# British traditional cuisine



## LadyBlakeney

All right, let's make use of this new forum!

This is a question directed to people from all over the United Kingdom.

When I was sixteen I spent the summer in Cork, Ireland with a very nice family that treated me extremely well, so I had quite a number of home-made meals. Last year went to London to study and, as I had to cook my on meals, I had very little contact with traditional food.

I know that nowadays British cuisine is deeply changed due to many international influences, but I am very curious about how you regard your own traditional food, of which I now very little: kidney pie, mushroom pie, sheperd's pie, porridge, apple pie, fish and chips, baked beans and not much else. Could you tell me about it?

Thank you very much.


----------



## quehuong

Hmm, I'd like to know more about traditional British cuisine, too.


----------



## dommo

Hmm tradiational British food... I guess the obvious one is a 'sunday roast' which usually consists of roast beef (I wonder where we got that nickname from ), vegetables such carrots, peas, potatoes, cauliflower, cabbage etc. These are usually boiled or steamed. Along with this there would be stuffing (made from breadcrumbs and herbs and onions), gravy, bread sauce and yorkshire puddings. mmmm I'm getting carried away... Fish and chips I guess is another famous one. British people also love their breakfasts! - Sausages, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, bread, black pudding (basically morcilla without the rice)  - all from a frying pan of course for maximum health benefit.

As for the rest of the UK, you've got Haggis and for Wales there are risoles!

I'm probably not the best person to answer since I mostly eat food from other countries!


----------



## Celeste

May I add custard and rubber pie as dessert? Is it common nowadays? I used to eat them when I was at school, many years ago.


----------



## dave

Celeste said:
			
		

> May I add custard and rubber pie as dessert? Is it common nowadays? I used to eat them when I was at school, many years ago.



*Rubber pie* sería *tarta de goma*! Do you mean rhubarb (ruibarbo)? Rhubarb crumble is very nice, especially with custard.

As for British cuisine, it is now very rare to find English (or British) restaurants - when we eat out we almost always eat ´foreign food´ (Italian, French, Spanish, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Greek, Turkish, American, Mexican - you name it and we can eat it, especially in London).  The single most popular dish in the UK is chicken tikka masala. That probably tells you all you need to know about our opinion of British cuisine!

As for traditional British cuisine that we still do, from time to time, cook in our homes and that can still be found in some restaurants, the following is a fair sample:

*Sunday roast* (usually either beef, pork, lamb, or chicken, with roast potatoes, vegetables, gravy, and perhaps Yorkshire pudding) 
*Fish & Chips* (in fact, anything with chips! - we do of course still have many chip shops, or "chippies", and many people probably still have fish and chips at least once a week)
A "*fry up*" (the full English breakfast as detailed by dommo - I don´t know anybody who eats this regularly - I think you´d die with all that cholestrol!)
*Sausage and mash* (_mash _ is mashed potato - very common. I love it with lots of butter and garlic)
*Liver and onions* (horrible!)
*Fish pie*
*Steak & kidney pie*
*Cornish pasty*
*Toad in the hole* (sausages cooked in a Yorkshire pudding)
*Cheese on Toast*
*Baked Beans on Toast* (in fact, children seem to eat baked beans with everything)

It seems that most of our dishes involve meat, potato and pastry!

Different regions also have their own specialities. For example in London jellied eels are typical (though not very popular!); in Liverpool they have Scouse (similar to Haggis); in Lancashire they have Lancashire Hot Pot (basically a meat stew with a pastry crust); in the South West they have cream teas (scones with jam and clotted cream); and in Yorkshire we have (although I have the misfortune of living in London I am a proud Yorkshireman!) our mighty Yorkshire Puddings - best served as a dish by themselves and filled with onion gravy.

Our supermarkets have obviously changed significantly as well, and nowadays it´s as easy to buy chorizo as it is to find fresh liver. In the early 1970s it was almost impossible to buy spaghetti, now I´d bet that it can be found in every kitchen cupboard in the country.

I´m feeling really hungry now so must go and eat! Anything more you want to know LadyB?!


----------



## Celeste

Thank you for your correction! I have not seen this word written before!


----------



## dave

Celeste said:
			
		

> Thank you for your correction! I have not seen this word written before!



No problem! In fact, many of my school dinners could actually have been rubber pie!


