British food is awful

They heat up a tin of baked beans and put that on their jacket bakes potatoes with unmelted cheese sprinkled on top.

R1, if you tripled the portion size, and added a generous dose of high-fructose corn syrup, half of America would happily eat that as a between-meals snack.

A chip butty is a sandwich filled with chips[5] (hot thick-cut deep fried potatoes), optionally eaten with condiments such as brown sauce, ketchup, mayonnaise, or malt vinegar. The bread may be slices from a loaf or a bread roll, and is usually buttered. The chip butty can be found in fish and chip shops and other casual dining establishments in the British Isles.

I thought the British were highly sophisticated?

Go watch Fanny Cradock’s cooking show if you dare!

She tells viewers to find tree leaves from their back garden, dip them in chocolate and serve them to dinner guests.

Yet they’re overall much healthier than most Americans. Go figure.

They’re “healthier” because their food is so bad that many would rather starve than eat it often. The Brits have intermittent fasting perfected.

What was that vomit-esqe liquid dumped on the plate?

R7 false. The ingredients are different. Their food lacks all the sugars and sodium and chemicals ours does.

Are you not capable of using anything but that fraud website, OP?

R10 but then he wouldn’t get all these replies. That’s his goal. He thinks we get paid for posts. Really.

American food is occasionally good, but mainly quantity is prioritised over quality. Practically the only thing that unites Brexiteers and Remainers in the UK is a mounting sense of horror that we may have to accept US animal welfare rules and food standards (additives, chemicals, chlorine-washed chicken, etc.) as part of any future trade deal.

Bubble snd squeak is a revelation

their chinese "take away" is horrid, all curry slop and french fries

American fast food is gross, but I don't think we have anything to compare to OP's swill for sheer repulsiveness. When that green stuff sloshed on the plate I let out a Diana scream.

[quote] if you tripled the portion size, and added a generous dose of high-fructose corn syrup, half of America would happily eat that as a between-meals snack.

nope, because the cheese would need to be melted and beans and "jacket potatoes" aren't put together. nope, that slime belongs to you

[quote] nope, because the cheese would need to be melted and beans and "jacket potatoes" aren't put together. nope, that slime belongs to you

What on earth are you talking about? Of course the cheese is melted.

[quote]They heat up a tin of baked beans and put that on their jacket bakes potatoes with unmelted cheese sprinkled on top.

not according to R1

I also have to single out the way the mashed potatoes get *wiped* onto the edge of the plate. I've never seen such grossly functional presentation at even the humblest American lunch counter.

R12 American food is banned in numerous countries because of all the shit we have in it. Look into it. You all keep pretending our food is fine.

The Humblest American lunch counter! LOL

R5- Fanny CRACKPOT

R14- Ewww 🤮

Why are you so stupid? Their Chinese is fine. Clearly they added the sauce to it.

Roast beef & Yorkshire pudding are dandy

R24 are you on drugs?

Do you also like Windsor Soup?

Dear god what is brown sauce?

Like HP sauce.

Dear god what is HP sauce?

Some type of slop

All those carbs.

[quote] She tells viewers to find tree leaves from their back garden, dip them in chocolate and serve them to dinner guests.

She didn't mean to serve the leaves themselves to guests. The leaves were used as a mold to make chocolate leaves for desserts. Paint chocolate on the leaves, put them in the fridge and when the chocolate hardens you peal the real leaves away and you end up with a beautiful chocolate leaf. And that is done everywhere.

CAN ANYONE TELL US WHAT THAT GREEN SLOP IS?

They have some good dishes. I love bubble & squeak and make it often, and I'm in America. Yorkshire Pudding and Shepherd's pie are also tasty British dishes. And they have some scrumptious dessert dishes. I dearly love a Christmas pudding soaked in brandy. I've made it several times. The only drawback is the amount of time it takes to make. All damn day in a steamer.

It's fun to watch British folks when they're served American food, especially BBQ. It's like they've died and gone to Heaven.

Yes and many of them claim to feel sick later on. Because they do end up feeling sick

In related news, water is wet.

[quote] I dearly love a Christmas pudding soaked in brandy. I've made it several times.

feels like a cannon ball in the stomach

They feel sick because their poor starved for flavor stomachs aren't used to eating decent food. They're like concentration camp prisoners just released.

I saw a YT video recently done in a British high school. One of the kids said the most hilarious thing after eating some of the American food they'd been served. "Everything has so much flavor. Britain doesn't do flavor"

R39 no. You retard motherfucker with no job. That’s not why.

these british lards show the world what a brits likes to eat

[quote]to eating decent food. They're like concentration camp prisoners just released.

I like the indian food, but everything "native" is horrid

Oh my goodness R40. Are you British? Are all Brits as disagreeable as you? So what are the favorite dishes on your Council Estate? Porridge and blood pudding?

Is that large queen at R41 doing his best Alan Carr impression?

American high schoolers try British food.

[quote]feels like a cannon ball in the stomach

We have poutine over here for people who want to experience the cannon ball in the stomach feeling.

This is more British-adjacent: I recently learned that in Canada they love this combo meal -- 'pizza-ghetti,' which is basically a slice of pizza and a portion of spaghetti w/ sauce. WTF?

I'm from the UK and I've never eaten anything remotely resembling the food in the opening post.

We have food from all over the world here, believe it or not. My local town has Indian, Chinese, Thai, French and Italian restaurants (there are probably more) and they all do good quality food. Whenever I hear this topic discussed, it's as though people who've never been here think all UK eateries and supermarkets only sell traditionally "British" food/meals.

All countries have their unpleasant foods - look at Canada with its poutine. Chips covered with gravy and cheese curds - it looks like vomit.

I had poutine in Montreal and enjoyed it very much.

We fancy their uncut Spotted Dick.

R48, that's true of course, but food from all over the world is not specifically "British food" which is what this thread is about. Beans on toast did not come from France or the orient. That travesty came from the mind of British executive at Heinz who wanted to come up with an iconic British dish to sell more cans of beans.

r44m she is GIRLEEN

R51 We do eat beans on toast, but it's more of a snack and I don't see why it would be controversial. Most countries eat toast and baked beans are quite inoffensive (they don't have a strong taste and are in a tomato based sauce) yet other countries adopt a faux horrified reaction to it.

And, while I get what you're saying, I've definitely heard people say they visited London and couldn't get a decent meal and I'm always left wondering where did they go, considering we have food from all over the world.

I like baked beans. I like toast. But I'll be damned to hell before I'm going to wake up and sit down for breakfast of a plate of what I could call "rabbit turds on a shingle". Who wants go to work with bean bloat for the rest of the day?

The meals mentioned as horrors are very working class British ones (pie and mash, baked beans and cheese with a baked potato, a chip butty). I'm middle class British and have never had any of those three things and they don't sound good to me either. I think that British cuisine sucks too and I mostly eat dishes that aren't British, which a lot of Brits do now.

British food has come a long way in the past 20 years. You all who are saying it's vile simply haven't been there since that 9-day bus tour you took back in the day.

Also, there's really no such thing as "British" food. Great Britain is an island and a nation, but not a cultural country. There's English food, Scottish food, Irish food, and Welsh food, and while there are certainly similarities between the bunch, they are not all one and the same.

I'm American and have been to Britain many times and of course it's a gross exaggeration to say you can't find good food there, especially in London and the other larger cities. But again, we're talking specifically British foods, not Chinese, or French, or Italian, et al.

London is one of the great food capitals of the world, if you like international foods, that is.

