In a much earlier thread about British cooking I stated that nowadays Brit food is usually pretty,bloody good but that IMO the French still had the edge over us,much to the disgust of my good friend chowder who is I believe in the business himself.
I have now amended my opinion,having just been working over there for a little while I have come to the conclusion that the French tend to complicate matters more (even with simple dishes)but their food is one step back from ours.
To be fair I am basing my obviously subjective opinion on the food from hotels,high standard,but not top class,restaraunts,small food bars and homecooking in the North Eastern part of the country so its hardly a comprehensive survey.
American cooking* is best. Broader range of cuisines, more competition to keep them at their best.
*not American cuisine, which is okay, but the wide range of different stuff you can get here
No offense, but, in general, English food was the most bland food I’ve ever had. Granted, I’m comparing it mostly to New Mexican food (similar to Mexican food but with less salsas and more chiles) and Brazilian food (specificallychurrascos), which are pretty much the epitome of awesomeness. Regardless, for my tastes, English food doesn’t have enough spice, flavor, or goodness.
Given how much English cuisine is from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan these days, with an bit of Caribbean to add to the mixture, this seems an odd statement to make.
(About 3 years ago, I went back to my mother’s home town, Leicester. In the street where my hotel was, the restaurants were actually limited to just one kind – Gujarati vegetarian – except for the fish-and-chip shop, which also sold curries, of course).
I wasn’t talking about India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, or Caribbean foods. I was talking about full English breakfasts, steak and kidney pie, fish and chips, and the general lack of flavor in the roast beef and vegetables (heck, even the bangers and mash were downright bland).
[QUOTE=Santo Rugger]
I wasn’t talking about India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, or Caribbean foods. I was talking about full English breakfasts, steak and kidney pie, fish and chips, and the general lack of flavor in the roast beef and vegetables (heck, even the bangers and mash were downright bland).[/QUOTE
Doesn’t continual eating of highly spiced food desensitise the tastebuds?
One mans bland is another mans subtle.
Personally I love a Jahil Frasey(pretty sure I’ve spelled that wrong.)but I also enjoy fried egg sandwiches which would be totally overpowered by even a little spice.
Not Leicester as a whole – the area along Belgrave Road. There were 4 or 5 restaurants, and after walking up and down for a while, it dawned on me that they were all Gujarati vegetarian. Of course, there are other styles of Indian restaurants in other parts of Leicester!
And I visited the main branch of the public library, being a librarian, and found that the largest foreign-language section there was Gujarati, though they did have several other languages, of course. It’s very different from the Leicester that I remember from about 50 years ago.
Next weekend a friend is taking me out to eat at a local “British” restaurant. I’ve been having a hard time thinking of anything but sticky toffee pudding. It may not be haute causine, but damn I love me some sticky toffee pudding.
My father, good Lancashire man that he is, once told me his pet theory about the difference between British cooking and French cooking. His theory was the reason the French have so many sauces was because, back in days of old, the meat the French had access to wasn’t all that good, therefore they came up with a multitude of sauces to cover up the taste of the meat. The British, on the other hand, had access to good quality meat, therefore they could let the flavor of the meat come through.
Now, pleae keep in mind that no one in my family is a gourmet by any stretch of the imagination and Dad has a touch of nationalistic pride. This post is intended to add a humourous note to the discussion.