----------



## LadyBlakeney

Ha, ha, ha, Dave! I guess school food is awful everywhere! Even here, in Spain, where we pride ourselves ¿on? having a really good traditional cuisine.

Dommo, Celeste, Dave, thank you very much for the information. Now I would like some explanation about certain dishes you have mentioned:

*bread sauce*: What is it made of? I don't need the recipe, just perhaps the colour of it and any other ingredient (beside, perhaps, bread?).

Haggis: No idea, sorry!

Risoles: I am very curious about this one.

*Yorkshire pudding*: It sounds good, what is the stuffing?

Scouse: ¿?

Thank you very much for your help. This sure was informative! (Question: does this last expression sound very American or is it international?). Thanks again.


----------



## dave

Well, I'm no expert but I'll give it a go:

Bread sauce: a thick white sauce made from breadcrumbs, milk and butter, perhaps seasoned with onions, nutmeg and/or cloves. I've never eaten this, but I think it's served with poultry (chicken, turkey etc.).

Haggis: This is the national dish of Scotland. Again I've never eaten it (in fact, never even seen it!), but I think it's a sheep's stomach.   

Risoles: No idea!

Yorkshire pudding: Not really a pudding, but a batter made basically from eggs, milk and flour - the art is in the cooking! Have a look at http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/r_0000000745.asp. http://www.yorkshirepudding.co.uk/ is quite amusing, and
http://www.dalesview.fsnet.co.uk/pudding/ has a poem (written in Yorkshire English!) explaining the importance of the Yorkshire Pudding.

Scouse: I think it's some kind of stew. People from Liverpool are called Scousers, and their dialect is called Scouse!


----------



## Tomasoria

Uuummhh ¡¡ Haggis...it's the worst thing I've never tasted...both flavour and aspect...

 It's a sheep's stomach stuffed with some kind of minced meat and spiced like hell...only suitable for real scottish woodcutters and rugby players.

  Apart from that, I just add that british cuisine is one the best in the world and on top of it all: FISH and CHIPS , a gastronomy masterpiece by matching "terrific" sea products from the North Sea and tubers from the Midlands... yes indeed, nothing to do with fine french cuisine or oilve oil-based dishes all through the mediterranean...Sth. to feel proud of... really

  Bon appetit mes vieux


----------



## David

No offense to anybody; like every country, England and the rest of Britain have wonderful dishes if you eat them at the right places. But home cooking can be dreadful in any country, too. My grandmother, when she didn´t feel like cooking, would give us elbow macaroni with ketchup! So don´t be offended, but here´s the funniest line I ever read in a guidebook. I was on a train from London to Llandydno Junction for our first visit to Wales, and we had a Harvard Guide to Great Britain or something like that. My friend read out the following line aloud: "Welsh cooking is to English cooking as English cooking is to French cooking. Try to avoid the canned spaghetti on toast." The day before, desperate for a fresh vegetable, I spotted a beautiful, ripe tomato in a café display case. I asked the cook if I could have it with my sandwich. "Right-o, Mate," he said cheerily, and dropped in with the chips to fry in fat. So when we read the line in the guidebook, we laughed for hours. In Bangor, we went into a "Chinese" restaurant, where a nice young man, obviously of Chinese extraction, but also obviously raised in the UK, waited on us. We ordered whatever looked good on the menu, which touted the cuisine as "genuine" Chinese. When we had all ordered, the young man said, "Roit, nah would yew loik rois or chips wivat?" I wanted to ask him whether that was Guandong style chips or Szechuan style chips, but I refrained. We 'ad the rois.


----------



## Focalist

dave said:
			
		

> *Liver and onions* (horrible!)



Not so at all -- unless cooked horribly.

You're not thinking of school dinners, are you, Dave, in thus maligning this delicious British dish?

F


----------



## Focalist

David said:
			
		

> home cooking can be dreadful in any country


Just to widen this discussion out a little, today I heard expressed on BBC Radio 4 the opinion that "Tibet is to gastronomy as Switzerland is to whale-watching"..  

F


----------



## LadyBlakeney

Thanks Dave for trying to explain it to me. I would love any Scottish of Welch giving us some information about their traditional cuisine.

Tomasoria, you naughty boy! Remember some Spanish traditional dishes are not exactly healthy...too much pork...


