How to answer the dreaded question ''What is British food like?''

[Chris Daley]

This is my advice for British expats.  As you know there is not a day that passes without a random little French guy or American asking you what British food is like.  It can happen multiple times in one day.

 

How not to talk about food if you are British:

 

We got f all mate.
Not sure really.  Mc Donalds is good.
Yeah it's pretty bad haha.

 

A better way to answer:  Thank you for your question.  Here is a list of information pertaining to British cuisine:

 

Starters & Snacks:

Cheeses (cheddar, Red Leicester, Double Gloucester, Wensleydale, Lancashire, Yorkshire Blue, Stilton, stinking bishop, Shropshire Blue, Cornish Blue, Smoked Applewood Cheddar, Shropshire Sheep Cheese)
Boiled eggs and soldiers, pickled eggs, scotch eggs, egg salad sandwich
Bacon, sausage rolls, Cornish pasties, pies (savory - steak and ale, Lancashire hotpot, fish pie, etc.)
Puff pastry (used in savory pastries)
Cold cuts (ham, roast beef)
Baked beans on toast, jacket potatoes, coleslaw
Marmite, brown sauce, tomato sauce, mustard, chutneys (mango, cranberry, mint, tabasco), international sauces
Crisps (potato chips)
Welsh rarebit
Salads (a vast selection)
Soup (mushroom soup, lentil soup, pasta soup, chicken noodle soup, tomato soup, vegetable soup, cream of broccoli soup, pea and ham soup, minestrone soup)
Kebabs
Fish fingers
Savory pastries (cheese and onion pasties, pork pies)
Twiglets, pork scratchings (savory snacks)
Scotch quail's eggs
Black pudding
Crumpets with butter, marmite or jam
Samosas
Deviled kidneys
Prawn cocktail
Sausage rolls with brown sauce or ketchup
Crisps with salt and vinegar flavor
Pickled ginger
Branston pickle (a popular British pickle relish)
Pork scratchings with apple sauce or mustard

 

Main Courses:

Full English breakfast
Eggs (other breakfast dishes - omelettes, poached eggs, cheese and ham omelette, curried eggs, egg flan, eggy bread)
Roast dinner (roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, vegetables, gravy)
Fish and chips
Lamb with mint sauce
Vegetarian dishes (pasta bakes - tuna pasta bake, spag bol, broccoli and cheese pasta, macaroni and cheese, sweet and sour beef stir fry)
Rice dishes (pilaf, curries, fish and rice variations, steamed ginger fish and rice, salmon and rice, cod in parsley sauce with rice, mince and rice, ragu mince and rice, sardines and rice, meatballs and rice)
British Indian Food
British Chinese Food
British Italian Food
Chicken Tikka Masala (British Invention)
Outdoor barbecues
Toad in the hole (sausages cooked in Yorkshire pudding batter)
Steak and kidney pie
Cottage pie
Shepherd's pie
Lancashire hotpot (a hearty beef and vegetable stew)
Bubble and squeak (a traditional British dish made with leftover potatoes, cabbage, and onions)
Liver and onions
Beef Wellington
Bangers and mash
Chicken tikka masala
Steak and ale pie
Jellied eels
Corned beef hash
Cumberland sausage with mash and onion gravy

 

Sandwiches - The sandwich was invented in England in 1762:

Fish finger sandwich, chip butty, BLT, fried egg sandwich, corned beef sandwich, tuna sandwich, cucumber sandwich, ploughman's lunch, roast beef and horseradish sandwich, Christmas dinner sandwich, egg and cress sandwich, ham and mustard sandwich, Branston pickle and cheese sanwich, crisp sandwich, watercress sandwich, marmalade sandwich, jam sandwich, prawn mayonnaise sandwich, piccalilli and cheese sandwich, cheese and tomato sandwich, cheese and onion sandwich, Coronation chicken sandwich, Smoked salmon sandwich

 

Biscuits, Cakes & Pies (sweet):

Pork pie (can be savory or sweet)
Custard creams, shortbread, chocolate digestives, jam tarts, scones (plain, jam, blueberry, cheese), Battenberg cake, jam roly poly, apple pie, victoria sponge, mince pies, rice pudding, spotted dick, sticky toffee pudding, carrot cake, trifle, jelly and custard, hot cross buns, gingerbread man, after eights, twiglets, monster munch, quavers, retro sweets, jelly babies, vast range of crisps and confectionaries.