I'm a big fan of Chinese hot & sour soup. In the US it's almost always the same everywhere you go. But I once went to a Chinese restaurant in Manchester with a group. I ordered H&S soup and when it was put before me I thought "what is this red concoction?" It was apple red and didn't look like any H&S soup I'd ever had before. I took a sip and was floored at how delicious it was. The taste was quite different than the typical I've had in America. Definitely the best H&S soup I have ever had.

[quote] there's really no such thing as "British" food

Uh, when we say "British food", we are talking about the food of Great Britain/United Kingdom. Trust me we do know it consists of 4 countries. And Ireland, as you mentioned, is not one of them. Why many of us even know that the UK includes Northern Ireland.

British people who are honest agree that British food on the whole is not great, especially compared to American food. However, they do have their personal favorite British comfort foods that they enjoy.

Poor presentation and what is the slop poured over it?

[quote]British people who are honest agree that British food on the whole is not great, especially compared to American food.

If you're about fast food, the Americans are the king of that.

But actual good and nourishing food is cuisines like Mediterranean, Italian, Japanese, etc.

The show “Somebody Feed Phil” had an episode on British food and it looked delish. But there’s no denying some of it is just next level disgusting. Blood pudding? Anchovy paste on toast? Pork bun I think it’s called which is just pork fat in a pastry.

[quote]Blood pudding

Never had this.

[quote]Anchovy paste on toast

Never had this.

[quote]Pork bun

Never had this.

American comfort food probably looks fairly gross to outsiders too: meatloaf and brown gravy, peas & carrots, scoops of stuffing and gravy, salisbury steak, etc.

That green sauce though - what was that?

Apparently no one on either side of the pond has any idea what that shit is.

I researched the green 'sauce' and it's even worse than I thought.

It's called 'liquor' although there is no alcohol. "Liquor is what makes this meal so good! Our liquor sauce is made from fish stock, flour and parsley. In the past, it was made out of the stock from the stewed eels because they were cheap, but it is now cheaper to buy fish stock cubes instead!"

And I forgot: past American comfort foods: lima beans, shredded carrot and Jello salad, Ambrosia.

r6, with all the liquor that they drink? Cut them, and they bleed beer.

R34 you can microwave Christmas Pudding in minutes. Works fine. It's really good if you heat Grand Marnier (brandy and orange liqueur) in a small pan and then set fire to it just before you pour it over and serve. If you're going to put coins in it (which is traditional), just make sure you put the coins in AFTER you microwave so you don't blow it up and for hygiene wrap the coins in tin foil first. Best pudding of the year.

You people are fucked up with your weird fixation on the British. I have no idea what it's compensating for but it's sad and predictable. You're no better than them and you'll always have the gun problem. Fucked up.

You know British people agree that their food is awful when the only thing they can do in its defense is grasp at whataboutism.

Hardly anyone eats what is in that video and those who do eat it, don’t eat it all that often. Does every American eat a Big Mac for breakfast, lunch and dinner?

[quote] Does every American eat a Big Mac for breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Of course not. Breakfast is an Egg McMuffin.

I bet you eat marmite

r67 in the Southern U.S. we call the cooking liquid from collard greens "pot liquor".

The fresh ready-made meals sold in British supermarkets are top notch, especially from Marks and Spencer.

I wonder if many of the more disgusting British dishes are the result of the deprivations they suffered during WWII when most everything was rationed or not available at all. They had to come up with dishes using what was available. My God, even sugar was rationed at one point.

[quote]Liquor is what makes this meal so good! Our liquor sauce is made from fish stock, flour and parsley. In the past, it was made out of the stock from the stewed eels because they were cheap, but it is now cheaper to buy fish stock cubes instead!

And that's supposed to make the food taste better?

American food is too sweet (even non-dessert items) and the portion sizes are ludicrous. The reliance on fast food and convenience foods is just sad, and why must coffee be drowned in sweet syrups and creams before it's considered drinkable?

R80 I think we Americans are too used to really sweet stuff from birth. Luckily I can't stand too sweet shit. Strong coffee with a bare dollop of half and half is my breakfast drink. No sugar at all.

Full English breakfast.

I thought the green stuff was mushy peas. (VERY mushy peas)

Educate yourselves, ignoramuses.

The release of the Michelin Guide 2023 for Great Britain and Ireland saw 1 new Three star restaurant, 5 new Two star restaurants and 19 new One star restaurants. As it stands, there are:

8 Three Michelin Star restaurants 22 Two Michelin Star restaurants 164 One Michelin Star restaurants

I mean, it doesn't matter what you think because what you think is wrong, which it so often is around here. But, and I imagine this is actually some comfort or pleasure to you, but the irritating part is the clueless glee with which you roll around in your ignorance like sows. You love it. You revel in being stupid. It is amazing to see, every time. Christ, who can be this proud of being wrong, ignorant and pig headed? If you seek his monument, look around.

Look how shockingly bad the food is in the grocery stores.

Explanation of British cuisine.

R84, looks like your Michelin restaurants are disproportionately French. We're talking about British cuisine.

SPAM is a canned lunch meat product that first hit shelves in 1937. It was created in Austin, Minnesota by the manufacturer Hormel Foods. Toward the end of the Great Depression, SPAM helped fill a huge need for inexpensive meat products.

Brits seem to hate biscuits and gravy, but these guys don't.

Spam is a processed meat, meaning it’s been prepared to extend its shelf life for enhanced flavor and texture. Though it’s easy to use, spam offers few nutritional benefits and contains preservatives.

R88, once you uninvent pork rinds we can haggle about French food cooked in the UK by British chefs.

It's not coming over with DoorDash.

This says it all about British food..............

mmmmmm.... haute cuisine.

Sorry, R93, it's NOT British cuisine no matter who cooks it.

Interesting ( or repellent) fact about SPAM. It's the only food that's canned before it's cooked.

We're not talking British cuisine, R96. The unsubstantiated assertion is that British food is awful. Sorry to you too. Sorrier, probably.

British college students taste American barbecue for the first time.

British food is like any other cuisine. Some stuff is quite good, other stuff is, to non-Brits, a bit dodge, as the Brits would say.

I have heard of beans on toast so many times, out of idle curiosity I tried it a few months ago. It was fine! I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat it, but I can see how it might be a comfort food.

The full English is lots of fun to eat. So is shepherds pie.

The big issue used to be quality of ingredients, particularly steak, and preparation, as standards seemed to be a bit low. These days I’d say those are no longer issues.

In the early 90s my then-partner and I went to London and he insisted on having salad at a sandwich shop. They looked at him like he had two heads. Eventually, after he explained to them what salad is (lol), they gave him something, and we both had a good laugh when he opened it and it was some iceberg-looking Lettie with vegetable oil spilled over it!

Can anyone imagine that happening in London today? I can’t.

^^^ lettuce

And, Rm 98, your assertion that you have so many Michelin restaurants is fine, but the food is French, not British.

No wobblier than your assertion British food is awful, R102. In fact, substantially less so. But again, R84: you wallow in ignorance like a sow.

And being American, probably sized like one, too.

Are we really so bored that we have to start these us-vs-them threads, full of assertions that the worst parts of a culture define it? And then go to the handbags over it?

It always happens, R104. I admit I'm a fool for taking the bait. So typical.

But yes, R104, it does seem to be how a lot of DLers feel better about themselves.

[quote]And being American, probably sized like one, too.

Once you resort to ad hominem attacks, you immediately lose the argument. Actually, here is a very good explanation of the problem foreigners have with British cuisine. Despite the negative title, he offers reasonable explanations.

“What is British cuisine?” Dr Lindsay Neill, a professor of Hospitality at AUT, asks me.