----------



## Silvia B

I read many books where people (often poor people) ate "porridge".
Could someone please explain what it is??!??

Thank you in advance!


----------



## dave

LadyBlakeney said:
			
		

> Thanks Dave for trying to explain it to me. I would love any Scottish of Welch giving us some information about their traditional cuisine.



Welch = largarse sin pagar 
Welsh = galés / galeses

No queremos ofender a los galeses!


----------



## dave

Silvia B said:
			
		

> I read many books where people (often poor people) ate "porridge".
> Could someone please explain what it is??!??
> 
> Thank you in advance!



Porridge is very typical of Scotland. It is oats with hot milk, and usually lots of sugar! It is eaten for breakfast - lovely on those cold Highland mornings!


----------



## LadyBlakeney

dave said:
			
		

> Welch = largarse sin pagar
> Welsh = galés / galeses
> 
> No queremos ofender a los galeses!


 
 Oooooops!!! Sorry, sorry, sorryyyyyyyy!! It was a typo, I didn't know the other word. Greetings to all Wel*s*h!


----------



## Mr X

Lady B, you asked what rissoles were.

I'm not English, but in Australia rissoles are basically meat patties. You cook the meat with some vegies perhaps, then make them into patties in a frypan.


----------



## LadyBlakeney

Thank you Mr X. I'm sorry about going on and on but, what are patties? I couldn't find "patty" or "pattie" in the dictionary.

Thanks again!!!


----------



## Tomasoria

OK, ladyBlakeney...Maybe Spaniards are turning into this american way of feeding...this too much fast food, and maybe our traditional cuisine is a little bit abusive on pork...but, is anyone in the Forum ready to confess that there is sth. tasty and delicious on british gastronomy???

   Saludos


----------



## LadyBlakeney

Tomasoria, I didn't refer to the most recently acquired food habits of Spaniards. Do you really think that the cocido madrileño, the callos or the fritanga are very healthy? They were ok for our grand-grandparents, who worked on the fields all day and needed extra calories, but for us...

By the way, ¡British muffins are unrivalled!


----------



## dommo

Risoles! :

http://www.s4c.co.uk/dudley/rm/view_recipe/rid/127/language/eng/

You can even read it in Welsh if you are feeling adventurous! 

Dom.


----------



## Mr X

Lady B,

A patty is made of meat, or other savory stuff, and cooked or fried in a circlular shape. For example, the meat on a hamburger can be called a hamburger patty, or a meat patty.

Mr X.


----------



## Magg

LadyBlakeney said:
			
		

> By the way, ¡British muffins are unrivalled!


Certainly they are. Superb!

I don't know much about traditional British cuisine but when I was in Leeds, the dining room at the college served three different types of food (traditional, fast food, and vegetarian food).

I always remember thouse extremely thin meat slices that were served with broccoli, mashed potatoes or baked potatoes. Most days they served it and, of course, I'll try.
Well, I must say it was absolutely tasteless. Thank goddness they add some gravy souce on it.

However, desserts were marvellous! I gained weight.


----------



## LadyBlakeney

Thanks, Dommo! That link is really interesting. I wonder if I would be able to cook some decent risoles...

Mr. X, thanks to you too! That is a good word to know, "patty".

Ha, ha, ha, Magg! That kind of school/college food you talk about is the reason why British food has its reputation. However, I believe that British traditional food, when cooked properly, can be really nice. Besides, we can always balance it with a good Mediterranean salad, can't we?


----------



## Magg

Focalist said:
			
		

> Just to widen this discussion out a little, today I heard expressed on BBC Radio 4 the opinion that "Tibet is to gastronomy as Switzerland is to whale-watching"..
> 
> F



Focalist, 

This has nothing to do with 'food' but I listen to BBC Radio very often in the mornings. I always listen to Radio Scotland till 13:00 or so (12:00 in the UK), and then I change to Radio Wales. I've never listened to BBC Radio 4. Would you please recommend me other radio programmes from the BBC?

Thanks


----------



## dave

Magg - how do you get Radio Scotland and Radio Wales? I didn't think they broadcast in SW or LW. What a strange choice of stations to be listening to from Spain!

