Isn’t black pudding optional anyway? (I’ll take mine with, of course.)
You don’t actually know what most of that is, do you?
Don’t forget Brown Windsor Soup!
“Treacle” rhymes with “testicle.”
And Spotted Dick rhymes with dick!
Seriously, I hat rhyming foods.
One very good television series. But I recall many of the episodes focussing on earlier time had menus which were fairly dodgy in a boiled offal-heavy type of way.
NB The Restoration episode in which each of the seven courses was pretty much offal and claret with a claret chaser was an absolute gem.
Do you think that hummus is chewed lamb?
I believe corned beef and cabbage is supposed to be an irish dish. And it’s not even that! CB@C is as american as spaghetti and meatballs.
I think it’s the naming that gets them in trouble: Spotted dick, toad in the hole, blood and kidney pie, bangers and mash … it sounds like English foods were named by 12-year-old boys having a gross-out contest.
And then there’s the Scots with: haggis. It actually sounds worse than it is. And it’s AWFUL.
Don’t care enough to look it up, actually.
Heh. Reminds me of the British-owned and -operated Dr. BJ’s Budget Bangers (NSFW and yes it’s a real place):
That was an excellent episode, and one of my favorite of the series.
Now that you mention it, a lot of the food throughout the early periods was indeed offal-heavy and boiled. That was certainly true of the Elizabethan episode.
Whenever it was it no longer applies.
I’m from the UK and have travelled all over the world for business and pleasure. I’m a lover of wide and varied food types ( with no particular favourite ) and can say with absolute certainty that UK food is up there with the very best in terms of variety and quality, and believe me I’m very critical of poor quality food.
Most of the comments here seem to be based on the strange names for UK foods or a very narrow outlook, god forbid you actually taste something before judgement.
I have never ever heard that Scottish food is specifically bad in the sea of British food. Yes, I have heard “eww haggis is stomach!” before, but that’s it, and I think most people outside of Britain would be hard pressed to name anything else. I’ve never had it, but I say bring it on! I can’t think of much else besides neeps and tatties, Scotch, and Irn Bru. Whatever else you eat Burns Night. I can’t think of any Welsh food. Some stereotype involving sheep, coal, and/or bestiality?
I saw Heinz brand spotted dick and I think treacle in the Raley’s ethnic section today. Not sure how I feel about canned dick; I was tempted but in a hurry. Next time. I need some more Branston pickle.
England host a restaurant that is often considered one of the best in the world. Of course lots of stereotypically Indian/South Asian food is more British in origin.
Hummus is bland and almost awful though, sorry Middle East.
This is one of the most baffling blind spots that afflicts Americans. The savory pie should be a staple of American fast food just as it is in Australia. It is perfect for eating on the run, full of fat, carbohydrates and meat. It comes in an endless variety of forms. And it is delicious.
It is, not sure why that was said. Chicken pot pie, among other related meat pies. I understand it’s an obscure food, only carried by every “crap on the walls” restaurant ever.
Although I never ate it growing up, mincemeat (pie) was also a thing that pinged my radar, although it doesn’t contain meat normally (but can).
They do sell meat pies in America, but they’re generally not considered fast food. You usually buy them frozen at the supermarket and heat them in the oven when you don’t feel like cooking. The most common one is chicken pot pie (which isn’t even made with “real” chicken anymore).
I love meat pies, especially steak and kidney. I’ve had them in Canada and Britain, and there was an Australian pie company operating in Moscow around 20 years ago. They used to sell both apple and meat pies in pubs and from little carts on the street.
I don’t understand why British food has a bad rep. Beef, lamb, seafood, fresh herbs and veg—what’s not to like? Even haggis is delicious—it tastes like spicy liverwurst! Black pudding with bacon, mmmmmmmmmmmm!
As for Welsh food…
As said above, it’s not really fast food, as our savory pies (pot pies) are more stew-y affairs that require knife-and-fork, but there are other similar type of “meat pie” foods found in the US that are slightly different in form, like, say, the Hot Pocket, the Latin American empenadas, pasties (via Cornwall, of course, but popular in the upper Midwest), the Natchitoches Meat Pies of Louisiana, etc. I think meat pies in general would do well enough that an enterprising young entrepreneur would do well for his/herself setting up shop in a hip neighborhood. I would take whatever Superhal says with a grain of sal t–I’m not convinced it’s entirely sincere (I can’t honestly believe someone associates hummus with the British or thinks it’s made of lamb.)
The British/Aussie meat pies are quite a cut above the American pot pie.