Stereotypes

[CDoherty95]

Hey y'all

As some of y'all know I'm Irish. I don't go around promoting the Irish stereotype (drunk,religious,lives off potatoes and ginger) but at the same time I'm proud to be Irish!!

In Dublin we get a lot of tourists,mostly American and English. I was in town earlier and saw a young American couple looking a little lost,so being nice I went over and asked if I could help. I think it was fair to say that they had a drink or two at this point, because they asked me if I knew any of the "Father Ted" cast,an then asked if I could give them the recipe to Guinness.

I told them that Ireland wasn't as small as they thought, and only the people that work in guinness know the recipe.

I just remembered it as I logged onto HNet, and thought I'd share it with you.

Do any of y'all have any stereotypical stories to share?

[HossC]

Hey y'all

As some of y'all know I'm Irish. I don't go around promoting the Irish stereotype (drunk,religious,lives off potatoes and ginger) but at the same time I'm proud to be Irish!!

I've been living in Ireland for over 8 years and I've seen most of these stereotypes, but not necessarily in a single person. When I first came here there was a shop on the quay in Wexford that only sold potatoes, but that seems to have closed. I did like the Irish stereotypes in the Family Guy episode 'Peter's Two Dads' - they did a better send-up than The Simpsons (I'm sure they had London buses in their Irish episode). Here's Peter and Brian landing in Ireland:

Family Guy - Peter lands in Ireland

In Dublin we get a lot of tourists,mostly American and English. I was in town earlier and saw a young American couple looking a little lost,so being nice I went over and asked if I could help. I think it was fair to say that they had a drink or two at this point, because they asked me if I knew any of the "Father Ted" cast,an then asked if I could give them the recipe to Guinness.

I told them that Ireland wasn't as small as they thought, and only the people that work in guinness know the recipe.

There is a belief from outsiders that everyone in Ireland knows each other even though there's about 4.5 million people here. Having said that I used to work with a guy who seemed to know an awful lot of them - no matter what place you mentioned, he seemed to know someone who lived near there. I don't know what it's like in Dublin, but people in the rural communities quite often know their neighbors in a five or ten mile radius. This comes in handy when you're trying to find a house in the middle of nowhere, although the directions often leave a lot to be desired. Everyone seems to have a different idea of how far a mile is and I was once told to "go down the road, past a railway bridge that isn't there anymore". You get used to it after a while and it just adds to the charm.

The Guinness recipe question made me laugh. By that logic Lori Davenport, who is from Hazard, Kentucky, should know the Colonel's 'secret recipe'.

I can't claim to know any of the Father Ted cast, but I have seen Pauline McLynn in the town and Ardal O'Hanlon doing stand-up during the annual comedy festival. For those of you not familiar with the show, Ardal is on the left, and Pauline is the the one in the middle (pretty obvious as she's the only female in the picture).

I wonder which English stereotypes I conform to?. I do like drinking tea and warm beer, although the warm beer is more accurately known as real ale and is a very different drink to lager. Whenever the English appear on US shows they seem to be shown as either upper class (see Gaylord Duke), stupid or both. Then again we don't help ourselves with this impression:

It would be interesting to hear what other stereotypes all you foreigners have of the English and Irish .

[RogerDuke]

Since you asked Hoss (on your bottom line) I do have a stereotypical opinion of Irish and English people....

The ones who like The Dukes of Hazzard are smart and the ones who don't like Dukes are stupid.

Hmmmm, now that I think about it, I have that same opinion of folks from every country.

[HossC]

One of the mobile phone companies in Britain has just started showing a commercial that allegedly shows some of the weird things that the British love. I wonder how many people outside of Britain would associate these "loves" with Britain and whether they can be called stereotypes?.

I know I could've put this in the Commercials thread, but it seemed to fit better here.

[Brian Coltrane]

Interesting topic. In my neck of the woods in the States, the Irish are honored as drinkers worthy of our companionship. We've got an "Irish Fest" in the summer that's kind of like St. Patrick's Day x 100.

And then there's an upscale store in a local resort town that's Irish-themed, and they sell the thickest sweaters I've ever seen, along with imported whatnot, and box mixes for Irish soda bread. It's classy. It's overpriced. But it's a positive image.

In my hometown here, we've got an Irish-themed potato restaurant (stuff-it-yerself potatoes) and the 17th of every month is "St. Practice Day" because it's like a mini-St Pat's shindig. They serve Irish Stew and corned beef and cabbage, ect. The Irish Stew is excellent. (it's made with Guiness in the gravy.)

