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?

I think the problem is that pretty much all our meals are based around meat, root vegetables and potatoes, so everything tends to look and taste fairly similar.

Everyone has written long lists of food they love but it’s they’re basically the same ingredients mixed up in a different way - not unpleasant, but also not particular exciting either.

It entirely depends on the cook. Nothing to do with what country the dish is associated with. I think the "stogyness" that some associate with our food is just down to the fact that we live in a cold climate. And the fact that British classics were originally the food of working class folk, who back in the day, needed more calories as manual workers.

Yep I was going to say the same. It’s just a heritage of what has traditionally been grown in England plus wartime added in. The reason Italian & Spanish food is full of Mediterranean veg & olive oil is because it the ingredients grow there. The reason Thai food is so deliciously spicy & fragrant is that the ingredients grow there. And so on. Global trade means ingredients can now be bought & used in food all over the world, and are, but ‘traditional English’ is so because we are on an island with a temperate climate where potatoes & meat were staples.

I don't think it's overrated because it's routinely slagged off all over the world.
Compared to some places I've been though, British food is nectar and ambrosia.

I was going to say that's nothing like what Henry VIII ate (potatoes are a good example).

He ate things like spit roasted meat, whale, offal, peacock, grilled beavers tail (good luck getting hold of that) and swan.

Aside from a hog roast at a wedding these traditional offerings simply aren't what we eat now mainly wasnt invented.

Henry also didn't have access to sugar and spices because they'd yet to make it to England, but these became widely available during the Victorian era.

No - I love many traditional British dishes. They're no worse or better than other cuisines. They're just largely forgotten, looked down upon by pretentious people and frequently badly done in restaurants.

I love French and Italian food, Mexican dishes and food from the Indian sub-continent. Personally the smell of Thai food makes me retch - I literally have to decline invitations if Thai food is involved. And it all tastes the same!

Different strokes.

I much prefer Mediterranean food. Pasta, seafood, fresh tomatoes…

I agree with this, in no way shape or form is it overrated!

I like it, it's back to basic meat & 2 veg often which in the land of highly processed additive filled food i guess can seem bland. It also incorporates seasonal foods because importing wasn't a thing when it was developed, and yes it's 'stodgy' because the country is cold and damp for a fair amount of the year...

I agree with it being (mostly) bland and stodgy.

But the puddings do make up for It 😉

Importing not being a thing? When?

In the industrial revolution entire towns were built on 'King Cotton' something not grown in the UK.

Rice pudding? Kedgeree?

A lot of things we think of as traditional Mediterranean food isn't traditional. Tomatoes, like potatoes originate in America.

Whoever says English food is rubbish, never had decent English food. And I say this as a Mediterranean that the first thing we were taught about England/UK was The Queen and the terrible food.
For me, English is the most delicious comfort food, perfect for rainy weather. A beautifully done pie, the roast, the breakfasts!!!!
And I’m not even going to mention the puddings and desserts.

Since prior to the 19th century? A lot of what people class as traditional English food pre-dates this.

Also yes if we think about non trad foods on a thread about traditional foods the possibilities are endless...

I find French and British food totally underwhelming. Beige stodge with no spices and very little flavour. There's a reason there are fewer British restauarants in London than other cuisines.

Because peoples palettes are wrecked plus it's hard to get decent quality meat etc for a reasonable price now. A decent cut shouldn't need lots of seasoning to not taste bland, but it does nowadays.

How to tell us you can’t cook without telling us you can’t cook..we have fabulous local producers, great fresh ingredients, fascinating regional variations, wonderful cheese.
creative chefs and food writers promoting these ingredients and recipes …Tom Kerridge, Nigel Slater, Ferguson Henderson.
Have a read of Jane Grigson’s English Food (or any of her excellent books)
And definitely the best puddings, cakes and buns in the world.
Im as likely to cook a tajine, a curry or a ramen as I am a game casserole, stew with fluffy, herby dumplings or a fragrant chicken pie but I would never dismiss an entire nations cuisine. And we have one of the most varied and interesting.

Anyway OP, even if there isn't a single thing on a typical British menu you like, aren't we lucky that we have a whole world of other cuisines to choose from every single day. You could have croissants for breakfast, pad thai for lunch and spaghetti for dinner

Agreed. British restaurants are never 'the' restaurant to get into around the world. At least not in the cities I've travelled to.

Not "America." Both tomatoes, and potates, orginated in South America and were brought to europe by the Spanish in the 16c. 🤓

I think you'll find plenty of 'fish and chips' and 'full English' on the Costas though

English food is great if cooked properly. Using herbs and spices and enough salt.

English pubs and pub grub seems to be a thing in a lot of places. They just opened a new one and people are cery excited. That being said, no, British cuisine is not the go to all over the world like Italian. But neither is majority of the cuisines in the world. At least Brits have some world famous dishes unlike majority of other countries. I'm not British so haven't grown up with the food, but it is totally fine comfort food and gets a bad rap.

Er South America is still America.

Er and Mexico is in North America, which is where tomatoes were first cultivated.

Not even one of the many Michelin starred restaurants we have?

There are a lot of unimaginative, narrow minded lazy cooks on here.

Bad English food is food made with poor quality ingredients cooked badly. The food at a Toby carvery is not representative of a good roast dinner. The food at Simpson's in the Strand is worlds away from a Toby carvery.

Dismissing an entire country's cuisine as "crap" is lazy. Saying that it isn't to your taste is fine, but saying that everything British you have ever eaten is rubbish says more about you than the food.

We eat all around the world in our house, including good quality British food. I buy my meat from the local butcher and know the provenance of where it comes from. The beautiful free range chicken we had the other day was reared in a farm half a mile away from where we live.

There are clearly people on here who simply don't know how to cook. Throwing a curry or stir fry together is easier than getting the timings right for all the elements of a good roast dinner.

Also, British food needn't be stodgy. We eat a lot of vegetables. It takes us ages to get through a bag of potatoes.

World renowned chefs recognise that the Brits make outstanding cakes and desserts. Anyone lucky enough to have eaten at Tommy Banks' restaurant in Oldstead would have eaten British food at it's finest.

It's obvious nonsense, this country has the most incredible produce available, if you can't make wonderful food from it that's entirely down to your poor cooking skills.

I hosted a lunch to celebrate my mother's 80th birthday recently and cooked using local, seasonal ingredients.

We started with canapés of mackerel tatre on sourdough toasts, English asparagus with a watercress mayonnaise, goat's curd tarts with spring herbs and crispy stuffed Jerusalem artichokes.

For starter we had clams and mussels in cider and wild garlic with sourdough made by a local bakery.

Then a small cup of sorrel soup.

Main was slow roast shoulder of lamb from the butcher and about as local as it gets, cooked in wine, chicken stock, a couple of bulbs of garlic, whole shallots and finished with peas and fresh mint. Just served really simply with some buttered local potatoes.

Little palate cleanser of blood orange sorbet (and yes, I know they're imported, but they are in season!).

Then lemon and rhubarb posset with a little rhubarb and gin cocktail and brown butter shortbread.

A spring cheese plate with goat's and ewe's cheese and local honey with Neil's Yard crackers.

Some homemade ganache and honey caramels.

We had some really good English fizz and white wine ( went French for the red as I don't think we're quite there yet with our red wine production).

Somerset brandy or various single malts as digestif.

With the exception of the citrus fruit, peppercorns, capers in the tatare, sugar, vanilla pods and chocolate that was all UK produce and pretty traditional British food.

What's not to like?

Why the F don't you learn to cook then?

Have you never watched Great British Menu?