 

Desserts:

Banoffee pie, Dundee cake, Chelsea buns, gypsy tart, Mr. Kipling's cakes, butterscotch tart, fresh cream cakes, apple crumble, black forest gateau, pumpkin pie, cheesecake, treacle sponge, choc ice, jam and coconut school cake, pineapple upside-down cake, fruit salad, strawberries and cream, Eton Mess, Bread and butter pudding, American Pie (British Invention)

 

Beverages:

Tea, coffee, beer, whisky, gin and tonic, soft drinks (horlicks, ovaltine, etc.), mulled wine, Irn-Bru, Lucozade, Ribena, Vimto

 

Breakfasts:

Toast with various toppings (marmite, scrambled eggs, etc.)
Cereals (a high-quality selection)
Full English breakfast (can be a main course too)
Crumpets
Eggs (all types - boiled, fried, scrambled, poached)

Other:
Bread (a vast selection - soda bread, tiger bread, etc.)
Condiments (mustard, brown sauce, tomato sauce, ketchup, chutneys, pickles)
Rice (a vast selection of flavors and recipes)

 

Ten Major UK Food Companies:

Cadbury

Rowntree's
Terry's of York
Bassett's
McVitie's
Associated British Foods (ABF)
Premier Foods
Unilever
Tesco ''Lotus'' worldwide supermarkets

 

Ten British Wines That Are Recognized Around The World:

Chapel Down English Sparkling Wine
Nyetimber Classic Cuvée
Hush Heath Estate Balfour Brut Rosé
Ridgeview Estate Bloomsbury
Bolney Wine Estate Bubbly
Tinwood Estate Rosé
Gusbourne Estate Brut Reserve
Winbirri Vineyards Ortega
Black Chalk Classic
Hush Heath Estate Balfour Brut

Ten Michael Star Restaurants in the UK:

 

The Ledbury
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
Core by Clare Smyth
The Waterside Inn
Le Gavroche
L'Enclume
Alyn Williams at The Westbury
Pollen Street Social
Sketch (The Lecture Room & Library)
Hélène Darroze at The Connaught

Ten achievements that show the UK's place in the global culinary landscape:

 

Michelin Stars - Continually awarded annually. For instance, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay has held three Michelin stars since 2001.
World’s 50 Best Restaurants - For example, The Ledbury was ranked 27th in 2014.
James Beard Awards - UK chef Heston Blumenthal was honored in 2010 for his contribution to culinary arts.
The World's 50 Best Bars - Dandelyan (now Lyaness) was named the World’s Best Bar in 2018.
The Good Food Guide Awards - Continually updated annually. For instance, The Ledbury was named Restaurant of the Year in 2014.
International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) - Chapel Down won the International Wine & Spirit Competition Award in 2015 for Best English Sparkling Wine.
The International Hotel & Property Awards - The Langham, London received the Best Hotel Design Award in 2016.
San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants - The Ledbury was ranked 27th in 2014 and 19th in 2017.
GQ Food & Drink Awards - Gordon Ramsay was named Chef of the Year in 2015.
Global Restaurant Awards - The Ledbury was named one of the World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2015.

British celebrity chefs:

 

Nigella Lawson
Gordon Ramsay
Ainsley Harriott
Michel Roux Jr.
Heston Blumenthal
Marco Pierre White
Gordon Ramsay
Sat Bains 
Prue Leith
Paul Hollywood
jamey oliver
Antony Worrell Thompson
Lesley Waters
James Tanner
Delia Smith
Roger Verge
Pierre Koffmann
Nichola McHugo
Paul Hollywood
John Torode
Gregg Wallace 
hairy bikers
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

 

How about you?  Are you a simp that just says we won't have any decent cuisine or do you try to educate the person?

[Stocky]

3 minutes ago, Chris Daley said:

As you know there is not a day that passes without a random little French guy or American asking you what British food is like.  It can happen multiple times in one day.

No, I can't remember when anyone last made comment on food from the UK. I think most educated people understand the poor reputation for food in Britain was gained during the period of food rationing during WW2 and for a decade afterwards. A reputation that has taken decades to shake off, much like the idea that London is blanketed in smog, unfortunately they remain clichés to be dragged out by lazy journalists or foreigners who've never set foot in the UK.

[Upnotover]

I'm not sure anybody stupid enough to ask the question deserves any kind of reply at all.

[sirineou]

I have a British friend who is afraid to go out of the house from the number of people that stop thim and ask him what British food is like. Some have even gone as far as to scale his fence and wake him up to ask  said question . 

Me being a considerate person never do, but the curiosity is killing me.

I sure hope that we will finally resolve this profound question once for all in this thread an allow our British friends the freedom of leaving home without being accosted my all of these rude non Brits. 

[OneMoreFarang]

How to answer the dreaded question ''What is British food like?''

 

A simple answer: It's bad!

[gargamon]

British food is like Filipino food. You have to have grown up with it to appreciate it.

[scubascuba3]

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

How to answer the dreaded question ''What is British food like?''

 

A simple answer: It's bad!

Come on, then there's American food, fatty junk food with way too large portions, there's a reason so many Americans are obese+

[BritManToo]

I had a really nice English muffin with butter and marmite for breakfast.

Followed by a toasted crumpet with butter.

