What's for dinner Thursday, April 25, 2024?

[Meryl]

Only my "posher" friends use "pudding". Most UKers say "dessert". "Afters" appears to be something I got from my Irish parents!

Obviously, as a thoroughly "working class" person, I think the British class system is a pile of .. um... tosh! (being polite there).

Having lived in London for the first 26 years of my life, the only time I heard "dessert" being called "pudding" was when I was at school, school dinners were terrible, apart from the puddings!
The when we made "Upside-down pineapple steamed pudding", also at school, during our Cookery lessons.

 

[Meryl]

I'm proud to have been born in London and raised there, but I never really felt very "British", probably why I eventually moved here to my family native country. I would never move back. I have never had any negative feelings towards British ways, I would be criticizing my own roots. Every culture is different, we all have our faults and qualities, luckily, otherwise what a boring world it would be. Variety is the spice of life, after all.

 

[Jade Emperor]

My family is Brits.
Maybe unfortunately so. My parents were children during the war and therefore they grew up with the language that living in poverty was a good thing.
Until I went to hospo school, I had absolutely no clue about fine dining, except for what I had read. I hadn’t even tasted foie gras until I was 20.
At home, dinner was called “tea”
I remember fondly a day where I returned to my parents and made a meal for them and they were blown away by my “fancy” food!
It was just a nice steak with mash and asparagus!

 

[Meryl]

I mum only cooked "Italian-Style" food anyway, so I had no problems, and living in North London, the evening meal was called "dinner".

 

[KatyCooks]

I'm proud to have been born in London and raised there, but I never really felt very "British", probably why I eventually moved here to my family native country. I would never move back. I have never had any negative feelings towards British ways, I would be criticizing my own roots. Every culture is different, we all have our faults and qualities, luckily, otherwise what a boring world it would be. Variety is the spice of life, after all.

Oh don't get me wrong, I am deeply proud to be British (I, too, was born in London). However, I have a very strong pull towards Ireland given my parentage. I think it gives you a very balanced view on life to have influence from more than one place.

 

[Meryl]

Oh don't get me wrong, I am deeply proud to be British (I, too, was born in London). However, I have a very strong pull towards Ireland given my parentage. I think it gives you a very balanced view on life to have influence from more than one place.

Yes, I understand, it's a huge advantage being influenced by different cultures. I've been living in Italy now for 30 years, a few years longer than my time in London, and being of Italian origins anyway, I feel I've become "completely" Italian now, in my ways, if that sounds right? I still surprise people when they hear me talking English with a real British accent, especially when my London accent suddenly pops out! The strange thing is that if I have a conversation with another native speaker in English, it gets to a point where it becomes easier to express myself in Italian, and not English . Some everyday language and expressions just get forgotten if you don't use them often.