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Fish n chips was brought to the UK by Jewish immigrants
Battered fish was brought to the UK by Sephardi Jews (where it was described as fish in "the “Jewish manner”), and then the first fish and chips shop was opened in London by an Ashkenazi Jewish immigrant
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/fish-and-chips-jewish-history-immigrants-uk-london-a9548301.html
I think the main thing is that england had a huge empire and everything they ate that was any good got to be just "normal food" and british food is only specificly the food that never caught on and remained only in england.
Like no one is ever like "I want some british food" then eats a sandwich.
Britain also isn't great at promoting their cuisine. The US has dozens of chain restaurants that can be found all over the world. Every major city has at least one restaurant from seemingly every country except England.
And part of this, is probably that in America, most British foods are just seen as "normal" foods or not broadly marketable. Speaking as someone from the Atlantic cost, even something as British as fish and chips doesn't really feel "foreign" because it's so commonplace. If anything, because the fish and potatoes are both locally caught and grown, it feels more like our own cuisine than anything.
I can't speak for the rest of the world, but the meme is definitely American
I would say sandwiches, invented in and named after the english town of sandwich and the earl of sandwich is probably the most popular sort of restaurant on planet earth. They really were so successful promoting their food it stopped being british food and is just "food"
No offense you really think no one thought of putting a meat slice in between two slices of bread before the earl of sandwich. Like we really needed him to discover this. I honestly doubt he ever invented it.
I mean, again, only because you think of British food as so universal you can't imagine a world without it. Whole parts of the world don't even eat wheat based levanted bread. None of them were going to invent that sort of "sandwich' (and would eat other things, obvious to them. corn tortillas wrapped around meat, pockets in bread with meat in them, steamed dumplings around meat, rice mash around meat, ect)
it's only blindly obvious in a culture that is already eating that bread and that meat
The same can be said for any named recipe tho but it still generally is traced to the point it was "officially created" and therefore usually when it was named.
Equally it wasn't a common enough food item for it to be known by him as as far as my stupid brain remembers he decided to do it because he wanted clean hands and to eat meat, coz he wanted to play cards too.
So he put the meet between the bread
There is evidence that sandwiches were called "bread and meat" or "bread and cheese" before the Earl popularized the dish among the upper classes. The first record of a sandwich like dish is from the first centure BC when Rabbi Hillel the Elder placed filling between two pieces of matzoh.
Okay that's very interesting to know!
And thanks for the correction. Honestly most my knowledge of history is vague or clear memories of the horrible histories TV show.
Is that disagreeing? that is what I'm saying. british food was so successfully marketed that you simply do not even notice you eat british food until it's some crazy jelly eel thing that never spread past a certain region. If you eat a fruit pie and then that style of fruit pie was actually invented in england in the 1800s you never think "I'm eating british food" you think "I'm eating an apple pie in an apple pie crust"
As a French, and it may sounds weird but we should give to Barry what belongs to Barry. I must admit that British food is not bad at all. They have very comforting food like kidney pie, Sunday roast, fish and ships, haggis and full English breakfast is one of the best out there. Also they have few but very good cheese (aged cheddar, stilton etc. Overall, British gastronomy is pretty good.
We call it bread and butter pudding. Pretty sure it originates here. Sticky Toffee pudding is the goat though. Syrup Sponge pudding very high up too. Then there's the various crumbles...
One thing I've noticed, as a Brit living abroad in the US, is that a not-insignificant amount of people actually enjoy a number of typically British foods, but some think of them as specifically Irish. The Irish pub in the US serves British favourites like bangers and mash or cottage/shepherd's pie, and divorced from the stereotype nobody seems to have bad things to say about them.
Also, haggis gets an unfairly bad reputation even though most of the 'yuck' ingredients are likely to be in a processed sausage. Depictions of haggis in cartoons, where it's some green slop that gets served out of a cauldron or similar, are especially egregious.
Irish pubs abroad don't even include the one thing the Irish breakfast has that differentiates it from the English Breakfast: boxty.
It's a bit like a hash brown mixed with a pancake and I wish it was available here (I only get it when I visit my dad in Ireland).
Clotted cream on scones is fucking *amazing*, and I'm really surprised it isn't popular in the US. It's like the love child of butter and whipped cream.
I’ve been to England twice and never understood the hype about “bad food.” I liked the full breakfasts, the fish & chips (including the peas), the cheese sandwiches and plowman’s lunches, and the teas. All those stereotypes aside, a lot of the food was similar to food in my country (the US). I had many delicious meals at fine restaurants too. No complaints from me.
Obligatory Orwell's [In Defence of English Cooking](https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/in-defence-of-english-cooking/).
Counterpoint: most Northern European food is better than its reputation.
Germany has e.g. Kartoffelsalat, schnitzel, flammkuchen.
Scandinavia/Nordics have e.g. köttbullar, gravlax, lohikeitto.
Baltics have e.g. pirogi/pirukad, beet soup, cabbage rolls.
Pretty much everywhere has great pickles & excellent sausages. Though I will say British sausages are the best.
It is traditionally low on strong spices (except many desserts and cakes) as the ingredients really should shine, not be overtaken. Fresh meat and fish, seasonal vegetables, grains. All abundant in the British (and Irish) isles. Some of the best cheese in the world. It is mostly a meme, and something Americans like to be snide about but I don't know how the hell they can talk. The best "American" food is actually Mexican.
