Conversions, Translations & Equivalents


I've realized that with all my years of moving around and adapting to different countries' food ways, I take a lot of conversions and translations for granted. Instead of launching into long descriptions for each recipe, I've decided to collect a list here in one place, which will naturally keep growing. I actively encourage contributions! If you have a suggestion for something to include, or an ingredient equivalent you just can't figure out, please leave a comment or send me an email!

Conversions

A fantastic resource is the Gourmet Sleuth's Kitchen Conversion Calculator, for basic metric/imperial conversions, as well as their highly detailed Ingredient Database which allows you to find equivalents for common ingredients in terms of weight and volume. For example, want to know how many grams 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese is? Go to the ingredient database, type in ricotta, select the food group (dairy and egg products) and food item (cheese, ricotta, whole milk) if applicable, enter 0.5 for quantity, 'cup-US' for first measurment and 'kg' for second measurement. Voila - 0.12 kg, or 120 grams.

Translations

Aubergine (UK) = Eggplant (N.America)
Biscuit (UK) = Cookie (N.America)
Bun (UK) = Muffin (N.America) sometimes
Caster Sugar (UK) = Superfine Sugar (N.America)
Chip (UK) = French Fry (N.America)
Courgette (UK) = Zucchini (N.America)
Coriander, Fresh (UK) = Cilantro (N.America)
Cornflour (UK) = Cornstarch (N.America)
Dark Muscovado Sugar (UK) = Dark Brown Sugar (N.America)
Demerara Sugar (UK) = Raw or Light Brown Sugar (N.America)
Fairy Cakes (UK) = Cupcakes (N.America)
Fizzy Drink (UK) = Soda/Pop (N.America)
Icing Sugar (UK) = Confectioners' or Powdered Sugar (N.America)
Jacket Potatoes (UK) = Baked Potatoes (N.America)
Jelly (UK) = Jell-o (N.America)
Muscovado Sugar (UK) = Light Brown Sugar (N.America)
Plain Flour (UK) = All-Purpose Flour (N.America)
Pudding (UK) = Dessert (N.America)
Take-Away (UK) = Take-Out (N.America)
Tin (UK) = Can (N.America)
Treacle (UK) = Molasses (N.America)
White Sauce (UK) = Béchamel (rest of world?)

Equivalents

Single Cream (UK) = a light cream containing 18% butterfat. Closest US substitute is half-and-half (around 12% butterfat) with a little whipping cream added.
Double Cream (UK) = a very rich cream with 48% butterfat. There is no readily available US substitute, as far as I know. However, for most uses Heavy Whipping Cream (36-40%) will do the job. Double cream is so rich, I rarely use it.
Pie (UK) = To most North Americans, the British equivalent of a pie has us doing a doubletake. It is usually not sweet inside; rather it contains meat and vegetables in varying guises. Some establishments offer upscale pies that include things like sundried tomatoes and pesto, but Brits remain firm fans of classics like Steak and Kidney Pie (and that's not kidney beans...). Often eaten with ketchup.
Fillet (UK) = Pronounced Fill-It. This corresponds to a beef Fillet Mignon (beef), or Tenderloin (pork) in the US.
Joint (UK) = A big piece of meat that you roast.
Lemonade (UK) = A clear, sparkling lemon-flavored softdrink. Sprite and 7-Up are types of lemonade.
Squash (UK) = A sweet sugary fruit drink, which usually comes in concentrated form in large bottles. Must be diluted before drinking.
Golden Syrup (UK) = Sugar cane syrup which has been boiled down and refined and has a deep golden color and a honey-like viscocity. No exact substitutes in the US; I think the closest approximation in terms of taste and texture would be corn syrup, probably a mixture of light and dark.