As for which stations to recommend, that really depends on what you like. The national BBC stations are:

Radio 1: chart-based pop music - for young people!
Radio 2: used to be thought of as very middle-of-the-road, but now has a wide range of music and chat programmes. Target audience is probably 30 to 70!
Radio 3: classical music.
Radio 4: news, documentaries and dramas. Very well respected, and fairly serious. Probably very good for English listening practice!
Radio 5: News and sport. Quite a lively station.
Radio 6: Digital/Internet only - alternative music.
Radio 7: Digital/Internet only - comedy.

Then there are lots of regional stations, which are mainly very boring!


----------



## Sharon

Please help me with a curiosity I have always had. Can anyone tell me, what is "peas porridge" ??  
"Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold..."


----------



## dave

I´ve no idea Sharon (although I know the nursery rhyme), but it sounds disgusting!

I had always thought it was *pease*, but I still don´t know what that means. Have you done a Google search?


----------



## Sharon

Oh, I hadn't thought of that. "Peas*e*" (Well, I hadn't thought of a Google search, either.) I got an e-mail yesterday about life in the 1500's, I will paste the appropriate part here:

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

I was using the spelling from the e-mail. (Since they mentioned vegetables, "peas" *seemed* like the right word.  )


----------



## dave

OK Sharon, I´ve just looked up *pease * in my Collins Oxford, and it´s simply an archaic word for *pea*! My dictionary also has *pease pudding*, and it says:

_"A dish of split peas that have been soaked or boiled."_

I´m still not tempted!


----------



## Magg

dave said:
			
		

> Magg - how do you get Radio Scotland and Radio Wales? I didn't think they broadcast in SW or LW. What a strange choice of stations to be listening to from Spain!



Well, Dave, its quite easy. Someone has just to use a computer and write: www.bbc.co.uk/radio and choose what to listen to.


----------



## Spicy

May I have the receipe of the crumble (ad of the custard) please?


----------



## dave

Spicy - here's a link to a good custard recipe. Delia, the woman of the website, is a famous British TV chef - I'm sure you'll be able to find anything you want on her site, if you really insist on wanting to try British cuisine!

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/r_0000000771.asp


----------



## mamboney

Verena1505 said:
			
		

> hi
> i'm new and I love cooking and english and every language to learn.
> so my question: could somebody be so kind and send me as much info as possible about the british cuisine? please, would be great.



Here are a couple of links for you to investigate!

http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/rc_index.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/food_heroes/directory_wales.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/food_heroes/directory_scotland.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_cuisine

Enjoy!


----------



## moirag

I've been living in Spain for 14 years and yes, the Spanish that I know love a roast dinner, including  Yorkshire puddings which, for want of a better word, they call "(tipo de) pan inglés". They also love such typically "British" dishes as "Spicy pork" or "curried aubergine". But, then, they have to admit their own cuisine is heavily influenced by the Arabs.....


----------



## soupface

After reading some of the posts on this forum I couldn't help but add a few words to the discussion.

However old the thread may be I couldn't help myself but to post a reply. I am a chef at the London restaurant The Ivy and whilst I cook and enjoy eating all kinds of international foods, I have a deep interest intraditional British food.

Bread sauce is indeed made from white breadcrumbs cooked in milk which has been infused with flavour by simmering with onion and cloves in it. Optional flavourings such as nutmeg, bayleaf and even thyme can be used. The sauces consistency is traditionally quite thick and stodgy though modern versions can sometimes be thinner. It can be finished with butter and/or cream to enrich the sauce It is usually served with game birds such as grouse or partridge as the flavour of the sauce pairs especially well with their gamey character developed by hanging the birds. This is how we serve it at work.

Haggis, aparrently known in Norway as "lung mash" Is predominantly made from oats although it also contains the minced "pluck" of a sheep. The "pluck" usually consists of the heart lungs and liver and the finished mixture is traditionally wrapped in the sheep's stomach although in modern practice a synthetic alternative is often used. The pluck is usually pre-cooked by a slow simmering before being minced and mixed with the oats and a mixture of herbs and spices which are particular to the individual sausage maker and often a closely guarded secret. It is important when cooking the lungs that the windpipe is attached as this can be draped from the side of the pan into another container so that the lungs can expel any scum, mucas or other foreign bodies during cooking. Following cooking the windpipe can then be removed.

Haggis is traditionally cooked by simmering in water. It is usually wrapped in tinfoil first. It is accompanied by 'neeps and tatties' which are mashed turnips flavoured with plenty of butter and black pepper and mashed potato.

