Most people make terrible food and can't actually cook.

[ImNotEntirelySureAboutThat]

They can't.

I read such horrors on food threads.

Either courgettes and mushrooms mixed in a worthy mushy horror.

OR jars, and packets.

Horrible. So. Much. Horrible. Foood.

oh come on, we both work but I wouldn’t buy a jar of tom sauce. Take a read of the ingredients.

This whole ‘cooking from scratch’ nonsense, surely it’s just called cooking. Opening packets is at best called
heating up.

I think people have forgotten how to cook. Up thread someone mentioned Yorkshires. I ALWAYS make mine with lard and season them. Bloody gorgeous with gravy (that’s gravy, not oxo heating up). I can cook because I like to eat good food. We are off to a 3 Michelin star restaurant tonight, but I can’t cook like that, hence why I’m willing to pay.

Britsh in the main struggle with flair, plain, boring, and tasteless. Boiled ham and roast ham, pork sausage, and Nidderdale.

Nidderdale isn't plain or boring. <wtf did autocorrect transform into a lovely bit of Yorkshire?>
Actually, decent ham and sausages aren't boring and tasteless either, particularly not with appropriate accompaniments.

you know, OP I can cook OK and understand not to put all beige food on a plate at one time and balance food groups etc etc etc . But I'm one person, with a full time job and a part time job and 3 children to worry about....so I cut corners. If my onions come out of the freezer ready chopped or my tomato sauce comes out of a jar, so be it. Honestly, life's too short to stress about convenience over substance sometimes.

Christ the narcissism is strong here.

I agree with you OP. I even agree I cook terrible food! It's edible, it's got carb, protein and veggies in it, but I don't have any cooking flair. No-one will starve eating my food though.

I have a friend who is a brilliant cook though, she is not from the UK. I love going to her house for dinner. My other friend who is a good cook is also not from the UK, her way of cooking meat is fantastic. I'm sensing a theme here...

Most people?

Have you eaten my food then?

@queenofarles i have seen a picture of stargazy pie in a children’s book and have always wanted to try it. I think because it is a British dish where the fish is intact.

The first time I cooked for my FIL I did Chinese food and cooked an entire stuffed fish and left the head on, at that point I didn’t realise how squeamish some people were.

I make pasta sauces myself because I prefer them from jars and feel I could make one fairly easily. I always use jars for Thai curry or any Indian cooking because I'm less confident with that and often don't have all the required ingredients.
I buy frozen Yorkshire puddings because you can cook only a few at a time (not everyone likes them) its quicker, and they don't stick to the pan like home made ones do! I'm sure most people do a mixture of packets, jars and making their own stuff.

That's not what this is about, a roast dinner isn't great is it, it's meat and veg piled on a plate. Britsh in the main struggle with flair, plain, boring, and tasteless. Boiled ham and roast ham, pork sausage, and Nidderdale.

This is preference rather than cooking skill, though, isn’t it? This sort of plain food can be very satisfying if cooked well and many people enjoy it. My family in Italy eat a lot of meat and veg piled on a plate too - when people talk about how exciting other cuisines are, they are often thinking of starter / primo-type things like pasta. Or street food. A lot of main course food in Europe, especially home cooked food, is meat/fish + veg on a plate.

Problem is it’s so simple it only works if cooked well, and in this country it often isn’t. I generally don’t have Sunday dinner out because it’s usually disappointing. Whereas I’m more confident in ordering a simple meal of e.g. grilled fish on the continent.

I love good food and make the effort to make it. But I have a lot of free time and a lot of cooking knowledge.
There are other people who not only are pressed for time but also for whom food is simply fuel and they don't really care what they eat. My heart goes out to those who make mush with vegetables as they are trying to make something healthy but just don't have the skills. How about some sympathy for those people

Delia, is that you?

Britain struggles with cured meats and cheeses.

Britain does not struggle with cheese. You need to do your cheese research. Here’s some Welsh ones to start you off.

www.welshcheesecompany.co.uk/products/cheeses/

Jars of pasta sauce have limits on how much salt and sugar they can put in them.
yours at home will have more as you add to taste.

You can only speak for your own limited skills.

To a point I agree.

I LOVE eating out at resteraunts etc... so obviously some people in the world can cook and make careers out of it but HATE eating at peoples homes. Most people sing their own praises of being the best cooks in the world then serve up the most bland, mushy and almost inedible crap.

I would often prefer a cheap ready meal or pot noodle to others home cooking that I have encountered of bland blanched but overly salty veg (salt doesnt fix the fact you fucked it) or a plate of 'whatthefuckwasthismeanttobe'. I usually just have to pick at it enough to be polite but HATE it, I would rather not eat at all.

There is so much snobbery about jars and similar. But nowadays they are a lot freshers and have to be.they don’t add many of the ingredients people still associate with them.there has been a huge overhaul of them.
mand I would still say a home cooked lasagne say,cooked with a jar of dolmio is still from scratch.

Or just a very high opinion of herself.

I'm an awesome cook.

No one else agrees though.

Oh my. There’s so much good cheese in the U.K. and good cured meats. cheese is not something the U.K. lacks. We have so much variety, halloumis (or squeaky cheese as we have to call it made here), Stilton, British mozzarella, Stilton, Wensleydale. Cheddar is beautiful versatile cheese not to be knocked. We are blessed in this country our climate is good for livestock. Meaning we have great meats and great meat products.

Our charcuterie is a growing market, if you saw the aldi program recently there was a whole program on it.

seasonal products like tomatoes due to our climate we have a short season. But the farmers in Lea valley for example, do an amazing job with their greenhouses.

Britain is brilliant at taking other countries cuisines and adding it to our own. I think we have a really diverse menu as a result

Okay?

Who made you god of cooking?

Why so mean-spirited? Not everyone has the time, skill, desire, money, kitchen space, physical ability, appliances to make a home-cooked gourmet meal every night.

Why do people insist on using time as an excuse?
Back home all the family worked full-time, but will still prepare our meats from living to dead and curing. Mum still sends me home cured and smoked meats twice a year. Mum still has a huge garden full of various vegetables.
I don't know why brits are getting arsey. The problem with the British is pomposity, best food, best football team, best this and that. However, it's either an imitation of global food done poorly or a roast dinner.😂
Cardboard pizzas just top it off.

thegreekfarmer.com/product/christmas-cheese-charcuterie-platter

best tell this lot to pack up

@KimberleyClark that welsh black bomber cheese is incredible.

Except that’s assuming a heavy hand. I don’t use thickeners or gums, it’s not stood on a shelf for weeks on end either.

A roast dinner with a strong cauliflower cheese, with a dash of mustard to bring out the flavour. A rich gravy, a good Yorkshire (not that cardboard reheated), goose fat potatoes (a sprinkle of flour after parboiling so they are crisp), carrots with maybe thyme or similar, but steamed so they are sweet and tasty. Come in, how is that not a fab meal?

I can't get much further than OP saying they've eaten most people's food. Thanks for the laugh 😂