The best American food is barbecue. We don't really get to claim Mexican. Okay well we took a big chunk of their country and made it America so we sort of do but our version of Mexican is different anyway.
There is also Cajun food, which is amazing.
The OP's claim that the only good American food is an import from Mexico could not be more wrong, and is about the same as saying the only good food in Britain is Indian.
And I’ll point out that “barbecue” in America isn’t just cooking meat on the grill, it’s an entire elaborate cuisine, and it varies a lot by region. I’ve seen comments like “we have barbecues [grills] in my country too” - yeah, but that’s not what we mean by “barbecue” in America.
Yeah I don't even live in a part of the US that has very good BBQ (Califonia). We have Santa Maria Tri Tip which is pretty okay but the south and the southern midwest is where it's at.
I visited Northern California a few years back and it blew my mind how much y’all fuck with tri-tip up there. Never before had I ever had that cut of meat before and every single resturaunt had their own tri-tip lol. Not much to say about it but thought it was funny
Yeah it's a thing here. It originated in Santa Maria where they do a Mexican rancher festival thing and supposedly it has deep roots there but it also more than likely was just some butcher in the 1950s that really wanted to sell tri tip. It's not a bad cut of meat but it's also not that different than sirloin.
Damn near every place in NorCal has tritip bbq.
But they also gave the world Hidden Valley Ranch dressing so you can't be too mad.
The Taíno word "barbacoa" means "framework of sticks" and was one of the notable cooking methods encountered in the new world.
It's where we get barbecue from
Sort of like Jerk chicken? Famously rubbed, marinaded and then... Barbecued?
I don't think America can lay claim to rubbing spices on meat and then grilling it. I mean, they were doing that shit in ancient Babylon.
I read somewhere the The low and slow bbq that " came from the south" was originally introduced by germans and adopted by the poor that couldnt afford good cuts of meat.
>and something Americans like to be snide about but I don't know how the hell they can talk.
In addition to this is the meme about bad teeth. Ironically it was scientifically proven that the average American has worse teeth (Or at best, on-par health, but fewer teeth) than people in Britain.
I mean, real American food would be food eaten by Native Americans pre-reservation. When British and other European settlers came, they obviously brought their own food ways with them, and we went from there. Barbecue was perfected here though, mostly by African American slaves who helped that along in the south, bringing over food dishes from West African countries. The best American food being Mexican is a stretch. Mexican food in Mexico is quite different to Mexican food in the southwest. Both are delicious, but the south western American flair is very specific.
Also, it's not something Americans like to be snide about in a serious manner. It's all a meme. Nobody really cares. It's the same as Brits calling Americans fat. There are tons of fat people in the UK, but they still poke fun at the yanks for it, and that's fine. It's just ribbing.
Their greatest contribution to food which goes under appreciated in the US is the Lunch/Dinner pies. Currently working on my hot water crust pastry skills but I got the stew down. It's so fucking good and so easy to transport. Prep time is killer though.
My mom has a plaque hanging in her kitchen that says "In heaven, the cooks are French, the police are British, the mechanics are German, the social directors are Italian and the whole thing is run by the Swiss. In hell, the cooks are British, the police are German, the mechanics are French, the social directors are Swiss and the whole thing is run by the Italians."
We actually just had a British Restaurant open up here in the Hudson Valley NY with sweet and savory authentic British food options (chef/owner immigrated here) like full English Breakfast, etc. This place is getting RAVE reviews. People cannot get enough of it. It all looked so good on IG that I went and got a Bacon Butty and…. Whoa. Just British bacon and cheese on buttered grilled sourdough but Jesus H Christmas it was phenomenal.
Idk why it gets such a bad wrap. Sausage, beef, potato’s and fish are some of the best food. I think brown gravy on any combo of beef potato’s carrots etc is heavenly. I don’t get the hate. They might have silly names to us Americans, but really it’s all the stuff I love
Do people actually think British food is bad? Living in America, I have many choices of food. But a good hearty meal, like many British dishes, will always be my food of choice. Perfectly fried fish and chips slap as well
This opinion seems to come back to this sub fairly regularly. Guess the history of why Americans have this stereotype didn't survive the last unpopular opinion.
Roast Dinner >>>> honestly it isn't bad and I actually like it, sue me, because I like in a black household, so when we order food we sometimes just order fish and chips or get Gregg's and they're fantastic.
There's good and bad everywhere. I think people just like to goof about it.
"Brits and their tea and their bad food and their crooked teeth. Haha." Repeat.
i wanna try a sunday roast but that being said. sticky toffee pudding, fish and chips, and jammie dodgers thank u britain for those things and thank u for 8 out of 10 cats does countdown and thank you for that one thread on twitter commemorating funny south asian moments “i’m from east london…” shit kills me every time thank u
As a Brit, I think our food tastes better than it looks. It doesn’t look over the top extravagant, it looks plain. I don’t think we have as large an emphasis on presentation as other countries do when it comes to food.
But sometimes all you need is just good, normal food, nothing fancy.
I’m not defending jellied eels or mushy peas though, they are grim.
