How can anyone say that British food is rubbish? Take for instance.....

Lancashire Hotpot
Cornish Pasties
Bedfordshire 'Clanger'
Melton Mowbray Pork Pies
Dorset Blue Vinney Cheese (and Stilton for that matter)
Devonshire Clotted Cream
Cumberland and Lincolnshire Sausages
Sussex Pond Pudding
Yorkshire Pudding
Scotch Eggs
Bara-Brith.......

and other not so regional fare.....

Bubble and Squeak
Trifle
Bakewell Tarts
Eccles Cakes
Bread and Butter Pudding
Toad in the Hole
Lemon Posset
Steak and Kidney Pudding
Eton Mess
Potted Shrimps
Jam Roly Poly
Steak and Stilton Pie
Queen of Puddings
The Ploughman's Lunch
Summer Pudding
Steak and Guiness Pie
Cauliflower Cheese
Victoria Sponge.......

WHAT IS NOT TO LIKE?????

They have them in Paris!

http://www.olivemagazine.com/restaur...ance/4087.html

Ah that's pretty cool.

All ok but just to me don't have the 'wow factor' that other cuisines have. Now, I'm aware that is probably because I am English but I always get the feeling that if you asked other nationalities to compare English food to other countries food they may say the same. I might be completely wrong of course, I hope so.

There's a rather good English restaurant in Luxor, Egypt called The Rainbow. My mate and i scoffed there a few times while we were there!!

I've always thought a really good carvery restaurant would do well in Paris. You would need to offer lamb and beef both pink and well-done, to attract both the home crowd and British visitors. All the traditional accompaniments and a buffet choice of freshly-cooked veg.

I'm not really a lover of 'traditional' British food, it all seems a bit stodgy and heavy to me. I prefer international cuisines. Italian, Indian and Mexican are my favourites and I don't mind the odd Thai red or green curry either. I do eat a lot of fish though and not just battered with chips.

No custard in Canada? They don't know what they're missing. Custard is gorgeous.


Not really Billy. Unless you hear of Indians in India saying, "Fancy an Indian tonight, chaps?". Or of the Spanish in Spain saying, "Shall we go out for a Spanish tonight, girls?" And so on.

Anyway. I just came on to say that I'm shocked that British food is being referred to on here as OAP food. What's the country coming to?

I think our food is great. I love it.

The following month was "I am John's other testicle - the real story".
Apparently they'd had a falling out.

You need to weight up both sides.

Gastronamus ignoramus.

German sausages are the wurst.

Stargazy Pie anyone?

I have a half-baked conjecture to offer, because we're not alone in having this problem. If you think of our closest neighbours, you might find these restaurants on your local high street:

French
Spanish
Italian
Greek
Portuguese

...but you probably won't find:

German
Dutch
Norwegian
Swedish
Danish

I think there's a fairly clear correlation. My theory, for which I have no evidence, is that it's a historical combination of:

a) Mediterranean countries having access to more interesting ingredients due to their climate (e.g. tomatoes!)

b) Northern countries being colder and therefore favouring stodge-heavy, calorie-intensive foods (you burn more calories in cooler climates).

Obviously these things are no longer relevant because we have international trade, better cultivation technology and central heating. But if you can agree that the factors above influenced our culinary thinking for centuries, it's not surprising that we formed certain habits and traditions in our food that still persist today.

Something I find quite notable when wandering around Europe (and I don't claim to have seen all of it) is that northern European towns seem to have adopted other cuisines more readily than those around the Mediterranean. You'll find lots of great tapas places if you wander around Madrid but you won't find the array that you will in a British city. All in all I think we've got the better deal: our traditional cuisine might not be on par with other places, but the great thing is that we've therefore appropriated the best of everyone else's.

I had a friend visit me a while back and we went out. Before we started drinking we decided to put a lining on our stomach. As we were in town (Liverpool) I went and got us a tray of chips each with raw onion and gravy. At first he didn't know what I'd given him as he can't get chips and gravy in London. I've experienced it myself having said that because a shop wouldn't sell me chips and gravy together, only separately. So it's not just overseas visitors we can surprise.

