Bistro Bijou

[LadynStFreknBed]

Philadelphians are big on scrapple. I don't know much about it myself, being from the wrong coast.

What foods are acceptable (even considered really tasty) and what foods conceptually make one queasy is an interesting subject. My wife's company dealt for many years with Chinese companies and would frequently entertain employees from their partner companies. One thing that was interesting to me about this was that the Chinese do not eat dairy products and find cheese, in particular, kind of nauseating.

I, of course, would (and probably will) give up my heart before I give up cheese.

I never asked them how they felt about lutefisk, though.

I've never heard of Philadelphians eating scrapple, but I suppose they might, especially if they are from my area- PA Dutch country.
Scrapple is not nearly as bad as souse. I can't even look at the stuff.

Souse & Scrapple

I never touch the stuff. I'd rather eat the PA Dutch potato filling and pot pie. (PA Dutch pot pie is not like the stuff in the pie crust you can buy frozen. It's more like a soup.)

-Sheila

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Green split pea soup... with spam bits instead of ham. .. blech..
Although, I looooove habitant style pea soup with bannock and back bacon... Et while wearing a toque and drinkin' Molson's .. eh?

I promise not to take you to Chapel Street market then you might not see eye to eye with the Cockneys lol

 

[Tzara]

You're quite right I did although mushy peas aren't part of what makes up a fish supper but of course can be bought at the same place along with pickled eggs!

Every time I've ordered fish & chips in England, it's come with mushy peas. I'm probably not eating in the right places, of course, being tourist. Sampled some once.

Once.

Ever had pie and mash and liqour? it's all green and runny lol

Sounds, um, delightful.

 

[champagne1982]

Procter & Gamble might try to persuade us otherwise, but no. Soap is not even good for oral cleansing, despite what my mum thought.
My grandparents would make light of it, but you could tell there was some real animosity there--kind of like Red Sox fans "hating" Yankee fans. You think they're kidding, but you aren't entirely convinced.

I personally like to blame lutefisk on the Finns.

I was in Sondestrom and they had lutefisk on the breakfast smorg (Say what?) and that's Denmark. So, I'm going with my first instinct that it's Scandanavian and was discovered by the Vikings after they forgot some herring in the bilge of a boat. Those were lean times when they rowed across the straits to Labrador. The natives massacred them before the idea of jellied fish could take hold in North America.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

I've never heard of Philadelphians eating scrapple, but I suppose they might, especially if they are from my area- PA Dutch country.
Scrapple is not nearly as bad as souse. I can't even look at the stuff.

Souse & Scrapple

I never touch the stuff. I'd rather eat the PA Dutch potato filling and pot pie. (PA Dutch pot pie is not like the stuff in the pie crust you can buy frozen. It's more like a soup.)

-Sheila

That link froze me solid!! and still don't know what scrapple is or souse

 

[unpredictablebijou]

I'm pretty fascinated by the yellow gelatinous thing that's on the plate with the Spam.

Reminds me of one of my favorite weird web sites:

Gallery of Regrettable Foods.

Love this one in particular. Follow the whole series. It's worth it.

bj

 

[Tzara]

In fact, spelunkers have met creatures that look like Ricardo Montalban next to me.

Actually, your AV makes you look like you're channeling Santa Lucia, babe.

What's, um, under the tree?

 

[unpredictablebijou]

Actually, your AV makes you look like you're channeling Santa Lucia, babe.

What's, um, under the tree?

You'll have to unwrap it and find out, won't you?

We weren't quite Swedish enough to do the candles-on-the-head thing, (I was the oldest and would surely have set something on fire anyway) but Grandma Swencarljohannpederolaffson's decor did feature a great deal of rosemale and Dala horses.

bj

 

[LadynStFreknBed]

That link froze me solid!! and still don't know what scrapple is or souse

souse- picture irrecongizable bits of pork in a block of clear gelatin (also called head cheese)

scrapple- bits of leftover meat made into a block of mashed meat and cornmeal.. people usually fry it in slices and add syrup

The link works fine for me. Try doing a search for "souse photo."

 

[UnderYourSpell]

I've never heard of Philadelphians eating scrapple, but I suppose they might, especially if they are from my area- PA Dutch country.
Scrapple is not nearly as bad as souse. I can't even look at the stuff.

Souse & Scrapple

I never touch the stuff. I'd rather eat the PA Dutch potato filling and pot pie. (PA Dutch pot pie is not like the stuff in the pie crust you can buy frozen. It's more like a soup.)

