Why does British food have such a bad reputation?
Discussion
Britain seems to be infamous for having bad food but I don’t understand why. Of course being English and brought up in the U.K. I can’t be fully objective but I have lived in a number of different countries and travelled widely. Certainly when I compare British food with Scandinavian or German cuisine it seems quite similar: not much use of spices but a lot of meat and potatoes. It is just as stolid as British food.
Trying to be objective, Britain has lots of great cheeses, great puddings (rather than desserts), traditional bread is good, a wide variety of beers, custard and pies. Much as I love my curries and Chinese food there aren’t many things better than a good pie, gravy and mash. A full English breakfast isn’t something I could eat everyday but is something I treat myself to on occasion (especially if I haven’t been in the U.K. for a while.)
I was discussing with my daughter which country’s cuisine I would choose if I could eat only one for the rest of my life (of course a bit difficult now as most countries have incorporated so many other cuisines eg chicken tikka masala). Much as I love food in Japan, it is partly because they do foreign food so well eg pancakes, chicken katsu curry etc. I am not so keen on their traditional desserts so could I survive without rhubarb crumble and custard for the rest of my days? Not sure.
Trying to be objective, Britain has lots of great cheeses, great puddings (rather than desserts), traditional bread is good, a wide variety of beers, custard and pies. Much as I love my curries and Chinese food there aren’t many things better than a good pie, gravy and mash. A full English breakfast isn’t something I could eat everyday but is something I treat myself to on occasion (especially if I haven’t been in the U.K. for a while.)
I was discussing with my daughter which country’s cuisine I would choose if I could eat only one for the rest of my life (of course a bit difficult now as most countries have incorporated so many other cuisines eg chicken tikka masala). Much as I love food in Japan, it is partly because they do foreign food so well eg pancakes, chicken katsu curry etc. I am not so keen on their traditional desserts so could I survive without rhubarb crumble and custard for the rest of my days? Not sure.
k it up by trying to cook it..... The French say we kill our food twice - first when it’s slaughtered and then when it’s cooked When I moved to the UK (many moons ago!), I noticed that British people looked at food as an energy and nothing else. A bit like putting petrol into a car just to go to work. Where we looked at food more like a pleasure as well as giving you that energy to go to work after a good meal. "plaisir de la table" we call it.
Things are changing. Yes people still rush to much with their food but the quality of the raw ingredients as nothing to be ashamed to compare with other countries. Many talented chefs and home cooks in the UK are showing the way.
You guys are very critical of your food culture and kind of get stuck with that image and not seeing all the great bits of it.
Things are changing. Yes people still rush to much with their food but the quality of the raw ingredients as nothing to be ashamed to compare with other countries. Many talented chefs and home cooks in the UK are showing the way.
You guys are very critical of your food culture and kind of get stuck with that image and not seeing all the great bits of it.
Does it though? Britain has 8 Michelin starred restaurants according to Wiki. France has 31. Hardly a culinary dumping ground. We also have some of the best food hygiene standards in the world although that's under threat because of you know what.
William Somerset Maugham said you can eat like a king in England provided you have breakfast three tines a day. It's within my memory that a fancy meal out would be a crappy Berni Inn yet food as an experiential occasion has exploded within a generation. There is now literally any cuisine you fancy within reach of anyone in a decent sized town. British food doesn't have a bad reputation, it used to. Not the same thing at all.
William Somerset Maugham said you can eat like a king in England provided you have breakfast three tines a day. It's within my memory that a fancy meal out would be a crappy Berni Inn yet food as an experiential occasion has exploded within a generation. There is now literally any cuisine you fancy within reach of anyone in a decent sized town. British food doesn't have a bad reputation, it used to. Not the same thing at all.
President Merkin said:
Does it though? Britain has 8 Michelin starred restaurants according to Wiki. France has 31. Hardly a culinary dumping ground. We also have some of the best food hygiene standards in the world although that's under threat because of you know what.
Britain has 8 Three Starred Michelins compared to 29 in France, However we have 188 with at least 1 star.https://guide.michelin.com/gb/en/article/michelin-...
It's ignorance, basically. Plenty of it here among the Brits living off Turkey Twizzlers and crisps, but even more abroad where they think we are all like that. Famously but not only in France.
We have a lot of great produce, dedicated farmers, and high animal welfare standards. We should celebrate it all much more than we do.
We have a lot of great produce, dedicated farmers, and high animal welfare standards. We should celebrate it all much more than we do.
smn159 said:
Pit Pony said:
Would have made me happier if it had all been on the one plate TBH 
I think a lot of it stems from food culture in this country. It didn't used to exist. Very few people knew how to cook a gourmet meal, and even though it's getting better with the advent of social media, it's still not there. Sophisticated cooking isn't ingrained in the country, certainly nothing like the French.
I've witnessed it first hand. Where I would go out of my way to spend time to make a delectable meal, others would spend the least time possible and bung something in the pan and call it 'cooking'. There's no knowledge of cooking techniques, temperature control, seasoning etc. It's a case of not knowing and not willing to learn. It's good enough for them. Someone above described it as putting petrol into a car.
And some don't even want to cook... oven food is good enough.
Clearly a piss take, but it's not far off.
I've witnessed it first hand. Where I would go out of my way to spend time to make a delectable meal, others would spend the least time possible and bung something in the pan and call it 'cooking'. There's no knowledge of cooking techniques, temperature control, seasoning etc. It's a case of not knowing and not willing to learn. It's good enough for them. Someone above described it as putting petrol into a car.
