I am an avid fan of cooking shows. They have come a long way from just the chef listing impossible meals and having the food already prepared to location shoots with family members or celebrities learning the recipes. I love this new element because it adds to the notion that ‘everyone can cook’, just like me. But as much as I am a fan, I used to become despondent when the shows listed fruits, vegetables and other ingredients that I had no knowledge of. I thought it was just me until I realised that American based shows speak a different food language than their British or South African counterparts.

So, I went through my recipe books and other blogs where I have written notes like “Frosting- check to see if it’s icing” or “wtf is a bell pepper” also I did a little Google search in case I missed any and I have come up with a list of American versus English/South African food terms:

I hope that this is a little helpful for passionate home cooks like me who watch cooking shows from all over the world. Feel free to add more in the comments .