The English Barbecue

I was pleased as punch to go to a bonafide English bbq yesterday. Despite what you may think after the recent episode of Desparate Housewives, the people over here are familiar with the concept and seem to openly embrace it. That gets them some points in my mind.

First of all, there was no actual barbecue. There were disposable barbecues. Which I found quite strange, but I suppose these could exist state-side as well and I've just never seen them. For non-grilled grub, there was your chips, dips and veggies, as well as other things of that nature, and grilled food consisted of hamburgers, some ribs, and sausages (not American hot dogs, but plump meaty English sausages of bangers and mash ways). Basically, much of the food was the same. To me the main difference was the presence of Pimms as a beverage. The English really like their Pimms, and it has seemingly broken out in a big way since we have been having our summer weather the last few weeks (high in the mid-70s today!). I don't know what it is exactly, but in general terms it is a liqueur mixed with lemonade and, if done right, some fresh fruit tossed in. And it's not cloudy American lemonade, its Sprite-without-lime English lemonade. But don't worry, there was still beer. I don't think you can call it a bbq if there's no beer.

At the grocery store today I was trying to find an equivalent to graham crackers to potentially make smores. Apparently the closest relative is a digestive, but the digestives seem like they might be too thick, like they would overwhelm the chocolate/marshmallow presence. Really I just want to try a smore made with Galaxy (which is Dove) chocolate. That would be mighty tasty, I think. Now I just have to wait for another disposable bbq to come along so I can get a shot at some open flame.