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by Russell Warnick

Royal Endorsed Products You Should Own

We continue our extensive coverage of the Royal Wedding by bringing you an assortment of Royal Family sponsored food and drink products. What is a Royal Warrant you ask? From the horse drawn carriage itself, they are:

… a mark of recognition to individuals or companies who have supplied goods or services for at least five years to HM The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh or HRH The Prince of Wales.

So those obscure looking crests on that packet of tea you have in your cupboard — it means you drink the same crap as The Queen, her husband whose name I forget, or Prince Charles. For some reason the rest of the Royal clan aren’t worthy of sponsoring products — either that or we just don’t care. And in case you were wondering, The Queen Mother (may she rest in peace) also had her own endorsement deals — she was partial to a ~~bottle~~ glass of Bombay Sapphire from time to time. So if you plan to eat and drink like a Queen during this royal season, don’t forget the…

Colman’s Mustard

A staple in any fine kitchen, Coleman’s mustard was endorsed by The Queen in 1964.

Tanqueray Gin

Not long after her coronation The Queen was quick to appoint her favorite tipple. Tanqueray Gordon & Co Ltd. was given the Royal honor way back in 1955.

by Russell Warnick

New Food Words in the Dictionary

(Photo: Leo Reynolds)

OMG, did you hear? The Oxford English Dictionary has revised its latest edition to include new “words” such as FYI, BFF and LOL. Yes, let’s all take a moment and ROFL at that for a moment. What you might not know is the esteemed book also included some new food words. Some of them are under-the-radar food phrases, while many are probably already in your daily vernacular, which makes me wonder why they weren’t already in the dictionary, I mean WTF.

Keep reading to see some of our favorite food terms that are now officially legit, in alphabetical order.

in Featured / Lists 7 comments

by Russell Warnick

The World Cup of Food

Image Courtesy of Nestor Cerami

We couldn’t let soccer’s 2010 FIFA World Cup go by without throwing in our two cents — which as you might expect, has less to do with our feet than with our mouths. So while serious sports fans spend this week debating which squads got the crap draw and which teams are most likely to make the second round, foodies can put all that aside and take a look at our 2010 World Cup Food and Drink Rankings, in which we’ve ranked the 32 participating nations from worst to best, based not on soccer skills but on the appeal of each country’s most iconic dish.

For the record, I offer no apologies for the dishes or the order in which they are ranked—I had many discussions with my international friends when researching these and they have disagreed with me on many—for that, you can leave your opinions in the comments.

#32. Australia – Vegemite on Toast

Usually when there is a petition on Facebook in support of something, you know it’s a desperate plea, and Vegemite on Toast is no exception. This isn’t one of those love-it-or-hate-it kind of foods, this is simply a hate it kind of food. Yes, there are nearly 111,000 facebook users on the record as supporting it, but I’m pretty sure that’s roughly the population of Australia, right? Let’s hope for their sake that the Aussie lads find something better to chow on before their matches in South Africa.

#31. Ivory Coast – Kedjenou

Factoid: the current coach of the Ivory Coast team is former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. I’m sure old Sven has some tricks up his sleeves planned for the field, but you’ve got to admire the Ivory Coast’s cooking tricks, too. Kedjenou, like many other West African dishes, starts with some tough old chickens and basically cooks the shit out of them ’til they’re edible. It may not be the quickest way to make a meal taste good, but it sure as hell beats Vegemite.

#30. Slovenia – Buckwheat

I task you with something — Google “Slovenia” and “food.” Whatever the result is it’ll surely include buckwheat. Buckwheat, buckwheat and more buckwheat. Could you be any more boring, Slovenian cooks? If you must have a Slovenian soccer dish, I sifted through the ES archives and stumbled upon this tasty dish, vegetarian too — Wilted Greens with Buckwheat Noodles (and an egg).

in Food Travel / Trends 30 comments

by Russell Warnick

High Tea

In an effort to bring some class and sophistication to Endless Simmer (it is possible) I decided to host a High Tea for some of our DC food friends. High Tea is somewhat of an institution in my homeland of Britannia, but here in DC there are some pretty excellent high teas, and apparently it’s going a little underground over in London. My good friend Lucy who lives in London is well versed in organizing tea parties, so I hit her up for some tips on throwing one. Lucy says there are six rules to high tea:

Begin with a glass of Champagne.
Tea should be poured from a proper teapot into china tea cups sitting on saucers.
A selection of finger sandwiches, crusts removed, such as egg & ‘cress and cucumber are a must.
Serve freshly baked scones with preserve and clotted cream.
Serve a selection of other cakes such as cupcakes, brownies or fondant fancies.
Present food on a two tiered cake stand, preferably vintage.

