Being British: Garden Gate, Number Eight

[tc015]

Hello!

I'm looking for a meal that a parent would cook with their children. In my fic, I have a father teaching his children how to cook, and he makes dinner with them. The ages of the kids are 10, 9, and 7, if that helps.

Thanks in advance!

~ Teresa

[Weasley24]

Um, possibly tomato sauce pasta? But then there wouldn't be much to do but stir and make the sauce so maybe maybe macaroni where the children could grate the cheese? Just a nitpick thing but if you're meaning dinner as in at 5 o'clock then most people call it tea.

Sarah-xo

[AurorKeefy]

Normally I don't post here to confirm the suggestions of other people, but I'm going to make a small exception here, because I can see eyebrows being raised regarding what would be a typically italian dish in England.

Tomato Sauce and pasta, or, if you want it to be a little more glorified, spaghetti bolognese, is both an incredibly simple dish and one that has been served commonly in England in all my years (I can't say maurauder era, but certainly Harry's). I'd say either that or Macaroni cheese are the two main meals taught to children (or certainly were to me, and I still live off the former).

Of course, what might be taught slightly before are such staples as beans on toast, but that's not so much of a meal. The only other example I could suggest is something referred to by my stepfather as 'Corned Beef Hash/'Taterash', a stew consisting of corned beef, potatoes, carrots and onions. Unfortunately there are two problems with the latter, firstly that it seems to be confined to the manchester region, and secondly that the name 'Corned Beef Hash' seems to be used to describe a wide variety of different meals depending on the person and the region. I've several recipe books, all with different recipes and different end products for the dish.

[TyrannoLaurus]

Dinner and tea can be used interchangeably. From my experience, it depends on what your parents call it ... and I know both northerners and southerners who differ in their opinion.

A really easy thing would be bangers and mash, with some greens (peas, cauliflower, brocolli, cabbage. Britain loves its meat and two veg). The preparation is quite simple - mashed potato with butter and milk, put the sausages under the grill (popular sausages include Cumberland and Lincolnshire, which you can google for extra details ... or you can have any variety of seasonings and flavours in them, such as pork and apple, tomato, spicy, even venison is quite cheap nowadays). Veg is usually boiled to death in a pan.

Pasta dishes are common nowadays. So are curries, usually we're too lazy to make it from scratch so we buy the sauce in, cut up all the veg, boil the rice etc. But if you want something quintessentially British I'd go for any type of meat (chicken breast, pork chops, lamb chops, steak) with two green veg and a variety of potato. Until pretty recently, that was all my dad cooked!

AurorKeefy: Corned Beef Hash is well known throughout the north, I think. Well, the dinnerladies at Durham swear by it ...

[Pinkcess of the Abyss]

English Dishes?

The only thing I recall cooking with my dad was Spagetti Bolognaise, but somebody already mentioned that. It is a good thing to cook with children, especially since when you make it yourself it can have loads of big chunky vegitables in it.

There is Cottage Pie, which is minced beef and onion, somtimes peas too I think, with a mash potato top. It is cooked in the oven and sometimes you sprinkle cheese on the top.
Another simalar one is Shepard's Pie, which is the same for the most part- there might be a few differances, but I'm not a chef- but the meat is Lamb, not beef.

A cool one that everyone I knows learnt to cook in school was Pigs in Blankets! That one would be great for children to learn. You roll sausages up in bacon and bake them in a sort of big yorkshire pudding. (Egg, flour and milk batter and baked in the oven)

I've tried to include more traditional English meals.

[witch6]

As you guys are on the topic, I thought I'll ask as well- Can you please suggest some tasty vegetarian dishes? My OC is one and I always find it difficult to describe what she's eating because whatever I have heard and read about food in England is mainly non-vegetarian. Thanks!

[apollo13]

To be honest, there is very little difference in American home meals and English homemeals, apart from pancakes, but that's a whole different matter...

You can have veggie shepards pie, veggie lasagne, veggie burger, salad, that tofu meat stuff, I have a veggie friend who eats a lot of corn-on-the-cob and pizza - just average veggie stuff, really.

~Evie

[tc015]

Thank you for your help. I have an idea of what dish I want to use.

~ Teresa

[Heather25x]

Hm, perhaps a vegetrian dish might be a veggie burger and evie said, or pasta and tuna, or vegetarian pizza. But yeah, i think pasta bits with tuna (tuna isn't considered a meat really, but that's a matter of opinion, i guess) and vegetables. if it's just a snack, try a lettuce and cucumber sandwich (or veggies of your choice) or just cereal. Hope i helped


~Heather

[PadfootnPeeves]

Spagetti Bolognaise

Is that the Spag-Bol stuff from the Uglies books?

Okay, I need help with two things. The first is simple- would the names Sandy and Winifred be popular for someone Ginny's age? Which over the other?

And secondly, I need a basic (I don't want to totally confuse myself) overview of how the goverment works. I know there's a Prime Minister... but I'm pretty much hopeless after that.

Thanks in adavance!