International English food terms

The following list of international English food terms points out differences in food terminology between some different dialects of English.

List

United States Canada UK Australia Dairy, eggs & meat whole milk homogenized or 3% milk full fat or whole milk full-cream milk skim, fat free, or nonfat milk skimmed milk, skim milk skimmed milk skim milk 2% milk 2% milk semi-skimmed milk "hilo" large egg large egg medium egg large egg ground meat or chopped (usually beef) ground or minced meat mince or minced meat mince Produce/vegetables green onion or scallion green onion spring onion (scallion in some areas) spring onion cilantro cilantro or coriander (or cilantro may refer to the leafy herb, and coriander to the dried spice of the seed) coriander coriander cantaloupe cantaloupe cantaloupe or rockmelon zucchini zucchini courgette zucchini squash squash marrow or squash — marrow specifically refers to a large, green elongated squash with white flesh pumpkin or squash eggplant eggplant aubergine eggplant garbanzo or chickpea chickpea chickpea chickpea navy beans haricots haricot beans haricot beans chard chard silverbeet or chard silverbeet bell peppers or green/red/yellow peppers green peppers or bell peppers peppers, or green peppers (or red/yellow/orange peppers) capsicum — bell peppers sometimes describe a much smaller, sweeter pepper chili peppers, hot peppers, chiles or by individual name (jalapeño, e.g.) chillis chillies, or by individual name (jalapeño, e.g.) Prepared foods pickle pickle (gherkin refers specifically to a "dwarf" pickle) gherkin gherkin bouillon or stock cube stock cube stock cube stock cube French fries or fries, or steak fries (for thicker versions), also "fish and chips" French fries, fries, or chips, depending on region, also "fish and chips" chips chips chips or potato chips chips or potato chips crisps chips or potato chips apple crisp or apple crumble apple crisp or apple crumble apple crumble apple crumble ketchup or catsup ketchup tomato ketchup or tomato sauce or red sauce tomato sauce Baking and baked goods bread flour bread flour strong flour bread flour all-purpose flour all-purpose flour plain flour plain flour self-rising flour self-rising flour self-raising flour self-raising flour cornstarch or corn starch cornstarch corn flour cornflour golden raisins sultana raisins sultanas sultanas corn syrup or KaroR syrup corn syrup corn syrup corn syrup molasses molasses molasses – treacle describes a lighter molasses molasses – treacle describes a lighter molasses powdered sugar or confectioner's sugar icing sugar or confectionery sugar icing sugar icing sugar superfine sugar caster sugar caster sugar bread pudding Bread and butter pudding Bread and butter pudding Steamed sponge pudding Sponge pudding (when made with currants, raisins or sultanas it is called Spotted dick) no equivalent Drinks lemonade lemonade traditional, cloudy or still lemonade (NB traditional/cloudy lemonade can also be fizzy); lemon squash lemon squash soda, pop, soda pop, cola, coke, or soft drink pop soft drink (although this refers to any non-alcoholic drink or fruit juice), fizzy drink, fizzy pop, pop or juice (Scotland) soft drink lemon-lime soda/pop, or a brand name (e.g. Sprite) lemon or lemon-lime drink lemonade lemonade fruit drink concentrate fruit concentrate squash or cordial cordial apple juice or cider apple juice apple juice sparkling apple juice hard cider cider or hard cider cider cider vermouth Vermouth vermouth vermouth Sweets dessert dessert dessert or pudding (in addition to the use describing pudding) dessert Jell-o, Jello, jello or gelatin Jell-o, Jello, jello or gelatin jelly jelly cookie cookie (unless referring to tea biscuits, for example) biscuit; also cookie, which refers to large soft "American-style" biscuits biscuit; also cookie, same definition as UK biscuit biscuit, scone scone scone digestive cookie digestive cookie digestive or digestive biscuit digestive biscuit

Digestive biscuits and Graham crackers

These two items are fairly different, but are used similarly (e.g. to make crumb crusts for a cheesecake). Graham crackers are sweeter, and are available in different flavors (e.g. cinnamon, chocolate). Digestive biscuits are richer, and while slightly sweet, are used with cheese by a small minority. They are also available coated on one side with milk chocolate or dark chocolate. Digestive biscuits are common in the Northeast United States, served with tea. Peek Frean is a common brand in the United States, however the original producer McVities still produces the biscuit in the UK.

Chips and French fries In Ireland and the UK, deep fried potato sticks or "french fries" are called "skinny chips/fries", while "chips" are thicker potato sticks which can be deep fried or oven baked.

Apple juice, cider and hard cider In America, fermented apple juice is called "hard cider". "Apple cider" refers to unfiltered (un-fermented) apple juice, typically pasteurized to make it shelf-stable. In New England and parts of Canada, "fresh cider" or sweet cider refers to fresh pressed apple juice; this is unlike any commercial product, and can be found at farm stands and orchards.

American cider (both fresh and hard) is sometimes also made from pears. This is referred to as "pear cider," and is equivalent to perry.

See also

American and British English differences British Approved Name

References