Is it patronising to say that British people don't/ can't cook?

[MrsMerryHenry]

I think it is. I'd say about 99% of my friends cook well, maybe half of them extremely well. I'd place myself somewhere between those two groups (based on others' comments about my food!). Pretty much all of my friends are adventurous about food and take pride in the food that they produce. Surely I can't be part of an abnormal set of 'Brits that can actually cook'?

Oh, and one thing that really gets up my nose is the otherwise brilliant comedy Frasier - all the jokes about Daphne's food being crap because it's British. Because American food's so amazing, clearly. I spent 2 weeks in the USA, ate out every night (otherwise it was a host's home cooking), and all of us Brits were seriously underwhelmed by the food. Most of it was nice (apart from the diner - what in the world are 'grits'??? They're actually gritty! ), but nothing special. Okay, rant over .

Very patronising - I'd say a lot of British people cook. Some better than others, obviously, and some more adventurous than others.

I think Americans often have a strange idea of what the UK is like, based on very out-of-date stereotypes - like we all have a full fried breakfast every morning, or all live on black pudding. And have terrible teeth!

If you look at what people buy in their big shop at supermarkets, I would say that quite a fair proportion, possibly even majority, do not cook from scratch.

I shop in Sainsburys Greenwich, which is pretty middle class.

I can cook, although it might not seem like it from all the threads i start on here re food !!

i made a fab Xmas day lunch for 19 without a hiccup, make a roast with all the trimmings and proper gravy every weekend, and can cook from scratch

but i'm not averse to giving us all pasta or fishfingersd and chips once in a while or eggs on toast,

my mum always cooked and so did my grandma, my sister is an excellent cook too

i think lots of people don't cook as they believe it is too time consuming and some definitely can't cook, but i think that is the same in most parts of the world

but the people who can't cook really can't cook at all. i too have seen people fill an entire trolley with food, none of which could be called an ingredient. not even a tomato or banana.

I couldn't cook til I was 40
Now I cook from scratch but it definitely takes more time.

I have heard that the french don't cook anymore and are buying convenience food by the ton

I'd say British people are very poor at seasoning and cooking meat well.

I am a reasonable if basic cook-I'm not scared in the kitchen.
My Nana, Grandma and Mum are/were amazing cooks and I think some of this was necessity-eg Nana had 8 kids and made a little go a long way and none of them had access to many prepared foods. I can remember the excitement that tinned Buitoni ravioli caused when my Mum brought it home.
I think I was a bit more imaginative when I was cooking for myself at university and had £8 a week for food.
Now I find it easy to pick up a jar of pesto here a pack of fishfingers there....
I found the Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food book quite inspiring, but you wouldn't if you were a really good cook already.
I think Britain isn't that different to America-aren't we all on the same road?

My mother is a good cook and I learnt from her. My dh is a great cook.

we have good teeth too

Nothing wrong with jars of pesto, you'd hardly make your own, would you? (And even if you did, not every time.) Apparently in whichever region of Italy it comes from, traditionally pesto-making is a specialist job given to ONE person in the family only who is regarded as the pesto expert.

I can't really cook - I can do spag bol for ds but that's about it really. Dh does the cooking from scratch stuff. Used to be able to cook but dh got really into it and took over. But I'm not representative of my whole country or anything.

My mother is an excellent cook - my father's reason for never taking her out to dinner was that he could eat better at home. One reason why they got divorced! People rave about her cooking and back in the days when she used to do dinner parties invites were fought over.

My BIL is also a good cook but he's half Italian so not sure that counts.

Oh, and apparently my spag bol is v. v. good even though I'm veggie (another reason I don't cook from scratch very often as I'm the only one in the house). Certified by my friend the chef and I know she'd be honest with me, she has been about other stuff in the past...

But I do embroider stuff that starts with bought ingredients. Like dried noodles with pine nuts, onions and peas. Protein, veg and carbs, am convinced it's balanced (although probably too salty, I do love salt. But when the GP measures my blood pressure it is always on the low side).

I think that the whole Sleb Chef thing has helped us cook more and more successfully in this country.

Most people I know can cook, not just the females either, my DH and his Father cook a lot as do my family. I remember my Dad cooking lovely food when growing up, not just my Mom. My boys love to help in the kitchen as well.

We cook from scratch a lot, but yes do use some little cheats too.

Well, I lived in the UK for 15 yrs and over that time the quality of fresh ingredients in the supermkts improved loads - suggesting that perhaps British cook a lot more than they used to, or at least are more interested in eating better food.

