Why do Brits boil everything ?

[Lotc]

I’m European but not British. I have to say the way you guys cook (vegetables in particular) ie boiling everything) really isn’t for me. It just makes everything so bland even if you add butter and salt after. Carrots especially. Why not roast or lightly sautee in a pan with some olive oil? My husband boils everything. I’ve never seen anything like it. Why boil carrots? Same as ILs. The first time I met ILs we had poached chicken. It’s so weird to me. Is it a health thing?

Jersey Royals freshly boiled 👌

The trick is not to over-boil. Overcooked boiled veg are common here and taste like depressing school dinners. Almost inedible. But lightly boiled veg is delicious.

To me, if the quality of the ingredients is good, adding butter/olive oil/salt etc completely ruins it. Lightly boiled carrots, lightly boiled homegrown new potatoes with a sprig of mint - perfect. But the carrots abd potatoes have to be homegrown quality.

(But people do cook in lots of different ways, it's not just default boil.)

I agree OP, really annoys me too. Boils my piss.

Of course!

Though asparagus sautéed in butter is the most delicious thing at the moment.

So would I if I was married to such a critical person who thought their cooking was far superior.

I'd tell them to bloody well get on with it, lest they call Social Services when they catch me feeding the kids boiled peas.

You really should be par boiling your piss.

Avoid Germany like the plague then OP. 😂😂😂

They are big fans of boiling, even before grilling.

We are a nation, like Germany, reared on hardy root vegetables, traditionally the best available and efficient way to cook them was to boil them.

Yeah we definitely all boil everything. And eat the same things. FFs.

I don't think many people just boil all veg. I think most people do a mixture of cooking methods and those who don't boil will probably steam when they want something simple.

We sometimes have lightly boiled carrots sometimes roast, depending on meal and mood. Both have their place.

We would boil new potatoes sometimes, particularly jersey royals, but also roast news sometimes with herbs, spices and garlic or sometimes just with olive oil and salt. Jersey royals are incredibly and it would be sacrilege to roast them or do anything much with them!

We sometimes steam, stir fry, saute, boil, roast veg, Just depends what we are having as the meal and what we fancy.

Centuries ago poor people in Britain ate from food cooked in one pot. Which was invariably boiled due to the flame from beneath. They ate a stew/soup called pottage. And suet puddings followed too. We are known for our boiled steamed puddings.
And over time this transferred to cooking on gas or electricity in a pot.
Which is why we probably boil or simmer more than in other places.

I’m not sure I’ve ever boiled a vegetable. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Occasionally, I steam or blanche stuff, like broccoli. Definitely no boiling of carrots unless I need to puree them or something.

I did have a flatmate in the 80’s who said she would cook dinner one night, pork chops. Really looking forward to that! I walked into the kitchen to find a pot of water on the stove with chops, potatoes and carrots in it 🤢 ! Nothing to do with British I don’t think, she just had no idea how to cook!

I agree boiled veg are bad.

I grew up hating all veg. It was only when I moved out of home that I realised veg can be seasoned and cooked in many different ways.

Everything doesn’t. I think your DH and family can’t cook 😂

😂😂😂

Are you rage baiting or just a bit simple? I used to live in Germany, but I’m smart enough to know that not every German eats salami all day long and not every Bavarian eats Weißwurst for breakfast each day.

Maybe expand your circle to beyond your DH and his family so you see that not every Brit boils veg to within an inch of its life.

Also, I hate butter and still manage to sauté veg perfectly well. Clearly you’re not a very good cook if you think there’s only one way of doing things.

We don’t.

Sometimes I boil (well, simmer) veg, sometimes it’s roasted, sometimes it’s steamed, sometimes it’s raw. It depends on the meal and what I feel like eating at the time.
The answers you’re getting don’t really show that “Brits” boil everything so time to stop lumping groups of people together with lazy generalisations perhaps.

Brit here. I’ve never poached a chicken, that would be a horrible thing to do to it. Sometimes I boil veg (new potatoes just harvested from the garden with butter and a sprinkle of mint - bliss) and sometimes I don’t.

What a weird generalising OP.

Why on EARTH would you ruin the flavour of a good new potato by ROASTING it? You absolute heathen.

That phase we went through in the 90s of serving all veg so al dente it was still rock hard was very tedious. I still occasionally go for a pub Sunday roast only to find that I've got a lump of broccoli or carrot that shoots across the room when I try to cut into it, because it's basically still raw.

Underdone veg is no better, and certainly no more a sign of technically superior cookery than overdone veg is.

I do know what the OP means . A lot of older people like English or Irish did tend to boil a lot of vegetables. It was just the way for a long time . It wasn't until I got my mother a steamer to put over her boiling pot that it changed in our house . A wok was a step too far !Think it was a case of making sure everything was well cooked . She also incinerated every meat including chicken .

On holidays in Spain , I didn't really like the way everything seemed to be swimming in oil even if it was olive oil so healthyish .

I think we all understand that and probably most of us have the smell of boiled cabbage etched in our brain, but it’s the sweeping generalisation that all Brits only cook this way and her insistence that her way is the right way is what makes her sound a bit dim and not a very good or adventurous cook - which is ironic given what she’s moaning about.

I steam peas carrot batons, sweetcorn, Brussel sprouts and broccol and baby potatoes.
I prefer the tenderstem.
I also do roasted tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, red onions and whole garlic cloves in basil olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
At christmas I used to roast carrots, parsnips and butternut squash in honey and wholegrain Mustard from scratch but just now buy it from Marks.

It sounds like you’ve accidentally married someone who can’t cook. Maybe choose better next time or train the one you’ve got into the art of dousing everything with olive oil and garlic and pretending it’s not a totally basic way to cook.

Traditional British cooking is a complicated process with a hugely diverse range of ingredients and methods. We keep it that way to check presumption in foreigners who think olive oil is a sophisticated way of cooking broccoli.