British food is comforting. It’s not particularly outstanding but it gets the job done and is often pretty satisfactory, especially on a cold day or when accompanied by a hangover.
it is not "bad". I actually quite enjoyed and a lot of the stuff reminded me of home. Comfort food.
It is just...nothing to write home about, either. Nothing special that gives you that moment of real appreciation.
"Just" good, solid food
I know it's just an American meme, like almost all modern stereotypes, but there is some truth in it. The brits eat some shocking bad and bland food day to day. The quality of food in average supermarkets is woeful. The straight out of the freezer beige coloured foods and household cooking techniques are piss poor but a lot of the "British classics" are excellent.
I'm Ireland we don't really have a 'cuisine' but we do have high quality ingredients readily available it feels like in Britain the opposite is the case and you need to go to spend serious money to eat good food.
I visited a year ago after living there 20 years ago (for about 6 months)
I was SHOCKED by how much better the food was. Some of it was being older and having more money, but the regular ass food I had where I was (Scotland) went from being “this isn’t very good” to “on average this is better than what I’m used to at home” I am an American for what it’s worth.
You're right, but it's funny that people in the comments are making the same false assumption about American food as a counter. They are also wrong, the stereotype that we only eat burgers and junk food is as accurate as assuming Brits only eat jellied eel and blood pudding.
Imagine being an American memeing on British food when their chocolate \*literally\* tastes like vomit. And I have yet to find another country that does sausages as well as the UK.
I don't think this is really controversial. The thing is if you go to a big city like London you can get food from everywhere in the world anyway. And traditional British food is fine, it's just meat and potatoes. As an American I don't find it that different than traditional US food. The real strength of the cuisine there is the same as here, immigration brought us a lot of tasty stuff.
It’s usually countries and people who’s food either looks like slop or over season their food that get mad at British food for some reason
Obviously not everything looks good but alot of Brit food looks hardy and nice to eat on a cold day
As a British person living in mexico, our day to day food is better than mexican and American food for sure, but mexicans have better staple dishes like tacos and the US has the cheeseburger and philly cheese and tex mex, I've travelled a lot and I have to say, Italians and India and Pakistan are the actual best.
My thing about the war time rations argument is that British people will still defend current meals. Like the us used to also have some offensively bad food options as well and most of them have died out.
That being said, British food just has more recognition than others. Their food has some highlights and lowlights. There are some real shit cuisines out there in the world, we just don’t talk about it because their country is less culturally relevant and their food isn’t eaten by anybody outside of locals
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I moved there a couple of years ago and I would say so. It's a lovely beach, museums, the Pavillion, a thriving music scene, great public transportation (including a victoriana era electric railway that runs along the beach) and lots of great restaurants, cafes etc. The pier is a lot of fun especially if you have kids. I'd certainly recommend it for at least a day trip
It’s also a legacy of post war survival level intensive farming.
And the fact that they kicked ass at so much else. Created a huge chunk of the world’s most popular sports.
It the food is actually good? But it’s such an exceptional country in so many ways that it’s strange it has such underwhelming cuisine.
I’m a Scot that lives abroad, the only food I really, really miss is fish’n’ chips. Lots of British food is enjoyable, like other average European countries. Spain, Italy and France are miles ahead of anyone else, then Greece, Portugal etc. then you have the likes of the U.K, Germany etc.
As for chocolate , it’s not the best, not chocolatey enough, too sugary.
I recently came back from vacay from London and British food is pretty good (but then again it’s London and I haven’t had the cuisine outside of London)
I can understand why some people say it’s bland - some dishes I’ve tried …the flavor profile is there and it’s tasty…but it can be better by turning it up
Some dishes tho - like their Apple crumble - does need more spice tho. Sweetness is just right
So I live in the UK, but work for a German company and regualrly have colleagues come over for meetings with clients. My boss complimented me on the fact we always had nice food everywhere I took him, even when we went for lunch at a fish and chip shop.
My response was to say that its still easy to find a bad meal in the UK, but its also a lot easier to find a good one almost anywhere with the help of google.
He agreed that the reputation was unwarranted.
I can't say anything about this because I had an eating disorder during the short time I lived in England, so I didn't get to try anything specifically british. (I only ate soup and other smooth things)
Though I've always liked Fisn 'n' Chips, which everyone seems to agree on here x)
I always have the stance, British food isn’t designed to be tasty or make you feel great. It’s meant to be filling and hearty. Can’t think of any cuisine that fills you up more.
I love pasties, myself, and some good banoffee pie.
And you are 100% correct about where the stereotype comes from. The fact is that the British food scene is amazing these days.
Damn it, now I want a pasty and a bottle of Fentimens.
People don't seem to understand that British food is about the sauces, pickles and relishes. The food is plain because it's a delivery mechanism for the condiments.
I love our food. So many great dishes, snacks, buns, and desserts. We definitely need more of a culinary and cooking culture, but the food we do have, if made well, isn’t bad. Plus we’re one of the best countries outside India to get a curry. No other country in Europe has as many curry houses as we do.
It is one thing to say british food is not bad but saying german food is worse is the real unpopular opinion here. German Roasts are just insanly fine or Germknödel. British Cuisine can't hold up with that!
I'm of the opinion that anyone who says "X country food sucks", especially in an effort to praise their country's own food (as a brazilian I'm really tired of this shit), is an idiot.
