Spotted Dick and Root Beer

Spotted dick is a steamed suet pudding containing dried fruit (usually currants), commonly served with either custard or butter and brown sugar.-wikipedia

One of the fun things about London is the slightly odd names that many of the foods have. Fish and Chips is pretty easy to understand-fried fish and potatoes. Bangers and Mash is a little more confusing-sausage and potatoes. Bubble and Squeak is greens and potatoes.

I made the mistake of ordering a Root Beer while in a restaurant in London and was brought a nice tall Beer. The waiter said that he had never heard of a Root Beer. A&W Root Beer seems to have made some inroads in London recently, but I am not sure how popular it will be with the locals.

I went into a restaurant in London with a deli counter and a lot of items listed on a chalk board. One of the items was Spotted Dick. There was a pretty girl behind the counter so we asked her, what is Spotted Dick?

"You want a Spotted Dick?"

"What is it?"

"It's a spotted dick."

"Yes, but what exactly is a spotted dick?"

"It's a spotted dick."

This seemed to go on for a while and even the other shop worker managed to get the girl to say Spotted Dick a couple of times. We thought this was too funny for words. We didn't try the spotted dick, but did have fun saying the name.

Being easily confused I was also at a bit of loss when asked at a fast food place if my order was Dine In or Take Away-the American version is Here or To Go. There is something a bit more classy about that whole Dine In or Take Away thing though.

The Best of British has a great page on British Food and Drink.