At the same time, I cannot think of many other countries in Western Europe where the ready-made/frozen meals aisle in the supermarket is quite so large! So I would say that although many British people can cook well, there is a substantial part of the population that won't/can't...

I think the best thing about British cooking is the variety. If you go to a supermarket in France there is a very definite vibe that only French food is good food.

I try to cook from frsh as much as possible but we do have the odd take away or fishfinger night.
my mum doesnt cook these days aas its only her and she doesnt see the poinnt.
my older sis always cooks from scratch and is annoyingly organised!

feel sorry for my granny though. she is loosing the plot a bit so they eat microwave meals most days..... wish i lived closer so that i could look after them but i think theyre about 250 miles away.

i like cooking though. nothing better than seeing the kids tuck into a nice wholesome meal

I can cook. Might not be amazing every night, but I can cook some pretty good dishes. I also enjoy cooking and enjoy cooking for family and friends. I am not a food snob and have no problems with the odd fishfinger, etc. but love real food too.

Have been teaching 7y DD to cook too - she made a lovely mousakka last weekend and has made veggie balti, meatballs, etc. over the past few months. Think it is important to teach children young.

Most of my friends can cook.

Have eaten out in America and it has been fine, but wouldn't say overly special. I have certainly had as nice and if not better in the UK.

yeah, stupid generalisations.

I have actually had some shit food in france tbh. In Nice, we went to a seafood reastaurant and I got some sort of luke warm tagliatelle in a yellow sauce. It was tasteless. I remember thinking god if a french person got this in england or ireland they'd be so condescending.

Also had a tasteless meal in boulogne sur le mer once... If it had been Ireland I would ahave sent it back.

Loads of frumpy slightly overweight people in more rural parts of France too. BUT the French do seem to believe their own pr, that they are all slim, chic and marvellous cooks. Or maybe it's more that we buy into it.

Oh osh MB - yes, have had some very underwhelming food in France too at times.

We buy ready made pesto in Italy as well....

It's all very Emperor's New Clothes this whole "only in Furrin Land can they cook".

As I enjoy saying on every such thread, the ingredients in the UK are far far superior to what I can get here in Sth Italy. (like for like, that is...obviously, the local shellfish is fab here and the salmon is revolting- it's fatty FFS, but I'm guessing our tomatoes are superior to those grown in the UK etc etc.

It is true I think that fewer people cook from scratch in the UK, though that said, I know plenty here who eat Findus orange-coated stuff several times a week.

It's down to the ready meal industry, both the high end stuff in M and S and Waitrose and the KF shite. Both equally to blame, along with the no cookery lessons malarkey.

Kids don't get cookery lessons here, but their mammas teach the girls how to be good wives...... (and when said wives have to be hospitalised for that pesky breeding thing) hubby goes back to his mothers. So only half the population can cook themselves a dinner from scratch.

"If you look at what people buy in their big shop at supermarkets, I would say that quite a fair proportion, possibly even majority, do not cook from scratch"

but is this a fair judgement? I get emergency stuff from the supermarket but though its a large amount its not all of it by any means. It doesnt cover the vegbox/gardenstuff etc, the milk delivery, the trip to the butchers. The stuff bought in bulk, the chickens and eggs from the garden.
I don't think we can make assumptions like that.
I wouldn't say I was a great cook though having paid for a lasagne at the copper kettle in cambridge the other day I've decided I'm a lot better than I thought really

This generalisation/stereotype about the quality of food is definitely outdated now. But there is a phenomenal amount of convenience food available so there has to be some truth in saying 'some British people never cook'.

The worst meal I have ever eaten in my life was in France (in Boulogne sur Mer too!). Serves us right for going to a restaurant right opposite a tourist attraction.

The best food I have ever eaten in my life has been in France and India.

I would say most of my British friends cook reasonnably well. Maybe less often from scratch that I do but we have different life styles as well.

The one thing I think British people are exellent at, is to be curious and actually enjoy food from evrywhere arround the world be it cooked by themselves or coming in a handy delivery.

I think a lot of people from my own birth country might cook better but they stay in the safe "national" cooking rather than try something more adventurous. They also in a majority (the people I know, I am sure they are some Swiss people who will happily try anything) will go on holiday to places where they will find the sort of food they are used to rather than go for the local food.

Mostly I cook from scratch but like many other people I have the odd pizza in the freezer for emergencies poor organization.