An American woman who developed a love of British food now spends £250 a month on it. And Amy Bristol-Sandvig says her latest "addiction" is HP Sauce.
The self-described Anglophile is obsessed with British meals including snacks and condiments. Amy has developed a love of sausage rolls, salad cream, and of course, brown sauce.
But she has to pay premium price at her local British deli. She has now spent over £350 in under a month, with a bottle of brown sauce setting her back $6 (£5) and a bottle of salad cream $10 (£8.29).
In a video captioned "HP Sauce is my new addiction", Amy, 47, explains how she got hooked on the sauce and now has brown sauce nearly every day. Amy, who lives in Marietta, Georgia, USA, explained: "I was hooked the first time I tried brown sauce.
"It reminded me a lot of the original Lea & Perrins steak sauce back in the 90s which hasn’t been available since. Now, hardly a day goes by when I don’t eat British and Irish food in some capacity."
Amy's obsession comes at an "embarrassingly" high price. She said: "To date, I’ve spent around $325 American (£269) which is as much as I spent on my Xbox last year.
"A single small bottle of brown sauce runs me about $6 (£5), and salad cream? That one hurt at $10 (£8.29)."
Besides HP Sauce, Amy has developed a taste for all things British, in particular sausage rolls. She added: "I picked up a couple of things, one being a little single-serving pot of HP brown sauce, and a package of sausage rolls.
"Later that night I warmed up the rolls and tried one with the sauce. I was in love instantly. I really love the flavour the brown sauce. It goes well with anything."
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Despite British cuisine being mocked around the world for being bland, Amy doesn't agree and has challenged that perception. She said: "I heard stories about how awful British food is and how much I will hate it.
"No one I know that has actually been there agrees. I think it’s nothing more than rumours perpetrated to keep the divide going between us."
Amy has argued that the main difference between British and American food is how the latter is filled to the brim with preservatives and sugar. She added: "The preservatives, artificial flavours, colours and frankly, the obscene amount of sugar we put in everything here - even bread - is deplorable in my opinion.
"We have some amazing food here, Particularly of the homemade variety. Most of our mass-produced products are quite lacking in depth and flavour."