Now, the English...what we know about the English is limited to fish and chips. Except for what we've picked up by watching "Dr. Who" and "Monty Python." Along with James Bond movies. Locally, we seem to relate to the Irish a little easier, though I'd say the sterotypes we have are generally positive ones. Or at least good-natured.

[MaryAnne]

At least you didn't have the "ugly American" tourist type. LOL. All the same, most Americans should not be allowed to travel abroad. They especially should not drink while abroad. LOL

Speaking of drinking and Guiness... Don't drink six bottles of beer at the same time? BRILLIANT!

Hoss, that T-mobile commercial is a hoot. (Hey Brian... Britain loves CHEESE!!!! ) About the only thing in that commercial that I would have associated with the English and call it a possible stereotype is the gardening (see "The Great Escape" LOL)

Anyway, there's a heavier French influence in my neck o' the States with a good mix of Irish, Scot and English thrown in. When St. Patrick's Day rolls around, however, there's not a bar that doesn't have green beer and there are always several corn beef and cabbage dinners locally.

Unfortuantely, not much is done for holidays like Bastille Day. LOL

[HossC]

At least you didn't have the "ugly American" tourist type. LOL. All the same, most Americans should not be allowed to travel abroad.

If

of American high school kids is representative of their knowledge of their own country it makes me wonder what they know about the rest of the world.

I have to admit that when I lived in London we used to laugh at American tourists trying to pronounce Leicester Square. It's obviously a tricky one because I've seen a sign outside a pub where I live advertizing a televised rugby match between "Lester and Wuster" (that should be Leicester and Worcester, but maybe it helps to clear the way they're said). The Irish get their own back - fairly near here you'll find places Skeoghvosteen and Graiguenamanagh.

Speaking of drinking and Guiness... Don't drink six bottles of beer at the same time? BRILLIANT!

That's why two cans is my limit :

When St. Patrick's Day rolls around, however, there's not a bar that doesn't have green beer and there are always several corn beef and cabbage dinners locally.

Strangely I don't think I've ever seen green beer over here, although McDonalds usually does a green milkshake for St. Patrick's Day. Both you and Brian mention corned beef, but here it's more usual to serve bacon (boiled not rashers) with the cabbage. When I Googled Brian's "St. Practice Day" I found a long-established pub in the US (I won't name it) that claimed to be Irish. On the drinks side it served Guinness and Smithwick's, but on the food side the three dishes it was most proud of were French onion soup, chili con carne and New England clam chowder - hardly what I'd call traditional Irish. It makes me question the authenticity of the over-priced burgers at my local American diner.

[Brian Coltrane]

I love that two-can trailer. Yeehaaw!

Not sure what bar ya found in your google search Hoss, but evah-dently St. Practice Day is all over the place! Meanwhile, my local Irish tater restaurant has this on the menu:

Traditional Bangers and Mash

Irish brats slow cooked in Guinness beer and then fried with thin layer of olive oil to produce awe inspiring bangers on a mountain of mashed potatoes,topped with onion gravy.

Now, this might be a stretch, 'cause I don't think the Irish brought bratwurst recipies with them to the New World. But I wasn't there at the time, so who knows.

MaryAnne, you got a good point about the British and cheese. Which made me remember "Wallace and "Gromit" as another fine export from across the pond. Which, after watching an episode, led me to try some Wendslydale cheese. And no disrespect to our British cousins, but...it was like eating plaster. I've sampled dry cheeses before, but man alive, this stuff was like baked clay. Could have been the brand, (it was imported but I can't remember the label) but I haven't found the will to try it again.

Now I have to take a break here and go raid the fridge. I've got a nice block of colby that's suddenly on my mind.

[Brian Coltrane]

Unfortuantely, not much is done for holidays like Bastille Day. LOL

We have a Bastille Days shindig around here in July. Used to be a little tent-event thing, and now it covers 8 city blocks and runs for 3 days. Crazy fun.

[HossC]

MaryAnne, you got a good point about the British and cheese. Which made me remember "Wallace and "Gromit" as another fine export from across the pond. Which, after watching an episode, led me to try some Wendslydale cheese. And no disrespect to our British cousins, but...it was like eating plaster. I've sampled dry cheeses before, but man alive, this stuff was like baked clay. Could have been the brand, (it was imported but I can't remember the label) but I haven't found the will to try it again.

