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I’m an ex Brit, this is to validate the Bitch – I LOVE malt vinegar on fries, fish and chips etc. why do most restaurants not have this stuff as a condiment?
—Basil Fawlty
This article appears in Feb 4-10, 2010.
61 Comments
Because this isn’t Britain? Would you like some mayonnaise for your fries, too? Where’s the kippers, mate? Next time I go to Britain I’m gonna ask why they have gyros and not donairs.
I’m with you on this one Basil Fawlty! I absolutely lovvve malt vinegar but it is a rarity in Nova Scotia restaurants. Not so in Ontario, where it is offered more consistently, even available in little take-out packs. I don’t get it either, other than falling into the category of regional tastes. Basalmic vinegar is sometimes available and a reasonable substitute for malt but not the same yummy flavour.
Mayonnaise on fries is a French tradition.
They don’t have anything called “gyros” in the uk, they have “Doners”, and would be equally surprised that you spell it differently.
Celtic Corner offers malt vinegar, I was delighted to find.
Because people with good teeth hate the taste.
I really love malt vinegar too. You have to ask for it nicely at most spots, the only places that seem to give it to you by default are the places that serve a lot of fish and chips.
Cranky— what’s wrong with mayo on fries?
no mayo w/ fries is a dutch thing french have rouille or aioli; any pub or bar that serves f&c should definitely have malt vinegar anf HP sce. too
If you’re an ex-Brit, I hope you did something about the poor dental conditions most Brits have. Enjoy your malt, at home.
Eff you too Em El!
Well most restaurant do have malt vinegar,in Halifax,Dartmouth,I worked in about 12 so far everyone has malt vinegar,for salad dressing.The server just did not want to look,or did not know what it is.
The ‘may w/fries thing’ is a Euro thing. Seen it in France, Belgium, Holland, Germany….don’t know about the UK, I was just being smart.
i am not a big fan of catsup/ketchup…prefer malt vinegar but if the fries are shite anything goes
off topic but: nice pic paingirl. you really do heart nerds.
PainGirl, when did you buy the car from Knightrider?
1964 buick riviera (i was told that) my brother sent me that pic and i was getting tired of the gray person
Sweet Ride. I’m rubbish at posting You Tube links but I assume you have seen Mr. Nimoy singing ‘The Ballad Of Bilbo Baggins” I was in tears first time I saw it. Guy goes from being a North American cultural icon to dropping LSD with the Manson Family
that was sooo awesomely bad/great…i am also rubbish with the computer, the boy helped me with that
Donner kebab, not gyros. 😉 I find it about half the time when I go out eating Basil, depends on the place.
I love mayo on fries!
I’m pretty sure you can get malt vinegar at places that specialize in fries like NY Fries and I believe some of the chip trucks on SGR in the summer have it.
I was never a fan of it myself; I like regular white vinegar — you should carry a little tupperware widget with some in it for next time you go out to eat, OP 🙂
Mmm, mayo dip for fries. So much better than ketchup.
Malt vinegar is available at Elephant & Castle and yes, PK, the chip trucks have it. Haven’t seen it anywhere else, though.
Heh, if you want to make comparisons of the UK and North American ways of doing fries, I found that every “chippy” I went into in England, they charged you if you if wanted packs of ketchup. Could you imagine if they tried that here? Don’t know if it’s a standard there, or just the ones I was in.
I love malt vinegar on my fries too. Usually you just need to ask for it and someone will come through for you.
The reason for my vent was, last Friday I had lunch at Boneheads and asked for malt vinegar – they had lovely hand cut fries and white vinegar just didn’t do it.
BTW malt vinegar stings like a bastard on a cut.
Try finding Vegemite around here! Also quite tasty.
