# On the Traditional Awfulness of English Cooking



## bookslover (Dec 14, 2022)

"I remember such cookery well from my own childhood, when it was part of the culture, so to speak. British women fought against flavor and triumphed in the struggle. They roasted meat until it went gray and unchewable. They boiled vegetables to a mush and hardly bothered to drain them. Spices or herbs were anathema. It made meals a trial and (I suppose as was intended) a test of character, like sport on a frozen pitch. If you could eat a British meal, you could walk naked to the South Pole." - Anthony Daniels

Reactions: Funny 11 | Wow 1


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## VictorBravo (Dec 14, 2022)

A friend from Devon taught me the joys of breakfast frying bread in bacon grease and topping it with beans. It seemed to keep us from wanting to eat until sundown.


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## alexanderjames (Dec 14, 2022)

How very dare ye

Reactions: Like 1


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## Ryan&Amber2013 (Dec 14, 2022)

English food is my least favorite, hands down.


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## ZackF (Dec 14, 2022)

Fish and chips are wonderful!

Reactions: Like 3 | Amen 2


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## Phil D. (Dec 14, 2022)

The best roast lamb I ever had was in Kensington.
The best fish and chips I ever had was in Greenwich.
Cambridge burnt cream - delectable!
I'll take Pret a Manger take-away over almost any American fast-food franchise.
Mushy peas - not bad...
Black pudding - surprisingly OK
Bangers and mash - they're alright
Bubble n' squeak - interesting...
Kidney pie - once was enough...
Jellied eel? - eeewwww...

Reactions: Like 1


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## Charles Johnson (Dec 14, 2022)

ZackF said:


> Fish and chips are wonderful!


We eat a lot of this in Wisconsin, although we call it something different. "Friday fish fry", "perch basket", "walleye basket", etc. Along with bratwurst and brandy old fashioneds it's probably the thing we most associate with our culinary culture.
Now, call me a skeptic, but did one place really invent frying fish? That can't be much newer than frying and fish.

Reactions: Like 2


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## jwithnell (Dec 14, 2022)

We're planning a wedding anniversary trip to the Lake District. Should we pack our own food? 

Seriously, I had a friend from Cornwall who introduced me to clotted cream, meat pies, and scones, all of which I now make. My boys love a good roast and Yorkshire pudding. A pint and shepherd's pie sounds like a comfortable dinner to me especially with an ice storm fixing to blow in where I live.

Reactions: Like 1


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## ZackF (Dec 14, 2022)

Charles Johnson said:


> We eat a lot of this in Wisconsin, although we call it something different. "Friday fish fry", "perch basket", "walleye basket", etc. Along with bratwurst and brandy old fashioneds it's probably the thing we most associate with our culinary culture.
> Now, call me a skeptic, but did one place really invent frying fish? That can't be much newer than frying and fish.


Yeah. There are lot of good Lenten Friday fish fry recipes out there.


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## Charles Johnson (Dec 14, 2022)

ZackF said:


> Yeah. There are lot of good Lenten Friday fish fry recipes out there.


In Wisconsin it's year round, or at least all summer. As I understand the history, what is now the lenten Friday fast was originally every Friday in the pre-Vatican II Roman Church, and when Vatican II rolled around we kept eating fish on Fridays, not for religious reasons (most of us are Protestant to begin with) but just because we like the perch.

Reactions: Like 3


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## SeanPatrickCornell (Dec 14, 2022)

Clotted Cream is fantastic.

Bangers and mash is excellent.

Cottage pie and Shepherd's pie are wonderful, especially if you go big on the gravy.

Meat pies are delicious.

Fish and chips is tasty.

Sausage rolls taste quite good.


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## SeanPatrickCornell (Dec 14, 2022)

jwithnell said:


> We're planning a wedding anniversary trip to the Lake District. Should we pack our own food?
> 
> Seriously, I had a friend from Cornwall who introduced me to clotted cream, meat pies, and scones, all of which I now make. My boys love a good roast and Yorkshire pudding. A pint and shepherd's pie sounds like a comfortable dinner to me especially with an ice storm fixing to blow in where I live.



There's a lot of great food to be had in the Lake District.

By the way, if you've never been there, the Lake District is absolutely wonderful.


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## arapahoepark (Dec 14, 2022)

I remember reading this humorous article years ago. The writer is the man who the show 8 Simple Rules was based on. Enjoy!