Haggis can be cooked using other methods, I particularly enjoy it sliced and fried as part of a fry up alongside my bacon and eggs, fried bread etc.

Whilst I have seen several traditional regional dishes such as scouse and bubble and squeak mentioned on this forum, no one has mentioned a lesser known old fashioned dish from my home county of lancashire. Whilst everyone knows of hot pot, the dish from this region which holds highest esteem in my heart is tripe and onions. There is little more to this than beef tripe, carefully rinsed and cut into manageable chunks simmered lovingly in milk with some roughly chopped onions until tender. Traditionally served alongside mashed potato, delicious!

Some of these old fashioned dishes are now being revived by the inovative Fergus Henderson at his St. John restaurant in London's Smithfield (just opposite the meat market). Whilst also serving more modern continental style dishes. This restaurant has done a lot for reviving traditional British food and especially out of favor offal cookery. His book 'Nose to tail eating' is a must read for anyone interested in British food.

Another classic is Brawn, my Grandmother used to make this apparently when the family used to keep pigs. Like black pudding, it also exists as a traditional dish in France where they call it "Fromage de tete" (head cheese). It is a terrine of sorts served cold which is made from the head of a pig simmered with stock vegetables and herbs, picked through and then jellied with the reduced stock produced by the cooking. It is delicious!

Also, no one has mentioned any of the traditional Scottish dishes based upon smoked haddock such as cullen skink. Have a look on the bbc food site for this one. I love smoked fish and smoked haddock is especially great to cook with. The most famous is Finnan haddock. My wife who is Portuguese can't stand anything except smoked salmon and if I cook or eat kippers at home she complaing that English people are weird and they eat gone off fish. Trying to explain to her that it's not gone off but perserved exactly like Portuguese 'bacalhau' (salt cod) gets me nowhere. Hmm actually another British classic is a simple fish supper, that's Cod and mash to you. That's far less common nowerdays simply as Cod is no longer such a cheap fish as it once was.

Well I hope my post has been of some interest to someone. Thanks for reading.


----------



## LouisaB

Thank you, soupface, for reviving this thread, and for reminding me that British cuisine can indeed be delicious.

I suspect the reason for its poor international reputation (cue massive generalisation) is our habit of a) boiling and b) overcooking things. Watery, tasteless vegetables, meat roasted to dryness - these seem to be what are most associated with the UK. As a child, I remember reading 'Asterix in Britain' in which the protagonists suffered agonies when even the wild boar they caught was boiled and served with mint sauce. This may be a caricature of the French opinion of British cuisine, but there may also be a hint of truth in it...

In fact, of course, it does not have to be like this. _Properly_ cooked, British cuisine is gorgeous. Lamb's liver _can_ be lovely. All the dishes mentioned so far (even haggis  ) _can_ be lovely. The only dishes I can think of where I would stand up for the 'overcooked' tradition would be roast duck and roast lamb. I love most French cuisine, but I struggle with little slivers of pink rubber. I like my roast duck overcooked and crispy. Well done roast lamb, falling off the bone, is sublime.

One British delicacy so far overlooked is the fish cake. Think of those salmon fishcakes at the Ivy, served with spinach...

One British atrocity so far fortunately overlooked is the root vegetable. Swedes, turnips and parsnips boiled to death are what gave us our bad name. School dinners depended on them. I feel ill just remembering them...

Louisa


----------



## itxaro

soupface said:


> Hmm actually another British classic is a simple fish supper, that's Cod and mash to you. That's far less common nowerdays simply as Cod is no longer such a cheap fish as it once was.


You're right, cod is so expensive these days.  

I thought your post was really interesting (also it made me hungry ), especially as you're a chef; definitely a different perspective to the typical, snobbish "British cuisine...hahaha" idea that a lot of our continental friends have.


----------



## emma42

Let us not forget sandwiches!

There is nothing like a sandwich made of good wholemeal bread, quality butter, top quality strong cheddar cheese and some sort of chutney or pickle from the Women's Institute stall.


----------



## la reine victoria

Welcome to the forums, Soupface.  I am now feeling very hungry.

I have a longing for some tripe and onions, with mash, but tripe is something I can't find on the Isle of Wight. Is it sold in London?

