George Bernard Shaw said “the British and the Americans are two peoples separated by a common language“. Presumably, he was speaking about food at the time as you will see in the chart below, listing American (left column) and British (right) culinary terms.
AMERICAN
BRITISH
all-purpose flour
plain flour
baking sheet
baking tray
baking soda
bicarbonate of soda
beef cut from the rump
silverside
beet
beetroot
bouillon cubes
stock cubes
bread flour
strong flour
baking pan
cake tin
candied fruit
glacé fruits
catsup, tomato
ketchup
celery rib
celery stalk
cilantro
coriander, fresh
cookies
biscuits
confectioners’ /powdered sugar
icing sugar
cornstarch
cornflour
cream, heavy
double cream
cream, light, half-and-half
single cream
eggplant
aubergine
extract (vanilla, etc.)
essence
farina
semolina
fat from roasted meat
dripping
fatback
pork fat
fava beans
broad beans
flank steak
skirt steak
French-fried potatoes, french fries
chips
graham crackers
digestive biscuits
ground meats
minced meats
ham
gammon
hard-boiled eggs
hard-cooked eggs
heaping spoonful
heaped spoonful
jumbo shrimp
king prawns
large cut of meat to roast
joint
light corn syrup
golden syrup
molasses
treacle
papaya
paw paw
pig’s foot
pig’s trotter
pork shoulder roast
hand of pork
potato chips
crisps
raisins/seedless, golden
sultanas
stewing beef
chuck steak
sausages
bangers
scallions, green onions
spring or salad onions
shortening, vegetable
margarine/butter/lard
shredded coconut
desiccated coconut
shrimp
prawns
(to) shuck
(to) hull
skillet
frying pan
slice
rasher
spatula
fish slice
strain; strainer
sieve
(to) strain
(to) sift
stuffing mixture for meat or fish
forcemeat
sugar, superfine
castor sugar
sweet or bell peppers
capiscums
tomato catsup
tomato ketchup
vanilla bean
vanilla pod
variety meats (liver, kidney, etc.)
offal
wax paper
greaseproof/parchment paper
zucchini
courgette