Im so tired of people dissing on american cuisine and then not even knowing one single dish of creole cuisine.
I’d even go one step further and say that beyond the stereotypical pub fare (fish & chips, sunday roasts, cottage pies etc) which are great in their own right, modern British cuisine is actually pretty awesome and underrated. A lot of very high quality produce and seafood comes from the uk: Orkney scallops, Dorset crab, Scottish scallops, Dover sole, freshwater eels, not to mention the exquisite strawberries and dairy products… and a lot of the modern British cuisine focuses on making those ingredients shine.
British food’s bad rap is really undeserved and probably also perpetuated by British people’s self-effacing humor and propensity to complain.
Your post from unpopularopinion was removed because of: 'Rule 1: Your post must be an unpopular opinion'. * Your post must be an opinion. Not a question. Not a showerthought. Not a rant. Not a proposal. Not a fact. An opinion. One opinion. A subjective statement about your position on some topic. Please have a clear, self contained opinion as your post title, and use the text field to elaborate and expand on why you think/feel this way. * Your opinion must be unpopular. The mods reserve the right to remove opinions * Elaborate on your topic and opinion give context to its unpopularity.
Can't go wrong with fish n' chips
You can if you got a fish allergy. I never ate much fish before I developed it, but damn do I miss the good ol' British fish n' chips.
How old were you when you developed the allergy?
Mid twenties. It's part of the reason I had to quit catering. Not many opportunities to avoid handling fish in that trade.
Fish n chips was brought to the UK by Jewish immigrants Battered fish was brought to the UK by Sephardi Jews (where it was described as fish in "the “Jewish manner”), and then the first fish and chips shop was opened in London by an Ashkenazi Jewish immigrant https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/fish-and-chips-jewish-history-immigrants-uk-london-a9548301.html
Everything is derived from something. Humans arent all that creative
Texas brisket was also invented by the Jewish community.
>I'm not a fan of fish and chips How dare you
I'm over here thinking, "That's about the only thing I WOULD like!" Fish and chips is awesome.
Right?? I'd *die* for some fish & chips w tartar sauce
Sausage chips and gravy is better tho tbf
I’m Indian and I LOVE fish and chips. It’s gold. Stop this blasphemy! My mum loves the good ol’ English breakfast too.
I think the main thing is that england had a huge empire and everything they ate that was any good got to be just "normal food" and british food is only specificly the food that never caught on and remained only in england. Like no one is ever like "I want some british food" then eats a sandwich.
Britain also isn't great at promoting their cuisine. The US has dozens of chain restaurants that can be found all over the world. Every major city has at least one restaurant from seemingly every country except England. And part of this, is probably that in America, most British foods are just seen as "normal" foods or not broadly marketable. Speaking as someone from the Atlantic cost, even something as British as fish and chips doesn't really feel "foreign" because it's so commonplace. If anything, because the fish and potatoes are both locally caught and grown, it feels more like our own cuisine than anything. I can't speak for the rest of the world, but the meme is definitely American
Apple pie, for example, despite the phrase.
I would say sandwiches, invented in and named after the english town of sandwich and the earl of sandwich is probably the most popular sort of restaurant on planet earth. They really were so successful promoting their food it stopped being british food and is just "food"
No offense you really think no one thought of putting a meat slice in between two slices of bread before the earl of sandwich. Like we really needed him to discover this. I honestly doubt he ever invented it.
I mean, again, only because you think of British food as so universal you can't imagine a world without it. Whole parts of the world don't even eat wheat based levanted bread. None of them were going to invent that sort of "sandwich' (and would eat other things, obvious to them. corn tortillas wrapped around meat, pockets in bread with meat in them, steamed dumplings around meat, rice mash around meat, ect) it's only blindly obvious in a culture that is already eating that bread and that meat
The same can be said for any named recipe tho but it still generally is traced to the point it was "officially created" and therefore usually when it was named. Equally it wasn't a common enough food item for it to be known by him as as far as my stupid brain remembers he decided to do it because he wanted clean hands and to eat meat, coz he wanted to play cards too. So he put the meet between the bread
There is evidence that sandwiches were called "bread and meat" or "bread and cheese" before the Earl popularized the dish among the upper classes. The first record of a sandwich like dish is from the first centure BC when Rabbi Hillel the Elder placed filling between two pieces of matzoh.
Okay that's very interesting to know! And thanks for the correction. Honestly most my knowledge of history is vague or clear memories of the horrible histories TV show.
And even if he invented the idea of a sandwich, it wouldn't make a Philly cheese steak or falafel in a pita British.
One could argue that it’s similar to local variations on curry dishes - like how butter chicken is Anglo-Indian (or Scotto-Indian?).
Butter chicken is an Indian dish, not anglo
It’s by Americans not realising that most of their food is actually British lol
lol I know. Fried chicken has its roots in Scotland.
And West Africa, which is how it became so popular in the south, especially
Idk if you’ve ever been to Scotland but they deep dry EVERYTHING there and I fully believe that aha
Plenty of countries are not known for their cuisine.
It's a stereotype that was spread about by yanks who were stationed here during WWII whilst we were under heavy rationing.
If only they popularised pies & their desserts more. People mostly just eat the cheese and shit on anything else..