 

For lunch I will have some rather nice English sausages (I found them in Green's) and bread with Daddy's sauce on top. 

Best sausages I've ever eaten in Thailand!

[Liverpool Lou]

53 minutes ago, Chris Daley said:

As you know there is not a day that passes without a random little French guy or American asking you what British food is like.  It can happen multiple times in one day.

More "As you know" nonsense.   I have never been asked that question once in seventy-two years, never mind every single day, multiple times, not by, either, "little" French men or  massive Yanks.

[OneMoreFarang]

Let's look at the bright side of life.

 

[drgoon]

Nothing quite like slow roasted lamb, pumpkin, carrots, potatoes, some cabbage sauted in olive oil with garlic and caraway seeds, peas or beans cooked in butter and garlic, cauliflower or broccoli with cheese sauce and lashings of rich onion gravy with a healthy dash of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce.

 

Aroi aroi

[Liverpool Lou]

21 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

How to answer the dreaded question ''What is British food like?''

A simple answer: It's bad!

Really?   Aren't you American?

[MalcolmB]

I blame averageness of our cuisine on our lazy women.

Back in the UK three of my friends wives tried my girlfriends food and declared that they wanted her to teach them how to cook Thai food.

 

So they came around. Girlfriend wasn’t impressed, comments included “They don’t taste check to balance the flavor” “ They just want to do quickly” 

 

The UK is probably the highest achieving country in the history of the world.

But sadly the women are slack and have let us down and they don’t know how lucky they are.

[Jeff the Chef]

British food, an amalgamation of all the foods we encountered from all the countries we colonised, subjugated and conquered over nearly 400 years.

 

Sadly now it's all Gregg's, MacDonald's and KFC's hence the Brits are catching up with the Yank's with obesity

 

Even the GB staple of Fish and Chips has been superseded by the Ruby Murray as the number one dish. 

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, Jeff the Chef said:

Even the GB staple of Fish and Chips has been superseded by the Ruby Murray as the number one dish. 

Fish & Chips died with the Cod in the late 1990s when they became almost extinct.

[rocketboy2]

 

A little bit of balance. 

 

 

 

[Jeff the Chef]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Fish & Chips died with the Cod in the late 1990s when they became almost extinct.

 

Still getting Cod over here in Macro, plenty of other fish, Haddock, Pollack and my favourite Huss/Rock Salmon/Dogfish but I normally try and catch them myself.

I can remember when I was a kid being sent to the Chippy for 2 Bob's worth of chips which was nearly impossible to carry, now one portion of mediocre Fish and Chips last time I was in UK 2022, was nearly £7 as a takeaway.

Back in 2021 just after the Covid I took the family to Whitby, and paid over £15 a head for a sit down fish & chips, with tea and ice-cream for the Kids.

[BritManToo]

Just now, Jeff the Chef said:

Still getting Cod over here in Macro, plenty of other fish, Haddock, Pollack and my favourite Huss/Rock Salmon/Dogfish but I normally try and catch them myself.

That ain't cod!

[Jeff the Chef]

Just now, BritManToo said:

That ain't cod!

 

Yeah, I get your point, not Cod as I remember it, more like Codling.

[GammaGlobulin]

1 hour ago, Chris Daley said:

gin and tonic

 

Yes, this is most British.

But, which gin is best for this?

 

[rocketboy2]

5 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Yes, this is most British.

But, which gin is best for this?

 

 

Gordon's.

 

 

[Sandboxer]

This is what my Brit friend considers a "tasty snack".....cheap toast doused with 'Whorechestshirley' sauce to the point where it's soggy, topped with chemical cheese. And this MF owns a large restaurant!

 

Culinary savages.

 

 

 

 

[steven100]

 

Pretty hard to beat a good old Bangers & Mash  .....

 

[gargamon]

Oh, yum. Blood pudding. 😘

[roo860]

30 minutes ago, Sandboxer said:

This is what my Brit friend considers a "tasty snack".....cheap toast doused with 'Whorechestshirley' sauce to the point where it's soggy, topped with chemical cheese. And this MF owns a large restaurant!

 

Culinary savages.

 

 

 

 

I saw that same pic and comment on social media last week. 

So not your friend, you copied and pasted it.

[Sandboxer]

23 minutes ago, roo860 said:

I saw that same pic and comment on social media last week. 

So not your friend?

That's because I posted it in another thread HERE ON AN, moron.

[roo860]

Just now, Sandboxer said:

That's because I posted it in another HERE ON AN, moron.

Was on Facebook 

[UWEB]

Never have seen a British Restaurant outside UK, explains all.

[BarraMarra]

29 minutes ago, gargamon said:

Oh, yum. Blood pudding. 😘

Its called Black Pudding not Blood Pudding.

[Sandboxer]

11 minutes ago, roo860 said:

Was on Facebook

Show me where please, or just tell me the name of the FB group.