25 Jul 2013

JACKET POTATOS

Jenny Matlock
more participants at Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday

Maybe because I can't find the right potatos in Belgium for this simple plate,  I adore eating them when I am in the UK !

So while you are reading this I am sitting in the Eurostar train on my way to London, where I stop for a few hours before I take the train to Eastbourne to spend a week with my friends at the English South East coast, as I do each year.

As soon as I  am in London and it's lunch time I go "Jacket potato" hunting ! I usually take them with bacon and cheese, but sometimes also with shrimps. I just love them. It reminds me my childhood when my grandma baked them because in the part of Germany where she lived it also was a common plate. Usually it was served with quark and salad. In Belgium, France and Italy it is completely unknown.

The jacket potato is the same as a  baked potato but is called jacket potato in the United Kingdom. The baked potato has been popular in the UK for many years. In the mid-19th century, jacket potatoes were sold on the streets by hawkers during the autumn and winter months. In London, it was estimated that some 10 tons of baked potatoes were sold each day by this method. Common jacket potato fillings (or "toppings") in the UK  include cheese and beans, tuna mayonnaise, chili con carne and chicken and bacon.

As part of the upsurge for more healthy fast food, the baked potato has again taken to the streets of the UK both in mobile units and restaurants. The fast-food chain Spudulike is specialized in baked potatoes. Personally I have never tried them out.



Ready for holidays !

******

Concerning the new Gmail presentation, in case you want to change it into "normal" again !

I got some help from a blogfriend to turn it back to "normal". Go to the little wheel on the right side of your incoming mail box, just besides the arrows, click on it and you will have the settings. Click on "configure inbox" and set it to "Primary". Then it will appear like before !



18 comments:

  1. Here in Africa you cannot bake a potato. They're terrible. But back home in SA, I often have one filled with cottage cheese for my lunch. I had a delicious baked (jacket) potato in The Shambles in Chesterfiel, UK - my friend had bacon and cheese filling; I had baked beans. Hope you're enjoying your trip today. (((Hugs))) Jo

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  2. Oh, I also meant to ask: what is quark?

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  3. WE love eating jacket potatoes.. infact am intending to bake some for dinner tonight.

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  4. Enjoy your day in London, sorry I can't share it with you. Every time I see a jacket potato on the menu I always think of you.

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  5. We bake potatoes but eat them without anything even salt.

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  6. I didn't see jacket potatoes in London! another thing I missed.
    Thank you for sorting out my G mail with your instructions, I am now back to 'normal' I hated the new setup.

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  7. I prefer my jacket potatoes with butter only. Plenty of it though, it has to be dripping. Perhaps not the best, but certainly the tastiest... Mmmm

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  8. I love jacket potatoes too. They are easy to do in a microwave now. The best I had was in the Lakes District in UK. Have a great time at Eastbourne. Hope the weather is kind. Thanks for the tip.

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  9. Hi Gattina .. I'm glad my instructions helped you and you've noted them for others ..

    Jacket potatoes .. I love them - preferably from an Aga ... it just crisps them up better! I often have a meal of just baked potatoes and butter and salt and pepper - delicious!

    Cheers and you're probably almost here now ... enjoy your stay and perhaps I'll see you .. Hilary

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  10. Although Hubby likes sour cream and chives on his, I am a simple girl and love butter, salt & pepper!

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  11. I loved baked potatoes with everything and anything imaginable on them!!

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  12. Potatoes baked in their jackets are served with butter at most dinner restaurants in Canada, and the server brings a choice of sour cream, green onions, and bacon bits to put on top of the butter.
    They're also good (at home) with plain yogurt instead of sour cream, with green onions but no bacon bits or butter. Diet baked potato, I call it.
    K

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  13. We call them Potato Skins in Canada.
    YUMMYYYYYYYYY!

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  14. I've always thought baked potatoes were fattening, esp. with butter and sour creme. I guess it's just high in carbohydrates... Thanks for the info about the gmail - mine hasn't changed yet, but I NOW plan to change it back when it does! {:-Deb

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  15. I love baked potatoes too and they are a comfort food. When I bake them myself, I eat the skin and all. Too many restaurants here just microwave them or wrap them in foil and so they are steamed, not baked/roasted as they should be.

    I like them with cottage cheese or shredded cheese and maybe broccoli for lunch or with butter/sour cream as a side dish for dinner. When I was a child, we just had them mashed up in the shell with a little bit of milk.

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  16. I love baked potatoes but with tuna mayonnaise? not so much.

    great J post. hope you have a sweet day.

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  17. We call them baked potatoes!

    I think whatever they're called they are Just delicious, though.

    What a neat idea to start a fast food plan around them!

    I think that is really clever!

    Thanks for a fun link for the letter "J".

    A+

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