British Foods

BRITISH FOOD

Spotted dick, Cock-a-Leekie, Welsh faggots! What names! Such nomenclature completely enchants the Anglophile. While we don’t always know what, exactly, such dishes are, we do know that we want to like them!

Photo by Tarquin Binary / Wikimedia Commons

Full English breakfast

British Cuisine: Traditional vs. Nouveau

For years, British cuisine held the reputation as "worst in the world." Visitors--or at least food critics--viewed traditional British foods like sausages, fish and chips, and roast beef as bland and uninspired. With France across the Channel, creating fancy-schmancy haute cuisine, bashing British food was easy. Nowadays, of course, Britain (and certainly London) has discovered the foodie scene, and stylish, world-class restaurants abound. But if you want traditional food, fear not! Traditional dishes and the establishments that serve them have not disappeared all together. And many newer restaurants may offer at least a few traditional choices—especially the “full English breakfast.” Yes, traditional food may be humble, but, by George, it's also tasty, filling, and great for hangovers. "Comfort food" for the soul. I mean, when you're at a pub drinking a pint with your mates, do you crave some pretentious French dish like Escargots de Bourgogne? Of course not! You want good ol' bangers and mash. Or fish and chips. It does not take an Einstein to grasp this simple truth.

What Gives with the Funny Food Names?

The daffy names the Brits use for many of their traditional dishes are music to the Anglophile's ear. “Rarebit,” “bubbles and squeak,” "toad in the hole." Names so utterly cute, they conjure up images in our minds of Beatrix Potter books! And then there are the British foods that are simply esoteric to Americans. Just what the devil is mincemeat . . . or trifle . . . or any of those other strange things?

Check out my GLOSSARY OF BRITISH FOODS to get the low-down on this mystifying aspect of British culture!

Zella's Comment: If you're in New York City and need a British grocery store, check out the famed Myers of Keswick in the West Village. (634 Hudson Street, between Horatio and Jane Streets.) Pasties, bangers, digestives--you name it, they have it! Enter MYERS OF KESWICK

To read about the traditional British Sunday roast, click HERE