Cookbook:International Food Terms

The following international food terms may be useful when reading about food and recipes from different countries.

See also:

Indian ingredients

US	Canada	UK	Australia
Dairy, Eggs & Meat
whole milk	homogenized or 3% milk	full fat milk	full-cream milk
skim or fatfree or nonfat milk	skimmed milk, skim milk, or 1% milk	skimmed milk	skim milk
2% milk	2% milk	semi-skimmed milk	Light or Lite milk
large egg	large egg	medium egg	67gm
ground meat	ground or minced meat	mince or minced meat	mince
Produce/Vegetables
scallion	green onion	spring onion	spring onion
zucchini	zucchini	courgette	zucchini
squash	squash	marrow or squash - marrow specifically refers to a large green elongated squash with white flesh	squash
eggplant	eggplant	aubergine	eggplant
garbanzo or chickpea	chickpea	chickpea	chickpea
navy beans	haricots	haricot beans	navy beans
spinach	spinach	spinach	English spinach
chard	chard	silverbeet or chard ?	silverbeet or spinach
bell peppers	bell peppers/peppers	peppers	capsicum
Prepared Foods
pickle	pickle (gherkin refers specifically to a 'dwarf' pickle)	gherkin	gherkin
chutney	????	chutney	Chutney
bouillon	stock cube	stock cube	stock cube
fries	French fries, fries, or chips, depending on region.	chips	chips or French fries (Note)
chips	chips or potato chips	crisps	chips
crisps	apple crisp or apple crumble	apple crumble	apple crumble
ketchup or catsup	ketchup	tomato ketchup or tomato sauce	tomato sauce
Baking and Baked Goods
bread flour	bread flour	strong flour	bread flour
all-purpose flour	all-purpose flour	plain flour	plain flour
self-rising flour	????	self-raising flour	self-raising flour
cornstarch	cornstarch	cornflour	corn flour (note)
golden raisins	sultanas	sultanas	sultanas
cane syrup	????	golden syrup/light treacle	Golden Syrup
molasses	molasses	black treacle	molasses or treacle
powdered or confectioners sugar	icing or confectionery sugar	icing sugar	icing sugar
superfine sugar	????	caster sugar	caster sugar
popover	Yorkshire pudding	Yorkshire pudding	????
a raisin-studded pudding	????	spotted dick	????
Drinks
lemonade	lemonade	old-fashioned or cloudy lemonade	traditional lemonade
soda, soda pop, coke, or soft drink	pop	soft drink or fizzy drink	soft drink or lolly water
clear lemon soda (e.g Sprite)	lemon or lemon-lime drink	lemonade	lemonade
fruit drink concentrate	fruit concentrate	squash	cordial
Sweets
dessert	dessert	pudding	pudding
pudding	pudding	creamy dessert	pudding
Jell-o, Jello, or jello	Jell-o, Jello, or jello	jelly	jelly
cookie	cookie (unless referring to tea biscuits, for example)	biscuit	biscuit
graham cracker	Graham cracker or digestive biscuit (Note)	digestive biscuit (Note)	digestive biscuit
Techniques
broiling	grilling	grilling	grilling

Digestive Biscuits and Graham Crackers

These two items are fairly different, but are used similarly (e.g. to make crumb crusts for a cheesecake). Graham crackers are sweeter, and are available in different flavors, e.g. cinnamon, chocolate. Digestive biscuits are richer, and while slightly sweet, are often used eaten with cheese. They are also available coated on one side with milk or dark chocolate.

Chips and French Fries (Australia)

In Australia, the term "chips" is generally used, but the term "French fries" is used to describe very finely cut chips (about 1/5" across.)

Cornflour (Australia)

In Australia (and New Zealand?), cornflour is frequently made from wheat. FSANZ regulations require such cornflour to declare that it contains wheat and gluten, and it is usually described as wheaten cornflour. There are some brands of cornflour that are made from maize, however.