And some don't even want to cook... oven food is good enough.
Clearly a piss take, but it's not far off.
goldar said:
I think a lot of it stems from food culture in this country. It didn't used to exist. Very few people knew how to cook a gourmet meal, and even though it's getting better with the advent of social media, it's still not there. Sophisticated cooking isn't ingrained in the country, certainly nothing like the French.
I've witnessed it first hand. Where I would go out of my way to spend time to make a delectable meal, others would spend the least time possible and bung something in the pan and call it 'cooking'. There's no knowledge of cooking techniques, temperature control, seasoning etc. It's a case of not knowing and not willing to learn. It's good enough for them. Someone above described it as putting petrol into a car.
And some don't even want to cook... oven food is good enough.
Clearly a piss take, but it's not far off.
no...but all wife beaters drink Stella :-)I've witnessed it first hand. Where I would go out of my way to spend time to make a delectable meal, others would spend the least time possible and bung something in the pan and call it 'cooking'. There's no knowledge of cooking techniques, temperature control, seasoning etc. It's a case of not knowing and not willing to learn. It's good enough for them. Someone above described it as putting petrol into a car.
And some don't even want to cook... oven food is good enough.
Clearly a piss take, but it's not far off.
I totally agree, British food is in fact really quite good and theres quite some variety.
The other thing i love about British food or rather should i say Britain as a whole is that we have it all, we have everything from sushi to pizza to roast dinner to a sloppy joe
I often wonder that if i was in say Venezuela could i go and get myself a fish and chips? Or could i be In Switzerland and get a ploughman's?
Due to the variety and acceptance of different food and culture id argue have we actually got the best food in the world?
Someone above mentions about steak in the usa. Well nowadays you can go to a decent steak restaurant and get USDA prime beef here as well, can i go to the usa and get hereford beef or Australian rib eye?
The other thing i love about British food or rather should i say Britain as a whole is that we have it all, we have everything from sushi to pizza to roast dinner to a sloppy joe
I often wonder that if i was in say Venezuela could i go and get myself a fish and chips? Or could i be In Switzerland and get a ploughman's?
Due to the variety and acceptance of different food and culture id argue have we actually got the best food in the world?
Someone above mentions about steak in the usa. Well nowadays you can go to a decent steak restaurant and get USDA prime beef here as well, can i go to the usa and get hereford beef or Australian rib eye?
Mammasaid said:
President Merkin said:
Does it though? Britain has 8 Michelin starred restaurants according to Wiki. France has 31. Hardly a culinary dumping ground. We also have some of the best food hygiene standards in the world although that's under threat because of you know what.
Britain has 8 Three Starred Michelins compared to 29 in France, However we have 188 with at least 1 star.https://guide.michelin.com/gb/en/article/michelin-...
https://nerdyfoodies.com/countries-with-the-most-m...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Michelin_3-s...
It is historically down to Mrs Beaton and her ilk. Prior to that Britain had a reputation of being the best meat roasters around, though Anthonin Careme was critical of the British chickens ( Cooking for Kings is an interesting read). During the late Georgian period there as a change in direction food wise in this country from cooking for taste to cooking for show, which was combined with a new style where too much butter and too much over processing became the thing, along with the start of over cooking food.
There is actually a second part to this, though I'm not sure how much it actually affected our cooking reputation, and that was during the Napoleonic Wars the British army was renowned for quick/rough meals for the troops, and actually won a number of engagements as they attacked while the French were still eating.
There is actually a second part to this, though I'm not sure how much it actually affected our cooking reputation, and that was during the Napoleonic Wars the British army was renowned for quick/rough meals for the troops, and actually won a number of engagements as they attacked while the French were still eating.
m3jappa said:
I totally agree, British food is in fact really quite good and theres quite some variety.
The other thing i love about British food or rather should i say Britain as a whole is that we have it all, we have everything from sushi to pizza to roast dinner to a sloppy joe
I often wonder that if i was in say Venezuela could i go and get myself a fish and chips? Or could i be In Switzerland and get a ploughman's?
Due to the variety and acceptance of different food and culture id argue have we actually got the best food in the world?
Someone above mentions about steak in the usa. Well nowadays you can go to a decent steak restaurant and get USDA prime beef here as well, can i go to the usa and get hereford beef or Australian rib eye?
I’d agree with this. I live in a small commuter town in the south of England. We have excellent “British” restaurants nearby with some incredible seafood offerings in particular. We also have excellent Chinese, Indian, Italian and Turkish offerings. Head into either of the nearest cities and pretty much any cuisine from around the world is available. Our willingness to embrace other food cultures is one of the best things about the UK.The other thing i love about British food or rather should i say Britain as a whole is that we have it all, we have everything from sushi to pizza to roast dinner to a sloppy joe
I often wonder that if i was in say Venezuela could i go and get myself a fish and chips? Or could i be In Switzerland and get a ploughman's?
Due to the variety and acceptance of different food and culture id argue have we actually got the best food in the world?
Someone above mentions about steak in the usa. Well nowadays you can go to a decent steak restaurant and get USDA prime beef here as well, can i go to the usa and get hereford beef or Australian rib eye?
As for traditional British grub. What can beat a Yorkshire pudding with proper beef gravy? Perfection.
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