When I was first married my husband told me of his love of brawn, something which I like too. Very bravely I went to a butcher who sold pigs' heads (we lived in London at that time). I bought just half a head - the idea of a whole one, staring at me, was just too much. 

Without using a recipe I managed to produce an absolutely delicious brawn. The preparation was the worst part but once that was done it was plain sailing.

All the foods you mentioned are favourites of mine. My mother was Scottish and an excellent cook. Haggis, Finnan Haddies, kippers, lamb's liver (very lightly cooked) with onion gravy and mashed potatoes, stovies, deep-filled ham and egg pie, Scotch broth, fish pie, shepherd's pie, roast chicken with oatmeal and onion stuffing, and many other dishes - she excelled at.

I believe I inherited her love of cooking - she always maintained my cooking was better than hers. 

I *never* eat those dreadful supermarket ready meals. I buy only fresh produce and cook it myself.

Thanks for a great post. I'm just off for a helping of some butternut squash soup which I made today.




LRV


----------



## Joelline

"Patty" is the in the WR dictionary HERE.


----------



## soupface

Wow!

I wasn't expecting any reply what with the thread being so old. Thank you all so much for your comments and your enthusiasm.

Dear Louisa B,

Yes the fishcake is most deserving of a mention it can be a truly beautiful thing though I'm afraid I can't really say I'm too fond of the Ivy's fishcakes, maybe I've served one too many of them. In principle it may be a nice little dish and god knows we sell enough of them! though to me they're somewhat bland. I blame the sauce with which we serve them, it just doesn't cut the mustard for me.

As far as overdone meat goes yes it's a shame that overcooking roasts does seem to have become a tradition somewhere long the line. When I was growing up in rural Lancashire, whenever we ate a roast it was really something special as everything was locally reared and the quality of the meat was excellent. However my mother invariably obliterated her roasts which didn't really do justice to a good rib of beef.

Although I have to say I prefer a bit of pink in my lamb whether roasted or grilled, I can understand you preferring duck well done.

Personally, duck is one of my favorite meats and even when I cook it at home I am something of a perfectionist. As such I will never roast a duck whole as I would with other birds because I find the legs and breast require such different treatment to acheive perfection. I tend to keep a couple of confit duck legs
in the fridge (they will keep almost indefinatly and according to tradition require six months to mature anyway). I don't know whether or not you are familiar with confit but I assume you may well be with your love of french cooking.
Anyway when I buy a whole duck I will remove the breasts and legs, confit the legs for future use, use the carcass for stock (I recommend roasting the carcass first to render down the fat which can be used for confit, cooking spuds etc to accompany your duck or keeping in the fridge for a rainy day and secondly the roasting will add color and depth to the stock. I tend to collect carcasses in the freezer and then make a stock with 4 or 5 at a time.

The breasts I fry in their own fat and I tend to cook them medium rare. They can be marinaded in say thyme and garlic first if you like. When it comes to cooking them it's important to score through the skin in both directions. This helps them to render their fat quickly in the pan. After that they need only be placed skin side down in a hot thick bottomed pan, cooked for a couple of minutes on each side and then allowed to rest. The confit legs I rehead by giving a quick 10 minuite roast in a very hot oven.

In this way I find the best possible duck can be served. The rich confit leg, tender as you can imagine from it's long simmering in the duck fat and it's ageing I usually serve on some form of potato, often just new potatoes boiled and then sauteed in the duck's fat, the breast I like to slice and serve on green veg such as buttered cabbage or spinach. The skin will be crispy from the hot pan and the inside juicy and pink.

As for a sauce, well any good gravy will do but the ideal is a reduction of the stock made from the duck carcasses in your freezer. Take a good rich duck stock and simply cook it and cook it untill all that remains is a thick rich syrup to pour over the breast. The leg should require no sauce being rich enough on it's own.

Gosh well that was diverging a bit wasn't it? Now I have to admit this long winded perfectionist method of cooking duck is hardly traditional British fare is it? Indeed not, the confit, the reduction sauce it's roots are entirely French. I'm afraid I'm not even fond of apple sauce!

As for the root veg. Well yes, for me too school dinners have given me horrible memories as well, rice pudding one one, I didn't eat it for years until my wife introduced me to the Portuguese version. Theirs is flavoured with cinnamon and lemon zest, it is spread out thinly on plates and served fridge cold usually decorated with patterns or doodles sprinkled on it in ground cinnamon. Fantastic!

