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I'm the last person to wave the flag for Britain but I've never understood this meme about our food being bad, when so much of it is inarguably world class. For

by hanoz 6y ago

I'm the last person to wave the flag for Britain but I've never understood this meme about our food being bad, when so much of it is inarguably world class. For starters, so to speak, the Full English is obviously the king of breakfasts, a traditional Sunday roast cannot be beaten, we have the best cheese in the world by some considerable distance, and as for puddings, pies, crumbles, custard... well need I say any more?

madink 6y ago
It's all a matter of taste of course, but it's hard to take the statement that Britain go the best cheese in the world seriously. If we only look at Europe: France, Italy, Switzerland are a lot more famous for their cheeses than Britain. The fact that almost all British cheeses are pasteurized is a clear indication that having great cheeses is not part of the British mainstream culture. That being said, there is also some high quality cheeses in Britain, but in my opinion, a lot less than in those other europeans country, by production amount and number of cheese type.
vmilner 6y ago
I was always surprised as a child that mint sauce was singled out in "Asterix in Britain" (or at least the English translation!) as the very worst of English food - as I think it has a delightful subtle taste!
- Symbiote 6y ago
  Mint sauce bought in the supermarket is too sweet, and often has artificial thickener. From age 6 or so, it was my contribution to Sunday dinner. Much better! Like this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/realmintsauce_67706 https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/realmintsauce_67706
lmm 6y ago
> a traditional Sunday roast cannot be beaten Huh? It's the worst way of preparing meat combined with the worst way of preparing vegetables, managing to destroy both flavour and texture of both. Having grown up in Britain, the memes are on point when it comes to traditional British cooking (though no reflection of the wealth of cooking that actually exists in Britain today).
- lowbloodsugar 6y ago
  Roast potatoes, cooked in the fat of the roast, till they are crispy. Carrots and onions roasted to caramel. Juicy meat that falls off the bone. Pork crackling! I don't think every family in Britain automatically has a good chef. Now if we're going to talk about leaks. Ewww. And boiled brussel sprouts. FML.
  - lmm 6y ago
    > Roast potatoes, cooked in the fat of the roast, till they are crispy. Carrots and onions roasted to caramel. Roasted vegetables can be nice; boiled vegetables not so much, and those are more closely associated with British tradition. > Juicy meat that falls off the bone. Roasting is the least effective way to achieve this. Dried-out meat is very much the norm, and frankly, burnt meat would be significantly less bad.
  - Symbiote 6y ago
    > Now if we're going to talk about leaks. That is British houses. Different topic! But I do like leeks in cheese sauce. Basic recipe: https://www.recipesmadeeasy.co.uk/leeks-in-cheese-sauce/#gallery-1 https://www.recipesmadeeasy.co.uk/leeks-in-cheese-sauce/#gal... Fancy version: https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/cheese-recipes/cheesy-leeks-la-oliver/ https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/cheese-recipes/cheesy-le... I would cook them in the oven with everything else though, and only very slightly brown the top of the cheese. They then make a good contrast to the roast vegetables.
    - 082349872349872 6y ago
      ... and here I'd thought the reference was to british automobiles: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24489860 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24489860 (On houses, there is a line in The Xenophobe's Guide to the Swiss about how swiss abhor drafts. According to my father, this observation, albeit made in a book nominally about the swiss, says much more about the british.)
kranner 6y ago
There really can be no objective universal king of breakfasts. Tastes are set in childhood and vary across the world. Speaking subjectively as a South Asian person, there is not a single thing I find appealing about the Full English, visually or tastewise. However, your sweet dishes and desserts are very good indeed.
tiew9Vii 6y ago
Full English, great hearty breakfast to start a big day. Not everyday though if being kind to the heart. Sunday roast, great hearty filling meal after a big day. Pudding, chips, peas, gravy, a great filling chippy tea. Ploughman lunch with pork pie, yum. Agreed they are some good foods, I wouldn’t say we have fine foods, we have simple foods and tastes. I live overseas now and sometimes miss the simple foods when feeling hungry and craving a big feed. A northern English chippy tea is especially hard to find, going out to a restaurant for Italian, French, Greek, Indian etc etc doesn’t hit the same spot when craving chippy tea although I pretty much love all food and mainly eat non English cuisine
jurip 6y ago
It's not just the dishes themselves, some which really are pretty great. It's also how they are prepared. I suspect the standard has risen substantially over the last 50 years.
tonyedgecombe 6y ago
If you go back forty years it was really bad. Home cooked food was bland and unappetising. People didn't eat out that much, I was 14 when I had my first restaurant meal. We've never really shaken that image off.
j7ake 6y ago
I agree English breakfast is good, but not the best in terms of variety and quality. The king of breakfasts award in terms of variety and quality (that would suit the widest range of tastes) would go to either Turkey or Iran.
lvturner 6y ago
No no no - the Full Scottish Breakfast is //clearly// the King of Breakfasts! Seriously though - the freshness of ingredients available in the United Kingdom makes a huge difference, if you ignore British-Chinese food and can track down real Chinese food in the UK - it's genuinely world class
bserge 6y ago
It's just a stupid stereotype/meme, like the French being cowards and many others. The best and most varied food I've had was in England, and I wasn't even in London with their variety. And I'm counting all the foreign foods adapted to the local palate, I think that's fair. Btw, German sausages can't hold a candle to British ones, change my mind :D
_jgdh 6y ago
“Obviously” the King of Breakfasts? I’ve eaten the Full English. I’ve also eaten Idli-Vadai-Pongal-Chutney-Sambhar and I prefer the latter. There’s nothing objectively better here. We prefer what we grew up eating.
ngcazz 6y ago
It’s an incredibly abundant breakfast, but it is by no means tasteful or refined!