I think you were unlucky. Wensleydale should be a supple, crumbly cheese with a moist texture, never "like baked clay". I sometimes get Wensleydale with cranberries in it - it makes a nice stuffing for chicken breasts. You could also get some Blue Stilton - it's got a strong taste that may not be to your liking, but it's great when melted on a steak. If you really want to be adventurous you could try some Stinking Bishop - it's a very smelly, creamy cheese. The UK even has several stores that only sell cheese. Of course this great choice comes at a price - I can't buy either 'spray cheese' or 'imitation American cheese' (as sampled on the first Top Gear American road trip) - never mind .

If you do go to Britain (or Ireland) looking for cheese just make sure you avoid the store from Monty Python. As far as I know all the cheeses mentioned are real European varieties:

FYI, John Cleese's family name was 'Cheese' until his father changed it.

[Brian Coltrane]

Bahahaha! Great sketch there. I would have been hoppin' mad too, had I went in for cheese and been denied.

Not that cheese is a big deal, but...

Then again, yes it is. Talking about stereotypes, my State is chock full of 'em.

Ya know Hoss, I'll give that Wensleydale another chance. I might have got an old one that was sittin' around too long. If you have a brand to recommend I'll look for it.

I'm not much for the heavy blue cheeses or the strong-scented ones. I brought home a block of Beer Kaese once, unwrapped it, and thought a sewer line ruptured. I lived in an apartment at the time and the smell took over the whole place. It looked like a good, tasty, smooth cheese, but I couldn't get past the scent. I chucked it outside. The smell was so strong, people were rolling up their car windows as they drove down the street.

It was kinda funny to see people hustling down the sidewalk and trying to figure out what that awful stink was. I left it outside for a couple days, and upon realizing that even wandering coyotes would have nothing to do with it, I buried it in the yard.

[HossC]

Ya know Hoss, I'll give that Wensleydale another chance. I might have got an old one that was sittin' around too long. If you have a brand to recommend I'll look for it.

Genuine Wensleydale is only made in (you guessed it) Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, England. The name to look for would be Wensleydale Creamery.

The manufacturers are trying to get 'Protected designation of origin' for Yorkshire Wensleydale, which would mean an end to manufacturers from outside the area using the name - for the time being your Wensleydale may have been made elsewhere. Other cheeses like Dorset Blue Vinney already have this protection (it's a great accompaniment to Dorset Knobs, but that's another story ). Incidentally, the cheese rolling in the T-Mobile commercial is based on a real annual event where a round of Double Gloucester cheese is rolled down Cooper's Hill near Gloucester with competitors chasing after it - read all about it here.

I found some websites that offer British/Irish cheese in the US - I have no idea how good they are:

www.igourmet.com

www.finecheese.co.uk

somerdale.co.uk

I was given a can of 'spray cheese' once, but I never dared to open it, although it did allow me to authentically recreate

.

It's good to know that coyotes don't like smelly cheese - I'll leave some outside if they ever give me any trouble .

[Brian Coltrane]

Ok, I'll look for Wallace and Gromit on the label. I might have tried a knock-off brand, or again maybe it was just old.

There's a number of cheese stores n' gourmet food shops in my area, so I'm sure I can find it and maybe some of these other ones.

Spray can cheese is not cheese. And I hate to say it, but "American" cheese makes me cringe. That's not cheese. It's mostly oil.

(inside cheese monger tip: if it contains "milk protein concentrate" or "whey protein concentrate", those ingredients are industrial waste products that are salvaged from the inside of dairy production hoses and the like. It's not, technically, recognized as a food, but the FDA has been looking the other way on this for years. Check the labels of everything from Cheetos, Doritos, to Junior Mints to Cheez Whiz, to cream cheese, and sour cream packages. It's becoming harder to avoid. This cheap substitute for real milk has contributed to the collapse of raw milk prices and has led to the loss of family farms around the U.S.)

Ahem. Pardon the soap box there, but cheese is a food of the gods and should not be trifled with.

Dang, I'm gonna halfta break into the block of sharp cheddar I was saving. I need to think about something other than cheese for ten minutes.

[HossC]

It's not, technically, recognized as a food, but the FDA has been looking the other way on this for years.

From the country that now thinks pizza is a vegetable, this does not surprise me. Can anyone tell me the best way to grow pizzas, I'm not sure if the climate in Ireland is suitable .

[Brian Coltrane]

From the country that now thinks pizza is a vegetable, this does not surprise me. Can anyone tell me the best way to grow pizzas, I'm not sure if the climate in Ireland is suitable .

Pizza means mozzarella cheese! Hot, gooey, bubbly cheese....

The best way to grow pizza is to dial up an order for delivery. Extra cheese.