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Home > Cakes or Patties?

Cakes or Patties?

June 18th, 2010 at 02:54 pm

English as a language can be confusing even for those of us who have it as a first language.

For example, why do we have tuna cakes and crab cakes, but salmon patties? After all they are similar…you take some sort of seafood, chop some other things with it, bind it together with egg or mayonnaise, put in some bread crumbs, and there you have it. You then cook it and serve it.

It’s darn confusing, that’s for sure. I guess they are too flat to be a loaf and too thick to be like a pancake. But are they really a cake…I always think of a cake as something that is frosted. I guess I could put a bit of frosting on one…oh, never mind…I’m not that crazy.

That being said, I’m fixing tuna something or other tonight. I will use homemade bread crumbs, egg, a dash of mayo, some chopped celery, and bit of turmeric and sauté them in olive oil. I’m planning on making mashed potatoes with some leftover Parmesan cheese and a tomato-feta salad.

Who knows, I might really live it up and tell hubby they are…tuna patties!

Posted in Food / Groceries, Ramblings and nonsensical chatter | 9 Comments »

9 Responses to “Cakes or Patties?”

  1. ceejay74 Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 03:03 pm 1276873399
    1276873399

    Then, if they're veggie, grain or bean based, they tend to be called "fritters"! Confusing indeed, LOL.

  2. CB in the City Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 03:57 pm 1276876655
    1276876655

    I talked to a British guy once who wondered why we called English muffins, English muffins, when they were clearly "crumpets". And what we call a muffin, they call a cake.

  3. north georgia gal Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 04:38 pm 1276879112
    1276879112

    I have never heard of Tuna Cakes! Sounds interesting...

  4. ceejay74 Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 05:22 pm 1276881741
    1276881741

    CB: And our cookies are "biscuits." And our "biscuits" don't exist. Fries are chips, chips are crisps, and grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup isn't a standard meal! I love hashing out the differences with my British husband. Smile

  5. momcents Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 06:39 pm 1276886352
    1276886352


  6. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 08:05 pm 1276891525
    1276891525

    You say salmon patty; I say salmon croquette!

    You must be younger than me, Frugal Foodie. In my younger days, cakes did not always have frosting. In fact, only for special occasions did they have frosting in my childhood household. And on special occasions, they did not have nearly so much frosting as they tend to have nowadays. Think of frost on your windows on a winter day. That is how thickly the frosting was applied. (BTW, frosting versus icing?) Sometimes the top of the cake was dusted with confectioner's sugar.

    USA biscuits don't exist in the UK? Could they be called hardtack there? Can hardtack have fat in it, as do USA biscuits?

    ....Darn, I'm developing an appetite....

  7. rob62521 Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 08:22 pm 1276892573
    1276892573

    Actually our cakes had icing and it was thin...and we didn't have cakes very often. It was a treat. The icing, frosting, or whatever wasn't sickly sweet either. Some of the cakes people buy from the stores and serve have such icky sweet frosting make my teeth hurt.

    So, anyone for dinner?

  8. ceejay74 Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 10:13 pm 1276899205
    1276899205

    British scones are more similar to American biscuits than they are to American scones. My British friends (and some online searching just now) confirm that's the closest thing they have. But you wouldn't have British scones with a chicken dinner or with gravy poured on them; you'd usually have them with clotted cream and jam and a cup of tea. Big Grin

  9. whitestripe Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 11:25 pm 1276903516
    1276903516

    in australia, we call what you guys call biscuits, scones. 'peppers' are capsicums here. (when people refer to peppers on here, i automatically think of black pepper, or chillis).
    crumpets here are a small, circular, airy piece of... something. hard to explain, but yes we call english muffins, english muffins. and muffins here are cakey things shaped like cupcakes but more dense, with usually fruit or chocolate, or savoury, in it.
    and we make savoury scones, but it's not customary to serve them with meals. usually served with chutney, etc.


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