America and Britian may be two countries separated by a common language, but I never really realised how much until the recent trip to the States and a chat with Mark Ryan (of Transformers/Robin of Sherwood fame.) I was telling someone today about how difficult it was for both Mark and myself (both proud Yorkshiremen) to describe a Yorkshire Pudding to the colonials in a way that made any sense and conveyed it's regional and global superiority as edible delight.

Oh, sure. It's not too difficult to explain the ingredients, the egg, the rising in the oven etc. But just try describing it in more aesthetic ways without the aid of a picture. It's not a biscuit, it's not a pancake, it's not bread, it's not soft and it's not a 'dessert' in the pudding sense. It can be crisp, it can be small part of a meal, or if large enough, almost the container for a whole gravy-sodden sunday lunch. It's the hole for the toad in 'Toad in the Hole', but it's, oh so much more.

Until today I was under the impression that I'd have to actually make one when Stateside just to prove it existed in three dimensions. However I've been informed that the Americans MAY have something similar and it could be known as a Pop-Over.

If you are what you eat, I think that means we're all in trouble.

* for those still wondering, they are - in this form at least - the golden food at the bottom of the plate in the picture.