-Sheila

souse- picture irrecongizable bits of pork in a block of clear gelatin (also called head cheese)

scrapple- bits of leftover meat made into a block of mashed meat and cornmeal.. people usually fry it in slices and add syrup

The link works fine for me. Try doing a search for "souse photo."

Souse we used to call pork cheese when I was a kid not sure what they call it now tho and scrapple sounds like corned beef hash!

 

[LadynStFreknBed]

You'll have to unwrap it and find out, won't you?

We weren't quite Swedish enough to do the candles-on-the-head thing, (I was the oldest and would surely have set something on fire anyway) but Grandma Swencarljohannpederolaffson's decor did feature a great deal of rosemale and Dala horses.

bj

My PA Dutch grandma was half German/half Swedish. Her accent was quite interesting. She was constantly mixing up her v's and w's. She once suggested a planter for a woman to plant her "wines" in.

-Sheila

 

[LadynStFreknBed]

Souse we used to call pork cheese when I was a kid not sure what they call it now tho and scrapple sounds like corned beef hash!

Scrapple doesn't really taste like meat even though it is made with it. It's not in bits like corned beef hash and the taste is not as strong as hash.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

It is considered very odd in England putting syrup on meat especially bacon but I have tried waffles and bacon with syrup and did quite like it

 

[UnderYourSpell]

BTW Ron is Cockney/Irish a very volatile mix he grew up knowing how to use his fists and after decking a corporal in the Army was put into the boxing ring and became their champ!

 

[LadynStFreknBed]

It is considered very odd in England putting syrup on meat especially bacon but I have tried waffles and bacon with syrup and did quite like it

I hate syrup on meat- like sausage or bacon. I even hate pineapple on ham. To me, sweet + meat does not go together. If I eat scrapple, I like it with syrup cuz scrapple does not taste like meat.

 

[unpredictablebijou]

My PA Dutch grandma was half German/half Swedish. Her accent was quite interesting. She was constantly mixing up her v's and w's. She once suggested a planter for a woman to plant her "wines" in.

-Sheila

heh heh. My Grandfather used to make the joke (although he was actually quite serious) "Yust when I learned to say Jam they changed it to Yelly."

He 'spoke Swede,' as he said, almost exclusively until he started school, at which point he was beaten by the teacher til he learned English. And he generally didn't have too much trouble with his 'j's' unless he'd had a few beers.

bj

 

[Anschul]

I've never heard of Philadelphians eating scrapple, but I suppose they might, especially if they are from my area- PA Dutch country.
Scrapple is not nearly as bad as souse. I can't even look at the stuff.

Souse & Scrapple

I never touch the stuff. I'd rather eat the PA Dutch potato filling and pot pie. (PA Dutch pot pie is not like the stuff in the pie crust you can buy frozen. It's more like a soup.)

-Sheila

My God...is this what they eat where I'm going? Will I ever see a Mojito or mahi mahi again?

Every time I've ordered fish & chips in England, it's come with mushy peas. I'm probably not eating in the right places, of course, being tourist. Sampled some once.

Once.
Sounds, um, delightful.

We get fish and chips from some place in Northeast London (near London University) every time we go. It's one of God's great fast foods, and the vinegar...oh, the vinegar...

You'll have to unwrap it and find out, won't you?

We weren't quite Swedish enough to do the candles-on-the-head thing, (I was the oldest and would surely have set something on fire anyway) but Grandma Swencarljohannpederolaffson's decor did feature a great deal of rosemale and Dala horses.

bj

I'll bet that name is spelled differently every time you write it! And I'll give you a nickel if you can pronounce it...

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Don't want to put you off but they don't use proper vinegar in fish shops it's some reconstituted stuff they get in bulk that's watered down

 

[LadynStFreknBed]

I'm half Irish. I give my Irish grandfather a lot of credit. He came from a long line of alcoholics. He never drank. The alcoholism stopped with him.

It was kinda funny when I was doing some genealogy on the Irish side of my family. Very little is known, because they were always fighting with each other and splitting away from the family. What I did find was church records repeatedly chastizing my great-grandfather for public drunkeness. LOL

My grandfathers had it hard here when they were young. The father of my Scottish grandfather worked in the coal mines. My great-grandfather would be gone for extended periods of time, leaving the work of the family farm as my grandfather's responsibility from the time he was 12. To make things worse, his younger siblings were "favorites" and did not have to help at all. Plus, their mother was ill and could not (or did not) cook or care for the children.

My Irish grandfather grew up with an alcoholic father. His father and uncles worked in the mines and on the railroads, often getting fired due to the alcoholism. My grandfather was about 19 when his dad died. He and his dad were sitting on the porch talking. His dad stood up, walked to my grandpa, and punched him in the face before dropping dead (probably of a stroke).