It’s a complex question. If we want to ignore the complexities of food in a modern, globalised context for a moment (we’ll get there) and simply focus on ‘traditional’ British cuisine, Dr Neill says people see it as “overcooked, stodgy, bland food with all the colour boiled out.” He then tells me a sweet story of a time his aunt boiled cabbage for four hours, leaving a smell that penetrates his memory to this day. “So British food is so bad it induces trauma?” My eyes light up at the prospect of my article being filled with snappy one liners and jokes. “Overcooking isn't a cuisine,” Dr Neill reminds me. “Less is more” and if you take away overcooking food, you take away a lot of the issues people have with British food.

Is the green stuff the infamous “mushy peas”?

r108 no it's parsley sauce or "liquor". Just parsley gravy. Always served in pie and mash shops.

Thank you, R109

It all comes down to how something gets served. This slop is just your typical home cooking.

I love how happy the kid seems with that plate of horse vomit in front of him.

[quote] She didn't mean to serve the leaves themselves to guests. The leaves were used as a mold to make chocolate leaves for desserts. Paint chocolate on the leaves, put them in the fridge and when the chocolate hardens you peal the real leaves away and you end up with a beautiful chocolate leaf. And that is done everywhere.

First of all, the leaves are dirty. Second, there is no way you’re gong to get the leaves completely off.

Brits also don’t wash their dishes, cups, or cutlery properly. You will always find crud on them.

R67 that sounds vile

Any country which feeds its children Lucky Charms for breakfast, and pretends that the stuff Hershey produces is actually chocolate, should really maintain a shamed silence about food quality and nutrition.

Oh, and anyone wondering why Hershey tastes the way it does should know that it adds butyric acid (or creates it by subjecting milk to lipolysis) to its products, a compound more commonly found in rancid butter and vomit.

I tasted mushy peas once from a British acquaintance. Absolutely revolting and I like peas. What the hell di they do to them?

I have noticed that they boil their vegetables until limp. I like a quick stir fry or sear leaving them crisp/crunchy.

[quote] The show “Somebody Feed Phil” had an episode on British food and it looked delish. But there’s no denying some of it is just next level disgusting. Blood pudding? Anchovy paste on toast? Pork bun I think it’s called which is just pork fat in a pastry.

Blood pudding (black pudding) is delicious, and it is not particularly exclusive to Britain: many European countries have their own version, such as morcilla in Spain and boudin in France.

[quote] First of all, the leaves are dirty. Second, there is no way you’re gong to get the leaves completely off.

If you can’t work out how to wash a leaf, or separate it from chocolate, you probably shouldn’t be let loose in a kitchen anyway. Just order a mega-sized bucket of chicken and call it a day.

[quote] Are we really so bored that we have to start these us-vs-them threads

An “us vs them” thread was not started. If you read OP’s post and title, it mentions only one country and doesn’t compare it to any other. Unfortunately, there’s a person or persons who hijacked the thread by resorting to whataboutism instead of discussing the topic. Look at r115 for example. If British people get their feelings hurt this easily, they should just ignore the thread and move on. For goodness’ sake, it’s just a discussion of how awful British food is, not an attempt to dehumanize or commit genocide against British people.

I had a friend who ate British food once.

And then she died

Americans making fun of British food is like Chrissy Metz calling Lizzo too fat.

Physician, heal thyself!

[quote]Blood pudding (black pudding) is delicious, and it is not particularly exclusive to Britain: many European countries have their own version, such as morcilla in Spain and boudin in France.

All equally disgusting.

Brits prefer to drink their calories and supplement with a cheeky Nando’s if necessary.

[quote]You people are fucked up with your weird fixation on the British. I have no idea what it's compensating for but it's sad and predictable. You're no better than them and you'll always have the gun problem. Fucked up.

Where are you from?

Obviously not American or British, because you said "you" and "them."

Let's not forget the dodgy kebab.

Always used to blame a bout of vomiting and diarrhea on after a night of heavy drinking.

Blood pudding

Never had this.

Congratulations! A friend of mine said it was disgusting.

Anchovy paste on toast

Never had this.

Well, the students at St. Clare’s enjoyed it as an afternoon snack in Enid Blyton’s book series.

Pork bun

Never had this.

Another food item from Enid’s book series “The Twins at St. Clare’s” that I read as a kid.

A U. K. You Tuber I follow made lamb shoulder with vegetables. Basically, he threw assorted vegetables in the bottom of the pan with A LOT of chicken stock and plenty of butter (pretty much covering them), letting the lamb on its rack drip in there as well. Pulled it out of the oven, presenting the veg as 'done' by fishing them out of the lake in which they'd been simmering for hours. I've heard Brits overcook vegetables, but this was really something!

Some of you simply can not understand this thread is not about cuisine in Britain. It's about cuisine invented by Britain. I'm sure Marks & Spencer does put out a fine spread of ready made meals, but I doubt you'll find a selection of beans on toast as part of their offerings.

There are a few dishes the British have come up with that are great. A Sunday roast is perfection. It's almost identical to what we in the south of the US grew up on. I've had BBQ prepared at a British home. Dear God it was embarrassing.

I will say that, since no longer a vegetarian, I am very Full English Breakfast curious, and have occasionally researched restaurants and pubs in Portland that offer this strange, exotic fare

Isn't a lot of this stuff poor people food though? I doubt Mrs Patmore would serve this stuff abovestairs and Hyacinth would never serve it at one of her candlelight suppers.

My cousin is married to an English man and lives there with him. When they come here for Thanksgiving (he loves that American holiday) we always go out for burritos which are a treat for him.

R125, what does it matter? What a dumb question.

I've been to England often, 30 years ago. The food was really a challenge there. British food (apart from donuts maybe) is appalling, Luckily, there were many Indian and Chinese places too that were amazing.

I think their fish and chips would be pretty good but the English breakfast with beans makes me gag

Ex and I would get full breakfast at a pub in NYC. Minute the server's back was turned he'd transfer the black pudding to my plate in disgust.

I was in London in 2015. Save for fish and chips and mince pies, I didn't have any classic British food. Went out to dinner in a lot of places in Marleybone that were solid, but they were a little more spendy than most. Best Indian food that I've had in my life, and the pastries and baked goods there are phenominal- I have overly sweet things.

[quote] if you tripled the portion size, and added a generous dose of high-fructose corn syrup, half of America would happily eat that as a between-meals snack.

Yeah, the MAGA half. At leas half the US would not touch that shit. Brits on the other hand see this as a unifying national recipe.

Hasn't exaggerated in a thousand years.

[quote]Some of you simply can not understand this thread is not about cuisine in Britain. It's about cuisine invented by Britain.

Oh they know,, it's their attempt to gaslight the rest of the world into thinking British food is actually good. Does not work when the food they rave about is from other cultures.

I like the pasty concept. I wish they were more common in the U.S. I like the meat pies I had in the UK and in Australia. Also, decades ago, a grocery store I used to shop at was I think a testing store and they sold big meat pies imported from Canada. They were delicious. The store eventually stopped selling them and I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere else.

Britain and the US each have a few things they do well, like baking (UK) and BBQ (US).

But overall both countries' cuisine is abysmal in different ways.

We both rule the music world but you can't be great at EVERYTHING.

They sell frozen Australian-style meat pies at Publix.

r141 you need to go to the upper peninsula of Michigan, they have tons of Pasty shops.

I had blood pudding a lot back in the heyday of NYC brunch in Irish pubs. It really didn’t taste like anything. It wasn’t disgusting at all, but it wasn’t delicious.

