Good Things to Eat in England:

Strawberries: The weather is cool and wet here, so strawberry season lasts and lasts here, a nice contrast to Georgia, where the strawberries show up for oh, five minutes. They're aromatic, sweet, and definitely live up to their reputations.

Sausages: I'm used to simple country-style sausages with a coarse textures, but the English-style sausages tend to be emulsified, and far less seasoned. The flavor is deliciously porky and smooth. And they serve them with gravy, like they know what I like.

Mature Cheddar: We picked the cheapest one (that still met my high standards, admittedly) off the shelf at Tesco, and I feel like we cheated somewhere. It's amazing. I've been making more grilled cheese sandwiches than can possibly be healthy. Chop up some spring onions, melt them with the cheese, and I'm in my own special version of heaven. This cheese is sharp, crumbly, and still melts beautifully.

Mustard: I have not seen near enough mustard in British food here, which is a damn shame. The stuff is thick, dark brown-yellow, just like the crayon in the big 64-pack (we didn't have any high-falutin' 96-packs when I was a kid. You used your imagination.) and it's got a heat that might give wasabi a run for its money. I first got the idea of its greatness when we were eating at the cheap pub nightly, and I put the stuff, straight from a Heinz packet, on my burger. I was shocked at how fresh it tasted. Now I've got my own little jar of Colman's, the good stuff, and it makes me weep tears of joy. And pain.

Beer: Go ahead, tell me beer's not a food. Just try it, punk. Most real ales here are called bitters, and they're hand-pumped: work in a good pub for awhile and you'll have one normal arm, and one Popeye arm from pouring the stuff. No, it's not always ice-cold. It's not meant to be. But it's delicious. Thick, flavorful and mellow, even the IPAs. I tried a ginger beer in April that was subtle and lovely, and I can only hope they carry it at our local during the fall beer festival.

There's so much that I haven't yet tried properly: the beef, the lamb, a cheese called Hereford hops that's a creamy cow's milk cheese coated in (of course) hops. I hear cherries are coming into season, as are tomatoes, and I intend to see how tomatoes do without some serious heat. And I saw something called Spring Cabbage the other day that looks suspiciously like collards.

My culinary coup thus far has been, of all things, a salad. I didn't have much for it, but I made a mustardy vinaigrette, crumbled some cheddar on chopped Little Gem lettuce, and lo and behold, a triumph.

And hey, I found buttermilk after all. Now I just need a soft wheat flour...