frozen and cooked in the oven, which is a whole 'nother thing. Instructions here give temps in 3 or 4 different ways; Celsius, fahrenheit, Gas, or Fan. I know the oven here isn't gas or Fahrenheit, so I usually cook it according to Celsius or fan settings (which are sometimes different on the same package). The Steak Pie was no longer frozen, but still cold when it was suppose to be done, so clearly my setting was wrong. I put it back in and then managed to burn to the top, which wasn't entirely my fault. The directions said it needed to be covered in tinfoil but I didn't know that having never made it before, so I didn't order any and the cottage didn't have any. I covered it with oven paper instead. It worked right up until the end. The entire top burned and I had to cut it off, but the steak filling and potatoes were really good. Sorry, I didn't get a picture.

Tonight's culinary masterpiece was frozen pizza because 3 teens wanted comfort.  It was very good as far as pizza goes. I, personally, don't care much for pizza, but tried it anyway.  It'll do for future teen comfort.

Upcoming meals include baked chicken with Brussels sprouts, baked spaghetti (requested by Helena, for which I did not order enough sauce) and tacos.  Tacos are one of Rhu's favorites and while I was able to find a familiar brand, Old El Paso, I wasn't able to find exact equivalents to what we have at home, so taco night will take on a new twist.  

And that is food . . so far. 

Well, except for the steak and haggis pies that are waiting to be eaten. By me, because pizza.