The names of foods play a major role in creating a mental picture, which determines our interest in eating them.
While names such as “roasted chicken” or “mashed potatoes” put a clear picture of the dishes in our head, there are some foods that sound so bizarre that you will have to think twice before ordering them.
1. Bangers & Mash
Not another pop album! Bangers & Mash is a dish containing finger sausages with a side of mashed potatoes covered in gravy. Yes, it is as delicious as it sounds and can be found anywhere in the UK.
2. Spam
For a change, this canned dish comes from America where it is also known as ‘mystery meat’. It is made of potato starch, water, pork, sugar, sodium nitrate and salt. The name is a clever derivation of ‘SPiced hAM’.
3. Bubble & Squeak
This food is actually a rubber ducky that squeaks. Kidding again! This dish is (of course) based in the UK and includes fried leftover vegetables. The origin of the name is unclear but its believed to have come from how the veggies squeak and bubble when fried.
4. The Imam Fainted
This dish is also known as ‘the priest fainted’. Just the name will never clear the contents of the dish, which is an Ottoman delicacy made of whole eggplants, garlic and tomatoes. Apparently it’s so yummy that it makes the Imam faint.
5. Cold Duck
This is not a duck recipe. In fact, it’s not food at all. Cold duck means the opposite of cold turkey, as it is a fizzy drink made of champagne and sparkling burgundy. The name comes from the translation of a German Kalte Ente and the drink gained its popularity in the 1970s.
6. Clootie Dumpling
Instead of inciting our taste buds, the name of this food alone may kill our appetite. But, the love of the British for weird names can be witnessed again in Clootie dumpling. In the context of this dish, clootie means a piece of cloth or leather, that contains a dumpling within it. This is not an Asian dumpling but a dessert made of dry fruits, dough and sugar.
7. Alewives
Declaration: Nobody’s wives or spouses are involved in the ingredients of this dish. Alewives are a type of fish that comes from the herring family. There is no historical evidence or any available explanation of the origin of its name.
8. Spotted Dick
It is not really a dish but a disease. Just kidding. Spotted dick also has a range of other bizarre names such as ‘railway cake’ or ‘spotted dog’. It is a United Kingdom-based pudding, which is usually either savoury or sweet and is normally made in cloth. This dish is made up of dried fruits and animal fats called suet.
9. Scotch Woodcock
Actually a buttered toast covered in the anchovy paste and scrambled egg, this dish is named probably as a joke on the Scots by the English. Woodcock is the name of a game bird, but the dish contains none of that.
10. Witchetty Grub
No, it’s not magic concoction to ward off witches. The name and the food itself comes from ‘witjuri’, which was given by Adnyamathanha people of Australia. The protein-rich dish is the larva of a moth that feeds on the Witchetty bushes. It can be eaten raw or cooked and gives an almondy or chickeny taste depending on how it’s prepared.