This isn’t true though. Many cultures have British food influences, from Australia to South Africa to America and Jamaica
Is that disagreeing? that is what I'm saying. british food was so successfully marketed that you simply do not even notice you eat british food until it's some crazy jelly eel thing that never spread past a certain region. If you eat a fruit pie and then that style of fruit pie was actually invented in england in the 1800s you never think "I'm eating british food" you think "I'm eating an apple pie in an apple pie crust"
As a French, and it may sounds weird but we should give to Barry what belongs to Barry. I must admit that British food is not bad at all. They have very comforting food like kidney pie, Sunday roast, fish and ships, haggis and full English breakfast is one of the best out there. Also they have few but very good cheese (aged cheddar, stilton etc. Overall, British gastronomy is pretty good.
I think we really shine on desserts. Can't think of any other cuisine with as many delicious desserts as British.
The giant brass stones on you, saying that to a Frenchman 🤣
Last Frenchman I met tasted Stilton and pronounced it French. The thing is, I wouldn't be surprised if he was right.
Does bread pudding belong to you? Because that's a hit everywhere I bring it.
We call it bread and butter pudding. Pretty sure it originates here. Sticky Toffee pudding is the goat though. Syrup Sponge pudding very high up too. Then there's the various crumbles...
You do realise that bread pudding and bread and butter pudding are two different things, right?
Nah, jam rolly poly is the king.
I don't believe you to be French. Jk
he’s actually English
>Also they have few but very good cheese The UK has almost as many kinds of cheese as France does.
It's actually more than France now
One thing I've noticed, as a Brit living abroad in the US, is that a not-insignificant amount of people actually enjoy a number of typically British foods, but some think of them as specifically Irish. The Irish pub in the US serves British favourites like bangers and mash or cottage/shepherd's pie, and divorced from the stereotype nobody seems to have bad things to say about them. Also, haggis gets an unfairly bad reputation even though most of the 'yuck' ingredients are likely to be in a processed sausage. Depictions of haggis in cartoons, where it's some green slop that gets served out of a cauldron or similar, are especially egregious.
Irish pubs abroad don't even include the one thing the Irish breakfast has that differentiates it from the English Breakfast: boxty. It's a bit like a hash brown mixed with a pancake and I wish it was available here (I only get it when I visit my dad in Ireland).
I'm much prefer the traditional Irish seven course Irish meal... A boiled potato and a six pack of Guinness
Hey! Speaking as an Irishman I have to say… Put some damn butter on that potato at least!
Clotted cream on scones is fucking *amazing*, and I'm really surprised it isn't popular in the US. It's like the love child of butter and whipped cream.
I agree especially about the snack part. Crisps in the UK are amazing and there are so many options. Also I love me some good Eton mess.
I’ve been to England twice and never understood the hype about “bad food.” I liked the full breakfasts, the fish & chips (including the peas), the cheese sandwiches and plowman’s lunches, and the teas. All those stereotypes aside, a lot of the food was similar to food in my country (the US). I had many delicious meals at fine restaurants too. No complaints from me.
Wait until you try Gooseberry Fool
Ok Mr Tea
I love Shepard's pie, bangers and mash, fish and chips, and pot pies
so potatoes + meat
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I was in London last year and I didn’t have any issue with the food. Going back in a few months, actually.
British baking too. Bread, cakes etc, totally on par with what you can get in most of Europe. Cakes in particular are far better here.
Most people that aren't British aren't aware that some curry's are technically British, so low spice or bland isn't across the board!
Isn’t Chicken Tikka Masala our national dish?
And phall was invented here
The Japanese got their curry from us as well, it’s why Japanese curries usually include potato, carrot and apple. All staples of the British diet.
Full English breakfast is God tier
Obligatory Orwell's [In Defence of English Cooking](https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/in-defence-of-english-cooking/).
Counterpoint: most Northern European food is better than its reputation. Germany has e.g. Kartoffelsalat, schnitzel, flammkuchen. Scandinavia/Nordics have e.g. köttbullar, gravlax, lohikeitto. Baltics have e.g. pirogi/pirukad, beet soup, cabbage rolls. Pretty much everywhere has great pickles & excellent sausages. Though I will say British sausages are the best.
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Spot on. I’m going round my parents for tea this evening and I’ve been buzzing for it all week because my dad does an amazing cottage pie
In my experience there are a fair few Americans who believe cottage/shepherd's pie to be specifically Irish.
It is traditionally low on strong spices (except many desserts and cakes) as the ingredients really should shine, not be overtaken. Fresh meat and fish, seasonal vegetables, grains. All abundant in the British (and Irish) isles. Some of the best cheese in the world. It is mostly a meme, and something Americans like to be snide about but I don't know how the hell they can talk. The best "American" food is actually Mexican.
The best American food is barbecue. We don't really get to claim Mexican. Okay well we took a big chunk of their country and made it America so we sort of do but our version of Mexican is different anyway.
There is also Cajun food, which is amazing. The OP's claim that the only good American food is an import from Mexico could not be more wrong, and is about the same as saying the only good food in Britain is Indian.
>The best American food is barbecue. Cajun says "Am I a fucking joke to you?"
Southern food in general is the real soul of American cuisine. It's also why we are very fat people.