Another is beetroot. The amount of revoltingly acidic pickled beetroot I was forced to eat in school put me off the vegetable for years. It wasn't until I mastered a chilled beetroot soup flavored with balsamic vinaigre that I began to appreciate it.

Otherwise as for other root vegetables, yeah it seems it's so easy to get such a simple thing wrong. Properly cooked they can be so spirit warming. I love root veg. Tradition here dictated that we had to as especially in the winter it was impossible to grow anything else. 
Hmm that reminds me, what about the jacket potato! Can anyone let me know whether you do that in the US or anywhere on the continent. Anywhere else even for that matter let me know. It's not exactly haute cuisine but it's a humble vegetable that's brought me warmth and comfort in many cold winters and helped feed me cheaply in times of povery. I love it either just buttered and served with meat or on it's own with a more substantial filling. I have to admit that to this day baked beans (preferably heinz) and a bit of good grated cheddar is still my favourite filling.

By the way Emma 42 yes you're right, I'd forgotten that the humble butty was a British invention. Speaking of good strong cheddar. Have you ever tasted Montgommery's Champion cheddar? It's my favourite of all the cheddars I've ever come across. Now that's REAL British cheese! I love foreign cheeses but if I were too live abroad I would miss our own like hell!

Itxaro, thanks for your comments. It's a shame yeah. Personally I try to avoid eating Cod in England not only because of the expense but because I do tend to be rather concerned about overfishing. No-one wants to be the one to fry the last fillet of Cod from Britain's waters do they? It really is an issue I'm concerned about now. Fortunately, I like fresh haddock almost as much so it makes a good and slightly cheaper substitute.

Dear la reine victoria,

It surprises me that you can't get tripe on the Isle of Wight, don't you farm there? Where there is meat there is tripe. Have you tried asking a butcher? If you give them a reasonable amount of notice they should be able to get some in for you. Ask for some honeycomb (from the second stomach of the cow). Although it's worth remembering that if the butcher doesn't normally stock it, there might be a minimum amount he is obliged to buy in and so as he may have difficulty shifting the excess you may have to consider buying a large quantity and freezing some of it.

Yes it's not at all difficult to get in London. Mind you, nothing's that hard to get hold of in London if you really want to. I'd say it's much easier to get tripe than it is to get proper (i.e. outdoor reared) Pork. There are a couple of halal butchers just down the road from me that keep it in all the time (tripe that is), I expect this to be the case in most parts of London.

That's not to say that I would buy it from them though as I care about the quality of the meat that I eat, where it comes from, what sort of life the animal has had etc. As such, when I cook tripe at home I order it from a butcher I trust.

Squash soup hey? Sounds great. That's a good one for a cold day!

Once again thank you all for your comments. I'm going to go now and leave this thread in peace before I bore the hell out of all of you with my obsessive rambling.


----------



## soupface

my pleasure, it's hard to get hold of though. I know it's sold in quite a few places in Somerset but in London at least you can only really get it through Neils Yard dairy. I first came across it because we were using it in a restaurant I was working in.

Wow, I stand corrected, a google search has just reveled that it can be bought online, great stuff!


----------



## Neever

LadyBlakeney said:


> All right, let's make use of this new forum!
> 
> This is a question directed to people from all over the United Kingdom.
> 
> *When I was sixteen I spent the summer in Cork, Ireland with a very nice family that treated me extremely well,* so I had quite a number of home-made meals. Last year went to London to study and, as I had to cook my on meals, I had very little contact with traditional food.
> 
> I know that nowadays British cuisine is deeply changed due to many international influences, but I am very curious about how you regard your own traditional food, of which I now very little: kidney pie, mushroom pie, sheperd's pie, porridge, apple pie, fish and chips, baked beans and not much else. Could you tell me about it?
> 
> Thank you very much.


 
Just an aside, but I am not surprised you didn't find out much about traditional British food in Cork, seeing as how its in Ireland....


----------



## emma42

Thanks, soupface.  In fact, we do have a couple of proper cheese shops in Nottingham (yes, I know, in THE PROVINCES).  I shall make enquiries.

