Cooking Languange

[Jenny A]

Since I've been both listening to a lecture series on the history of the English language and baking all week, cooking language has been on my mind. There are many differences between the vocabulary used in England and that in the U.S. Many of them famous. But when traveling the one's I most notice have to do with cooking and baking. For example I was disappointed to discover that a stuffed roll was just a roll cut in half and used to make a sandwich and not bread dough rolled up with a savory stuffing and baked. We had some difficulty convincing our youngest that teriyaki stew was teriyaki stir-fry not teriyaki soup. And then there's the hamburger my mother ordered that came without bun or the chicken salad I ordered that was a very good cold chicken breast on a couple pieces of lettuce. None of these little surprises hurt us any. But they were surprises.

U.S:

cookie: A small flat, sweet food made of stiff wheat (sometimes with oats as well) dough usually without yeast but with baking soda or power sliced or dropped onto a flat baking sheet.---- Is there a word in England that covers this but no more?

cracker: A small flat savory food made of stiff wheat or other grain flour with no leavening.

quick bread or light bread: a bread made with baking soda or baking powder instead of yeast. It can be sweet or not but is usually sweet.---Not a terminology many people even in the U.S. use anymore except in cookbooks, but useful.

biscuit: A savory quick bread baked in small rounds or squares on a flat baking sheet. Unlike cookies it is not flat or sweet and it has bread-like consistency when baked.

muffin: A quick bread baked in small cups. It can be either savory or sweet, but it is usually sweet like a heavy little cake. --- Is this what the muffin man in the nursery rhyme was selling or was it something else?

cake: A sweet quick bread baked in a pan containing multiple servings.

salad: A cold dish of cubed or shredded greens, vegetables, fruit, and/or meat served in some kind of dressing. It is not simply a cold piece of meat or a cold dish generally.

stew: A thick savory soup served in a soup bowl with a soup spoon.

pudding: A sweet moist dessert.

British or Australian equivalents? Other differences? Stories about not getting what you expected?