Cameron: No wonder the British empire fell


Cameron: No wonder the British empire fell




www.denverpost.com

Reactions: Funny 2


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## jwithnell (Dec 14, 2022)

SeanPatrickCornell said:


> There's a lot of great food to be had in the Lake District.
> 
> By the way, if you've never been there, the Lake District is absolutely wonderful.


My family (the Satterthwaites) lived there for centuries before hightailing it to the colonies. I've always wanted to visit.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Jie-Huli (Dec 15, 2022)

jwithnell said:


> My family (the Satterthwaites) lived there for centuries before hightailing it to the colonies. I've always wanted to visit.


English food has made great strides in recent decades. But when the classics are done well, they have no rivals.

Depending on where you are staying in the Lake District, the Holbeck Ghyll and Langdale Chase near Lake Windermere are both lovely hotels with fine restaurants.

Reactions: Like 1


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## alexandermsmith (Dec 15, 2022)

Give me simple, straightforward, modest, warm, nourishing, clean British cooking (the epitome of a Christian diet) any day.


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## jwithnell (Dec 15, 2022)

Jie-Huli said:


> English food has made great strides in recent decades. But when the classics are done well, they have no rivals.
> 
> Depending on where you are staying in the Lake District, the Holbeck Ghyll and Langdale Chase near Lake Windermere are both lovely hotels with fine restaurants.


Thank you for the recommendations My parents loved visiting the lake so it has been on my list.


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## LadyCalvinist (Dec 15, 2022)

I have heard that British cooking is fine as long as you don't take it internally.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## CathH (Dec 15, 2022)

jwithnell said:


> Thank you for the recommendations My parents loved visiting the lake so it has been on my list.


The Lake District is a really lovely part of the country, I'm sure you will have a fantastic trip. 

I don't have the level of specific knowledge to recommend anywhere in particular (respect, Jie-huli!) but you're bound to find some lovely eating places there. When we drove south recently we stopped in Coniston for lunch and found a place at random and got a very decent meal.

I've honestly never had (or served!) grey and unchewable meat in all my long life of hot dinners!

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## Jie-Huli (Dec 15, 2022)

jwithnell said:


> Thank you for the recommendations My parents loved visiting the lake so it has been on my list.


You may know of it already, but I would be remiss not to also mention Sarah Nelson’s Grasmere gingerbread, sold in a 17th century former schoolhouse in Grasmere. I once took a detour to the Lake District on the way back from Scotland just to buy a batch.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Jack K (Dec 15, 2022)

Phil D. said:


> I'll take Pret a Manger take-away over almost any American fast-food franchise.


I suppose Pret is English food, in the same way Olive Garden is American food. But really, it's French food finding a home in England.

True English food has its moments. Sausage rolls and fresh crumpets with jam make for a yummy breakfast, and the meat pies are usually good. But the fish is only okay for a place with that much coastland. And all the very best meals I've had in England have featured food originating in former colonies, most notably India.

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## hammondjones (Dec 15, 2022)

HobNobs cover, as it were, a multitude of culinary sins

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## alexanderjames (Dec 16, 2022)

hammondjones said:


> HobNobs cover, as it were, a multitude of culinary sins


You clearly haven't tried a dark chocolate hobnob!

Reactions: Like 2


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## alexanderjames (Dec 16, 2022)

Jack K said:


> And all the very best meals I've had in England have featured food originating in former colonies, most notably India.


I will admit, I find myself cooking a lot of stir fry, and indian or thai currys.. 
Enjoyed some lancashire hot pot last night though!

Reactions: Like 1


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## Phil D. (Dec 16, 2022)

Jack K said:


> I suppose Pret is English food, in the same way Olive Garden is American food. But really, it's French food finding a home in England.


Jack! So now we're getting technical, eh?  If we have to break it down that way, Pret is a British franchise, oddly with a French name, that offers a broadly international-ized cuisine - seems mainly American, British, and Mediterranean (Italian, Greek) influences, whether in the form of sandwiches, wraps, frittatas, soups or salads. Seemed to me the main French contribution was putting some fixins' on a baguette - don't even recall any croissants... At any rate, in my opinion, they've come up with a great blend of accessibility, convenience, variety, quality, freshness, and relatively healthy offerings far superior to the normal American fast-food experience. If you still disagree, let's get together at a Pret somewhere in London and discuss things. At the very least, we'll have a good meal!

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