English food has an outdate and undeserved reputation for being bad.
I've been living in England for over a year now, and I prefer English food to American food.
Part of what makes it different is the way the animals are fed. Cows and lambs eat grass. That's what they are supposed to eat. And they are not full of hormones to grow faster.
Also, the country is much smaller than the US and the distances the food has to travel is only a fraction of that of the US. That means that the food is fresher and doesn't have the same amount of preservatives in it that the US food does.
And, the coffee and tea is fantastic. We use loose tea whenever we make a pot and it makes a world of difference in the flavor.
Any comments?

I have to admit that when I think of English Food, as much as I *love* that culture, I don't think of really exciting food. If anything, I think of comfort food, of things that are bland and yummy. Jams and biscuits and gravies and such.

It's sort of how I think of Irish food. Fish, chips, potatoes, the Irish bacon which became corned beef & cabbage in the states.

For the *cuisine* of the states, since we're a melting pot, our cuisine can be everything and anything. At one single restaurant you can get food in the style of Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Indian, Mexican, French, Russian, and more. All on one menu. So the variety is pretty endless and the flavor combinations and spices are just great. I love that variety.

As far as fresh goes, really, there is fresh food all over the states <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> In the northeast US, I get TONS of fresh fish, it's quite delicious. I can have fresh lobster, bass, shrimp, striper, clams. We have many farms in the area for beef, chicken, turkey. Right around my home are many farms that I can stop by for fresh corn, asparagus, beans, etc. So I really don't think you can say anywhere has "old" or "preservative only" food. Sure, you can buy it in the store if you want. But you'd have to have walked past quite a bit local food to get it ...

Lisa;

I was talking about the food in the grocery store. I know there's plenty of fresh food in the States - I used to live there. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Have you been here? I'm talking about first hand experience. I'm constantly amazed at the quality of food here and I'm trying to dispell the myth that English food is bland. It's anything but!
There are plenty of Mexican, Italian, Indian, Polish, Chinese, Cajun, Cambodian, and Hungarian restaurants here, and you can buy most of the ingredients for those types of food at the local grocery store to make it yourself.
And the fish is at most a day old and not frozen. Sure, there are plenty of fish and chip shops here, but there are fish markets all over seeing that this is an island.
We also get free range eggs which are out of this world. We get 2.5 dozen eggs for under $2.00.
The UK is just as much of a melting pot as the US is, and the types of food available reflect the different cultures who have adopted the UK as their home.
I wasn't slamming the US, just trying to bash the myth of bad food here in the UK. <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Well, but a grocery store in the states is just like a grocery store anywhere else in the world. You can go to the fruit/veggie section and get fresh fruits and veggies, or you can go to the frozen good section and get things full of preservatives <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> So no matter where you are, you can shop wisely or shop unwisely <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Yup, I've been to England once, and Ireland twice. In many ways as far as what you can buy to cook in England is much like New England. Lots of fish, lots of farms, so you can buy anything. So that's the same in both places.

But you were talking about the cuisine of *England*. I.e. what the natives *do* with that food. I'm sure you can go anywhere in the world and find a Chinese restaurant, or an Indian restaurant. But those are ethnic restaurants from those areas. We were talking about native English food. At least I thought that's what you were talking about <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> If you're just saying "what you can choose to eat while visiting England", heck you could eat McDonalds all week, or only eat Mexican food. But that wouldn't be an authentic native food choice. And your native foods, that were developed in England and for hundreds of years were the standard fare, have a style to them.

I guess my point on the US side is that there ISN'T a native food choice unless you go with American Indian food, which I dare you to find a restaurant for!! Instead, "American" food is really "melting pot from around the world" food. There's no such thing as an American restaurant (unless you want to count McDonalds). Instead, food in America is all based on where the immigrants came from. In Chinatown it's Chinese. In French New Orleans it's French. In Florida it's Cuban. In Texas it's Mexican. In New England it's probably closest to Irish/English. So I think that's why "US food" is neat - because it's not really US food. It's "everywhere food" <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

In my column I was talking about cuisine, but here I've been talking about the quality of the food - the basics.
Not only I, but my guests from the States, have commented positively about the food. Both the lack of preservatives in the food, and the taste of it, are remarkable. The carrots taste like the carrots we were used to when we were growing up, and the tomatoes taste like the tomatoes we remember.
As far as English cuisine is concerned, most folks don't count the traditional Sunday dinner as being English, but it is. A roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, and vegetables can be found in most restaurants across the world. Sandwiches are English, too.
We also have to take into consideration personal tastes regarding what people do with food. There are trailer park cooks all over the world!
<img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
There are American foods, dear Lisa. Just think of pizza. It's not Italian; it's American. An American GI, from either New York City or Chicago, convinced someone in Italy to make a pizza during WWII and it caught on.
Chop suey, the ubiquitous hamburger, and the traditional BBQ foods are all American. What we know now as Cajn food, is a far cry from what the Arcadians eat.
Come to think of it, I sure would enjoy a bit of Popeye's Fried Chicken with some dirty rice!
<img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

I love English breakfest -Eggs and Bacon- and earl grey tea. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

What I prefer from the European continent is beer (from Ziewietz to Grolsch and Carlsberg), Coffee and french/Belgian cuisine, because I grew up with that in Holland. But I have to say that English cuisine has got better. I love guinnes beer in Irish pubs thaugh.

