In my first-ever column here at the Oxford Blue, I started with a reflection on a Saturday Night Live (US) sketch about eating alone while watching YouTube. During my time here at Oxford, Saturday Night Live came out with a UK version. Now, every weekend, I find myself increasingly caught between the two shows and wishing I had more time to devote to consuming them in their entirety. There are more references in the British version, some styles of humour that I don’t really understand. I think that’s just a byproduct of growing up in the United States with the original SNL and all its unique American-isms. Naturally, there are times when I gravitate even more towards the original SNL after some time spent watching SNL UK, mostly because I seek comfort in what I know.
SNL UK came out with a sketch that perfectly encapsulates this experience of craving familiarity. Titled “Pub Song,” the sketch features a group of British friends who travel to Spain for vacation. Once they’re in Spain, they wind up only hanging out at the British-themed pub. When one friend complains that she learned Spanish on Duolingo for the trip to Spain and that they’re wasting their immersion experience, an Irishman (Jamie Dornan) tells them that he knows another place they can go to to solve their dilemma. In a hilarious twist, the crew ends up at the Irish-themed pub in Spain instead.
This is my favorite sketch thus far in SNL UK, mostly because I relate a lot to it. I came to England wanting to experience all the classic British culinary offerings and British “culture”, whatever that meant. Instead, I was made more aware of the absence of American culture.
I found myself craving American diners again. I wanted American cheeseburgers and pies, despite not even getting them all that often when I was in the States. I’m not ashamed to admit that there were several nights in a row where I kept searching “cream pies near me” and being utterly disappointed at what came up. I tried multiple burger places that were intended to pay homage to American culture, but only made me miss the States more because they weren’t the same. I sincerely hope my next-door neighbor didn’t hear this, but I remember playing Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” approximately twenty times in a loop in my dorm — which is funny, because other than a few brief stays in Dallas and Austin, I’m a Californian through and through who otherwise has no connection to Texas.
Maybe it’s ironic that I’m an American suddenly finding comfort in American stereotypes like cheeseburgers and fries (I still struggle to call them “chips”). Coming to Oxford has made me much more conscious of what a classic understanding of American identity is, now that I’m more removed from being an American in America. So that means diners and burgers and cream pies and country music — all aspects of culture that might first come to mind when one thinks of what “America” is. Yet, craving that familiarity often means that you lose out on new experiences. As I near the end of my year here, I’m telling myself that I came to Oxford for those new experiences.
In light of this newfound cultural consciousness, I’ve been watching a lot of LADbible’s YouTube “Snack Wars” series where celebrities compare food, usually British, to that of another culture. I want to know how food can represent a part of national identity. So many celebrities have had their reactions featured: Olivia Dean, Laufey, Tom Holland, Hailey Bieber, Ryan Gosling, and Sabrina Carpenter, among others. I’m always a bit hesitant to adopt a comparative framework myself when it comes to trying a different nation’s food, as much as I do enjoy YouTube reaction videos about British vs. American snacks. For one, growing up in a place and developing that familiarity with the general taste palate and texture means that oftentimes, it’s easy to default to that comfort for rankings. I have to admit that here at Oxford, I sometimes find myself more willing to equate comfort with higher quality: a way of thinking about cuisine that results in sticking to what’s familiar all the time. Still, there’s something to be said about the joy one feels when, after a long string of unfamiliar foods while traveling, we go back to that restaurant that serves us our comfort meal.
But I want to do better. Exposure to a new thing makes it become familiar. So, I’ve been going out and modeling my own Oxford experience as an American student after these LADbible videos. I watched Nicholas Hoult (British) and David Corenswet (American) taste Greggs sausage rolls. Nicholas Hoult waxed nostalgic about them, saying that they used to be his lunch when he was in school. David Corenswet tried a bite. He didn’t seem to like it, shoving it back in the bag. Nicholas Hoult took this as a personal insult, proclaiming David Corenswet’s perceived dislike as an affront to British culture.
I see this as another example of how familiarity in foods often translates to a preference for that food. Nicholas Hoult grew up with Greggs sausage rolls, so those childhood memories could be said to have impacted his own fondness for them. And since Nicholas Hoult proclaimed Greggs sausage rolls as a part of British culture, I went to try them myself at the Greggs on Cornmarket Street, in addition to the one at the railway station. Just to ensure accuracy.
I quite liked them. In fact, I’ve gotten multiple since my first time trying them. Although I will say that they’re a bit salty for my taste, I might actually prefer their flaky pastry goodness to the dryness of pretty much all the American hot dog buns I’ve tried. There I disproved my own hypothesis that an American would prefer American food over others because of familiarity. Incentivised by this, I went off on a spree around Oxford to try what might be considered British classics according to word-of-mouth and Google searches online.
One day, I stepped inside Browns and got fish and chips, a stereotypical British classic. I realised that I didn’t like fried fish, and the dish was much too greasy for me. On another occasion, I partook in a traditional Sunday roast solo at The Plough Inn, where I got roast chicken with Yorkshire pudding. I found the roast chicken rather standard and could have done with a lot more sauce, but perhaps that’s something to be said about many British dishes overall. The Yorkshire pudding reminded me of American popovers I’d get at my local café. This was one of those moments where I had to judge that the American ones were better, from my point of view, because they were served piping hot, while the Yorkshire pudding I got was served more limply at room temperature.
I consumed an English breakfast at Love Coffee Co. and still didn’t enjoy the beans, although I appreciated how hearty and plentiful the breakfast was. I also went to the Covered Market and got an Aero mint chocolate milkshake at Moo-Moo’s, which surprised me as I’d never tasted an aerated chocolate in the States. Then I stopped by Tesco and got an Aero mint chocolate bar, which often appears as a test subject in videos of Americans trying British food. This lighter, textured taste was exactly what I’d been craving amid the oftentimes overly cloying mint chocolate bars in the states. Similarly, I was inspired by Zendaya and Tom Holland’s interaction regarding Jaffa cakes—upon hearing that they contained orange, Zendaya immediately declined, after which Tom Holland remarked that she failed her opportunity to win over the British public—and so purchased a box of Jaffa cakes.
I ate three and, although I appreciated the complex mouthfeel of the jamminess, the sponge, and the chocolate, I was very much like Zendaya in that I disliked the orange flavor. Then I watched Hailey Bieber taking a bite of a Jaffa cake, upon which she compared it to an American Mallomar. I don’t think I’ve ever had a Mallomar, but I understood the innate inclination we all have to reference something that feels familiar.
What my British food adventures have taught me is that yes, there are times where I’ll prefer certain American foods over British ones because they’re what I’m used to. However, there are also times where it’ll be the other way around. It’s an unconscious comparative state of mind, but in order for that to exist, it’s important to also try food that isn’t from the culture we’ve grown up in.
I won’t claim that the British foods I’ve tried are representative of British culture as a whole, but I look forward to exploring more of them. As an American at Oxford, I want to come out of my experience knowing I’ve made an effort to immerse myself in my local surroundings — starting with the restaurants, bakeries, and groceries giving us iconic British staples. I came to Oxford to broaden my perspectives, and maybe getting fish and chips is a silly, simplistic, stereotypical way to do that. I think, though, that food is an important part of national identity. As an American, I have the unique opportunity of immersing myself in a new culture while still staying connected to my own, just like watching both versions of SNL. It’s a privilege to do that, just as it’s a privilege being able to return to the States having tasted a Greggs sausage roll.