by hanoz 6y ago

madink 6y ago

It's all a matter of taste of course, but it's hard to take the statement that Britain go the best cheese in the world seriously. If we only look at Europe: France, Italy, Switzerland are a lot more famous for their cheeses than Britain. The fact that almost all British cheeses are pasteurized is a clear indication that having great cheeses is not part of the British mainstream culture. That being said, there is also some high quality cheeses in Britain, but in my opinion, a lot less than in those other europeans country, by production amount and number of cheese type.

vmilner 6y ago

I was always surprised as a child that mint sauce was singled out in "Asterix in Britain" (or at least the English translation!) as the very worst of English food - as I think it has a delightful subtle taste!

Symbiote 6y ago
Mint sauce bought in the supermarket is too sweet, and often has artificial thickener. From age 6 or so, it was my contribution to Sunday dinner. Much better! Like this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/realmintsauce_67706 https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/realmintsauce_67706

lmm 6y ago

> a traditional Sunday roast cannot be beaten Huh? It's the worst way of preparing meat combined with the worst way of preparing vegetables, managing to destroy both flavour and texture of both. Having grown up in Britain, the memes are on point when it comes to traditional British cooking (though no reflection of the wealth of cooking that actually exists in Britain today).

lowbloodsugar 6y ago
Roast potatoes, cooked in the fat of the roast, till they are crispy. Carrots and onions roasted to caramel. Juicy meat that falls off the bone. Pork crackling! I don't think every family in Britain automatically has a good chef. Now if we're going to talk about leaks. Ewww. And boiled brussel sprouts. FML.
- lmm 6y ago
  > Roast potatoes, cooked in the fat of the roast, till they are crispy. Carrots and onions roasted to caramel. Roasted vegetables can be nice; boiled vegetables not so much, and those are more closely associated with British tradition. > Juicy meat that falls off the bone. Roasting is the least effective way to achieve this. Dried-out meat is very much the norm, and frankly, burnt meat would be significantly less bad.
- Symbiote 6y ago
  > Now if we're going to talk about leaks. That is British houses. Different topic! But I do like leeks in cheese sauce. Basic recipe: https://www.recipesmadeeasy.co.uk/leeks-in-cheese-sauce/#gallery-1 https://www.recipesmadeeasy.co.uk/leeks-in-cheese-sauce/#gal... Fancy version: https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/cheese-recipes/cheesy-leeks-la-oliver/ https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/cheese-recipes/cheesy-le... I would cook them in the oven with everything else though, and only very slightly brown the top of the cheese. They then make a good contrast to the roast vegetables.
  - 082349872349872 6y ago
    ... and here I'd thought the reference was to british automobiles: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24489860 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24489860 (On houses, there is a line in The Xenophobe's Guide to the Swiss about how swiss abhor drafts. According to my father, this observation, albeit made in a book nominally about the swiss, says much more about the british.)

kranner 6y ago

There really can be no objective universal king of breakfasts. Tastes are set in childhood and vary across the world. Speaking subjectively as a South Asian person, there is not a single thing I find appealing about the Full English, visually or tastewise. However, your sweet dishes and desserts are very good indeed.

tiew9Vii 6y ago

Full English, great hearty breakfast to start a big day. Not everyday though if being kind to the heart. Sunday roast, great hearty filling meal after a big day. Pudding, chips, peas, gravy, a great filling chippy tea. Ploughman lunch with pork pie, yum. Agreed they are some good foods, I wouldn’t say we have fine foods, we have simple foods and tastes. I live overseas now and sometimes miss the simple foods when feeling hungry and craving a big feed. A northern English chippy tea is especially hard to find, going out to a restaurant for Italian, French, Greek, Indian etc etc doesn’t hit the same spot when craving chippy tea although I pretty much love all food and mainly eat non English cuisine

jurip 6y ago

It's not just the dishes themselves, some which really are pretty great. It's also how they are prepared. I suspect the standard has risen substantially over the last 50 years.

tonyedgecombe 6y ago

If you go back forty years it was really bad. Home cooked food was bland and unappetising. People didn't eat out that much, I was 14 when I had my first restaurant meal. We've never really shaken that image off.

j7ake 6y ago

I agree English breakfast is good, but not the best in terms of variety and quality. The king of breakfasts award in terms of variety and quality (that would suit the widest range of tastes) would go to either Turkey or Iran.

lvturner 6y ago

No no no - the Full Scottish Breakfast is //clearly// the King of Breakfasts! Seriously though - the freshness of ingredients available in the United Kingdom makes a huge difference, if you ignore British-Chinese food and can track down real Chinese food in the UK - it's genuinely world class

bserge 6y ago

It's just a stupid stereotype/meme, like the French being cowards and many others. The best and most varied food I've had was in England, and I wasn't even in London with their variety. And I'm counting all the foreign foods adapted to the local palate, I think that's fair. Btw, German sausages can't hold a candle to British ones, change my mind :D

_jgdh 6y ago

“Obviously” the King of Breakfasts? I’ve eaten the Full English. I’ve also eaten Idli-Vadai-Pongal-Chutney-Sambhar and I prefer the latter. There’s nothing objectively better here. We prefer what we grew up eating.

ngcazz 6y ago

It’s an incredibly abundant breakfast, but it is by no means tasteful or refined!