Dinners - are Brits only ones that make international food for dinner

[o9yhke89]

Was chatting with an Italian and Spanish friend about kids dinners - and mostly they just make whatever they grew up with i.e. Italian and Spanish food and really treasure their family recipes. Most of my English friends always try to have food from different cultures and this is seen as much more sophisticated and worldly. I've lived all over but was wondering whether the Brits just don't value their own cuisine especially when it comes to family meals.

I've just had a look at that Rules Restaurant's menu because, as I said in my previous post, I genuinely wish I liked British food because I am quite patriotic and love British culture generally, just the food is not to my taste.

There is only ONE thing on the menu that I (being vegan) could eat, and it sounds revolting IMO. 'Isle of Wight Tomato Salad with Pickled Shallots, Caperberries and Rocket' and also very bland. I don't like anything pickled either, don't have a sweet tooth for the berries. Rocket yes, I love that but It's hardly a dish worth going to a restaurant for!

Can folk stop with the 'you're a shit cook' stuff? It doesn't make sense-I'd be very surprised if everyone saying they don't favour British food, have only experienced it when cooking it themselves! Most of our first experiences with it will be by our parents/relatives surely? And in eating establishments.

You're a vegan. Of course a traditional British/English restaurant specialising in roast meats isn't going to be for you. It must be incredibly difficult for you to find any restaurants with more than one or two dishes on the menu you can eat.

Also - do make your mind up. Is it bland or is too vinegary, which is the only objection I can imagine to eating pickles? Caperberries are pickled and they come from the Mediterranean. No need to worry about them being sweet, they're not. The tomatoes would provide the sweetness in that dish. Sweet and sour is a classic combination of flavours.

For the love of god. Someone upthread said the British are very good at talking ourselves down. Here's a classic example. Theatre, film, TV, music, fine art, architecture, literature, you name it - we punch far above our weight in all these areas. The same seems to be true these days for restaurants.

Tonight we have barley cooked with dried quince, celery and lovage. Spring greens seasoned with shallots and caramelised carrots. Prawns in cream of celery sauce with mustard, thickened with a potato.
Would you call it British?

Pottage may be more to your taste.

Seems clear from this thread that a few people have no idea about English food, or any of the other U.K. nations dishes outside of pie and mash.

There are plenty of spicy, herby traditional regional dishes.

But some people with no palate just need hot sauce on everything otherwise they can’t taste any flavour.

All those people that think British food is bland need to understand that when you have some of the absolute best fresh local produce available, it never needed to have tons of spices and chili thrown at it to make it taste nice.

I agree. When I eat I want to be able to taste the actual food I am eating - not have it covered up with numerous seasonings. Well cooked simple food is delicious.

@ilovemydogmore

Disagree that British food is crap. To make my case:

• Yorkshire pudding in all its guises
• pies too many to mention
• casseroles too many to mention
• soups too many to mention
• salads, too many to mention
• lots of different stews, some with dumplings
• glorious varieties of meats, with potatoes cooked in different ways, and vegetables on the side.
• so many varieties of fish, cooked in lots of different ways, with a carb, and veg

There is literally nothing not to like about British food, and so much variation within it. Our farms and shorelines offer a huge variety of meat, fish, dairy, and vegetables, which lend themselves to a massive variety of dishes.

Actually, having just returned from Portugal, where the food is healthy and wholesome, but not that tasty or varied, because it is 1001 ways to cook salt cod-- all of which involve tons of spuds, I think modern mid-budget British family cooking -done competently - is generally a great deal better than most other food cultures.

I like cooking, I love recipes, I think I cook pretty well and my food seems to please most of the people who eat what I cook most of the time. I don't want to cook professionally because I am nearly 67 and the professional kitchen is gruelling and relentless work. I have the knowledge and the expertise to know what I want to accomplish, and whether I succeeded with any particular dish.

It does mean that I am reluctant to go out and pay for food that I could cook better and much cheaper at home, even if I have to clean down afterwards. Happily the family rule is that eaters clean up behind the cook.

But lookingforchangenowww the thread is about British food. Even if you lumped all the regional English delicacies into one, why would you ignore all the other style of British cuisine?

