3 foods to change someone's opinion about British food

[Flakeisanakedtwirl]

I've heard it for years, and whenever I start to believe that actually it's a myth and we've got some really decent food in the UK, I find out about some comedian or other minor celebrity who's just visited and cried their hungry stomachs around our country.

Surely we have something that people would love? As title says, if you could choose 3 foods / meals that'd hope to change someones opinion about our food, what would it be?

Obviously I have to do my own list so I think....

1. Extra mature Cheddar
2. Beef and guiness stew in giant Yorkshire puds
3. Crumpets

Bread & butter pudding with custard
Rare roast beef with Yorkshire puddings and fresh horseradish sauce
Scones with clotted cream and jam
Bacon buttie and a strong brew

Oh, proper jam doughnuts. Not sure if that's a British thing but I've never seen them quite like that anywhere else I've been.

Krapfen or Berliner in Germany/Austria, used to be mostly for Fasching/Karnival season but are available in bakeries year round.

As opposed to the British food listed on this thread?? Puddings, scones, donuts, bacon butties, sausages, cheese etc. In fact salted butter as been mentioned more than once.

Scallops with black pudding
Chilled Watercress soup
Beef Wellington
Pan fried Venison with blackberry
Sussex Pond Pudding
Summer Pudding
Cheeses: Stilton, Cheddar, Wensleydale, Somerset brie (nicer than French)

I see your proper bakery and raise you home made steak and kidney pudding.

I know no one asked but it is fairly easy if you have a slow cooker.

You need the sc, a pyrex or other heatproof bowl, a tea towel and a kettle of boiling water.

Get steak and kidney from the butcher if you can, roll it in seasoned flour.

Oil then line the pyrex bowl with suet pastry (save 1/3 of the pastry for the lid).

Put the seasoned steak and kidney in to the pudding with a crumbled stock cube, make a pastry lid and put it on the pudding with a bit of water to seal.

Fold a tea towel and put it in the bottom of the slow cooker. Put the pudding in to the sc, make a hole in the centre with your finger and pour boiling water through the hole until the pudding is full.

Pour boiling water around the pudding basin up to a couple of inches, switch on and put the lid on leave for 4-5 hours.

I wasn't suggesting it was a culinary masterpiece. 😂

There is something uniquely comforting about good bread and good salted butter toast.

You can't argue that there is excellent bread and butter readily available pretty much every area of Britain.

I thought so until I met a Japanese guy who'd lived in the UK for a year and complained there was no nice bread there. Turns out that it's very cultural based, bread.

I remember travelling around South Korea and I met and travelled with a sweet young German guy who said "Do not try the pizza here, they think it is sweet." I actually saw pizza with sugar on after. East Asians seem to not like our bread.

@CienAnosDeSoledad I agree about USA but I take issue about Japan as they literally cook everything in sugar. It's disgustingly sweet. Sushi is nice.

Treacle tart
Rabbit stew
Pork pie

Three more good calls there @BlackeyedSusan

Cheeseburgers Hamburgers are named after the German city Hamburg
Fajitas Mexican, Texas became part of the Union long after India was part of the Empire so if you're allowed Fajitas, we're allowed curries as British
Chilli As above
Jambalaya I'm aware of this dish because of reading about it in American books but have never eaten it. I don't think the reach is as big as you think.
Crabcakes Fishcakes are made across the world, I'd not consider this American
Lobster rolls Never heard of them
Eggs benedict Made with English muffins and canadian ham
Club sandwich Named after the Earl of Sandwich. You're scrapping the barrel if you think a specific kind of sandwich is an example of great American cuisine
Buffalo wings American but not really 'great cuisine'.
Philly cheese steak Never heard of this
American BBQ and brisket I actually associate barbecues with Australia more than America even though I know it come from America. Isn't that funny? Brisket on the other hand is just a cut of meat, the word comes from old norse, nobody in Europe would associate it with America.
Key lime pie Yes American.
Popcorn American but really pretty basic. Healthier than average snack food.
Clam chowder American and I do actually like this. Not very common outside the US though.
Chocolate chip cookies Undercooked biscuits

What strikes me about this list is how many of these dishes are associated with poor quality eating establishments. I bet Nandos and Wetherspoons serve a lot of them. And something like Eggs Benedict or Club Sandwiches are the staples of business class hotels where you can't tell which country you're in but you know the food will be shit. Suspect they are on those menus for the Americans who I think of as fussy eaters who aren't interested in the local cuisine. I've never thought 'yah, I really want buffalo wings and key lime pie tonight' because if those are options it's really not a good restaurant.