I flew with British airways recnetly and their food was quite good!

Yes... yummy English breakfasts! A good old fashioned fry up! I also enjoy real Sunday lunches - complete with yorkshire puddings covered in gravy. Mmmm.

Thank goodness for the English store in Santa Monica and regular visits from my Mum. She arrives in 11 days for her Christmas visit... and she will be bringing Bisto gravy granules!

English food is [censored] - that's why we've adopted curry as our national dish....

LOL. Oh come on! It is curry with an English twist after all! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/images/graemlins/tongue2.gif" alt="" /> Oh Gosh, don't get me started about English food!!!

My Mum's English and I have been "several" times to England.
My husband complains on a pretty much regular basis on how horrid English food is. But, I don't listen to him anymore. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Hat's off to English food!! <img src="/images/graemlins/heart.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/kiss.gif" alt="" />

I have been to the US and as much as I love your food, spare ribs, hot chicken wings etc, you cannot beat a good english stew and dumplings, or a home made steak and kidney pie/pastie or fish and chips or shepherds pie etc,tec,etc.
By the way I had a great english breakfast this morning with a fried egg done the way only the english can do. LOL.
From Oakley

I think England had a reputation for rather bland food in the 60's & 70's with the meat and two veg brigade! Like the rest of the world, food has changed to include our cultural diversity.

You can't beat a good English breakfast especially if you have the choice between that and "continental" breakfasts, there is just no comparison.

I have just returned from Devon and they have the most wonderful fish straight from the sea! I had some great scallops!

Hmmm...this is an interesting topic that's been ignored for awhile, so I'm going to bump it.

English food - now, I have to say how impressed I was when I first came to England. I wasn't expecting much. But we lived in dorms for 6 weeks. We shared a kitchen. We had grocery shopping we had to do weekly. And I noticed that the food didn't have the shelf life that it did in the States. That's because it had no additives or preservatives. I felt healthier that summer than I ever had. I lost weight (could be walking up and down all those hills in Bath as well). I had my share of bad food too...really nasty and greasy fish and chips. But I loved the English breakfasts, the tea (I never liked tea before I came to England), the digestives, Thornton's chocolates. There's all kinds of things I found to love about England's food. Sticky toffee pudding. BEST. DESSERT. EVER. I ate well while I was there. And I enjoyed it, for the most part.

And Sally Lunn's...how did I ever live before tasting that?

English milk, w/out a doubt, is SO much better than the colored water we drink here in the US! It's milk like we used to have here when I was a little kid - you peel off the foil cap, & the cream has all risen to the top! MMMMMMM!!!!!

As for tea, I must have a supply of PG Tips at all times, to put in my Brown Betty. Fortunately, you can order so much in the US now.

Scones, jam, & clotted cream.....heaven on a plate.

And there's nothing here like a good ol' pub lunch, w/ a pint of Shandy or lager & lime.

I think of England as my 2nd home, & just talking about this, I'm getting homesick!

Now see, that's where you and I differ. I've never cared for clotted cream. The scones and jam are great though. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

If you like things a bit less runny, you could try the Double Devon. It's almost like butter, really.

I guess the closest thing we have here is "whole" milk. A little bit of cream rises to the top. But, first I had to get used to 2% (fat) then 1% because my doctor hounds me. I won't drink skim, though; I'd rather just give up milk altogether than drink that blue stuff! It's so nasty!



And I'm curious about what someone posted earlier about fried eggs. For those who have eaten them in both places, how are they prepared differently?

Thanks.

I rather eat chineese food. lol

Mmmm, fry up breakfast... :-D

I've tried Marmite and actually like it as an alternative to peanut butter on toast! The key is to spread it VERY thin.

<img src="/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> You admit to liking marmite? You sick twisted individual you! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

No, the secret is to spread it VERY VERY VERY thin.....!!

ya either love it or loathe it...One of the two....

Me....?
I'm somewhere in the Middle.....!! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I studied in Birmingham for a year, and when the group I was with was on the way back to the states, all we could talk about was what foods we were excited to eat. I do miss the snacks there though - cookies/biscuits, fish and chips for sure, and also the baguette shops with the jacket potatoes. Mmmmm....

