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?

Should be Mrs Beeton

This is interesting with regards to WW2, but the US has vast food desserts due to its internal geography. Many products derived from corn maize started as a practical solution to feeding people, before the chemical conglomerates realised the money making potential of UPFs. The history of food & culture is something I find fascinating.

On a separate note, I’m loving the description of peppery cress as bland.

Another problem is over salted and spiced snacks - after eating those many things would taste bland.

Reading wolf hall again, and the descriptions of royalty food are mouthwatering, spices, herbs, cream, fresh cheeses etc. I think a lot of that has been lost.

on holiday in Europe when yo7 get fresh local food it can be incredibly good, simple tomato salads, or fresh fish.

but go to Japan or Thailand and the food just knocks anything here into a cocked hat. Pad Thai or shepherds pie…yeah the shepherd pie has its place….but pad Thai wins for taste .

Most British food is good if well cooked.
A lot of it is judged by mediocre pub meals which is mass cooking and results in flavourless, overcooked food. Pub roasts are one of the worst IMO.

British food is a reflection of our climate & history, it's designed to keep us warm and enable us to undertake daily, hard physical work.

Also we are influenced by the USA

TBH, I'm not convinced that most people are.

DD is vegetarian and for lunch today we are having a cauliflower cheese and leek pithivier (OK, it is French influenced, but it is basically a pie) with smashed potatoes and roasted carrots. It is going to be full of flavour.

Not sure I could eat Thai food every day though it is my favourite.

I think English food has an underserved bad rep. Most "traditional" food is pretty rubbish, and English food has relatively good variation.

I can't bear it when people say any (eg German, Egyptian, Malian whatever) cuisine is foul. So ignorant and insulting to other cultures.The most you can say is that it's not to your taste.
I was brought up abroad and we had an Indian cook so I've always loved Indian (Goan, in fact) food.
But a beautiful joint of English or Scotch beef, on the bone and roasted rare, with Yorkshire pudding, horseradish sauce, crisp but fluffy roast potatoes and fresh vegetables in a thing of joy. I do a tray of roasted veg -- potatoes, parsnips and carrots, plus buttered cabbage. I've given it to foreign visitors and it's much appreciated.
It's a real treat, unless you don't eat meat of course, but it's not that easy to perfect, co-ordinating everything to be ready at the same time. And it's very expensive too. It's really not worth trying to roast a small joint of beef, either, it's invariably disappointing.
As for other typically English or British food, it's all in the cooking. Some people are uninterested in food or cooking but they still have to eat, so their efforts may be underwhelming, sadly.

Problem is.....People have been listing the triumphs of English cuisine, and while they are all nice, not a single one centres vegetables or pulses.

I live in pastyland, and while a proper pasty is a thing of beauty, they're an occasional treat. Nobody could eat one every day unless they were a tin miner! Similarly a lot of the other delicacies listed- proper fish and chips is the kind of thing you'd eat every couple of weeks.

Where are the meals you can eat day in day out, that are cheap, nutritious and have enough vegetable content to keep you healthy? This is where English food totally falls down IMO- it's usually meat based, and the accompanying vegetables are a boiled afterthought. I grow abundant runner beans, broad beans and courgettes on my allotment, but the British methods of cooking these are a) boiled, b) boiled, c)allowed to grow massive and watery and stuffed with mince (bleurgh). No wonder British kids traditionally don't eat their vegetables! I have to look to the recipes of other cultures to turn my vegetables into something nice- Greek bean and tomato stew, Egyptian broad bean falafel, Italian char grilled and marinated courgettes.

For lunch we have just had slow roast pork belly, with roasted apples from our garden, mashed swede, stuffing, broccoli and gravy, followed by syrup pudding with cream.

I haven't made a roast for ages, and it was magnificent.

I really like comfort, peasanty type foods so a number of English dishes fit that. I love a good roast dinner, especially if I haven’t cooked it (I make nice ones but love not having to).

I hate the fact you can’t get decent English ‘street’ food that isn’t just a predictable carb/stodgy sandwich and I think that's where our ‘cuisine’ shows its biggest weaknesses. My favourite food is Asian and I envy their street food culture.