The food in England is some of the best on the world. The people posting here took a trip to London to celebrate their retirement in the 1970s, only ate in the pubs listed in their Fodor’s guidebook, and haven’t returned since

Several years ago, my family spent two weeks in the UK. We had breakfast at the hotel, lunch/snacks at fast food restaurants, and dinner at recommended restaurants. There were fresh and delicious choices for every meal, every day.

I was there in 2007 and the food was bland and horrible. I've heard it improved since then.

As a matter of interest, where, precisely was this bland food served that you remember so vividly?

Watching Eastenders, I learned one should go on a pilgrimage to Clacton for winkles.

R148. Where did you eat?

[quote] If you can’t work out how to wash a leaf

Leaves cannot be cleaned, dear. They’re delicate.

They also lose their shape when wet. The Brits have always been backwards. The EU is why their food got a bit better - the French chefs came over. Now they’re back to spotted dick and shit fried in animal lard post-Brexit.

[quote] We both rule the music

No, dear. The Sugarbabes are not ruling shit. Brits are also tragic bakers. They aren’t the French.

R151 no idea. When I say "it" I mean London. All meals were eaten out from restaurants within walking distance of my hotel located in south Kensington...the worst one was a Chinese restaurant, oddly. For all the talk of international cuisine being the best food in London it was the international one that was the most terrible --greasy, flavorless, overly salty.

A few years after I heard of a food renaissance taking place in London and to an extent, England so pretty sure I missed the great food.

R154 just because they aren't the French doesn't mean their baking is tragic.

Drug companies will be under orders to change the formula for GLP 1 drugs because everyone I know in US who takes them can’t stand sugary things or salty things. It’s one of the ways you lose weight. Many foods are unappetizing because of all the chemicals.

Oh, the Brits can mock American processed food and Hershey's chocolate all they want, but our continent-wide profusion of barbecue and corn bread, lobster rolls, burritos, jambalaya and gumbo and po' boys, fried chicken, biscuits, crab cakes, corn on the cob, chowder of every variety, Reubens and pastrami sandwiches, burgers, brownies, ice cream sundaes, pecan pie, tollhouse cookies ...

... THOSE are our homegrown equivalents to the food in OP's video, and they put it to shame.

I like British sweets but I’ve never liked British food. Even Yorkshire pudding and roast beef which some people like. Thankfully I don’t have to eat British food

Home cooking comfort food.

neither do I.

I have had pub lunch once or twice and enjoyed it for the notoriety but I cook better indian cuisine, according to madher Jaffrey, and the chinese stuff they have there is terrible

And ideally, R159, you never leave your backwater.

R162, that clip is from 22 years ago.

Americans try British food.

The Brits look like they are enjoying American more than the Americans look like they enjoying the British counterpart.

[quote] Interesting ( or repellent) fact about SPAM. It's the only food that's canned before it's cooked.

What? Lots of canned foods are cooked during the canning process, i.e., canned before cooked.

Some Americans really love their stereotypes about the UK. I lived in London for many years, and the only people I knew who went to pie and mash cafés in the East End were either very elderly, or middle class hipsters with a Kray Twins obsession.

The barbecue in R35 and repeated in R165 is being served in a British restaurant, but it cannot be considered British cuisine, just as French food served in Britain cannot be considered British cuisine.

Fish and chips is recognised as quintessentially British food, but was brought to to UK by Eastern European Jews in the 19th century. Our food is always evolving.

KFC, McDonalds, and Burger King are huge in the UK.

I love Indian food and eat it in NYC 1-2 times a week. The Indian food I've had in London, at very modest places like joints off Tottenham Court Road, absolutely blows it away. I think it contains drugs, it's that good.

How does HP sauce compare to BBQ sauce?

Incidentally, I am reminded of a scene from THE NANNY.

Fran's mother is visiting the mansion and is hysterical about something.

The British butler says something fresh and she turns to him and goes, "Meanwhile, when was the last time you called your poor mother, an ocean away in some drafty country, eating French fries out of a newspaper?!"

😂🤣

It’s nursery school food in the picture

Mushy peas, mash, some kind of mince

^ Kind of, it’s a traditional East End pie, mash and liquor (a runny parley and eel sauce)

Sounds quite Umami. I expect David Chang will hipster it up at some point.

Wasn't she on season 3 of Drag Race UK R5?

Can't beat a yorkie pudding with a beef roast.

As an American living in California it would be odd to turn to my friends and say "lets go out for American food". All our food is a mix of cultures so usually the conversion would be "what time of food are you guys into tonight"? Italian, Mexican, Korean, Chinese, BBQ, Steak House, etc. We consider all of those American because America is a meld of cultures. In many cases, they have been in America for over 100 years.

Italian for example is so intertwined with American culture no one even thinks of it as exotic food from immigrants. Even things like Chinese has been here that long. Fun fact, did you know the Chinese Fortune cookie was actually invented in San Francisco? America eats more pizza than all of Italy.

Cali food is the bomb

[quote]KFC, McDonalds, and Burger King are huge in the UK.

let's not forget our black brethren.

At least it's not vegemite, although it's used in Britain.

I sometimes use a teaspoon of marmite for a beef-based gravy, but that is like once a year. otherwise the stuff is terrible

[quote] Cali food

What is Cali food?

Don’t play dumb.

Brit reacts to the iconic food in each state. He's darling.

[quote] I like the pasty concept. I wish they were more common in the U.S.

We have something very similar to a Cornish Pasty here in the US. But you'll have to go to an Italian fast food place to get a Calzone. The filling may be different but they're basically the same concept.

[quore] and the chinese stuff they have there is terrible

Tbf the Chinese food in the US, once you get 10 miles away from a major city, is terrible.

It figures that jello is Utah's state dish. Bland white Mormon food rooted in the 1950s.

Compared to the food available in other wealthy countries, American food is pretty much bottom of the barrel. Americans can only dream of the quality and range of food available in England.

As an American R189 and living in one of our larger cities I do believe our range of food is comparable. Not all of us are dumb Qtards and Magats living in Dumbfuckville, Flyoverstan.

If you like carbs, meat, salt, fat, and fish you'll do fine with British food. That food in the video looked good to me.

I have not spent significant time in Los Angeles or New York, but, having spent years in cities the size of Chicago and smaller, my experience is that the restaurant food, home-cooked meals, and especially grocery stores are vastly inferior in quality to those in Europe.

You must not have been to any good cooks homes R192. I'll put my food up against anyone's and even some chefs.

There is very little real Chinese food in the US. What we have is Americanized Chinese food. Trust me, you'll never find General Tso's Chicken or a Pu Pu Platter on a menu in China. Most westerners wouldn't even consider eating many of the food they eat in China. There is no part of the animal that is not cooked in China.

You know what's funny is people online saying American food sucks, etc but every one of the visiting Brits/Euros I've worked with all love our food and our shopping. They all want Tex-Mex, bbq and steakhouses when they get here.

[quote] Americans can only dream of the quality and range of food available in England.

AGAIN, I don't know why you and others can't get this through your thick heads. We know there is a great range of food available in England (and the UK as a whole). There is every kind of food known to man in the big UK cities. But little of it is "British food". It's mostly food from other countries.

[quote]American comfort food probably looks fairly gross to outsiders too: meatloaf and brown gravy, peas & carrots, scoops of stuffing and gravy, salisbury steak, etc.

Other than what came from the Natives (Indians), there's no such thing as American food. America appropriated other cuisines and Americanized it.

R195. Openly criticizing hosts is something that is frowned upon, especially among English people. Once you get to know British people well, you may get a more honest evaluation. I know several British people. None admire American food in general. They may genuinely like certain items, such as the ones you mention, that are less available back home, but that is quite different from thinking American food as a whole is better than British food.

Color me shocked R198. Gosh, us poor dumb Americans think it's rude too. Still doesn't negate what I said.

