Yummy Is in the Eye of the Beholder

"I am waiting patiently in line at the Londis market with my Mullerice and a jar of bramble jam when I notice what the burly fellow in front of me is buying. It is a tin of--wait for it--Mr. Brain's Pork Faggots.*

* In a rich West Country Sauce. What, still not hungry?"

--Sixpence House--Lost in a Town of Books by Paul Collins

Gotta love foreign food, or at least the stuff that's "foreign" to us. Then again, you don't really *have* to love foreign food.

I am probably one of your less adventurous eaters. I have tried Vegemite--once. As well as caviar--once. No need to belabor the thing.

My daughter Violet was able to travel abroad twice during her college days. She went for a month to Oxford/Cambridge (forget which, sorry) with a side trip to Ireland. She walked into a grocery one day to find a package with a conspicuous American Flag sticker on it: Corn Dogs!! Eaten By Millions Of American Schoolchildren Every Day!! Poor schoolchildren--probably the number one reason I chose to homeschool....

She also went to an American Style Restaurant, and ordered an American Style Cheeseburger and milkshake. We all know that Europeans don't "do" ice in their drinks, but her "milkshake" was decidedly Not Frozen, either. Kind of like the Frosty Mix at Wendy's before they put it in the machine to freeze it.

Then there was the Burger. It's condiments were "distinctly American?" [not.] Shredded cheese and Chutney. I'm sure you've seen it at Burger King: "The NEW Shredded Cheese/Chutney Burger!"

I don't mind if they are Distinctly British, but for goodness' sake, the population has never heard of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. When Violet told them of this tasty treat, the reaction was, "oh, dear. Why would you want to mix chocolate and peanut butter?" She sent some to her friends that Christmas...

My family took a trip to Canada in 1966, when McDonald's hamburgers were 15 cents. Going out to get a burger and fries was a Fun Vacation Thing.

The restaurant we went to was not a McDonald's, but Daddy ordered like it was. Seven burgers and Seven fries, please. The waitress's eyes got Very Large as she asked him to repeat his order. "Are you sure you want seven orders of fries?"

She came back with seven Platters of fries. These are the size your entire Applebee's meal is served on. Daddy: "could you bring us some ketchup, please?" When she went back to get some ketchup, we saw her whispering to the other servers: Look at Those Aliens Over There. We figured out that the bottles and bottles of Malt Vinegar sitting on the table were for the fries. Daddy tried it; I was loathe to put anything labeled Vinegar on my food. But that explained the little round I had learned in music class: Fish and chips and vinegar, pepper, pepper, pepper, pot.

We ate fries (cold) for a bedtime snack. Daddy wanted to take them in the car the next morning, but Mother said No Way. *That* foreign adventure was Over.