May I also mention egg and chips?  An excellent dish, as long as the ingredients are top quality.  Proper organic eggs and a good potato, such as Yukon Gold, fried in good oil at the right temperature.


----------



## soupface

I love egg and chips, I don't even think it really has to be that well done to be really enjoyable. It used to be a standard fare for my wife and I when we lived in Manchester. We would order it as standard from our favourite greasy spoon. Even today we enjoy it as common meal.

Also the bacon and egg butty is a favourite of mine. I once knew a place that sold huge baguettes filled with bacon and eggs for only about £3.50. Now they were good! Especilly in winter.

Dear LRV, you may be joking but I've no doubt the Ivy would do that for you if you asked politely. They'll do a lot of things off the menu when requested to. It happens all the time, someonme wants scrambled eggs with their smoked salmon so I scramble some eggs in the middle of a 100 cover pre-theatre service. They decide they want their rib eye au poivre instead of with bernaise so I make sauce au poivre to order. Someone wants a steak with a fried egg on top, no problem hehe. If they want a mushroom omlette then we make them a mushroom omlette. Someone once ordered eggs bennedict and decided they wanted the ham & egg to sit on crushed new potatoes instead of on the toasted muffin! The list goes on.

Egg and chips, yeah no problem. The chefs would laugh a little but we'd do it!


----------



## psicutrinius

I was once invited to a dinner near Wolverhampton. That was a good one (and a _few_ years ago...). What I remember most was the cheese table. I remember saying Oh no, French cheese again!. At this point, the host told me that none at all, and that I was to experience what real British cheeses were about. And, of course I remember them...

Real homemade old Stilton, Lanarkshire blue, real cheddar....

I remember also that _both_ the host and the maître d' told me to *enjoy, remember and shut up*, just in case the British cheese were to be *too* well known abroad, thus pushing up hugely the demand... and the prices, and making it more scarce (the real thing, not the factory made stuff).

By the way, I cannot fathom why, but we were about to have a very old (and sweet) port with the Stilton, at which point I asked for some crackers and a bottle of a Spanish Rioja -which they had as well. That was a setback to my wallet, of course, but I believe that all the guests there got the point and that they no longer drink that port with such cheeses. At least, some of them told me later on that they still don't.

Some of the truly outstanding contributions to the *cuisine* due to the British are (in my view), the crackers (along with precisely the cheese), the roast-beef, the carving table (and the gravy), a properly done fish & chips... and the jacket potato (among others, of course).


----------



## emma42

psicutrinius, why do you class the jacket potato as particularly British?  Is it not common elsewhere?

Oh, yes, proper gravy.....


----------



## psicutrinius

Well, this is where I discovered it -haven't seen such one elsewhere, and not in Spain in particular.


----------



## emma42

Oh, right.  Yes, they are extremely popular in Britain, with such fillings as cheese, egg mayonnaise, chilli con carne, tuna or just plain butter.


----------



## soupface

Yeah,it's something I'd been wondering about for a long time. I really don't know if people bake potatoes that way anywhere else.

Of course it's the perfect winter comfort food in Britain and the time of the year when they're most needed seems to naturally coincide with the spuds being at their seasonal best for it.

Can anyone let me know do they cook jacket potatoes in the U.S. or anywhere else?


----------



## emma42

Soupface - PROPER MASHED SPUDS!


----------



## soupface

psicutrinius, I still like Port and cheese though. A particular favorite of mine is port with Wensleydale and Christmas cake. It's a strange combination I'll grant you but it works for me. It's an annual habit I inherited from my mother.


----------



## jinti

soupface said:


> Can anyone let me know do they cook jacket potatoes in the U.S. or anywhere else?


 
Yes, they're very common in the US.  Sometimes they come with with fillings (broccoli and cheese, bacon and cheese, chili -- but I've never heard of tuna  ), sometimes just with butter or sour cream and chives.  I make them at home in the winter....


----------



## Chaska Ñawi

Since this thread was started before the cultural guidelines were put into place, its recent revival was tacitly permitted.  However, most of the more recent posts have been along the line of recipes - something most definitely beyond the scope of this forum.

With considerable regret (I never tire of talking or writing about food), I must announce that this particular restaurant is closing.  The management thanks you for your patronage, and wishes to reassure you that there are many, many other virtual restaurants where you may freely exchange recipes.

iProvecho!


----------