And Tim Tams, they’re delicious.
vegemite and tim tams are thankfully easy to find, i’d be lost without them
An Aussie friend of mine dared me to try a Vegemite sammich once… Ugh.
http://www.cleavelin.net/archives001/heinz…
Basil, I also had lunch at boneheads on Friday! If you took a look around, I was the only gal in the place? WTF? Don’t understand why so many ladies are afraid of red meat…..mmmmm it was good!
Lorilu – were you with 2 gents at a table in the middle of the tiny place?
Nope, I guess we were there at different times! I was there around noon, place was packed! Darn, it would be so nice to put a face to the names here, don’tcha think?
‘lost aussie’, I’ve only ever seen Milo at the Superstore once. I imagine that you could find vegemite somewhere. Never seen Tim Tams, though: tell me where, I want some!
Know where to find some VB, a pack of Winfields, and a good meat pie, like the kind you get at 7/11? Roller shutters and a Commodore? Now you must be getting really homesick!
Sucks you two didn’t see eachother, that would have been hot.
I finally got a proper PSST (I think, maybe) written about me! Woooh! And even if it’s not about me, I’m (maybe, pretty sure) still a “beautiful boy” and the “equally handsome friend.” Yay for Tom’s (though even the drinks on special there are fucking expensive)!
Vegemite’s British cousin Marmite is available at the super store and although a little costlier, at Pete’s. Mmmmmmmmmmmm…marmite…as a spread or an additive to some recipes.
Marmite is wonderful, just don’t read the sodium content on the label, in a pinch you can spread it on your driveway as ice-melter.
Isn’t Vegemite/Marmite salted cat-sick put in a bottle?
mmmmmmm, cat-sick. it’s still warm….
quick little tid-bit for those who use mcChicken sauce on fries….
it’s only a pinch of onion powder per 50 ml of mayo.
where’s my Royal with Cheese?
Marmite cannot be better than Vegemite. And someone tell me where I can get me bloody Tim Tams! Those things are delicious.
Nuts to that, it’s all about the Branston Pickle!
Walkers Marmite Crisps…need I say more? Mmm…mmm…mmmmmmmmmmm!
geez you people… I’ve never even seen the stuff before….
but when the description is a flavorful, salty paste… well
only one thing really cums to mind.
Branston Pickle is more like relish. But better. Because it’s Branston Pickle.
ever had twiglets oceanlady???
No I haven’t paingirl. What is a twiglet?
zZz: Marmite is also known as yeast extract which is a common ingredient in many processed foods. Think of it as a spreadable vegetable bouillion. Marmite’s slogan is: ‘Love it or hate it’. Many people love it! It has a very strong, tangy, yummy flavour!
they are these straight pretzel type things with dried vegamite i bought them at the eatons center in tinker toy type cans for me pa who can’t eat them now ’cause they have wheat in them, they were right some tasty…
Gotta try me a ‘Boro Parmo before I die. Thanks Teesside Tin-Tin.
Paingirl:
They were “right some tasty”? Really? heh, I thought they were the most aptly named snack I’ve ever eaten. It’s what you would imagine eating a twig would be like.
teehee…yeah my dad never really had to worry about anyone but the family eating them. most people would take one and do the fake mmm but never reached for another
While I didn’t mind Walkers Marmite Crisps, I could do without Twiglets. They can be found at Pete’s, though, if one wanted to try ’em.
QPMZ, tim tams are found at the superstore and vegemite at petes, sadly i have to make my own pies, i cant get any winnies and i’m about ready to trade my grandmother for a coopers green.
i’ll let the commodore remark slip cause my falcon ute eats commodores.
i did however find a burger in town with beetroot and an egg on it, no twisties though
qpmz, tim tams are to be found at the superstore on young.
vegemite at petes spring garden.
the pies i make myself,.
the beer is coopers(yet to be found)
the aussie burger is at dofsky’s
my falcon ute eats commodores
still looking for the winnies and the chicken twisties though
Superstore, really? Far out, I’m wrapped! You can’t beat the sausage rolls and meat pies you find at 7/11… not in a million years. I miss all the cheap “Fish & Chips & Hamburgers & Souvlaki” shops you find everywhere, too, mostly owned by a cute little Greek family, of course. You got Nick on the frier, Maria working cash, and the Dad, Jim, running the place.