R196. Unmmm. Your thick head thinks most of what is sold and eaten in America didn’t come from somewhere else? The mind boggles.

R199. It does negate what you said. Who, as a guest in a county, openly denigrates the local food to his host?

Can't see R196. Probably for good reason.

I love me some coronation chicken mmm hmmm.

Rude ass Brits would R201.

[quote] Once you get to know British people well, you may get a more honest evaluation. I know several British people. None admire American food in general.

Sounds like they haven’t been honest with you.

Eww, who mentioned coronation chicken? Vile.

Not invented in the 50s either despite the claims.

R168, there is a reason we won the Revolution.

It took a lot of posts to get there but R197 hits the nail on the head, what even is American food other than European food with a twist of high fructose corn syrup? Ridiculous topic anyway, pie and mash as shown in OP's video is an old staple of working class poor East end Londoners but is hardly common "British Food" by any stretch of the imagination, no more than a sassermaet roll from my part of the world is.

Not necessarily R208. That might be true of junk food in stores but American food is obviously what Europeans brought over and adapted for local ingredients with African and Native American influences. HFCS wasn't around then and home chefs don't use it now. HFCS didn't really get added until the late 70s/early 80s. That's also when our obesity rate started rising. As I've posted before my state's chicken fried steak is a schnitzel that the German settlers made from beef and absolute heaven if prepared right, I might add.

You're generalizing just as the OP is.

The addition of "twist of high fructose corn syrup" to my comment was added purely for amusement and not to be considered as a scientific study in it's usage. I feel that having to say that is why packets of peanuts in the US have a warning that it may contain nuts. Yes, I added that for amusement too.

R210, I know you were not serious but I replied seriously all the same.

Now, I'm curious what a sassermaet roll is. Let me guess, a sausage meat on bread like a hot dog?

[quote] Your thick head thinks most of what is sold and eaten in America didn’t come from somewhere else?

Most? Bitch please. You don't know much about traditional American food, do you nimrod?

Breaded ham and Noshers was a meal my grandmother made. She married my grandfather after WWII and moved with him to the US. It literally was a very salty ham, very briney with bread crust and a pocket for semi mashed - and flavorless - potatoes. The sauce was watery, I'd assume broth and hot water and the salt from the ham still didn't reach the potatoes to help them out. My gramps loved it, we kids not so much.

Breaded ham?

Kippers!

[quote] a young Princess Elizabeth got her first taste of kippers when she and her sister, Princess Margaret, were wandering around the palace. The young Princesses were intrigued by a “compelling aroma”, and followed it until they found themselves outside the palace kitchens.

I can't imagine eating fish for breakfast much less smelling it that early in the morning. All I want is coffee and I have to wait at least 2 hours after waking up to eat.

For R211, the word sassermaet is Norse in origin, means chopped food and for kye (cow) sassermaet chopped (ground) salted beef spiced with allspice, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper and ginger, often served with onions in a soft bread roll, bit like a burger in appearance, nothing like one in taste.

One British item I find very difficult to fathom: lasagna and chips?

try chinese take out and "chips"

They do seem to like their chips. Don't they even have a sandwich with chips inside? Talk about carb overload.

yeAH, a "chip buttie" or some such thing

Datalounge people- If I had to eat SPOTTED DICK I would later be sitting on the toilet doing a lot of

BUBBLE & SQUEAK !

R189 it's not the quality of ingredients that is the issue in Britain, it's the way the Brits prepare food that gives it a world class reputation of horrible cooking. You think people outside the US find your regional dishes appetizing? They don't. Because your recipes are abysmal. But your dairy and produce are great! The raw material is there, the country just needs more creative culinary brains to do something spectacular with it.

You can't take credit for international cuisine like Indian or Chinese because --surprise surprise -- you didn't invent it.

Marmite sounds like something you put on the floor to get rid of Termites.

Some of there food is palatable but much of it seems to lack a lot of flavor. Even a simple roast beef seemed a bit dry and my English friend never used garlic like I would when I stud the roast with whole cloves.

No wonder I'm so fat! Suet pudding and endless cups of sugary tea.

Pickled eggs.

Have you ever heard an American say they crave LAMB PIE?

Green sauce splatted on the plate recipe. Yum!!

FOR PARSLEY SAUCE:

1 oz Butter or margarine

1 oz Plain flour

1/2 pint chicken stock (really any stock will do)

4 tsp Fresh parsley, chopped finely

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Option - You can use milk, fish stock or potato juice with a little Marmite instead of water.

R223. I’m talking about the way the food is prepared,, not the ingredients. The way American food is prepared the problem

Dinner rolls that are sweetened. Sausages that are sweetened. A hundred varieties of bread that are all the same sweet, fluffy nonsense fashioned into different shapes .desserts that are vastly over-sweetened. The grocery stores that are enormous but offer you one-tenth the variety of products as an English grocery. The narrow range of meats and cute Americans eat.

And whe I say British food is superior I don’t mean Chinese or Indian food in Britain. I mean standard European cuisine of meat or fish with vegetables, nothing exotic.

I think most Americans would like a British Bacon Butty.

I mean, it's BACON.

R230 that's a quality issue though. It's sweetened because the quality of the ingredients is low, including the wheat. But the recipes aren't that bad. It's not world class like Chinese or French or Italian. It's middle of the pack. British cooking is a running joke around the world. The cooking is bad.

R219: in NYC, Chinese food sometimes comes with plantain 'chips' (UK style, not like American potato chips).

Like one of the British kids said in a video when eating American food, "we don't do flavor in Britain".

R232. It’s a running joke among people who have a1970s joke book. How long have you spent in England and how recently?

Your explanation of the poor quality of American bread is bizarre

[quote] that's a quality issue though. It's sweetened because the quality of the ingredients is low, including the wheat. But the recipes aren't that bad. It's not world class like Chinese or French or Italian. It's middle of the pack. British cooking is a running joke around the world. The cooking is bad.

R232, if a bread recipe calls for you to make a loaf of bread with a huge amount of sugar, then it is a bad recipe. And, like so much American food, the recipe is formulated to maximise profit for the producers (by increasing shelf life) at the expense of the health of the consumer, so you end up with sweet bread and chocolate which tastes like vomit.

American food is hyperprocessed and unhealthy. British food is a step barely above animal feed.

That's mass produced shit though R237 and people are increasingly not buying that. Maybe poor people do. Most I know buy very good chocolate and good bread. With the advent of bread makers many people make their own. I've started making my own on my days off without a bread machine.

R236 bread is not an American invention. Americans do not sweeten homemade bread (maybe a pinch of sugar). Our regional dishes do not include high fructose corn syrup so what is available as premade in stores does not represent American cooking or our recipes. It's corporate food, plain and simple.

American cuisine --the cooking and the recipes -- are by no means fabulous but is still better than British cuisine and the recipes it includes.

In England and in Europe generally you can buy commercial bread that is not absurd. You don’t have to make your own as you do in most locations in the US.

[quote]American cuisine --the cooking and the recipes -- are by no means fabulous

Um, pardon me? I'll disagree. Some of it is very fabulous. Cajun/Creole is divine.

R239. Now I think we get it. The theoretical idea of American food, as opposed to what is actually produced and eaten in America, is wonderful while theoretical British food, as opposed to what is actually produced and eaten in a England, is terrible. And no evidence of what the theoretical foods might be is required. Thanks for clarifying.

I doubt many of those denigrating "British" food have ever stepped foot in the UK.

[quote]Compared to the food available in other wealthy countries, American food is pretty much bottom of the barrel.

