Weetabix #BriFri #WeekendCooking

Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British — reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British-themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party!

Last week for British Isles Friday, Heather reviewed The Shepherd’s Crown (Terry Pratchett’s last book), Sim shared her fantasy flight to Heathrow (it involves Colin Firth, of course), and Tina reviewed The Girl on the Train (which wins for the most reviewed book on British Isles Friday, so far).

Weetabix, “the classic cereal for British breakfast tables”

I have no idea when I developed a fascination for Weetabix, the whole wheat breakfast cereal beloved or hated by the British. Frankly, I think it was the name, Weetabix, that was the first attraction. The closest thing an American company produces to Weetabix is the Big Biscuit variety of Shredded Wheat, only Weetabix is flaky rather than shredded.

My breakfast choice at home is usually a somewhat sweet breakfast cereal topped with yogurt cheese (strained nonfat plain yogurt). I knew I wouldn’t be making yogurt cheese during our trip to England, so I decided to swap the parts of my breakfast. Sweet yogurts were ubiquitous in even the smallest food shops. So, my English breakfast was sweet yogurt topped with crushed Weetabix to add a bit of substance.

When I got home, about this time last year, I discovered that the nearby international grocery carries Weetabix. I invented a breakfast for fall that was healthier than either my American routine or my English one.

Locally-made apple or pumpkin butter sweetens yogurt cheese with much less sugar than a commercial yogurt. Weetabix has much less sugar than my normal American cereal. My fall breakfast: apple or pumpkin yogurt cheese topped with Weetabix. It captures the season and my love affair with England in one simple dish while reducing the amount of sugar in my day.

Have you been able to transport a British food into your normal routine?

I’ll link this post to Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads tomorrow. Check out her list of links for recipes and other culinary adventures.

Comments

Weetabix #BriFri #WeekendCooking — 14 Comments

Sim Carter on October 9, 2015 at 12:02 pm said:

I haven’t tried Weetabix but my brother grew up eating Shredded Wheat. I was a raisin bran kid but I seem to remember my mother pouring boiling water over the cereal. Does that sound right? These days I’ve been eating plain Greek yoghurt with a sliced banana and strawberries and a squirt or two of honey. Maybe I’ll try Weetabix for a touch of fiber!

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Danielle Irwin on October 9, 2015 at 12:41 pm said:

I’ve been doing fried tomatoes now with my eggs. And they have Salad Cream at a few stores that I occasionally use for my salad. Now, if they only sold Irn Bru in the stores, my kids would be happy!

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- Joy Weese Moll on October 10, 2015 at 8:22 am said:
  
  I was surprised to discover that I love cooked tomatoes with my hot breakfasts in the British Isles!
  
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Beth F on October 10, 2015 at 9:06 am said:

I developed my love for cider on tap when I lived in the UK. So funny that weetabix was mentioned in two Weekend Cooking posts this week.

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Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library on October 10, 2015 at 10:06 am said:

I’ve heard of Weetabix but didn’t know what it was. I have found that in general most British treats have much less sugar than ours do. I’ll have to look for this next time I’m at the grocery store with a good sized international section.

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jama on October 10, 2015 at 10:08 am said:

I went through a phase of being fascinated by Weetabix too. I found that I liked it warmed up — pour milk on it, then heat in the microwave. As you say, it has a different consistency from shredded wheat.

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Sarah's Book Shelves on October 10, 2015 at 1:24 pm said:

I just read The Royal We and Weetabix makes an appearance in it! I hadn’t heard of it before, so thank you for the education!

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Claudia on October 10, 2015 at 1:28 pm said:

Ok, now I know what Weetabix is. We had Shredded Wheat as kids, and Cheerios, or Corn Flakes. Now I have homemade granola some days and an egg with toast on other week days. Weekends are for waffles, pancakes, or eggs and bacon. My main British food transplant has been Yorkshire pudding, mini ones with a roast beef.

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Carole from Carole's Chatter on October 10, 2015 at 2:31 pm said:

It’s called Weetbix here and is also a New Zealand classsic. I didn’t like milk as a kid so used to eat them as a sandwich with butter. Cheers

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Rebecca on October 10, 2015 at 7:11 pm said:

Where do you find Weetabix? Wheat? Can’t have wheat or dairy. So, as good as it sounds can’t gave it..

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- Joy Weese Moll on October 10, 2015 at 7:21 pm said:
  
  Definitely wheat. Global Foods has it here in Kirkwood. I also just saw it at the Brentwood Whole Foods.
  
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Vicki on October 10, 2015 at 7:53 pm said:

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Weetabix until today, and now this is the second post about it. I do love Shredded Wheat, so I bet I’d like this too.

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Diane (@bookchickdi) on October 11, 2015 at 4:08 pm said:

I remember seeing Weetabix everywhere we went in London. What a fun meme- British Isles Friday!

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