Old staples, things like stews, pies, roasts etc. We exported most of these, with the empire. They are also shared a lot with Europe, making them even more ubiquitous.
Local specialities. Local traditional dishes, e.g. Yorkshire puddings, Cornish pasties, or Eccles cakes. These were town or region specific. Some have spread, others are still hyper local.
Imported. Mostly from the empire days. We tended to “discover” spices and flavours. When they came back, they were often reimagined. E.g. the curry was a Scottish invention, using Indian spices. We mostly dump all the related dishes under a label of the country we stole the flavours from. E.g. Chinese food tastes nothing like what they eat in China.
Basically, there is a lot of really good British food about. We also set the baseline for a lot of the comparisons, making us look bland by comparison. The London restaurant industry also does a complete number on tourists, making us look even worse.
You forgot the fourth section: yellow / brown with beans.
fish fingers and beans
beans on toast
fry up (beans essential)
everything in Wetherspoon’s
Only taking the piss of course.
Scotch egg is peak for me. Incredible invention. 99% sure that’s British? Introduced to me by an English man anyway.
Used to love smoked kippers as a child. Different English man introduced me to them. They strike me as a very British thing also.
Never quite got the Yorkshire with a roast thing myself but my sister lives over there and is fully converted on them. I mean they’re good like but I’d happily live without them.
Got gifted an Eccles cake by a lovely Scouser I know last year. Also delish with a mug of tea.
I do love a good pastie too (is that Greggs or am I mixing up?).
Hey now, that’s reducing English food to an extremely narrow stereotype… You forgot to mention that they also boil their meats, or turn everything into pies.
You joke, but yes the limited food availability before (WW1, Great Depression), during, and after World War 2 has had a lasting and profound effect on England’s cuisine in particular.
It was never as well respected internationally as other European cuisines, consisting mainly of hearty soups, stews, savory pies, puddings, and roasts, but it’s identity shifted dramatically during that time, often incorporating more international flavors and giving up on most of the needed longer (and less fuel efficient) cooking times.
Funnily enough many of those traditions were maintained more cohesively in some of the further-a-field colonies like Australia.
Isn’t “English food” just an amalgamation of foods from cultures they subjugated in the past, and beef?
There’s 3 sort of sections to British food.
Old staples, things like stews, pies, roasts etc. We exported most of these, with the empire. They are also shared a lot with Europe, making them even more ubiquitous.
Local specialities. Local traditional dishes, e.g. Yorkshire puddings, Cornish pasties, or Eccles cakes. These were town or region specific. Some have spread, others are still hyper local.
Imported. Mostly from the empire days. We tended to “discover” spices and flavours. When they came back, they were often reimagined. E.g. the curry was a Scottish invention, using Indian spices. We mostly dump all the related dishes under a label of the country we stole the flavours from. E.g. Chinese food tastes nothing like what they eat in China.
Basically, there is a lot of really good British food about. We also set the baseline for a lot of the comparisons, making us look bland by comparison. The London restaurant industry also does a complete number on tourists, making us look even worse.
Chicken Tikka Masala was invented in Scotland, by a Scottish chef of Indian descent, in the 1970s. Cleopatra ate curry.
https://youtu.be/zt10iMRWg20
You forgot the fourth section: yellow / brown with beans.
Only taking the piss of course.
Scotch egg is peak for me. Incredible invention. 99% sure that’s British? Introduced to me by an English man anyway.
Used to love smoked kippers as a child. Different English man introduced me to them. They strike me as a very British thing also.
Never quite got the Yorkshire with a roast thing myself but my sister lives over there and is fully converted on them. I mean they’re good like but I’d happily live without them.
Got gifted an Eccles cake by a lovely Scouser I know last year. Also delish with a mug of tea.
I do love a good pastie too (is that Greggs or am I mixing up?).
With the seasonings removed
Hey now, that’s reducing English food to an extremely narrow stereotype… You forgot to mention that they also boil their meats, or turn everything into pies.
How could they not have English food like pizza, curry, or kebabs??
The article says they had kebobs but claimed she couldn’t eat them yet wanted sausages and bacon for breakfast.
I read somewhere that England eats like they’re still hiding out from the Blitz. Seemed accurate.
You joke, but yes the limited food availability before (WW1, Great Depression), during, and after World War 2 has had a lasting and profound effect on England’s cuisine in particular.
It was never as well respected internationally as other European cuisines, consisting mainly of hearty soups, stews, savory pies, puddings, and roasts, but it’s identity shifted dramatically during that time, often incorporating more international flavors and giving up on most of the needed longer (and less fuel efficient) cooking times.
Funnily enough many of those traditions were maintained more cohesively in some of the further-a-field colonies like Australia.
I wasn’t really joking lol
Fair!