What you are talking about? America hundreds of Michelin Star restaurants just behind France, Italy and Japan.

R242 you have yet to give an example of British cooking other than Asian dishes that did not originate in England.

What is an example of fine British cooking and recipes? Shepherd's pie? Beans on toast? Fish and chips?

Because those are disgusting.

R243 standard unproven accusations any time foreign countries are brought up on DL.

Plenty of cuisine around the world is considered amazing, British food is not one of those cuisines. Ask anyone outside of English speaking countries.

[quote]Other than what came from the Natives (Indians), there's no such thing as American food. America appropriated other cuisines and Americanized it.

By this criterion, what national cuisine is actually national? What is Italian cuisine without American tomatoes and polenta, or Asian rice? What are the East Asian cuisines without American chili peppers? What are African cuisines without American corn and peanuts? What is Indian cuisine without American potatoes and tomatoes? The different European cuisines before American contact would also be incredibly reduced and unrecognizable to us. And South Asian sugar transformed everything. All of these national cuisines have developed in an international culture in the last few centuries, just like US food.

R245, fish & chips and shepherd’s pie are both delicious, because I like them. Now you can say they are disgusting again, and we can both pretend that one of us can be proven correct! Good game.

Grits, though, are definitely vile. As is almost any mass-produced (and mass-consumed) bread or chocolate in America.

And most national cuisines are a hodge-podge mixture of influences from other countries and cultures. That is certainly true of American cuisine, most of which is formed by influences from immigrant communities.

OKAY WE GET IT! The Brit queens here think their native foods are better than American foods, And the American queens here think the American food is better. Give it a rest. how 'bout it.

IT'S SQUARE FISH PHYLLIS, OKAY!!

[quote] if a bread recipe calls for you to make a loaf of bread with a huge amount of sugar, then it is a bad recipe.

You just offended the entire Jewish population around the world. Ever hear of Challah bread? That has like 1/4 cup of sugar in it.

R244 Michelin-starred restaurants are an excellent measure of a country’s food quality. I read once that 965 percent of people eat in a Michelin-starred restaurant at least once a week.

The only impriment you could make in your argument is to adjust for the fact that the US is three times as populous as Japan, five times as populous as France, etc.

The Brits are the only ones who think their native cuisine is good. Foreigners outside of Canada and Australia do not rave about British cuisine.

[quote]In England and in Europe generally you can buy commercial bread that is not absurd. You don’t have to make your own as you do in most locations in the US.

When was the last time you have been to the U.S.? 20 years ago? Most large U.S. grocery stores have a wall of cheap stuff but right next to that usually have a special display or section of artisan bread which is usually very high quality from various known bakeries. La Brea Bakery is one of the more popular ones.

[quote]The Brits are the only ones who think their native cuisine is good. Foreigners outside of Canada and Australia do not rave about British cuisine.

No one other than the Brits rave about British food. Thread closed.

R253. I’ve lived in the US for most of the last ten years. The bread is awful.

Stop buying the cheap 2.99 shit on the wall R255. You get what you pay for.

So far, British food is not awful because:

1. Britain has excellent French, Indian, Chinese, and Italian restaurants.

2. American processed food and fast food are wretchedly sweet and flavorless.

3. The only problem is that the Brits stew it too long.

4. Shepherd's pie trumps all.

I'm surprised no one has brought in the irredeemable atrocity of German cuisine as a diversion.

You got it R257!

You see, a country's cuisine isn't terrible if another country's cuisine is arguably worse. That's the way it works.

British food isn't terrible because Nicaraguan food is garbage!

The whole vegemite video. Australian, but eaten by many Brits, about half who think it tastes good.

R257. No. It’s the people who are criticizing British food who are relying on weird arbitrary definitions. Food as available to a vast section of the British public is some of the best in the world. To defend themselves, the critics of British food say, oh, that’s not British because Henry VIII wouldn’t have recognized it. Indian food, as one example has been part of English eating habits for a couple centuries.

When you evaluate a country’s food you evaluate it based on what they actually eat. You don’t say, for example, when considering Italian food that you should exclude all tomato-based dishes since tomatoes didn’t exist in Italy before the exploration of the new world.

It is corrects that the horribleness of American good is irrelevant to the quality of English food. It’s just ironix that a lot of the people criticizing British food are Americans, who have some of the worst food in the world. I

[quote]for a couple centuries

[quote]It is corrects

[quote]It’s just ironix

Oh, dear, dear, dear.

Under-seasoned and overcooked.

R260 and Mexican food has been apart of American cuisine for the last 60 (longer for Californians and Texans, parts of the Southwest). And Italian has been around for the same amount of time on the East coast. And recently Korean has taken over leading to Korean Mexican food, an invention of Los Angeles.

Indian food is still an invention of an immigrant population and not native to Britain (nor the US versions).

Original British cuisine, cuisine originating in Britain-- no where else-- is abysmal.

I briefly dated a guy from Birmingham and he told me the only good food there was the curry

The point that's being made is that while modern Brits may not eat the traditional dishes of their homeland, its because foreign dishes are superior in taste. These dishes were NOT created in Britain, they were invented elsewhere and immigrants brought them over and use British ingredients to cook them. But the recipes and techniques are decidedly UNbritish.

It's like Americans claiming their cuisine is great because we make a mean taco.

If you want a good example of British cuisine and cooking watch Gordon Ramsey make (and completely fuck up) focaccia bread.

It's British food because he made it in England 🙄

Frankly, I've had sufficient of this thread. It's become repetitious and boring.

Carry on.

[quote]Frankly, I've had sufficient of this thread.

Considering how many British people on social media have no problem freely admitting that British food is awful, it's disappointing to see how chauvinistic British DLers are regarding such a silly subject. What I'm wondering is does DL just attract such people or has DL taught them to be so ridiculously contrarian?

Apparently, R268, this thread hit a raw nerve with our resident devotees of eel-based "parsley liquor."

[quote]What I'm wondering is does DL just attract such people....

You mean you haven't seen the +1,000 endless hate threads about Megan and Harry? Or the love fest with their favorite Mare Camilla? We got it, you dont like them, and you love ugly old queens, move on. Brits can be exhausting.

[quote] the US is three times as populous as Japan, five times as populous as France, etc.

Yeah, that Michelin stars argument didn't take into account the population differences between the countries. Frankly, I'm shocked that Japan has 1/3rd the population of the US. Also shocked that Japan has a larger population than France.

Uhhhh.... it certainly DOESN'T look delicious at all, but perhaps it tastes good.

I would still rather try that, than eating any German food, seriously.

If you haven't tried a certain cuisine and it doesn't look appetizing, give it a chance anyway. A lot of food is unphotogenic or downright gross looking but can taste delicious.

[quote]Uhhhh.... it certainly DOESN'T look delicious at all, but perhaps it tastes good.

Like Gordon Ramsay says, it looks like what he would find in his granddad's diaper.

thank you r5 for this amazing link! i hadn’t heard of her before!

If you want traditional British food, try Delia Smith. I’ve made her Christmas lunch for years.

As a comment on British food, R5's reference is misplaced. Fanny Cradock, as attentive DLers know, insisted that there was no authentic British food worth serving, and that what she made was French-derived. "Even good old Yorkshire pudding originally came from Burgundy," she would scandalously toss off as she piped more green-dyed mashed potatoes onto a boiled chicken.

R275. That’s an excellent point. England has a history of immigration that America has not. English food is influenced by immigrants. American food is not. Thanks for keeping us on our toes.

Gordon Ramsey is a pompous ass.

One bite of sticky toffee pudding and all is forgiven.

I’m partial to a spotted dick.

Re: the OP.