Well…keep reading for my interpretation.

in Desserts / Eggs / Endless Cupcakes / Personal 10 comments

by tvff

The Best Kind of Souvenir

I’ve never been one for souvenirs. Sure, I see the appeal of being able to bring something home with you when you go on a trip. My mom, for example, collects refrigerator magnets of her travels. Mrs. TVFF has recently begun picking up Christmas tree ornaments specific to the location. I suppose I’ve always thought that a couple of photos and some good memories — particularly food memories — were more than enough for me.

Now, I’m not the most well-travelled person in the world, but thanks to vacations and business trips, I’ve been able to expand my culinary horizons with lobster in Boston, crêpes and café au lait in Quebec, Primanti Bros. sandwiches in Pittsburgh, Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizza in Chicago and even smoked eel over scrambled eggs in Hamburg. But nothing beats my trip to London in 2007 and the traditional pub meal that followed me back across the Atlantic.

Truth be told, when I was anticipating the food to be had on my trip to England, two things stood out: fish & chips and fantastic Indian food. Neither disappointed, but the steak and ale pie was something else. On the first night, we got to our hotel and needed an easy dinner, so a trip to the Prince of Whales pub in Kensington resulted in a steak and Bombardier pie. I was instantly hooked by the intense beefy filling and flaky crust. After a trip to the Royal Ballet a few nights later, we dropped into another pub near Covent Garden and I was determined to have my second pie of the trip. Shortly after I finished it, I knew I’d have to try to replicate it at home…

in Food Travel / Personal / Recipe / Red Meat 6 comments

by Maids

Analyzing the Culinary Offerings of Our Former Colonial Overlords (with the Aid of My Comrade in Arms, Celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver)

Jamie Oliver lets me snap his pick while thinking up his next culinary masterpiece

Brit, you might not want to read this…..

When I was gallivanting about last month, one of my main priorities (apart from saving humanity and all that) was to understand the cuisine of an obscure little country located on the island of Great Britain—a nation that once struck fear in the hearts of even the most stalwart champions of freedom: England.

This tiny little swath of land, located in the Northern Atlantic, shares land borders with better known Scotland and Wales. Apparently, the citizens of this country “England” were some of the first immigrants to our great nation. Yeah, who knew! Having sampled some of the traditional English fare, I understand why these Englishmen put off the massacre of the indigenous Americans until after they learned some culinary skills from America’s first people.

I found all of this out over a gruesomely disgusting meal of black and white pudding with famous English celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. That’s a picture of him pondering the quirks of the English palate above. More on that and some complimentary analysis of the cuisine of our former colonial overlords after the jump.

in Celebs / Food Travel / Personal / Veggie 6 comments

by BS

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

– Top Chef Masters has ya’ll missing Padma more than you might have thought. Summer:

I’m liking Kelly Choi less and less with every episode. The way she delivers her lines is grating… she emphasizes the end of every sentence to give the impression that what she is saying is SO IMPORTANT! and yet she never seems to have a valid comment to make about the food. She has none of Padma’s elegance.

– Everyone wants in on Britannia’s English Breakfast on a Bun creation. Although Lucy makes a fair point:

It’s not an English breakfast without HP and a cup of tea! Other than that it’s perfect.

– And finally, congrats to gansie on her second-place finish in the zucchini-garama masala foodie fight. Don’t miss battle #7: Pineapple and Basil. Mmmm!

PS – bonus comments of the week points to anyone who can explain what the eff is going on in the Kelly Choi pic above.

in Breakfast / Sandwich / TV 9 comments