UK To USA Ingredient Translation
It has been said that food is an international language. That is certainly true and it can be great fun preparing recipes that originate from different corners of the globe. With that said, there can be practical problems that crop up when making a recipe that somebody from a different country developed.
Often there can be confusion over the names of ingredients. For Americans cooking British recipes (and the other way around) sometimes we can scratch our heads trying to figure out the ingredients but really they are usually all things that can be pretty easily found in both countries. The only difference is the name used for those ingredients.
So, I put together this quick list of ingredients and what they are called in the UK vs what they are called in the USA.
- aubergine : eggplant
- back bacon : similar to Canadian bacon
- baron of beef : two sirloins in one roast
- bap : hamburger bun
- beetroot : beet
- biscuit : cookie
- boiled sweet : hard candy
- brill : something like a small turbot
- broad bean : fava bean
- brown bread : wholemeal bread
- brown stock : beef stock
- bully beef : corned beef
- candyfloss : cotton candy
- caster sugar : finely granulated sugar
- Channel Island milk : milk that’s almost as thick as light cream
- chicory : endive
- chipolata : small pork sausage
- chips : french fries
- chocolate vermicelli : chocolate sprinkles
- chump chop : a type of lamb chop
- cider : hard alcoholic cider
- clingfilm : Saran wrap
- coal fish / coley : black cod
- coffee sugar : sugar in large brightly-coloured crystals
- coriander leaves : cilantro
- corned beef : canned pressed ham (see salt beef)
- cornflour : cornstarch
- courgette : zucchini
- crisps : potato chips
- crumpet : a bit like an open faced ‘English Muffin’ but spongey
- custard : custard sauce, or sometimes baked custard
- cutlet : chop
- demerara sugar : light brown cane sugar
- Devonshire cream : a particular type of clotted cream
- digestive biscuits : something like Graham crackers but not exactly the same
- double cream : heavy cream
- endive : chicory
- faggot : meatball
- fairy cake : cupcake
- fillet steak : tenderloin steak
- fish fingers : fish sticks
- French beans : string beans
- gammon : large, thick, round piece of ham
- garibaldi : hard rectangular currant cookie
- ginger nut : ginger snap
- golden syrup : something like corn syrup
- greaseproof paper : wax paper
- green pepper : bell pepper
- icing : frosting
- icing sugar : powdered sugar
- jacket potato : baked potato
- liver sausage : liverwurst
- maize : corn
- marrow : squash that looks like a giant zucchini
- mince : ground beef / hamburger
- mincemeat : mince pie filling which contains largely dried fruit rather than actual meat
- mixed spice : a mixture of allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, coriander and cloves
- offal : liver, kidneys, tongue, tripe and any other animal organs
- perry : hard cider made from pears instead of apples
- plum duff : plum pudding
- polony : bologna
- porridge : cooked oatmeal
- prawn : shrimp
- rump steak : sirloin
- silverside : top round
- single cream : light cream
- sirloin : porterhouse steak
- sherbet : powdered candy
- sponge finger : ladyfinger
- sultana : white raisin
- sweetcorn : whole-kernel corn
- swede : yellow turnip
- tart : pie
- toffee : taffy
- treacle : similar to molasses
- whipping cream : halfway between light and heavy cream
- whitebait : small silvery fish, usually deep-fried whole
- white stock : chicken or fish stock