Category: breadPrice: 80p for package of 8 Ingredients: wheat flour, water, dextrose, salt, vinegar, raising agents, yeast, acidity regulator, potassium sorbate Crumpets are one of those stereotypical British foods. When Americans are mocking the British they make reference to "tea and crumpets". Most American children think that at tea time, the British all sit around drinking tea and eating trumpets. The British people I have met have never consumed brass instruments to my knowledge, but there are crumpets here. To be fair, I didn't first try them here. They sold them sometimes in the grocery stores in the US, and my dad loves them, so I've been eating them since I was a kid. But I can't pass by something this stereotypically British. A crumpet is a flat bread that lives in a realm somewhere between yeast bread and pancakes. It is a yeast batter that rises and then is cooked on a hot griddle. The cooking method gives it one side that is solid in color like a pancake and the other that is full of tiny holes. It is most often served toasted with a little butter or jam. Some people have been known to use Marmite, but those people are very very wrong. For the purposes of this review, I've eaten mine toasted with a little butter. If you're going to toast your crumpets, it's good to have a wide slot toaster, or they may stick on the inside and you'll have to pry them out with a chopstick. They smell basically like warm toast. It is the texture that makes crumpets exceptional. The outside is crisp and the inside is chewy, like freshly baked breadsticks, only a little sweeter. They are crisp and chewy, and all the little bubbles on the top fill up with butter or jam. It's a very simple food without any complex flavors. Crumpets make a lovely breakfast or teatime snack. I've been known to have crumpets as a nighttime snack. They're worth a try if you spot any in your local grocery store. They're not as dry and boring as plain toast, and not as much of a workout as bagels. And I think that with some whipped cream and strawberries, they could make a fantastic makeshift strawberry shortcake.
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Alana Muir © 2006