to think that Britain hasn't got a national cuisine any more?

[TheFourthLobster]

My parents were telling the DCs about the stable British diet of meat and two veg. The DCs were saying they never had meat and two veg for their meals so what was the stable British diet now? We couldn't agree on what it was, so what meals do you regularly eat in your house? Does Mumsnet have a staple cuisine and is that more reflective of British food today than meat and two veg?

This last week we have had fusilli bolognese, fajitas, achari curry, roast turkey (the only roast we've had all year), thai green chicken curry and pizza.

What have you eaten in your house?

We had a roast on Christmas Day, and a roast today. In between that we had veg soup with the stock from the roast, and grilled halloumi.

Yes I think the staple British cuisine is still to cook meat and vegetables separately and serve them together, often with a sauce for the meat, and to have a roast at one end of the week and extend the meat use out during the week. Obviously with colonialism, global capitalism and rising incomes things have changed a lot but perhaps not as much as all that. Or perhaps I'm just not much of a cook.

Shepherds pie
Pizza
Roast turkey
Pasta, sauce, garlic bread
Beef stew and dumplings tonight
Pork steaks, jacket potatoes, veg
Chinese takeaway

We do have a fair amount of meat/potatoes/veg in various ways!

The beauty of British Cuisine is that we are collectors who go around the world. try other foods then adapt them to our own taste. Chicken Tikka Massala is a British dish, so it spaghetti bolognaise, chop suey, etc. Historically the British have always done this. The voyages of discovery happened because we were searching for a route to the spice islands and in the middle ages cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg were pricier than gold. This meat and two veg thing only came in with the Victorians (largely Mrs Beaton who was a rotten cook!) and lasted longer than it should because of two world wars and rationing. As soon as the British started trading again spicy exotic and interesting food came back.

Fish and chips are very English.

Mostly roast turkey and vegetables this week.
Normal weeks the family tend to eat fajitas, curry, stir fry / sweet and sour chicken, pizza, pasta dishes etc.
But we still do have Sunday roast most weeks, often have shepherd's pie, stew and dumplings and fish and chips, so there is still a lot of traditional cuisine in there for us. Life would be very dull if you stuck to just one cuisine though.

Shepards pie
Roast lamb
Cold meat and bubble and squeak twice

We've had various combinations of meat and two or three veg in the last week.

We do have a roast every Sunday and repeat on Monday something we had growing up.

We have a roast once a week or fortnight. Other days it's cottage pie, lasagne, spag Bol, Thai green curry, some form of stir fry, fajitas, tacos, moussaka, pastitsio, lamb chops, lamb ribs, stew, jacket potatoes, meatballs...there's loads we eat all sorts in my home!

Yabu, surely traditional roast, Shepherds pie, cottage pie, fish and chips etc are all British cuisine even if you don't eat them?

Well since Britain is 4 countries I think you need to look at them seperately. Haggis, neeps and tatties is a traditional cuisine recognised as scottish for a start. I'd say fish and chips was English...

We have a roast most Sundays, that's not unusual I think.

Agree with DangerousBeanz that part of British (English?) culture is to find new stuff and adopt it and adapt it and incorporate it into our existing culture. I think this is a good thing

Fluff what is traditional welsh meal? Roast lamb?

Am showing a huge amount of ignorance there.

Oh, lava bread?

I was told the other day that fish and chips are Jewish

The Welsh have Welsh cakes.

Also in England (and prob other areas but I know England best) you got huge regional favourites. So things like Lancashire Hotpot, jellied eels/pie and mash, pasties and on and on and then of course baking you have massive famous stuff.

I guess you could look at the things that have named status - or whatever it's called - where they have to be made in the right place. Just found a list here and includes things like Arboath Smolies and Dorset Blue Cheese.

I think the food in the UK is FAB TBH.

I am Scottish and we definitely have a cuisine. Our produce is world renowned. I believe Stornaway Black Pudding is an EU protected food.

East end Jews invented fish and chips.

Would Welsh rarebit be the national
Cuisine (showing my ignorance too), maybe Irish stew for Ireland. Although as pointed out there are regional variations such as Stornoway black pudding and Arbroath smokies etc....maybe we are one of the most diverse nations.

I don't think it ever really did. Within the 4 countries, there are loads of regional variations. I wouldn't associate Lancashire hotpot with Glasgow, for example.

I put on a 'Scottish' dinner recently and we had haggis, Stornoway black pudding, smoked salmon, Lees macaroons, tablet etc. Wasn't the world's healthiest meal but it sure was tasty!

I didn't know that fish and chips was invented by the Jewish people. Ok more likely a roast with Yorkshire puddings.

East End Jews did not invent fish and chips . I'm Polish and it's a very national dish there too, most probably popularised by the Jews. Same with the bagels.

They did! East European Jews living in East end! Fried fish is very Jewish.

We had roast chicken dinner, beans and cheese on toast, a cold buffet with meats, cheeses, bread and salad, turkey based Christmas dinner, another cold buffet, and today had pork pie and salad. DH is resistant to most things which are not meat and veg based, so we eat a lot of them.

I am talking a long time ago not recently btw.

Mmmmmm Haggis.