Talk:English muffin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(The Name)To be politically correct, shouldn't "English" Muffins be called "British" Muffins? Unless of course Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland don't like to eat this particular type of muffin.--Secret Agent Man 13:07, 5 August 2005 (UTC)

English muffins, as described here, do exist in the UK. They can be bought at most supermarkets. I buy them every week. Deb 16:49, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I didn't write that part, but are they called "English muffins" or something else? dml 17:04, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)
I think we still just call them muffins, but it's true there is some confusion since we started getting the American-style muffin over here. Deb 22:05, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)
I've deleted that part. Almost every supermarket I know in Britain sells Muffins - both the English bread-type variety and the "American style" cupcake variety. If you asked for an English muffin you would get the bread variety. McDonalds sell an Egg McMuffin which is described as an English Muffin with egg... Tjwood 14:37, 3 May 2004 (UTC)

Sorry to wade into this, but "muffin" in parts of the UK just means bread roll, and there are marked regional variations on what terms mean in the UK -- anyhow people tend to assume you are talking about what they recognise. But I have never seen a packet marked "English muffins" on a shelf in England, now asking some random shelf stacker in a super market if they have "English muffins" does not prove that there is such a thing as "English muffins". You can buy English tea, and have a full English breakfast, but until I see a packet "sourced and made in England" there are no "English muffins".

See the supermarkets? I bought 2 packs from Tescos today :)

"The Mothers Pride brand is nearly 70 years old. It made its first appearance in the north in 1936 and became a national brand in 1956...As well as the traditional favourites, such as Mothers Pride English muffins, crumpets, fruited teacakes, hot cross and currant buns, there is an assortment of regional specialities, including Mothers Pride Derby scones, Devon scones and Scotch pancakes, and other traditional Scottish fair; potato scones and soda scones."

EDROCKS 05:02, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

And we really should not confuse the name with the product it refers to. This whole article needs citations to be honest, and comparisions between scone, crumpet and the so-called "English muffin". An etymology of the term would be most helpful.

For clarification -- it would make more sense to refer to "muffin (cake)" for baking soda ones -- as they are like cupcakes, and "muffin (bread)" for the yeast based griddle scone or bannock like muffin. Hormel English Muffins

If this is actually a variation of a griddle scone, ironically it isn't English, but more likely Scotish. random googled page about scones

Still that so many native English speakers think English muffins are crumpets, rather than what appear to be scone like bread products, would suggest they are far from available and far from popular in merry old England. --Tonypercy 10:32, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

Given that it is possible to purchase English Muffins in all the main supermarkets in the UK (ASDA, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons) this would suggest that Tonypercy is incorrect in its assumptions. Examples:

And surely you can't say 'so many' without any stats whatsoever backing you up? EDROCKS 05:02, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Biscuits

A recent edit has added an (unsourced) suggestion that Muffins ought to be classified as biscuits. That would be very surprising to a speaker of British English because (to us) a biscuit is a cookie and they obviously arent'. The US usage of biscuis appears to be for a kind of bread, and then an English Muffin should be so classified. I wonder if someone could clarify this. Perhaps the original contributor? Francis Davey 17:53, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

Seconded, thanks. I did have a look on Alton Brown's website and a few other links but couldn't find anything Kymara 09:22, 1 April 2006 (UTC)


Americans needs to clarify what they mean by biscuit, and cookie. By biscuit they might be including scones. Their cookies are what native speakers of English deem biscuits on the whole.

[edit] Crumpet

This article needs to be merged with Crumpet, the UK term. Jumbo 13:12, 9 Jul 2004 (UTC)

I just expanded the article; I think they are not quite the same and don't need merging. See what you think. Elf | Talk 17:13, 9 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Quite right, they are totally different. I much prefer crumpets but like the occasional muffin. US style muffins are ghastly though, I would be sick if I ate one. Francis Davey 19:50, 22 July 2005 (UTC)
They have to be sourdough muffins, split, not sliced, and broiled under a grill, not toasted in a toaster, and then slathered with butter. Then they're pretty good. And the best hamburgers or cheeseburgers are made with them (by true connoisseurs) instead of hamburger buns.... Hayford Peirce 20:27, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Roman spear points

Any chance of getting a link to this? I'm curious as to what they are and why they are called this


[edit] Spelling

Is it just me or does anyone else object to having American spelling (flavor) about an English food? I wouldn't normally mind, I know the wikipedia guidelines say both are ok, but really ... anyone? Not meaning to offend in the slightest Kymara 11:47, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

I totally agree with you. The Wikipedia Handbook of Style says that articles should use the appropriate regional spelling, so the article on New York should use American spelling, while the article on London should use British English. I think it's obvious that 'English Muffins' should use English spelling. Saluton 20:04, 14th May 2006 (UTC).


The first English muffin was sold in the US. It clearly is a US product. The same way Balti and Chicken Tika Marsala were created by immigrants for the local population in England, and are not Indian food. Therefore the spelling should be in American.

[edit] Merge from 'Cheesemuffin'

The page Cheesemuffin suggested does not exist. Nor does any other combination I've tried i.e. Cheese (M/m)uffin. If I get no replies here I'll delete the suggestion in a few days. Kymara 11:29, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Explanation of Tony Sidaway's removal of paragraph about Alton Brown

I've removed this paragraph:

Because of their cooking style and the composition of their dough, some, most notably Alton Brown, argue that English muffins are in fact biscuits. They do not propose that anything be changed, however.

It seems to be just a namedrop for a guy with a cookery show. This is his personal opinion, which is sort of interesting, but in my opinion not really suitable for the encyclopedia article. --Tony Sidaway 12:21, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] This bit does not seem quite right

In northern England "Muffin" is a common term for a circular sandwich bread roll, often wrongly refered to as a barm, cob, barmcake, bap or teacake.


I've never seen a breadroll referred to as a muffin - it's either breadroll or if you go into the north it's a barm. --Charlesknight 18:08, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. Bread rolls / barms / cobs / baps / barmcakes today mean a bread roll, so a circular sandwich bread roll is not incorrectly referred to as a barm, cob, barmcake or bap. Teacake is something else again. Muffin is certainly not the correct term for these others, yet the text suggests it is the only correct term. This confusion also seems to have been continued on the Muffin page. EDROCKS 05:02, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../e/n/g/Talk%7EEnglish_muffin_c0f3.html"