[BITList] Fwd: [INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ] A corner of the former empirewill be forever deep-fried in batter

[HUGH]

John,

I've not been a fan of anything fried, let alone deep fried, for many years, 
though fish and chips a couple of times a year does nobody any harm. In my 
travels I've found mince and tatties (called tatties and mince in these 
airts) can vary a lot.  In Tuscon, Az, one year, we went to THE, the Tucson 
Heritage Experience.  This involved citizens of all ethnicities being 
ethnic - there were lots of stalls and things. One of them offered mince and 
tatties and shortbread.  The shortbread was excellent, but Tucson mince and 
tatties had clearly undergone a sea change since it last saw Scotland.  It 
was a sort of mix of mashed spuds and mince, what Shepherd's Pie might be if 
mixed up.  Nice to eat, but not tatties and mince.  Even here, there is a 
variety I dislike, made from supermarket mince - supermarket mince never 
loses the shape it adopts when coming out of the mincer, it stays stringy 
throughout the cooking.  Tatties and mince in our house has mince from the 
local butcher; carrot; onion; potatoes added cut up, or sliced placed on 
top; and sometimes dumplings made from flour, water and seasoning, added not 
long before serving.  The latter are called doughboys.

Hugh.