To think traditional English food is overrated?

[ThatJoyousCyanReader]

I’ve always heard people say English food is bland or uncreative, and to be honest, I kind of see their point. Apart from a good roast dinner or fish and chips, what actually stands out? AIBU to think that other cuisines just do it better?

@Notateacheranymore , but we've been eating things flavoured with ginger, mustard, horseradish, herbs etc for centuries.

A nice addendum to my comments on this thread is a thank you card I received today after the lunch I held.

Yep, I agree! Give me Greek, Turkish, Mediterranean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, Mexican pretty much any other cuisine 🤣 any day.

YABU, proper English food historically used spices, herbs and really excellent sauces and puddings you don’t get anywhere else, as well as a wide range of meat, fish, game and soups etc.

It’s a myth that only French or Italian etc cuisine is good or flavourful.

I love all those cuisines as well as British cuisine, but I am a good cook and don't cook bland mushy food.

Traditional English food is spiced. The word currie is an English word dating back to the 16th century. Common hogweed, water pepper, herb bennet, spognel and many more.
However English self loathing means foods from abroad are always seen as superior.
A pub near us does some traditional English food well made. Game pie, anything but bland. Venison. Wild salmon, tastes different to famed salmon.

When was the last time you had any food with those herbs/spices?
and ‘currie’ means boggy plain you donut.
curry comes from kari. A Tamil word.

No one is suggesting England doesn’t have lots of heats and fish. It’s how they are cooked. They are generally just cooked to un-raw them. Fried or baked or boiled. That’s the point. No culinary art. No flavours no skill

Bad cooks cook them as you describe. Good cooks don't.

Please stop with the incorrect sweeping generalisations and maybe spend a bit more to eat at a decent restaurant instead of tarring all chefs and home cooks with the same brush.

I like my steak medium rare and that is how I cook it.

Rubbish, come back when you learn to read this thread.

Interestingly, many of the posters on here who are from the rest of the world have been very complimentary about our food.

You are wrong. Currie was explicitly used in a 16th century English cookbook to mean a spiced meat dish.

No.

No.

Darling.

Why? Tell me the best Mexican dishes you can cook? The best Greek?

Your best menus from those countries?

Tell me?

What do you cook?

What is your signature dish?

Tasting the ingredients without adding strong flavours is good if the food is good. Most great European food is bland. Bland is good.

Bland?

What does bland mean?

It's not a descriptor.

Are we saying bland is good???

I would say clean is good.

Clean flavours

British food is not one note. It's subtle.

Balanced well, it's sublime.

It's about very subtle seasoning.

A bland diet is a gentle diet that avoids strong spices and flavours.

Not all British food is bland, but gentle and subtle flavours are a huge part of British cuisine.

Delicate and gentle diets are not bland, but if you are used to very spicy food then of course the taste will be impacted.

I can not bear Indian food, I have no idea how anyone’s constitution can manage it. Nor do I like the texture of it or the scent. Every culture s different. British food is perfect for our climate, it can be comforting in the winter, and light and gentle in the summer. As it should be naturally changing with our seasons.

I think medically, a bland diet would be one that avoided fats, salt, chilli heat and any acid.

Rather than cinnamon porridge.

Or cumin pottage.

I don't think that medically a 'bland diet' excludes flavours. Just acid, fats and heat.

Anyway.

I digress!

Indian food is not an homogeneous mass. It's a huge subcontinent with a massively varied food tradition.

Saying 'I hate Indian food''

Is a mad thing to say.

It makes you look at bit limited.

'I had a curry once ance didn't like it'

'I had a roast once and didn't like it'

Piff!

I do think that a blanket;

'I hate that food'.

Is slightly racist.

It's an easy way of saying 'I don't like that culture'.

BUT, food and breaking bread is actually the best way to forge relationships.

To share meal, to invite someone to eat with you, it's a wonderful way of breaking down barriers. Which is why we should all at least try to understand other food cultures. I bet there's an 'Indian' food that you would enjoy @Livingbytheocean.

Nor do I like the texture of it or the scent.

I love dishes from the Indian sub continent and I can understand that some people just dislike the spicing, but to dislike the texture of everything doesn't make sense.

Indian food has a wide variety of textures. Not everything is a curry in a sauce.
I guess if you dislike grilled meats and fish, sauteed vegetables, potatoes, anything fried or grilled, breads and rice or crispy poppadums then you would eat a very limited diet anyway, regardless of its origin.

What do you like to eat?

The strong flavour thing is just a guideline. Strong sauces, for example, will often contain lots of spices, or tomatoes with garlic. It's not the flavours in themselves that are the problem.