"'Isle of Wight Tomato Salad with Pickled Shallots, Caperberries and Rocket" how on earth does that sound revolting and bland?? Hardly a hearty main course, I grant you. But revolting and bland?

That was great. Grandmother would have used veal or rabbit, because she wouldn't have been able to afford big prawns or chicken.

But to be honest- I'm not sure a restaurant specialising in game is the best choice for a vegan...

I don't disagree with you there - the ones who spent a week in Orlando and ate at fast food places and decided they knew it all!

Not read the full thread

...but what is considered a British meal? Is a roast really only British? Having been in Istanbul for a while I was surprised about the prevalence of baked/jacket potatoes as a "street food", sausages you get in Germany... etc etc
Very curious to know what traditional British and only "available" in Britain is...

Anyone who eats at fast food places and judges a nation's food culture or culinary skills on that basis is being a tad unreasonable. Although I was dismissive of Portuguese food a few posts ago, we did have some delicious meals cooked perfectly. But then, French food is not routinely as good as it was 20 years ago.

Nobody wants their child stuck working in hospitality, so we all need to shoulder some of the blame. A DC has spent time in the professional kitchen, at 5 star level, loves the work and skill and camaraderie, but not the hours or the automatic assumption that they are too stupid to do better. But honestly, that work experience for a period is invaluable.

Most restaurants have great vegan options now! I eat out all the time.

Unfortunately the only ones who seem to not are (most) independent places, which is a shame as

Yes, english fayre generally isn't to my taste at all. Not because I'm crap at cooking, I am actually pretty good!

It is bland I'd say. Bland as in unadventurous, boring? Rather than flavour wise.

Fair enough regarding the caperberries. Still not a very exciting dish however-I'd not enjoy eating it, can make far nicer food at home-and I love to eat out!

I am not a fan of sweet and sour either. I love food, and as I've previously said eating out is something I do very often with family/partner/friends. But in general, not a fan of english cuisine.

@Itisyourturntowashthebath Pottage is quite nice, I'd forgotten about that! Real comfort food-and I do like turnip soup with lots of pepper

'Fresh local produce'? Really?
Where I come from in South East Asia... everyone shops in the wet markets. Rich , poor, whatever. We know where it all comes from, and it's delicious.
Supermarket vegetables are more expensive, neither or nor my parents would ever dream of buying fresh produce there.

It's the opposite in the U.K. Most shop at supermarkets and 'farmer's markets' are a) for the rich or b) for those who live with easy access to one. I'm close to Cheshire, surrounded by farms and while a lot of farm shops are great value for money they're not the all-round cheapest.

I'm from a developing country but our poor probably eat better than those in the U.K. We don't have frozen food etc so eating 'fresh local produce' isn't an expensive choice, it's the only food that we have!

It's interesting. Spanish and Italian people are very insular in terms of palate. I think it's a good thing that we eat a range of cuisine.

Would you like to eat Italian food every night? As lovely as it is, I'd eventually want to mix things up with something spicy or some comfort food like a roast or a cottage pie.

And I definitely wouldn't want to eat Spanish food all the time, it's really not great.

Yes in my experience! Have travelled a lot and visited friends in their own countries and they have always cooked their own national dishes. Only restaurants seem to offer more variety. We are very culturaly embellished so have a lot to choose from! X

I dont imagine that French, Spanish, Italians, Chinese, Indian, Mexican etc people pop
Out for an english?

Do other countries have British themed
Pubs with British classics?

Pie n chips express
Cote-age Pie Brasserie?
Birmingham Fried Chicken?
Fish n chips a mamma

Roast beef is quite popular worldwide, hence many call us Brits Roast Beefs.

I’m not sure how strong someone’s assessment of any cuisine can be if they’re very limited by type of diet and personal likes/dislikes. It automatically discounts a huge number of dishes that would generally be regarded as tasty.

I just think there's more variety and while I love traditional British food I wouldn't want it every day. It's nice to have Italian, Indian, Greek, Chinese, Mexican, etc. Is it just that other European countries are more traditional?