@JaninaDuszejko I hope you don't mind me hijacking

Cheeseburgers Hamburgers are named after the German city Hamburg - also cheese is distinctly European

Fajitas Mexican, Texas became part of the Union long after India was part of the Empire so if you're allowed Fajitas, we're allowed curries as British

Chilli As above

Jambalaya I'm aware of this dish because of reading about it in American books but have never eaten it. I don't think the reach is as big as you think.

Nope there are version in West Africa and Spain. Where people came from to the US 'south'.

Crabcakes Fishcakes are made across the world, I'd not consider this American

Lobster rolls Never heard of them - basuically fish in a hot dog bun

Eggs benedict Made with English muffins and canadian ham

Club sandwich Named after the Earl of Sandwich. You're scrapping the barrel if you think a specific kind of sandwich is an example of great American cuisine

Buffalo wings American but not really 'great cuisine'.

Philly cheese steak Never heard of this - hot beef and cheese sandwich - see 'Sandwich' above

American BBQ and brisket I actually associate barbecues with Australia more than America even though I know it come from America. Isn't that funny? I'd also argue that cooking food over a fire or charcoal is a method of cooking used everywhere in the world (with the exception of one Mauri group who historically used hot springs).

Brisket on the other hand is just a cut of meat, the word comes from old norse, nobody in Europe would associate it with America. Also features big in Jewish cooking

Key lime pie Yes American.

Popcorn American but really pretty basic. Healthier than average snack food. Actually Mesopotamian.

Clam chowder American and I do actually like this. Not very common outside the US though. - Cullen Skink isn't much different, it's just that the fish is smoked - so Scottish

Chocolate chip cookies Undercooked biscuits

I don’t even know where to start with how ignorant these comments about American food are, how can you diss foods you haven’t even heard of? ‘Fish in a hot dog roll’ – it’s lobster, you know, that globally renowned delicacy? Served in a light dressing in a soft roll, it’s amazing. And how miserable do you have to be to hate chocolate chip cookies?

People have been putting things between bread for centuries, you can’t claim all sandwiches for Britain lol, nor can you say anything with cheese is European – there’s no certainty where cheese first originated and it’s eaten all over the world. Hamburgers weren’t invented in the US but cheeseburgers were.

Fajitas originated in Texas in the 1930s, not sure why that doesn’t count as American.

Not sure why I can’t include things like buffalo wings on a thread where people are boasting about beans on toast and Greggs sausage rolls! Never said these foods were the fanciest American foods, just tasty and globally popular.

And if we want to be pedantic about food origins I guess I could point out that fish and chips were introduced to the UK by Sephardic Jewish immigrants, it was German immigrants who started brewing beer with hops, beef Wellington was adapted from the French bouef en croute….does that make them any less British? I wouldn’t say so. I didn’t include more recently arrived foods in my list but dishes that have been around for a couple hundred years and adapted into a uniquely American style, I think it’s fair to claim – American BBQ and cajun food for example have their own unique style.

And Philadelphia cheese steak is a marvel, irrespective of how many Brits have heard of it.

Clotted cream
Cornish pasty
scone
bakewell tart
mince pies
sandwiches
suet pudding
crumble
fish & chips
bubble and squeak
roast Sunday dinner

Eton mess

I’m not a Brit, and have certainly heard of it and seen it being eaten (vegetarian, so have not eaten it myself), but several of my friends, and recipes I’ve seen online, claim that Cheez Whizz is the cheese needed. And Cheez Whizz is a war crime against food. 😀

Agreed! Outside of Philly people use provolone

Sorry but the thought of lobster, that fabulous delicacy, in a bread roll, fills me with disgust. How utterly revolting!

Eggs Benedict is indeed ubiquitous these days. I rather like it as long as the eggs are correctly poached and the ham is of the very best quality.

It has become a staple relatively recently.

It used to be for pleb and prisoners

QED

So don't eat it, thats fine :) Honestly it's really delicious though. It's almost like a lobster salad and the roll soaks up the dressing (or the hot butter if you have it hot)

Personally I find the idea of suet pastry boiled for hours pretty revolting but these are all acquired tastes

I think lobster is below crafish and crab tbh😁