Oh yes! I am enjoying some goodies right now that I hardly ever get the chance to have. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

At home I don't like fried eggs, but I love them in England! Complete with bacon, toast and baked beans! It's something about that particular combination...

Last trip over, a friend took us up to Whitby for the fish and chips! It was wonderful! My niece (who hates fish) even had fish and chips "for the experience!"

Ah...Whitby...

Ah...fish and chips...

*waves to a fellow Ohioan*

I adore English food - Scones, Pasties, Clotted Cream and the vast assortment of meat flavoured chips, er - excuse me - 'crisps' never ceases to amaze me.

The best restaurant food I ever ate in England was in a modest and unassuming pub right by Tower bridge. I've honestly never had a bad meal at a Pub. The Cafe at the Crypt was also quite tasty though, and there is a fantastic French restaurant somewhere by Covent Garden that was out of this world. Else, I did find English restaurant food a bit tasteless - but considering that a lot of American Restaurants are mediocre, it's really more a roll of the dice wherever in the world you be methinks.

(I am now so in the mood for Scones and Tea...)

Hello, fellow Ohioan!

All this talk of food makes me want to travel!! I need to stock up on Whittard's teas.

In general, I love Pub food. The best Pub meal I've had, by far, was a steak and guinness pie with mashed potatoes in Edinburgh. Oh, it was good. I was just lamenting to DH that there is no place here that serves an English breakfast. Or a good Ploughman's. I keep saying I need to open a restaurant just to get the food I want!

Whittard just had a big sale...they changed the packaging of their teas, so all the old packages were on sale for a quid for 50 tea bags. I snapped up a few.

By the way, where in Ohio are you from? I'm from Columbus. Actually going home next week for a visit.

Hmmm... DH's grandmother is there now; maybe I should have her pick up a few boxes of tea.

What a small world - I'm also in Columbus! Born and raised here, if you can believe that. I went to OU for English lit., and of course I travel whenever I get the slightest chance. DH's aunt (we are the same age) moved to UK for work in 2000 - so I have been several times to visit. She married a Brit and now has a new baby, so it looks as if she's staying! What a great bit of luck for us -- just have to pay airfare!

Hehehe...what a small world! I went to Ohio State for English Lit and started a masters degree in English Lit at Miami, before the opportunity to move to Germany presented itself. So yeah, it presents me with a few opportunities to go to England. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Well, and other places too.

But England is still my favorite.

Having spent one crazy week in Paris while in college, I pictured myself retiring on one of their quaint streets with open windows, red geraniums in the window box, curtains flying in the breeze, music spilling into the air...

that is, until I went to the Motherland. I feel so at peace in England, I can't even describe it. Particularly in the west country - I love Salisbury, Glastonbury, Avebury and that whole area. On my trip last July, I had the good fortune to travel through the moors of North Yorkshire while the heather was in bloom! We also saw fields of English lavender in their stunning purple glory. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. I couldn't get my camera out fast enough, but no photo would do it justice anyway.

It's amazing how much we have in common! I've seen you on the Married No Kids board as well, and I am childfree myself. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

The North Yorkshire moors are very pretty when the heather is blooming. Fields full of purple...lovely.

I thought I'd seen your name on that board! It really is a small world, even on the web!

My friend and I were in Scotland in Feb 04 and our tour guide pointed out the brown heather and commented that it's beautiful for about one month out of the year. I wasn't expecting to see any on my last trip either, but fate (aka my niece's class schedule) had us traveling in July - perfect timing!

I hadn't realised how much I missed 'real' English cooking here in Mali until I found some 'proper' beef for roasting the other week. (Mostly I buy slabs of beef - cut unknown - from the market)

I did a sunday lunch for us - roast beef, roast potatoes, fresh green beans and gravy. Quite a change after Malian sauce and rice.

I bring Earl Grey teabags with us, but, sigh, my tin is almost empty. I also brought a kilo of Marmite!

In Britain I hardly eat in restaurants at all - I don't count MacDonalds! Too expensive, and even pub lunches can tend to be pricey.

Home cooking for me tends to be plainish but tasty. Meat pies (the ubiquitous steak and kidney), roast meat, fish cooked in milk and butter, potatoes with practically every meal, lots of fresh vegetables, freshly made bread.

One change which I like is the organic section in supermarkets. This is a growing trend. Farmer's markets are also increasingly popular and sell a wide range of produce from meat to vegetables. All coming straight from the farms and locally produced. This is in contrast to the imported products in the supermarkets.

Here's a question. Any thoughts on where I can get a really cool French press? Mostly what I've found over here (US) is the Bodum plain-jane glass and stainless, which is fine. I guess I was looking for something with a more unique style to it.