EPL Talk » EPL Travel Guide

Bad Teeth, Bad Food and Football Hooligans

The Gaffer — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 06:00:02 +0000

Ask an average American what the British are famous for and the common answers are bad teeth, bad food and hooligans. I’ve heard these stereotypes so many times in the 25 years since I moved to the States from Wales in 1984 that the jokes aren’t funny anymore. Well, at least not that funny.

Rather than write a dissertation on all three of these misconceptions, I thought I’d cover one of the topics. Sure, this is a soccer blog but we all know that hooliganism is practically extinct from the Premier League. So, instead, I’m focusing on a non-soccer topic and that’s the misconception that British food is bland. The post is a good accompaniment to EPL Talk’s free eBook, In Pursuit Of Real Football: The Soccer Fan’s Ultimate Travel Guide To Attending EPL Matches In England.

If you were a tourist visiting the USA and you ate most of your meals at fast food restaurants, you’d go home to your country thinking that American food was cheap, unhealthy and coated with sugar and salt. But while one out of three American children eat a fast food meal each day, we all know that there’s more to American food than McDonald’s.

The same applies to British food. So many people visit London and consider places like greasy fish and chip shops, cafes and Wimpy Restaurants as real British food. That couldn’t be much further from the truth.

To experience real British food, you either need to run to the countryside for some authentic pub grub, or do some research to find good food in the city. All food can be accompanied by a pint of real English ale, not that American piss water.

Here are just a few must-have British dishes to savor and enjoy:

Traditional English roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, vegetables and gravy. This traditional Sunday dinner (usually served in the early afternoon for lunch) is a hearty mix of roast beef, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, carrots, peas, cauliflower and Yorkshire pudding — all topped with gravy.
Chicken Tikka Masala. The most popular meal in Britain is a dish that was invented either in England, India or Pakistan. While it’s origins are disputed, Chicken Tikka Masala is a tasty dish of chicken chunks cooked in a tomato and curry sauce, and served atop rice with a side of Indian bread called Naan.
Cottage Pie. Minced meat covered with mashed potatoes and often topped with cheese. Not to be confused with Shepherd’s Pie, which is traditionally served with minced lamb, cottage pie is a hearty meal that’s perfect on a cold night.
Steak and chips with a side-salad. A simple dish that features a steak with fried potato wedges. Yum.
Fish and Chips. There are few dishes as English as fish and chips, but it’s often very difficult to find them cooked to perfection. The dish consists of deep-friend fish (traditionally cod) in batter with deep-fried chips.

Don’t settle for imitations. Find pubs or restaurants that specialize in the dishes.

There are few things as good as British food, British beer and English football. Wherever you are in the world, let’s hope you can enjoy the trio and put the stereotype of bad British food to death.

Ideas Sought For 2008/2009 Premier League Guide

The Gaffer — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:28:35 +0000

After the successful launch of the free EPL travel guidebook, we’re busy at work on the next eBook — but we need your help.

Champions League Talk chief Lonnie Smetana and I are working on a guide to the 20 teams in the 2008/2009 Premier League season. Our goal is to create a useful reference guide that can be used by soccer fans throughout the entire season. I’m envisioning that the guide will be packed with statistics. Not to the extent of the Sky Sports Yearbook or old Rothman’s guides. But something that is an easy reference to pull up and nothing too overwhelming.

Here’s what we have so far for each club:

Position the club finished last season,
Formed,
Stadium, including capacity,
Nickname,
Shirt colors,
Formation,
Web site,
Anticipated starting eleven,
Squad,
Manager,
Points total for previous 5 seasons,
Transfers in,
Transfers out,
Strengths,
Weaknesses,
Most valuable player,
Breakout player,
Fixtures,
Predicted finish.

What are we missing? What would make it a guide that you would routinely open?

Please share your ideas by clicking the comments link below. The end result will be a better and more comprehensive guide to the 2008/2009 Premier League season. Thanks in advance for your contributions.

BBC Five Live Radio Interview Tonight

The Gaffer — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:21:56 +0000

Good news. I’m scheduled to be interviewed tonight at 9:20pm ET (2:20am GMT) on BBC Radio Five Live on the topic of EPL Talk’s free EPL travel guide. Dotun Adebayo, host of the World Football Phone-In Show, will be conducting the interview a few minutes before the phone-in show starts.Listen to the interview live on BBC Five Live.

Get A Free Premier League Travel Guide Ebook

The Gaffer — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:00:53 +0000

For those of you wondering what the major announcement was that I teased you with earlier this week, here it is. EPL Talk has launched a free ebook entitled In Pursuit Of Real Football: The Soccer Fan’s Ultimate Travel Guide To Attending EPL Matches In England.If you’ve always dreamed of going to England to experience Premier League matches in person, this is the ebook for you. The 30 page book is packed with tips on how to save more than a thousand dollars while seeing as many matches as possible and touring the beautiful country of England.Anything and everything you’ll need to know to make the trip of a lifetime is inside the ebook. Valued at $19.99, the ebook is available for free to all subscribers of the free EPL Talk Email Newsletter.If you haven’t subscribed yet and you want to get the free EPL travel guide ebook, take two minutes and sign up now. Or to learn more about the free ebook by visiting this page.Note: If you’re already a subscriber to the EPL Talk Email Newsletter, you should have received an email earlier this morning with a link to the free ebook.