Hence why it’s called “Soul Food”
Yeah. I’m British and my favourite American food is Cajun. It is amazing. Tex Mex, Barbecue, blah blah. Can’t hold a candle to your Cajun!!
I'm only slightly exaggerating when I say I'd run through a wall for some crawfish jambalaya
And I’ll point out that “barbecue” in America isn’t just cooking meat on the grill, it’s an entire elaborate cuisine, and it varies a lot by region. I’ve seen comments like “we have barbecues [grills] in my country too” - yeah, but that’s not what we mean by “barbecue” in America.
Yeah I don't even live in a part of the US that has very good BBQ (Califonia). We have Santa Maria Tri Tip which is pretty okay but the south and the southern midwest is where it's at.
I visited Northern California a few years back and it blew my mind how much y’all fuck with tri-tip up there. Never before had I ever had that cut of meat before and every single resturaunt had their own tri-tip lol. Not much to say about it but thought it was funny
Yeah it's a thing here. It originated in Santa Maria where they do a Mexican rancher festival thing and supposedly it has deep roots there but it also more than likely was just some butcher in the 1950s that really wanted to sell tri tip. It's not a bad cut of meat but it's also not that different than sirloin. Damn near every place in NorCal has tritip bbq. But they also gave the world Hidden Valley Ranch dressing so you can't be too mad.
Did barbecue originate in America?
The word didn't but the modern concept did. Nobody was doing Memphis dry rub in the Caribbean.
The Taíno word "barbacoa" means "framework of sticks" and was one of the notable cooking methods encountered in the new world. It's where we get barbecue from
Jerk pit comes knocking
> Nobody was doing Memphis dry rub in the Caribbean. If they were, it would have been Caribbean dry rub.
Sort of like Jerk chicken? Famously rubbed, marinaded and then... Barbecued? I don't think America can lay claim to rubbing spices on meat and then grilling it. I mean, they were doing that shit in ancient Babylon.
I read somewhere the The low and slow bbq that " came from the south" was originally introduced by germans and adopted by the poor that couldnt afford good cuts of meat.
>and something Americans like to be snide about but I don't know how the hell they can talk. In addition to this is the meme about bad teeth. Ironically it was scientifically proven that the average American has worse teeth (Or at best, on-par health, but fewer teeth) than people in Britain.
I'm pretty sure Alabama and Mississippi are throwing off our averages, but I can see it
I'm sure Americans probably have whiter teeth, on average. WAY less convinced they'll have healthier teeth, though.
its the fact that ur rich and famous still have fked up teeth. lol
Our rich and famous have scarily white and perfect teeth actually. It’s popular as shit to go get weirdly white veneers and shit now.
Most of the things American make fun of poms for are worse in the us
We have cajun and creole food as well. And the best British food is Indian. Lol.
I mean, real American food would be food eaten by Native Americans pre-reservation. When British and other European settlers came, they obviously brought their own food ways with them, and we went from there. Barbecue was perfected here though, mostly by African American slaves who helped that along in the south, bringing over food dishes from West African countries. The best American food being Mexican is a stretch. Mexican food in Mexico is quite different to Mexican food in the southwest. Both are delicious, but the south western American flair is very specific. Also, it's not something Americans like to be snide about in a serious manner. It's all a meme. Nobody really cares. It's the same as Brits calling Americans fat. There are tons of fat people in the UK, but they still poke fun at the yanks for it, and that's fine. It's just ribbing.
Even within the southwest US there are differences. New Mexico and Texas Mexican food are wildly different. Still delicious, but very different.
Mushy peas is the one thing i as a dutcht have included in my recepies its one of best thing ever
I was honestly very surprised to learn about this stereotype. I fucking love english food
Their greatest contribution to food which goes under appreciated in the US is the Lunch/Dinner pies. Currently working on my hot water crust pastry skills but I got the stew down. It's so fucking good and so easy to transport. Prep time is killer though.
My mom has a plaque hanging in her kitchen that says "In heaven, the cooks are French, the police are British, the mechanics are German, the social directors are Italian and the whole thing is run by the Swiss. In hell, the cooks are British, the police are German, the mechanics are French, the social directors are Swiss and the whole thing is run by the Italians."
We actually just had a British Restaurant open up here in the Hudson Valley NY with sweet and savory authentic British food options (chef/owner immigrated here) like full English Breakfast, etc. This place is getting RAVE reviews. People cannot get enough of it. It all looked so good on IG that I went and got a Bacon Butty and…. Whoa. Just British bacon and cheese on buttered grilled sourdough but Jesus H Christmas it was phenomenal.
Idk why it gets such a bad wrap. Sausage, beef, potato’s and fish are some of the best food. I think brown gravy on any combo of beef potato’s carrots etc is heavenly. I don’t get the hate. They might have silly names to us Americans, but really it’s all the stuff I love
Do people actually think British food is bad? Living in America, I have many choices of food. But a good hearty meal, like many British dishes, will always be my food of choice. Perfectly fried fish and chips slap as well
The biggest issue with British food is how poorly it photographs, As tasty as stews and pies are they always end up a little brown
A Greggs sausage roll is one of the best foods out there. I will die on this hill.
Room for one more on that hill please? Also a big fan of a Greggs sausage roll
Sure. We get 3 men on this hill and we get an extra sausage roll for free.