-Sheila

 

[sassynyc]

Variety is the spice of life, ain't it? I couldn't help laughing at all the knee jerk reactions to different foods. Lady S, we can never do IHOP together, I live for sausage or bacon contaminated with the syrup from my waffles/pancakes. And pineapple and ham....yum! lol
Scrapple is a hot mess of pig parts, and scares me shitless. It's not readily identifiable....whassup wit' that? It's like Spam's scarier big brother. Anschul, I pray there's a butcher near by with whole, recognizable cuts of meat, in your new 'hood.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

There are a lot of Irish in this town and I know quite a few who have a need for the drink, luckily Rons not one of them, but since marrying him I have been drawn into the Irish community more especially as Rons brother in law is Irish. It was Ron's mother who was Irish and I would have liked to find out more of that side of the family tree but it seems the Irish were pretty lacksidaisickle about keeping records. BTW one pretty odd thing I have been married to two Rons both had an Irish mother, both were one of twins (though the former could never carry both her twins to term) and both were Geminis and as different as chalk and cheese. The first Ron was so introverted as to be turned inside out and this Ron is really outgoing.
At least it means I never call out the wrong name in moments of passion!

 

[LadynStFreknBed]

Will I ever see a Mojito or mahi mahi again?

um... no.
LOL

I don't eat souse or scrapple. nasty stuff, really.
But, don't you fret.. there's a Red Lobster in Lancaster. LOL
You're actually very lucky. There are a lot of decent places and variety in Lancaster. I mean, you guys got bookstores, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Panera Bread, T.G.I.Friday's... etc.
When I want to go to a Barnes & Noble or Borders, I have to go to Lancaster. If my kids want to go to Chuck E. Cheese.. we have to go to Lancaster.
Well, you get the idea. You'll be just fine.

Once you get settled, you might want to check out one of the farmer's markets in Lancaster. We go to Root's (kinda rhymes with soots, not like roots on a plant). It's on Rt. 72 in Manheim, but it's only open on Tuesdays. You'll see the souse and scrapple.. but you'll see other PA Dutch food, fresh produce, and crafts. There are also stands that resemble more flea market than farmer's market. Some people like Green Dragon market better. I've never been there.

My dad used to drive from Harrisburg to pick me up in Lebanon, then drive us to Root's. I'm not THAT phanatical about it, but it is kinda cool.

If you go to Root's, you have to try the fried hearts & gizzards!

 

[Homburg]

Well assuming you have never had British fish and chips the white fish is dunked in batter then deep fried, the chips are as I said pretty chunky lengths of potatoes also deep fried then you have a shaker of vinegar which you splash over them both then shake salt on top of that. Very fattening but yummy

I spent slightly more than a week in Stratford-upon-Avon (a town that should be popular hereabouts), and the single best meal I had was the last one before we left. I realised that I'd not had fish and chips, and scoured my pockets for shrapnel. Found a street vendour and received a distressingly large amount of food for the money.

My girlfriend and I shared it. That it was the best food we'd had on the trip was a unanimous sentiment.

Souse we used to call pork cheese when I was a kid not sure what they call it now tho and scrapple sounds like corned beef hash!

Scrapple is nothing at all like corned beef hash. For one, corned beef hash is actually edible. Second, did I mention that corned beef hash is edible? Scarpple is organs boiled to death, the flotsam is pulled out and minced while dry cornmeal is poured in. The sundered meat and organs are returned to the mix and it is baked into loaves. Wikipedia tells me that the English equivalent would be white pudding.

It's a Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware thing mostly. That said, I remember having the southern equivalent as a kid. My grandmother would cook us eggs and "liver mush". Basically pork liver and cornmeal, with no other mystery meat added (though some manufacturers allow for head parts as well). For whatever reason, I liked it. Then.

It is considered more tolerable than scrapple. Going from an almost thirty year old memory of liver mush versus a more recent memory of scrapple, I have to agree. Livermush is certainly more tolerable. This is, however, like saying that dropping a bowling ball on your foot is more tolerable than having a horse step on that foot.

 

[unpredictablebijou]

I'll bet that name is spelled differently every time you write it! And I'll give you a nickel if you can pronounce it...

It is. And you owe me a nickel.

I can even pronounce 'tak so mycket' and 'var so god' and 'svenska flicka' with a passable accent.

bj

 

[UnderYourSpell]

As opposed to white pudding there is also black pudding which I will now distress you and tell you what it is ..... pigs blood with lumps of fat in it cut in slices and shallow fried for breakfast