We are having pulled pork for lunch. It's in the slow cooker as I write, and just about beginning to release lovely aromatic fumes into the kitchen.
Here's the thing, though. I'm quite annoyed with pulled pork. When we were in the US, it was a staple, and always popular. What a lovely way to eat pork, I invariably thought. None of that sawing away at a slice of grey meat that's a little bit tough, under some gravy that might or might not taste of anything nice. So I had plans. Plans. Not for world domination, or anything like that, but for pulled pork in the UK. I was going to magic up that little number when I did a Sunday lunch for visitors, or was catering for a number of hungry teenagers. "Pulled pork," I was going to say. "It's an American thing."
But waah. Pulled pork preceded me across the Atlantic. Pigs might fly, and they obviously did. I got back to a nation already in love with pulled pork. I am so yesterday already. Even owning and using a slow cooker isn't as raunchily "ranch" as I'd thought.
The same thing happened with onesies, though my plans for those were not to introduce them and enjoy their novelty. No. I was all ready to share with my British friends a good laugh, as I described to their wonderingly unbelieving faces these ridiculous baby-gros that were being marketed to grown-ups in the US. I was looking forward to many a smug "they don't really buy them, and wear them, surely" moment, full of cultural superiority, and what do I find? The onesie had done a reverse Christopher Columbus and discovered Britain while I was away. Gaah.
What about you, fellow expats? Have there been new things that you've come across on your travels, only to find them already back in Blighty?
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I still can't find Ranch dressing when I'm in the UK so they really need to get that one further up in the queue.
ReplyDeleteAs for onesies- I think they were more of a hit in the US. My two big kids and their friends wouldn't be seen dead in them LOL.
Sliders! I wrote a blog once about these, because I'd never heard of them till I moved to New York. But now I see them on trendy London menus all the time.
ReplyDeleteBut some things are weird when you come back -- like when I came back to London, all the bars and restaurants were suddenly serving Aperol Spritz. And I had never seen that on a menu in NY......
My 8 yo discovered onesies while we were in M&S in the UK. She got a pink cheetah one then wore it on the plane ride back to Vancouver from the UK. Very stylish :-) Although she did look really comfy so I'm thinking of investing in one myself.
ReplyDeletevery clever. and very funny. sorry they all beat you to it though :) x
ReplyDeleteAwww....well, I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Have you considered throwing in some pinto beans and green chilies and calling it burritos? Or have they made their way over there as well? I never saw anyone wearing a onesie when I was in the US, and neither of my sons ever had one, but maybe they were in the wrong age or demographic or something. I haven't seen any in Korea, either - the Koreans tend to be slightly more formal dressers, so maybe onesies are too casual. I was sorry to see that the knit or plush hats that look like an animal (bear, tiger, lion, etc.) head made it back to the US. Seemed like every child/teen in Korea had one, and I picked up some for my nieces, only to discover that they were everywhere in the US as well.
ReplyDeleteWe do indeed eat pulled pork in the UK - well my husband cooks it anyway (I'm not that keen) - but he is from Boston so he brought the idea over from the US too. Not sure I've ever seen anyone eat steak tips here - have you?
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