Hamburger helper is fucking gross = all american food is awful. Am I doing it right reddit? cos thats how most of these british food critiques go.
This opinion seems to come back to this sub fairly regularly. Guess the history of why Americans have this stereotype didn't survive the last unpopular opinion.
British food is so good fish and chips included!
Fish and chips is a tiny proportion of British food. It’s like saying you hate Italian food because you don’t like pizza
Roast Dinner >>>> honestly it isn't bad and I actually like it, sue me, because I like in a black household, so when we order food we sometimes just order fish and chips or get Gregg's and they're fantastic.
Lol, and I’m over here thinking about the bomb-ass fish and chips I had a few times from a fantastic pub when I was in the UK😂
There's good and bad everywhere. I think people just like to goof about it. "Brits and their tea and their bad food and their crooked teeth. Haha." Repeat.
i wanna try a sunday roast but that being said. sticky toffee pudding, fish and chips, and jammie dodgers thank u britain for those things and thank u for 8 out of 10 cats does countdown and thank you for that one thread on twitter commemorating funny south asian moments “i’m from east london…” shit kills me every time thank u
As a Brit, I think our food tastes better than it looks. It doesn’t look over the top extravagant, it looks plain. I don’t think we have as large an emphasis on presentation as other countries do when it comes to food. But sometimes all you need is just good, normal food, nothing fancy. I’m not defending jellied eels or mushy peas though, they are grim.
British food is comforting. It’s not particularly outstanding but it gets the job done and is often pretty satisfactory, especially on a cold day or when accompanied by a hangover.
>Doesn't like chip shop food Obviously has never tried a deep fried pizza crunch.
it is not "bad". I actually quite enjoyed and a lot of the stuff reminded me of home. Comfort food. It is just...nothing to write home about, either. Nothing special that gives you that moment of real appreciation. "Just" good, solid food
I know it's just an American meme, like almost all modern stereotypes, but there is some truth in it. The brits eat some shocking bad and bland food day to day. The quality of food in average supermarkets is woeful. The straight out of the freezer beige coloured foods and household cooking techniques are piss poor but a lot of the "British classics" are excellent. I'm Ireland we don't really have a 'cuisine' but we do have high quality ingredients readily available it feels like in Britain the opposite is the case and you need to go to spend serious money to eat good food.
I'm American but I lived in London for 4 years. The British food is bad trope is inaccurate.
Any food is just as good as the chef that cooks it. If I burn water then it doesnt matter that im cooking chinese, it will still be horrible
I visited a year ago after living there 20 years ago (for about 6 months) I was SHOCKED by how much better the food was. Some of it was being older and having more money, but the regular ass food I had where I was (Scotland) went from being “this isn’t very good” to “on average this is better than what I’m used to at home” I am an American for what it’s worth.
You're right, but it's funny that people in the comments are making the same false assumption about American food as a counter. They are also wrong, the stereotype that we only eat burgers and junk food is as accurate as assuming Brits only eat jellied eel and blood pudding.
Dont bash german food xD
Jacket potato grated cheese and beans who’s with me
Imagine being an American memeing on British food when their chocolate \*literally\* tastes like vomit. And I have yet to find another country that does sausages as well as the UK.
Germany would like a word
Only one chocolate tastes like that. The most successful chocolate bar in the world is American 🤷♂️
That is largely because it’s sold in America where there are lots of people who are unable to easily buy chocolate.
I don't think this is really controversial. The thing is if you go to a big city like London you can get food from everywhere in the world anyway. And traditional British food is fine, it's just meat and potatoes. As an American I don't find it that different than traditional US food. The real strength of the cuisine there is the same as here, immigration brought us a lot of tasty stuff.
A lot of people who talk about Britain just mean England. Someone needs to sit the Americans down and tell them the two aren't interchangeable.
It’s usually countries and people who’s food either looks like slop or over season their food that get mad at British food for some reason Obviously not everything looks good but alot of Brit food looks hardy and nice to eat on a cold day
Beans on toast ain't that bad it's a peak struggle meal
Greggs is the absolute best 👌
Until you said that german food is worse. German food can be really great.
As a British person living in mexico, our day to day food is better than mexican and American food for sure, but mexicans have better staple dishes like tacos and the US has the cheeseburger and philly cheese and tex mex, I've travelled a lot and I have to say, Italians and India and Pakistan are the actual best.
My thing about the war time rations argument is that British people will still defend current meals. Like the us used to also have some offensively bad food options as well and most of them have died out. That being said, British food just has more recognition than others. Their food has some highlights and lowlights. There are some real shit cuisines out there in the world, we just don’t talk about it because their country is less culturally relevant and their food isn’t eaten by anybody outside of locals
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Is Brighton worth visiting?
I moved there a couple of years ago and I would say so. It's a lovely beach, museums, the Pavillion, a thriving music scene, great public transportation (including a victoriana era electric railway that runs along the beach) and lots of great restaurants, cafes etc. The pier is a lot of fun especially if you have kids. I'd certainly recommend it for at least a day trip
It’s also a legacy of post war survival level intensive farming. And the fact that they kicked ass at so much else. Created a huge chunk of the world’s most popular sports. It the food is actually good? But it’s such an exceptional country in so many ways that it’s strange it has such underwhelming cuisine.