I think my wife nailed it when she said British food is "safe". Her mum and her make loads of Israeli food, and I'll take shawarma as an example. When she makes it there's stuff like tamaia (like a garlic sauce) or a really hot chilli one, and the meat is already seasoned as well. For some people those two can be deal breakers. It's got flavours that people may not like. English food doesn't have strong flavours usually by default. We have things that we may add as garnish such as mustard or horseradish, but they're optional extras. On your average roast dinner, there's nothing that's really going to assault your taste buds.

I'm from belfast and find the idea that you cant buy a gravy chip in London bizarre

You've mentioned all the ones I was going to.

Fish & Chips are popular in the US but moreso in Canada. In the US it's described as Fish & Chips and not fries which must be one of the only times they refer to fries as chips.

I also have the same view on Shepherd/Cottage pie. Apparently historically a Shepherd's pie can be any leftover meat but it has come to commonly be known as Shepherd's = lamb because Shepherd's shepherd lambs.
I don't think I've seen Cottage pie mentioned on any US show.

I believe they called bread & butter pudding as just bread pudding.



I'd say the most famous offerings from the UK would be fish & chips, Shepherd's pie and Yorkshire pudding.

Along with Worcestershire sauce, which they generally mispronounce (going off US food shows I watch)

I've seen on a couple of US shows where it was a novelty wow factor to have a battered burger or sausage. You'd find them in most chippies over here.

Cumberland pie is basically cottage pie with a cheese crust .


What about cheese and cucumber sandwiches? Branston pickle and Marmite! Traditional cream tea with scones, and clotted cream and jam?

Pasties and meat pies are popular inn the mid west of America. It's because of the tim miners from cornwall and south east who emigrated to that region.


As for pasties, what came first, the pasty or the empanada?

In terms of eating out, Britain is probably one of the best places in the world. We have so much variety because we've adopted cuisines from all over the place.

If you go to many other European countries, particularly southern European, it is much harder to find the variety that we have here. Go to many places in Greece for example, and all you find are Greek restaurants, same in a lot of Spain. France has less variety of cuisines too, except in the major cities.

Most towns and cities around the UK will have several different national cuisines available.

London has one of the most exciting restaurant scenes in the world, and you can basicall get what you want, when you want, at prices from dirt cheap to outrageously expensive.

An Aussie tourist, in a chip shop, fascinated by the concept of a battered sausage is hardly supportive of the assertion that Brit food is second rate.
A nearby local was taken over a while back by a small, local pub "chain" (4 pubs ).
The previous landlord prided himself on "gut busters" and "cardiac attack" platters.
He was too dumb to see the waste of unfinished meals.
The new owners have transformed it. The quality and presentation of food is superb and you need to book a table to be sure of being accommodated.
And they've introduced a good selection of real ales.
It's busy!

Every culture is raised on their local cuisine that they regard as safe and swiftly become accustomed to. In India you'll find infants happily managing food that Brit adults would fret over and would never dream of "inflicting" on their infants.
We mind two grandchildren two days a week and they lap up foods such as hummus, mild curry rice and paprika infused meat.
They also love chicken, meatballs,chips, peas, corn, mixed berries, apples ice cream and semolina.
Let them try as much as possible.

Even chains are getting better. I've avoided Beefeaters for years and had to go to one last week. I was pleasantly surprised the starter was crispy duck legs and they were delicious. My steak was cooked bleu just like I ordered.

Now I have to try a different one just to see if it was a fluke.

Nail on the head. I love spicy food (though I can only handle it in moderation). But spices were developed in countries like Thailand, India, etc were they required spices because the food didn't keep well in the sweltering climate. There is a clear correlation between warm and hot climates vs. colder or continental locations in terms of the dietary habits and culinary traditions that have historically developed.