AS American as Apple Pie.

As an American?

"England" + "Apples" doesn't get a lot of play.

Instead, when most people think about apples, they're likely either going to think about one of the major apple-growing regions (like the Northwest) and/or the tale of "Johnny Appleseed,' who purportedly planted apple trees along his trail as he went westward so that those people who came behind him could have foot.

In that sense, the myth may have arisen due to a simple lack of cultural knowledge.

Is this where "Hot Foot" comes from?... a misprint of hot food?....
Or do you make a speciality pie of apple and foot?... is there a boot apple pie?....
I have been intrigued.....
Or was it the typing version of open mouth insert size 9........
[And who am I to complain, boards registered dislx...dieslex...dyslexi.... NUT CASE]

Back on subject, Apple trees have been around England for so long they pre-date written history, the making of pies MUST have gone with those that settled America in the first place....
What they forgot how to cook on the journey over there and had to start all over again?....

I therefore submit that the first apple pie made on American soil was made by an English immigrant shortly after the boats landed, to an old English recipe.
They probably took some apples with them?...
I understand they had to plant tree's as there are no native versions of apple in the Americas?..

so are you saying that tea should not be considered an English drink?

should it really be a surprise that a nation of immigrants uses imported foods as its national foods?

I don't think frankfurters were invented in America, either. or pizza.

Chop Suey, however, WAS invented in America.

The earliest recipes for Apple pies don't include sugar.

Quite true, when people talk of 'English/British' Tea they are really indicating that we are one of the few countries who adopted the practise of drinking brown teas*.

I suspect this was because we controlled India, and therefore had a monopoly on the supply - which made tea fairly cheap compared to coffee - at least by the early 1800's.

Ironically the British have been drinking coffee longer than tea, and Europe used to be filled with coffee shops - Lloyd's of London started in a coffee shop. So we've had 'Starbucks' type shops longer than the USA has existed.

(*As opposed to green teas)

Just like "American Pizza" ;D

The reason for adding milk to tea comes from people drinking it from very fine china cups. If you poured boiling water into these cups they tended to shatter, so you had to provide some form of protection for the cup.

Milk was most likely chosen as it was widely available all year long, cheap and didn't spoil the flavour. (The first two wouldn't apply to, say, lemon juice.)

Just remember this next time someone asks if you should put the milk into the cup before the tea - you put the milk in first.

I think it is fair to say that most of the things we view as being associated with any particular country were most likely not 'invented' there. Rather those things were for one reason or another widely adopted in those countries from elsewhere. In the case of Britain and the United States we've had a hell of lot of outside influences in our cultures - probably more than most people realise.

After the opium wars in China, which we the British were heavily involved in as the main opposition to China, who were a closed country at the time,, Tea Plants were taken and introduced to British Run India, because we needed to break the monopoly that China had over the price and amount of tea they would let us have.
Thats a simplified version of it..... of course.....



I have American cousins whos American relatives SWEAR they (As Americans) are the origin of apple pie, and this is agreed with by many "Closed mind" people
....we have some of those over here, their way of thinking is often when faced with someone who doesnt speak English, you should shout each word slowly until they do....
Closed mind is equivalent to "Blonde" moments, but more permanent.

As for Influences to our culture, many of the British culinary inventions DEPEND on outside influence for the spices...
Curry, the gravy or sauce is PURE British....
Curried meats were quite popular, but the English way of pouring Gravy over everything, someone decided that the curried meats MUST have a sauce to go with them, so, the modern curry was invented.... I believe in Glasgow.....
Curry its self, the word is just taken from the cooking pot and the main plant used for flavouring...Balti, rough translation, "Bucket".....

England its self is a HUGE melting pot of all Roman, european and North-Men (Norsemen) cultures that finally settled down and decided to not be invaded again after 1066......

Well... we TRY to not get invaded, but the last Govt threw that gates open... there is a word for them, but its not printable.
I suppose "Milliband" as a word is getting to be the equivalent?...
Were "Its all going Brown", or words along that line, are being used to denote a scheme or idea that is starting to go a little wrong and should be abandoned at the earliest opportunity.....