9/23/08

Can you see me drooling yet?

My blog post yesterday just proved many of us expat' Brit's share another longing - a decent Bacon Butty! Despite the post being about the sea, just the mention of bacon brought forth two comments filled with longing from fellow expat's about bacon butties.

Now this is a subject I have had on my 'things to blog about' list for awhile and so here we go....

Unless you're a Brit and maybe an Aussie (please confirm if you're also similarly obsessed), you just don't know how wondrous a simple bacon sandwich can be. Let's put it this way, if I had to pick a last meal my request would be as follows:

3 crisply grilled rashers of smoked back bacon
2 slices of average quality, thick sliced white bread
Lashing of real butter
A big squirt of HP Sauce

.....and Bob's your uncle, heaven on a plate!

So why can't this be replicated here or in many other countries (except Denmark)? Well your bacon here is just not the same, it's a sad excuse for bacon. Below is what proper 'back' bacon should look like, not the anorexic rashers you buy here.

How do I know you can't successfully get bacon like this here for sure? Well the hubster is a butcher by trade and so bless his heart, he has tried to make me proper bacon to no avail. He can get the cut no problem, but the cure is different here and I couldn't find a recipe for a British style cure. However during research for this post, I think I may have found a recipe here and will be trying it out, despite all the hard work involved!

If it wasn't for the fact you can't guarantee it's temperature in transit, I think my mum might even have risked the wrath of Customs for me, knowing how much I miss it. Oh and thanks to 'mad cow disease' the USA will not import any British meats!

If I was stuck for a quick dinner idea back in Blighty, this was my constant fallback. I doubt a fortnight (former BWOTD) went by without me downing a bacon butty and I never took it for granted.

There's also no way to make the bacon butty healthy and still just as tasty. It has to be average quality white bread, real creamy (not sweet!) butter and either HP Sauce, or Heinz Ketchup for some. It is just not the same on brown or wheat bread, with a low-fat butter alternative - which is probably why I have never been a skinny minnie!

So when I finally get to sit on some British beach, hopefully I'll be sinking my teeth into a Bacon Buttie as I soak it all up.

One things for sure; my planned diet back home of constant meals of bacon butties, sausage rolls, curry and crispy duck, all washed down with Lucozade, will ensure my mum's disbelief/disgust and a guaranteed but worthwhile weight gain!

33 comments:

The Factory said...

Interesting. In Spain the bacon is awful, so thin that you can see through it and with a funny taste that is more like cured ham than bacon. As such I haven't had a bacon sarnie since I got here. I too have a list of things I'm gonna do when I visit home, and it gets longer by the day.

BTW I see you're going with HP, hmmm. I usually go with ketchup for bacon, and HP for a really good sausage sandwich. Oh and you can't get proper sausages here either, so that's another thing for the list.

Polgara said...

I think if i left Britain i would miss Bacon Butties too, although i'm with Stuart and would have ketchup!
Pol x

Anonymous said...

Uh, I don't think that is on our WW plan. LOL!!

david mcmahon said...

Lends new meaning to the phrase ``bringing home the bacon''!

Sandi McBride said...

And I just know that you're going to be sharing that bacon when time comes...please email me for my address...UPS can find us if the US Mail can't!
hugs
Sandi
ps
and you're right, nothing quite so good as a bacon sandwich! Oh, yes, and congrats on the mention for POTD from David!

Pam said...

My quote upon first seeing English bacon for breakfast ... "that's not bacon, that's a pork chop!" John still pulls that line out every time we are in England.

I love American bacon sandwiches too. Crispy crispy with mustard and tomatoes. Yummmmmm.

You haven't explained yet (have you?) about the need for the British to butter their bread all the way to the edges in a thin even manner. It always amuses me.

Janet said...

I'm afraid it's the crispy, American version for me, too. A BLT with British bacon just don't work. It's like tough ham.

Janet

Victoria - Florence and Mary said...

Dare I say my preference would be a good sausage sandwich!!

Victoria x

Linda Jennings said...

I ate my fair share of bacon butties when we were in Chipping Campden in June. The nearest thing to compare it to in the USA is good ole' Appalachian country ham found in KY and TN. Not the same, but close.

Tess Kincaid said...

Now THAT is some bacon!! I actually have never seen any cut so wide and marvelously meaty. Drool.

Unknown said...

Now there you go again Stuart pre-empting yet another item on my list of things to 'blog about' - sausages! Same situation here and I miss them badly too.

Victoria - I love a sausage butty with ketchup (note Stuart) too, just prefer bacon.

Michelle - yeh you're right, not at all WW friendly!

Pam - LOL yep the hubster has often noted my butter spreading to the edges habit! And no I can't explain why we do that?

David - if only!

Sandi - trust me if it was possible, I'd have been doing this already!

Lump said...

The states are totally missing out. I want one of those now! :)

Janet said...