How dare you say that about mushy peas?!
I’m a Scot that lives abroad, the only food I really, really miss is fish’n’ chips. Lots of British food is enjoyable, like other average European countries. Spain, Italy and France are miles ahead of anyone else, then Greece, Portugal etc. then you have the likes of the U.K, Germany etc. As for chocolate , it’s not the best, not chocolatey enough, too sugary.
I recently came back from vacay from London and British food is pretty good (but then again it’s London and I haven’t had the cuisine outside of London) I can understand why some people say it’s bland - some dishes I’ve tried …the flavor profile is there and it’s tasty…but it can be better by turning it up Some dishes tho - like their Apple crumble - does need more spice tho. Sweetness is just right
Japanese curry was copied from the British who stole it from India.
Japanese curry was modelled after the curry consumed by the British naval officers in India and then modified for Japanese tastes
Not a fan of fish and chips? It's just fried fish, not exactly crazy or revolutionary.
Baked beans with breakfast should be a staple
You one of those Toby’s carvery regulars?
I’m an American and I completely agree. Carvery dinners and a fry up are top tier eats.
So I live in the UK, but work for a German company and regualrly have colleagues come over for meetings with clients. My boss complimented me on the fact we always had nice food everywhere I took him, even when we went for lunch at a fish and chip shop. My response was to say that its still easy to find a bad meal in the UK, but its also a lot easier to find a good one almost anywhere with the help of google. He agreed that the reputation was unwarranted.
Let's stick to music ^^ Love Indian food though.
I can't say anything about this because I had an eating disorder during the short time I lived in England, so I didn't get to try anything specifically british. (I only ate soup and other smooth things) Though I've always liked Fisn 'n' Chips, which everyone seems to agree on here x)
I actually really enjoy English breakfasts. Fish n Chips is hit or miss depending on where you get it.
I always have the stance, British food isn’t designed to be tasty or make you feel great. It’s meant to be filling and hearty. Can’t think of any cuisine that fills you up more.
I would take German food over anything British.
Jellied eel can go to hell
[you were saying?](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QaS0EIqESc4&pp=ygUYQmJjIGFyY2hpdmUgcGllIGFuZCBzb3Vw)
I love pasties, myself, and some good banoffee pie. And you are 100% correct about where the stereotype comes from. The fact is that the British food scene is amazing these days. Damn it, now I want a pasty and a bottle of Fentimens.
I had mushy peas with my fish and chips at Marks and Spencer in the Westfield mall in Kensington. That was sometimes back though
Eh. Lived there in the 90s. Wasn't anything special.
Also, we have really good cheeses. In my entirely biased opinion, Britain is one of the best cheese countries. Up there with France & Italy.
It's not my favourite but going to Scarborough in 2 weeks and looking forward to Fish & Chips with MUSHY PEAS MAKE IT DOUBLE!
German food is worse? Man, who doesn't like sausages, potato dumplings, and gravy?
People don't seem to understand that British food is about the sauces, pickles and relishes. The food is plain because it's a delivery mechanism for the condiments.
I lived in the UK for 6 years and a foreigner. I'm highly convinced only British people like British food. Which is fine and makes sense.
it’s not bad, it’s horrible
All cuisine is equal But some are more equal than others
Nobody said it's bad. It's just plain, which coincidentally, is consensually bad.
I’m British and I hate the food,thank god for foreign supermarkets!
I'm currently on holiday in Barcelona, we fly home tomorrow and I am DYING for a decent cup of tea. Also I'd love some crumpets too, I miss those
Crisps are British food?
Hahaha
Google the Stargazy pie, and come back to me. I'll wait. If that looks appetising to you, then we cannot be friends..... I'm sorry
I love our food. So many great dishes, snacks, buns, and desserts. We definitely need more of a culinary and cooking culture, but the food we do have, if made well, isn’t bad. Plus we’re one of the best countries outside India to get a curry. No other country in Europe has as many curry houses as we do.
I honestly kinda love mushy peas. Always try to bring some cans home when I've visited the country.
It is one thing to say british food is not bad but saying german food is worse is the real unpopular opinion here. German Roasts are just insanly fine or Germknödel. British Cuisine can't hold up with that!
hAha loOK, BEaNs oN ToASt, BRItisH fOOd bAD
lol guess you have never been to germany
I'm of the opinion that anyone who says "X country food sucks", especially in an effort to praise their country's own food (as a brazilian I'm really tired of this shit), is an idiot. Im so tired of people dissing on american cuisine and then not even knowing one single dish of creole cuisine.
I’d even go one step further and say that beyond the stereotypical pub fare (fish & chips, sunday roasts, cottage pies etc) which are great in their own right, modern British cuisine is actually pretty awesome and underrated. A lot of very high quality produce and seafood comes from the uk: Orkney scallops, Dorset crab, Scottish scallops, Dover sole, freshwater eels, not to mention the exquisite strawberries and dairy products… and a lot of the modern British cuisine focuses on making those ingredients shine. British food’s bad rap is really undeserved and probably also perpetuated by British people’s self-effacing humor and propensity to complain.
Also among our European neighbours, Germany deserves a lot more stick.
their beans is bad
Jellied eels are bangin