What do you miss most from home?
If you are a regular reader of our Meet A Member feature you will know that whenever we ask that question the answer is usually ‘family and friends”, but most interviewees then go on to add what they really miss – their favourite food or drink that can often only be found in Britain or at a premium in select shops here.
On my most recent trip back to the UK I was of course delighted to catch up with my family and friends, but realized that my visit was so much sweeter by having access to unlimited supermarket cheese & onion sandwiches (ask any of my family members and they will concur). As we all probably know, Marks & Spencer were the pioneers of supermarket sandwiches, but contrary to popular belief they are not that new – they were first launched in 1929! I think they were discontinued due to food rationing during the war, but were relaunched in 1980 with the debut of ‘Salmon & Tomato’ which doesn’t sound like a winner to me. However, their all-time best selling creation “Prawn Mayonnaise’ was on the shelves by 1981, which cemented the British public’s relationship with the prepackaged sarnie (and the decline of lunchtime – but that is a another story).
When I first moved to LA , I was infamous for my penchant for the plastic-wrapped tuna sandwiches from 7-Eleven – I would rather stick pins in my eyes than eat one now, but at the time I think I was particularly homesick and hoped that they would help fill the gap. I didn’t really equate that my cravings were related to my pangs for the motherland, although with hindsight it is fairly obvious.
Which leads me back to the present day….I always knew I enjoyed a cheese & onion sandwiches pie/slice/pasty/crisps; but I never thought about trying to make one of them at home , until this week…. Upon researching the recipe I discovered that the cheese & onion sandwich is so popular that some grocery stores even sell the filling as a standalone product. So I thought it was only fair for me to share my discoveries with you. I took advantage of being in London this month and started with a recce/field trip – this entailed visits to Waitrose, Sainsburys, Marks & Spencers, Tesco and for good measure Morrisons. They all tasted pretty much the same, but I noticed that Red Leicester, sweet onion, mayonnaise and multigrain bread were essential if I wanted to attempt this challenge.
Thank goodness for Trader Joe’s (I like to think I am partially responsible for the phrase ‘thank heaven for 7-Eleven’ too;)) – they stock all of the necessary ingredients, although being in SoCal the cheese is only available with jalapeños. I did mix in a bit of cheddar and a few chives for good measure, but by Jove I think I might have almost got it! The fact that it is not quite perfect only gives me an excuse to keep on trying and tasting – if anyone knows where to get untainted Red Leicester , please drop me a line at britsinla@gmail.com.
And if you want the recipe for my almost perfect sandwiches visit our website www.BritsIn.LA or drop us an email. If you have any similar recreation recipes that you want to share, don’t hesitate to send them over to us and if we like them we will try them out.
Or maybe there is something you are missing from home? Would you like us to attempt to recreate it? I have plans to try and make a Scotch Egg next and also have a recipe somewhere that apparently is just like Findus Crispy Pancakes (minus the horse meat!)
Look forward to hearing from you!
Cheers!
Eileen
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