I would try that food - the mash looks fluffy, I love meat pies and parsley sauce is parsley sauce. The room is bright and clean and it's obviously popular.

Where it trips up is presentation.

I don't know why, but the worst meal I've had in the US at least looked edible on the plate. Parsley sprigs. Orange slices. Gravy ladled into a small well.

Food in the UK looks as if it was dropped from a great height.

The other thing that struck me is that I assume the woman and the other patrons are British - but they're decked out in hats and T-shirts that read NYC and Los Angeles.

R282, the vast majority of people in London pie and mash shops are generally either elderly Brits or tourists.

What type of meat is on that plate? The gravy is eel based? Revolting.

The meal is barely $2 in American currency, which might explain its ghastliness. In the US, what would kind of gristly globules would you get for that?

r285, a taco chain (I forget which one), has been advertising 35 items at $2 per recently.

Chain Mexican food is the equivalent of white trash hot dogs on a stick. Taco Bell is barf in a wrapper, it's not even Mexican. I live in CA where there is a lot of real Mexican food available. Some of the best are the street vendors that pop up. The kind where they are actually making the tortilla in front of you from scratch. A good burrito will set you back about 12 dollars. So worth it, it's huge too.

Taco Bell is awful. Ate there once and had the worst gnawing ache in my gut the rest of the day. Agree that the taco trucks and little mom and pop taquerias are the best. Just had lunch from a little place today.

I would never eat at a place called a pie and mash shop

These Brits loved Taco Bell.

Of course they did r290. Warm slop is better than garbage pie.

Paul Hollywood goes to NY bakeries.

Did he ever get back with his wife after cheating on her with Marcelo Valdes on the baking show? It was a very public romance.

Paul in San Francisco.

The pre-war cuisine of every nation would probably make modern consumers gag. So, yes, if you define American cuisine to consist of everything eaten in 2023 and British cuisine as everything eaten pre-ear, you do increase the chances that someone might prefer American cuisine although, even then, I’m not sure.

These poor people do seem to be suffering…

Yeah my town used to have $2 tacos. Pretty damn good. I doubt it’s that cheap anymore.

I think British food is nasty but so is Taco Bell. Nobody should eat that.

I dont know anyone in America that eats Taco Bells except the trashiest of trash, the same type that live in trailers, drive beat up trucks and drink cheap beer all day. OK so maybe MAGA.

Every country has food that many from other countries would consider challenging. OP seems to have an axe to grind.

Potted shrimp. Pease pudding. Offal.

[quote]everything eaten pre-ear

Pics please.

The criticism of British food has not stemmed from consideration of the Michelin restaurants, or the ethnic foods. The criticism started many years ago that British food was devoid of spices ( hence, flavor) and was grossly overcooked. British people themselves, who have experienced other cuisines agree that the stereotype has some merit. So, put aside the highly rated restaurants and the arguments about ethnic cuisine and focus on the home cooking. I presume things have gotten better, but it's always difficult to undo a stereotype. At 4:53.

R295 if you define anything eaten by Brits post war as everything that came from other countries then it doesn't count. Indian cuisine eaten by Brits is still Indian in origin, just like Mexican food eaten by Americans is still Mexican in origin.

Both countries should be grateful for the injection of good cuisine but you can't take credit for it and call it "British" or "American" cuisine.

Although Tex Mex is certainly a solely American invention that seems quite popular. I've never heard of a British equivalent. Is there any fusion cuisine that consists of English food?

Most "Mexican" food in the US is Tex-Mex or another variation of Mexican cuisine developed in the southwestern US (I've known Mexicans who turned their noses up at burritos and various types of tacos, for example, as being "inauthentic"). Chinese food in the US is similarly idiosyncratic, with developments that are unknown in China.

For British food, I believe some of the most popular Indian dishes outside India were actually developed in Britain, e.g. chicken tikka masala.

Michelin stars are bought and paid for today.

They mean nothing and only serve to route diners to restaurants who paid up.

Folks here are gleefully dealing in stereotypes.

[quote] Although Tex Mex is certainly a solely American invention that seems quite popular. I've never heard of a British equivalent. Is there any fusion cuisine that consists of English food?

Tex Mex is a prime example of how ridiculous it is to pretend that there is a pure lineage of food which is unsullied by influences from elsewhere. Almost all types of cuisine share characteristics with others and absorb influences from others. This is especially true of multicultural societies like the US and the UK. Just as the US has absorbed influences from Texas (which itself was heavily dependent on spices which originated in places like the Canary Islands), British food has been influenced for centuries by the countries it colonised and the countries it traded with, and has adopted and adapted recipes from all over the world.

With regard to Fusion food, you haven’t lived until you have tried haggis pakora…

[quote] Folks here are gleefully dealing in stereotypes.

I watch EastEnders and read the DailyMail. I know all about the British !!

R308 I agree, but the dishes created by Brits are terrible, influenced by other cultures or not. The purely international cuisine that is cooked in Britain is supposedly of great quality (this was not my experience but I won't deny others' experiences).

Then again, despite its' popularity I consider Tex Mex to be of inferior quality as well, far too reliant on chilli powder and carbs. I definitely prefer the "pure" international cuisine of the US to the bastardized versions.

These threads are always the same. Pie and Mash restaurants are so rarely found these days in London you'd have to look pretty hard to find the handful that are left. Even then, they're only frequented by pensioners, tourists or people looking for some novelty experience cos their great-great nan was from the East End.

I grew up in London and have only ever had it once (it wasn't nice).

Same with Spotted Dick. I had it a couple of times at school in the 80s but have never heard of it since apart from on here. Steamed suet puddings fell out of favour a long time ago. You'd be lucky if you could find a Brit under 40 who's ever eaten Spotted Dick. I get that its name is mildly amusing, but it's not found on menus in the UK at all.

R304. We get it. Everything eaten in America is pure unadulterated American and the product of Yankee ingenuity. Anything introduced into British cuisine after the Norman conquest is non-British

Nice example of American chauvinism.

Thanks, R312! We do try.

R312 you have reading comprehension skills. I specifically said Mexican food is not American.

So many Brits have such cunty chips on their shoulders and can't take criticism at all-- not even of their horrible cuisine.

Two Fat Ladies parody.

Meant to say reading comprehension issues lol

I've yet to actually try a New England boiled dinner, corned beef and cabbage sounds very exotic.

R314, you mean Americans.

The critics of British food on this thread are likely shut-ins who heard a joke about British food at a party back in the 1970s and still find it uproariously funny.

R314. Yes, I read and noticed your enormous effort at logical consistency by exempting Mexican food. Well done!!!!

Or we're people who have actually been to the UK and experienced firsthand the joys of British cuisine.

You probably ate at all the “authentic” English pubs listed in your Fodor guidebook.

R318 Exhibit A of cuntiness, huge chip on the shoulder and drive to have the last word on everything.

Your food is disgusting and the whole world recoils at it. Cling to your Asian dishes, they're the only edible things in your kitchens.

The thing is, a lot of people like that kind of food. Especially late at night.

Britain is the new fat, on DL.

Yes of course. If you, like the rest of the world, dislike British cuisine it must be because:

A) you've never been B) you've been over 30 years ago (despite only being in your 30s, amazing how that works!) OR C) you got suggestions out of a guidebook

R323, you're embarrassing yourself. Which you're probably used to.

R327 typical British cunt. Your food makes you cranky.

R323, it's not normal for someone to be as upset as you are over another country's food. Get some therapy. You're not right in the head and you live in a country where guns are too easy to get.

R329 It's not normal for you to be so upset about someone criticizing your country's food. You need therapy and medication and no, gallons full of alcohol don't count as medication.

