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?

Fascinated to know how you cook peas

Like most vegetables, we generally steam peas.

The microwave oven has a steaming facility, so it is easy.

We don't your husband and his family cannot cook

We don’t. What a stupid thread.

This!!

This was certainly the case in my youth, many decades ago, but the only thing I boil these days are potatoes before putting them in to roast

Most of British culinary goings have come about due to WW1 – and never really gone away. Cooking in oil was too expensive an option.

I fancy some boiled potatoes now but it’s too hot to cook them.

Irish here and there's nothing better than a boiled new spud with salt and butter, I don't care what anyone thinks 🤗 Also, I like to boil carrots and mash them up with pepper and garlic 😱

Par boil a potato before roasting so they're fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside.
Boiling carrot & turnip adding butter salt & pepper oooh comfort food takes me back to being little .

My 84 year old irish Dad would agree with you.

A wise man no doubt! 😝

I thought lard was the norm for frying. It still is in some chip shops.

All cooking fats, including lard, were strictly rationed.

So, before 1918 it was the norm in Britain to fry rather than boil vegetables.

I'm dubious.

Surely it's highly dependent on the veg in question. Peas, string beans, broad beans, lentils, corn on the cob, new potatoes - all fine boiled.

Broccoli, cauliflower, mange-tout - better steamed.

obviously butter and salt required, and not over-cooking them to mush.

I'm not mucking about sauteing most of the above when I can whack them in/over a pot and boil/steam them.

And parboiling potatoes/parsnips before roasting is mainly so I can put it on high so they're nice and crispy, but not raw inside.

There's no 'one true best way' to cook anything..

Well if you really want to get into it ...

No – wartime rationing made certain methods habitual, but it wasn't solely responsible for creating it.

The Tudors used an abundance of cooking fat – but there was a rich/poor divide in using it. Fat, in Britain, has always been expensive, unlike in Europe where there was an abundance of olive (and other) oils. Fuel to roast food was also more costly.

Less meat was also available in Britain, as opposed to Europe. The meats we saw most of were mutton, brisket and offal – stewing and boiling made these meats more palatable.

Britain was also industrialised before other European countries, and one-pot meals and stews were more convenient and practical for working hours and crowded, urbanised households.

However, when other cooking methods and culinary options could have filtered into the country, that's when we were hit with both rationing and post-war austerity. And this is why the habits have really taken hold.

Completely agree about new potatoes. Especially Jersey Royals. Some varieties of new potato have an exquisite flavour and boiling them then tossing in good butter, maybe some chopped mint or parsley, is the very best way to eat them. Roasting new potatoes is all well and fine but it's neither the best roast potato you'll ever have, nor is it the best way to enjoy delicious new potatoes either.

I read an article recently that said Germans don't deserve potatoes because they are so rubbish at cooking them. 😂The writer said that given that potatoes were an absolute staple of German food they really should learn to cook them in more interesting ways as they had a very poor and uninspiring range of traditional potato dishes in their repertoire. She was particularly indignant the roast potato, the absolute king of potato dishes doesn't seem to be a thing in Germany. It was very funny.

Also, I would have thought it's pretty standard for both British and Irish people to roast Potatoes and other veg when making (the very popular) Sunday Roast

Boiling lots of vegetables and not preparing them in any other way, was a thing in the 70s. My parents came here from the Indian subcontinent then and found the stuff in the work canteen extremely bland. Peeled boiled chunks of potato with a bit of parsley thrown on top.

However, things have changed massively now. I would say British food is really tasty and there are all sorts of ways of preparing veg.

I was brought up with home-made curries and delicious interesting foods. My wish for my final meal on earth? My English husband’s roast dinner with boiled carrots and roast potatoes.

Love Indian food and love a good Sunday Roast 😍

That's lovely to hear. I adore Indian food, but I couldn't eat it every day. I love all that spice and strong flavours but sometimes I just want something plain and simple so I can taste the flavour of the main ingredient, rather than all the complex flavours that have been added to it. Provided it's been seasoned well enough when cooking I don't see it as bland, just simple and pared back.

However, I always chuckle to myself whenever I see Indians eating British, European or American style food in hotels and restaurants. They always take a bottle of chilli sauce out of their pocket or handbag and will put it on everything. 😂

Clearly when having lots of spice and strong flavours is in your DNA, European food must taste very bland without it.

Not all 'Brits' are the same, just like I'm sure not everyone in your country is the same.
I don't 'boil everything' and most people I know don't.

I used to steam vegetables until a chef friend said boiling (but not for too long) gave better taste. My parents steam broccoli and runner beans and they come out a bit grey and weird tasting. Boiled until just tender they stay lovely and green and taste nicer. I'll stir fry some vegetables and roast others but there's still a place for boiling them. Cooking runner beans in butter would be weird to me (plus way less healthy).

I think when people think about boiled vegetables they are thinking about over-boiled mush they had at school.

Classic mumsnet…You have a DH (and his family) problem not a British food one!