I can't think of what may have worked better, I did once read about a man who bought a double decker bus and converted it into a mobile indian restaurant, touring it around France, however thats not exactly 'best of british'

Any Ideas?

xxx
Last edited by princesskate : 04-05-2007 at 11:46

I immediatly thought of kippers/smoked fish when the program was on - so had a wry smile when Lohit took that.
Haggis & black pudding - though not the cheap nasty stuff Paul took.
We are famous for our sweet tooth - so as well as jam & marmalade I would have taken nice sweets/toffees/fudge.

The one thing we have in British cuisine that they don't do in France: pies and pasties. Pork pies, in particular would go down very well, not being too dissimilar to Pate En Croute (so long as they're not bought in Makro!).

And, of course, classic English soft drinks such as Ginger Beer, D&B etc.

And custard! The French love that stuff.

Creme Anglaise! Of course! - the clue is in the name

Mind you dont they call condoms "English overcoats"?

Pies.

deodourant
mouthwash
highway code

Deep fried Mars bars.

Yep, I agree about pork pies, maybe scotch eggs. I think sausages was fine, if cooked and high quality. What about the long sausage in a coil? Cumberland? Samosas and bhajies and pakoras, maybe. Chutneys, pickles and sauces (as they took), Cornish clotted cream....
Last edited by kimindex : 04-05-2007 at 12:30

My initial reaction was chutneys and jams smoked fish never entered my mind as being the obvious winner

Benny Hill - inexplicably, the French love him!

My dad used to work for a Dutch company - he said the Dutch called Kippers "Oyster fish" and would often take some home with them.
Of course the danger is that the French may have no exposure at all to your product and so not know what to do with it.
(Much like myself - I often like the look of the sausages on the French market, but havent a clue as to what to do with them!)

Pot Noodles and Irn Bru (no, not really! ). They might like some of our apples, e.g. Cox's Orange Pippins and Russets (those French 'Golden Delicious' are disgusting!!) and English-style fruits such as rhubarb, gooseberries and blackberries (or am I being terribly ignorant here, thinking they don't already have them?! ).

Toffee, fudge, shortbread, ginger parkin, jams and chutneys, curd and custard tarts.

Stop it, you're making me hungry, lol!!

It was quite funny really - one team were slated for taking cheese. OK, it was ickky cheese but Nick did say why take cheese to the French when they have 400 varieties of the best cheese in the world - and then the other team were slated for taking tea, because the French drink coffee and you don't see much tea in France.

So, wrong if they take something that is novel to France, wrong if they take something common in France. Sounds about right!

Plenty of French people drink tea, but all you can get over there is insipid Liptons teabags, so there is a gap in the market for a decent cuppa. Similarly, if they'd taken unusual British cheeses, they'd have been onto a winner, the point being (despite what Nick said) that any country with 400 types of cheese is obviously into cheese in a big way and presumably receptive to trying a 401st type. It's all about the product and the marketing.

But if you were going to take cheese to a country that has already got so many special cheeses, it would have to be something special, flavoursome and individual, and something they were able to see and taste. Any old mild cheddar wouldn't do. Same with the tea; you'd have to do something extra special to entice them to taste and maybe buy it. Even then....

A delicacy served in tearooms in the Yorkshire Dales: homemade fruitcake, a slab of Wensleydale cheese and a pot of tea. 3 uniquely English products in one serving. That's the kind of thing they should have been dishing up.

Surely the point was not trying to sell them something NEW to their market (and which they possibly might not be interested in) - there were only 5 hours remember, not enough time to develop a new market - but taking something that is a known good seller already in France - but letting them try a British variant of it. The idea was to make as much money as possible in a very short time.

Though (however good it might be) I doubt there'd have been much take up for something like English white wine

Cliff

Absolutely - Paul was just taking the p*ss in a "what do those froggies know about anything?" kind of way, like some Victorian throwback!

The French are also quite keen on fish and chips ... although they probably wouldn't have worked in the context of this task.

i think some nice air dried English ham and mustard. we also now produce wines which 'experts' claim to be better than their french equivalents. not sure they would like being beat at their own game though. could always do a roaring trade selling white flags to them!

Exactly my thought before opening this thread.

I reckon anything cornish wold go down well:

Pasties, clotted cream, cornish ice cream.