R330, I'm not British. I just find you objectionable. Maybe you're not actually mentally ill but you're really wound up now, splattering the word cunt in your posts over food from another country. Does that sound normal to you? If you didn't write your posts, would they seem normal? Maybe go outside. Take a beat. You're off your rocker for now at least.

"off your rocker" R331 yeah that's not British at all. You've exposed yourself, Brit face.

You're going to stroke out, buddy. What's wrong with you? What happened to you? Seriously, is there anyone you can talk to or who can calm you down? This is excessive even for DL. I don't like you, but I don't like to see anybody suffer with the rage you're displaying.

You keep coming back to this thread. You need to worry about your pathological defense of your abysmal cuisine. Even other Brits admit it. Why can't you?

I haven't been on this thread for a couple of days. It surprised me it was still running, but when I checked in I found it's a place for you to misplace your anger. Any, it's obvious what's necessary here so good luck and I hope in the next few days you'll find the quiet space to reassess what this is really all about for you.

How did I know you'd be back in this thread? If there's one thing the Brits don't do on DL it's take criticism well and bow out quietly.

[quote]Exhibit A of cuntiness, huge chip

Sounds like quintessential Brit cuisine to me.

US, the country that actually fries butter, ice cream and Snickers candy bars!

R338, that deep-frying phenomenon actually started in the UK with the distinctly British invention of the deep-fried Mars bar, which precedes fried butter and Snickers by decades (but not fried ice cream, which seems to come from east Asia somewhere). Nice try.

And why did the US copy something they find so revolting, r339?

Those lard asses will eat anything as long as the words deep and fried are mentioned.

Deep fried turkey? JFC!

It's nice that we were able to come to the consensus that British food is indeed awful, despite a few people trying to push a contrary view.

Yes, R340, there are Americans who deep-fry weird things, but the point is that R338's attempt to deflect from gross British taste fails: it was Britons who pioneered the deep-frying-chocolate-bar phenomenon.

No one does deep fried food as well as Texas.

Canadians love British food.

Countries with the healthiest food.

This is a bit off topic- but I don't care.

French food is OVERRATED.

I'll tale Italian food over French ANY DAY.

When you think about it, the Full English isn't all that different from a breakfast made on the other side of the planet where Mexico has its traditional Huevos Rancheras.

Many of the same elements in the two dishes:

- Fried Eggs

- Tomatoes (or Pico de Gallo)

- Beans, usually Refried or Black, in place of the Heinz Beans

- Pork Chorizo, in place of the Bacon/Sausage

- Tortillas, in place of the Toast

And instead of Mushooms there's usually some form of Avocado; and of course, no Blood Pudding, but add some Sliced Peppers.

R348, if you are actually comparing the two dishes, might I remind you that both the Seagram Building and Trump Tower are skyscrapers made of glass.

Here's the problem:

[quote]But there is a much bigger issue. It is not so much that our food is terrible, but that we British folk, by and large, cannot cook. And we are lacking in food culture.

[quote] And we are lacking in food culture.

Maybe I should defer to a British writer, but I don't think that's been true for decades. It's just that grotesquerie like what OP posted persists to drag down the mean.

Is Gordon Ramsey considered someone who can't cook?

R352 = deaf to the actual conversation in the previous responses.

Deep fried Mars bars started as an urban myth, but then a chip shop in Edinburgh started selling them to gullible tourists. Now people believe they were always part of our diet. They have even started making deep fried Snickers bars.

I love a good shepherd’s pie, with minced lamb.

R355 What else would a shepherd's pie be made with?

When it's made with minced beef, it's a cottage pie.

In America r356, it’s called a shepherd’s pie even with ground beef. Wrong, I know. I was told that I was being pedantic when I brought this up years ago in DL.

In Australia and the USA, cottage pie has been generalised under term shepherd’s pie because it’s reasonably uncommon to use lamb (either leftover toast or mince lamb) in this manner. Even Australia where we do eat a lot more lamb than the average western country due to the climate, it’s definitely a beef favourite.

In terms of cooking writers of all origin, as for Gordon Ramsey, I find him quite fussy in terms of being a home cook. It’s his French style haute cuisine training which he struggles to reduce down. He under explains and assumes knowledge. He also has an addiction to olive oil during roasting and hot frying, which I loathe the smell of, because it oxidises at such a low heat. His methodology is solid, though, his recipes work, but such a cost and length that I don’t go to him unless it is something specific.

Nigella Lawson is 50-50 in terms of recipes working, but she banks on eccentricity. In my early 20s, I learned a handful of delicious standards from How To Be A Domestic Goddess and Nigella Bites - chocolate loaf cake, pizza rustica, leftover turkey hash, pasta with small, non-browned meatballs cooked in the sauce, Coca-Cola ham. But too many of the recipes in those books didn’t work after multiple attempts.

Jamie Oliver does a bit better than her. A third is good, a third is superb, and another third is baffling/noble attempts. Like the pastry he made of avocado was a fantastic idea that needed further development. It required an additional, complementary tasting fat or liquid or seasoning mixed in. Something. I actually like Jamie’s bastardised/“culturally appropriated” style; but he is translating it for home cooks and takes it further than Gordon in the other direction. Him Englishing up Mexican food or Thai food for the masses is noble - a lot of people will be offended by home-cooking food they are unfamiliar with preparing, accuse it of being posh or middle class or over paying for exotic ingredients - but it’s still often times weird to see him cook it.

Nigel Slater is simple and effective. Sometimes too simple, but like Nigella, he describes food with passion and (a different sort of) charm. I love his two Greenfeast books for Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter for cooking in season fruits and vegetables for different formats - on toast, in the oven, in a pan, on the hob, pudding.

Rick Stein is excellent and strikes a balance between Jamie and Gordon. His seafood cooking is peerless and he is better at translating foreign food he discovers on his travels into home cooking form by not skimping on “unusual” ingredients and explaining his preferences.

I don't care how awful British food is. I would let Matt Aldard cook for me any time.

The DataLounge Mole Patrol needs to get onto that guy at R360 pronto.

R358 I thought that lamb was very popular in Australia?

Irish people eat New Jersey food.

I've been shitting all over British cooking in this thread but can we just stop and point out how adorable the child in that photo is?

Just pure innocent joy, it perks me up everytime I scroll past it

[quote]All countries have their unpleasant foods - look at Canada with its poutine. Chips covered with gravy and cheese curds - it looks like vomit.

AND you feel like shit after you eat it.

Too fem, R360

R366, here he is with his wife.

Other than Taylor ham and salt water taffy, what is New Jersey food? Is that it in the video?

American attempts to explain the reason why British food gets a bad rap.

I love poutine but I only eat it when I go to Canada. My attempts to replicate the recipe at home have been mediocre at best. Finding good cheese curds is hard.

Hello, R370!

R363- Who cares what Irish people think of New Jersey food when their own food is the same type of INEDIBLE SLOP that constitutes English food.

Brit food is foul but they do amazing dairy and desserts. I’m guessing that’s why their teeth look like busted picket fences.

[quote][R363]- Who cares what Irish people think of New Jersey food when their own food is the same type of INEDIBLE SLOP that constitutes English food.

You seem nice.

R372 is obviously from Jersey. Maybe it's former governor Chris Christie, who would be an expert in the cuisine of New Jersey.

Lots of anti UK prejudice and stereotypes on this thread. What’s your problem?

This look like GERGFOOD

Why is the twat in R360 almost nude

R375, the Irish people in R363's link LOVE the "New Jersey food" they're being served.

I'm assuming the show calls it "New Jersey food" because these kids know New Jersey from "Jersey Shore" or some other reality show.