There are a lot of British foods I miss, but decent bacon and sausage are definitely top of the list.

I'd like to reach through the screen and grab that butty right now. Yum!

Good luck with your bacon curing.

Kat said...

I have a feeling that my backside will expand while I am in England if that is the size of the bacon there. Well worth it of course apparently.

Anonymous said...

Sounds good--I'm such a bacon girl but I've only had the US's version! I guess I'm missing out!

Daryl said...

What you want is Canadian Bacon ... I am not sure its cured with the right flavor ... its been half a lifetime since I visited the UK or had bacon ... but I do know that Zabar's has all sorts of bacon ... I am going to check out what sort/kind they have ... I will be reporting back

Congrats on Post of the Day over at David's!!!

:-Daryl

Anonymous said...

Oh the cruelty!
Oh the torment!
Oh the promise of pleasure is but an illusion.....

Mare said...

What is HP?
I know I'm gonna feel stupid, but I wanted to know!!

Anonymous said...

I too am drooling! I told my dad that the minute we get back to the house at Christmas, he had better make me a full cooked breakfast with black pudding and fried bread too, and then I will be eating plenty of bacon butties or sausage butties with tommy sauce.

Good grief I miss my food!

Cath said...

They don't do proper back bacon out there?
*shakes head in disbelief*

You poor starved woman you.

Mom/Mum said...

get that bacon over here right away gal! I miss UK bacon butties the most...sniff. Have found good Irish bangers in trader's joes though, which is a turn up for the books. Hurrah x

Anonymous said...

Bloomin heck go to any of the imported British food sites (just type in imported British foods) in the browser, and up pops loads of 'em that sell bacon...
The Irish bacon is for sale in the Aldi stores, just like the ones in England. You'll have to look a bit farther for the sausages though. If you have Publix Grocery Stores in OK they have a British import section loaded with all kinds of food from home. I shop there at least once a week, if only for a Cadbury's Flake ;)

Unknown said...

Josephine - I wish!

Trust me I have trawled all the online sites, but to ship to me in a coolpack is about 3 times the cost of the bacon. I am in a very distant part of Okieland!

The nearest store that stocks any British food is a 3 hr drive away and therefore a 6-hr round trip. Trust me, you should be counting your blessings!

I did recently get some Irish sausages on a trip to the city, but they weren't the greatest and cost an arm and a leg.

Janet said...

Sarah, I DO understand how much you must miss British sausages. I've never experienced so many different varieties in my life, and they are GREAT!

For me, I'd give an arm & a leg for Community New Orleans Blend coffee. I miss it so much.

Janet

A Cuban In London said...

Yes, YES and Y.E.S.!!! Long live bacon butties!

Greetings from London.

Anonymous said...

Saw your comment on AFF and had to come see you. I had breakfast not too long ago and my mouth was totally watering! The torture!

I think I prefer my bacon, spread and sauce in a well-fired roll. Wow, I'm dying here, just thinking about it. I'd never knock back a sarnie though.

I went back to Scotland with my little family in March/April and the first thing I did was hit Morrison's and Tesco. I stood staring at the shelves for ages, not touching anything, just staring. I could hardly believe I was actually there. (It had been 5 years since the last trip.) I bought up sausage rolls, cheese, sausages, bacon, bridies and cornish pasties and REAL ginger beer (the closest I've found is Archer Farms in Target).

Glad I came to visit now! Btw, have a look for a British import store in your area, you may have one fairly close by. The one I used to go to sold bacon and sausages in their freezer.

Leslie: said...

You have to come to CANADA to get the bacon you want. Of course, I'm not sure if it'd be closer to go to England or Canada, but rest assured if you came here, you could get the bacon of your desires!

Mrs. C. said...

When you said bacon butty, I thought you might be referring to what at our house is peanut butter with crispy bacon, but oh my, that thing in your photo is looking too good!

dbd said...

Canadian bacon, called peameal bacon in Canada, is nice but it's not the same as proper bacon. If there's one thing I miss as much as jellied eels it's proper bacon.

Anonymous said...

Wow, we completely agree! Only white bread will do, it has to be said, and if it's not slathered in HP then there's a serious problem!

Susan English Mason said...

My bacon buttie has mayo substituted for the HP, which apparently must be something like ketchup. MMMMMM. My fave. The mayo makes the crummy white bread a little bit squishy; it's too good for words.

celestiel said...

Good news...your days of longing may have come to an end. :) My husband's family from Dorset owns the oldest family business in the UK. They have been in butchery for nearly 500 years! Now we are making proper sausages and bacon here in the US using family recipes. It is brilliant and I hope you will give us a try. Our website is www.buybangers.com
I ate a delicious bacon butty for lunch today;) Shipping is free!

ByteofK said...

Answer to all the non-Brits who don't know what HP is: It's very similar to steak sauce, just a slightly different taste. Brown and tangy.