I am out of the UK at the moment and unable to watch the preview clip or the next two final episodes. I did read the description of the Flip It episode and already wish I could be there to watch!

Firstly - naming a Mexican restaurant Caracas, because it rhymes with maracas. Except Caracas is the capital of Venezuela. I'll let serving nachos slide, but only because most 'Mexican' restaurants in the UK are actually TexMex, and even one step further British TexMex - so it's possible there are many people who think nachos are actually a Mexican dish.

On the other team, I see that they dedicate pie/mash dishes to historic Brits. And in that they included Christopher Columbus, the Italian / Spanish explorer. Dedicating anything to Columbus in this day and age is questionable, as history has shown us that were he alive today, he would have been charged with crimes against humanity. A vicious barbaric man who brutalized, raped, robbed and enslaved those he came across on his voyages. But probably makes a good pie.

Stringy, but tasty, nonetheless.

Not as good as Sweeney Todd.

According to the preview, Tom thinks William Drake and Christopher Columbus were English explorers and that Columbus introduced the potato here. Is Tom the new Susan?

Personally I'd have gone for an Indian themed fast food. How could you go wrong with chicken tikka in naan bread with some salad?

I don't think Tom is close to Susan with those questions - although they are daft, there are a lot more people who wouldn't know them.

I recall in a previous restaurant episode that the curry place realized too late how difficult to make the food was, took A LOT of spices and ingredients and hours of cooking time. Plus parts of London are oversaturated with curry in a hurry places. I'd go for an American style deli, there is a gap in the market, there has been a huge increase of Americans in London in the past year and it would be on the easier end to put together. Plus could offer more variety than the overabundance of mayonnaise based sandwiches the UK loves!!!

Really? Seems rather an odd assertion. Do you have a source for that?

I can't see a Deli as a viable option because it requires sourcing suppliers for a very large range of ingredients if you want to do it properly and they only have one day to set it up.

Columbus was a mariner of his time, no better or worse than any of the others. We can only judge him in that light.

In Tom's case they aren't really questions, more statements of facts as he believes them. Helen doesn't correct him either. Different, but just as embarrassing as Susan's innocent ramblings. Getting Drake's first name wrong isn't so bad, but thinking Columbus was English (and confusing him with Raleigh) is incomprehensible.


And there are plenty of US Deli and Mexican food outlets too. Now if this was proper Mexican food, rather than a version of TexMex, I think it might be a good idea. Anyone who has tried Taco Bell will know how awful TexMex fast food can be. Taco Bell has launched in the UK, so it's not really new to the market.

I was thinking more of fast food based on starters found in Indian restaurant menus, not curry per se. Curry sauces would be complex to produce on site I agree, not to mention hard to eat on the move. Providing marinated meat for tikka is no more difficult than doing it for kebabs. Samosas and bhajis would be good on the menu too.

Oh and I love mayo in sandwiches (and just about anything else) too.

Please. It still amounts to the same thing: ignorance. It's not something to be ashamed of, either. Some may make fun of us all for not knowing any better, but in reality, we all are guilty of being ignorant about one thing or another. I drive but I don't know how a car operates. On the other hand, I use a computer and I know how it operates. I'm confident enough to give Mastermind a try with the life and works of artist Tetsuya Ishida as my chosen subject, but I'll weep bitterly if I were to be tested on astronomy because I know I'll shock and awe the world with my appalling ignorance of astronomy.


If you cook pots of lamb curry, beef curry, cauliflower curry (vegetarian option) and rice well in advance, it can be quite profitable. It's a lot cheaper and less laborious than a deli, too. If I were to choose, I'd pick Italian cuisine. It's dead easy and cheap.

Anecdotally, because I am an American living in the UK for many years and have observed in the past two years in increase in American product availability (outside tourist areas). Most have to do with Thanksgiving, eg Waitrose now sells Libbys pumpkin year round. I have spoken to several shopowners, etc just out of my own curiosity, and been told a number of times they have had an increase in requests for these products and have therefore tried to stock more.

Factually, I don't have a source I can share publicly, but at work I have access to a demograhics / statistical database and was looking at it only a couple months ago and it had a clear upward trajectory for Americans emigrating in recent years. I think last year's increase was around 400% in London. I will have a look when I have better internet access to see if ONS has the right data to demonstrate this as well!