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?

Because we are just so unrefined and fat and love soggy bland food obvs

Er, we don’t? Happy to help.

I think it's one of those rare situations where "you should get out more" is literally good advice!

Bla bla crap England bla bla amazing Europe bla bla Brits are idiots etc etc etc.

OP why would you move to a country you have such contempt for, and post on a UK parenting site to tell us all that we destroy food and torture our children with boiled vegetables? And you won’t even tell us where you’re from. Probably some lovely European country where everyone still smokes, but it’s Ok because you roast everything in olive oil and garlic 🙄

I think the main question is how are you cooking your peas if not boiling them!

You don't listen much, do you? Umpteen people have told you that British people (kindly refrain from calling me a "Brit") do not "boil everything" but you just keep ploughing on. You have a big xenophobia and superiority problem. By the way, British people are also European, so you have a geography problem too.

I don't, I roast veggies, or do them in the air fryer. If I am going to make mashed potatoes then of course I boil them and I parboil potatoes before I roast them. I also do loads of salads with raw veg. Not had boiled carrots for many a long year.

Gosh you are so much better than us boring Brits, we all wish we could be far more European.......

Or maybe you are just a bit of a goady twat.

And interesting!

It’s a texture thing imo.

Boiled new potatoes work with something like a salmon encroute. I wouldn’t have roasted potatoes with that because it’s too much crunch.

Why do you have to fry vegetables? Are all Continental Europeans incapable of cooking any other way?

You're assuming that one person in a family is representative of over 60 million.

Some are better steamed for tenderness and texture, like beetroot, courgette, potatoes, baby sweetcorn, cauliflower or Swede, some are better wilted like spinach or chard, some are better lightly cooked in boiling water, like beans.

You've also got different culinary traditions from all over the world. That brings in combination methods - wilting the greens of pak choi or choi sum, the stem parts being boiled/steamed in liquid from the rest of the dish, blanching asparagus, wrapping ingredients in paper so that they steam, making potstickers so the bottom is browned but the rest is steamed with water, poaching meat so it is cooked but tender and not browned - the alternatives are extensive.

You're being ridiculous because you've met one person who cooks like that and their family is used to it.

I don’t cook, my husband does. I have never seen him ‘ boil everything’. My mum used to annihilate all veg, but that’s died out completely nowadays.

Massive sweeping generalisation here! Also some steamed / boiled veggies are lovely - I get a bit sick of Mediterranean veggies after a few meals so I do various mixes throughout my weeek

My French sister in law barely cooks any vegetables at all . She’s very suspicious of my roast parsnips as they’re animal feed ! However I do not assume the entire French nation is like this …

Food of the gods. I remember we used to go to Ayr on holiday when we were kids and Ayr chips in June were the best.

Boiled Ayrshire new potatoes are even better than Jersey Royals.

You'd better not have haggis, neeps and tatties OP.😉

I don't roast vegetables (apart from potatoes) because I can't stand the texture of them once roasted.

I steam most of my vet, good texture, keeps in the nutrients.

My DM boiled everything.
I do not.
Tastes change as recipes and methods circle the globe on the wings of Google.

That’s not cauliflower cheese.

My English mum used to boil most of the vegetables except on roast days when we would have roast potatoes. And there also was chips of course. Not chicken though, although chicken was a bit of a luxury in the 70s.
It wasn't so much the boiling but the fact the vegetables were boiled too long.
Think it comes from the past when there wasn't the variety of food and most working class people made do with cheaper cuts of meat that had to be stewed and boiled for hours. Even chickens were quite often boiling birds that were too old to lay eggs so sold cheaply.

Hope it tastes as good as it sounds or is it a typo for pois?

I’m British and I only ever lightly steam or roast vegetables. DH is European and boils them. Riddle me that OP.

Yes, exactly, are we supposed to stir fry them or something . Possibly in lots of butter…
Some of us are constantly watching our weight, filling up on lots of yummy veg is the way to go. Unless they’re drowned in butter obviously

Just because you think that, doesn’t mean everyone else is going to. Some people would rather taste the veg than the seasoning, and not have to add oil unnecessarily to it.
I’ve never heard of anyone boiling meat, I didn’t actually know it could be done.
Ive also never heard of anyone having peas in any other way than boiled, but I only buy them frozen.

I’m British and I don’t think I boil anything but pasta or rice

If you’ve grown up with food that is always served with significant amounts of butter/oil, salt, herbs, garlic, etc. then your taste buds have adapted to that and you haven’t got the ability to taste the subtleties of the vegetable flavour itself. That’s kind of sad for you. Those of us who didn’t can appreciate both the more intensely flavoured dishes and the joys of the simple, delicious taste of fresh peas with nothing added. I can’t understand at all why you think roasting a new potato is somehow superior to lightly boiling it. It’s arrogant and makes you look quite ignorant.

Like others, I am fed up of people thinking that it’s acceptable to make sweeping negative/sneering generalisations about the British in a way that they wouldn’t dream of doing about other countries/groups. You aren’t superior, you just have a different cultural history and like different things when it comes to food. You don’t have to like the same things as everyone else.

Why do all Europeans taste one example of British food, then get ridiculously fixated that this is what all British food tastes like?

Coming from a continent that enjoys tins of fish so stinky that they have to be opened outside, cheeses fermented by maggots, raw minced pork on bread and sheep’s feet with offal packed tripe, I think you’ve got a bit of a nerve moaning about some over cooked broccoli.