Coopers is quite good, though Little Creatures is better, but for a standard beer it was VB all the way. Carlton is nice too, though.
Good luck doing a fully sick burnout at Maccas with your Falcon Ute… it might be sick, just not fully sick. Are you a tradey?
Where did you find this burger? I need to find a place that does good coffee again, too – flat white, short black, cappacino, yum.
Cheers mate!
Just saw your second post… I’ll definitely have to check out Dofsky’s for their Aussie burger. Aussie bacon, though, I really didn’t like – too fatty!
Apparently you can go into any of the major NSLCs and order in any beer from around the world there. I’ll have to get me slab of VB from there some time, though it wont be the same experience of going to the drive-through bottle shop in Broady. Some real classy characters there!
Funny thing is I found Moosehead beer at a First Choice Liquor store once in Melbourne.
but what good is bacon without the fat i ask you????? i’m heading home after 6 years in two weeks, first stop….the espy in st kilda for a dozen pots and wall 280 for a real coffee then down to clamms for a real fish and chips, with real shark.
lost aussie you’re on the wrong coast holy shit there’s thousands of youse and kiwis there’s 5 of us in a condo and 3 are aus.; i limey and one canuck (me) of yea i’m working in whistler for the olym.
I guess my twiglet question was answered, now, what is a tim tam?
q…, the fish and chip shop you described exists at John’s Lunch up the hill from the Woodside Ferry Terminal. Have you been there? They also have the BEST deep fried clams EVER!!!
BTW: lost aussie, what are winnies and chicken twisties?
so where was everone on australia day then????? all i wanted was a barbie!!
Oceanlady, winnies are winfield cigarettes ( along with holiday and horizon they are the bogans favourite)
chicken twisties are a puffed corn snack that really taste nothing like chicken and resemble seriously deformed cheese doodles
shit i’ve got like 20 barbies and a few kens too and hello kitties and dora the explorer and diego and…..
and tim tams are truly the greatest biscuit ( read: cookie) ever, its kind of like a rectangular chocolate dipped oreo filled with whipped chocolate only a million times better but they have heaps of flavours now.
as for the fish and chips, nothing here will compare to the aussie version simply because we use large thin slices of shark instead of haddock.
The Espy and Clamms… love it! Been to both, both great places. I, too, loved the massive pieces of fish with heaps of chips you’d get. Also check out the rides at Luna Park and go for a swim at St Kilda Beach… watch for the syringes, though. St Kilda’s still a tad dodgy, though not as bad as Melbourne’s favourite beachside suburb, Frankston. Lose all your money at Crowne. See all the hipsters and hipster-wannabes hanging out in Fitzroy. Barrack (not root, haha) for the world’s greatest footy team, Collingwood, at the MCG… yes, Collingwood. Do a burnout at the Bell Street Maccas. Grow a vegie patch and keep the roller shutters down in Reservoir (AKA Reza, mate!). Admire the mansions and have people look down on you in Toorak. Get beaten up and mugged in Broadmeadows. Classic! I’m jealous, ‘lost aussie’. Have a pot of Carlton for me.
Hopefully this will help explain a few things for those who’ve never been there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQpr1lKHjP8
Seriously though, Austraya’s a great place with great people.
Another thing to know about Australia: NOBODY likes a Bogan!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA8gJoT5yl4…
god, its almost enough to bring a tear to my eye, and i tell you what, i’ll have a slab of melbourne long necks just for you
Ha ha, I almost forgot about Melbourne Bitter! Just when you thought VB was too Bogan…
Don’t forget to have a few Bundy Rum & Cokes, too! And I expect to see you doing a fully sick burnout at the Bell Street Maccas in your Falcon Ute on YouTube, OK?