British Food In The Countryside

Fish and Chips - Photo: Pixabay

There is a lot of misunderstanding on the surface about the subject of British cuisine. This is mainly because British cuisine varies widely, depending on what part of the country you're visiting. The cuisine of London, for example, is far different from the cuisine of Yorkshire, or the cuisine of tiny, unfamiliar regions scattered across the country and virtually unknown to Americans. In my opinion, the true cuisine of the British is not what is found in the big cities, but the unknown treasures of the table that are hiding in the farmlands and countrysides and old villages across Great Britain.

If you are ever wandering the British countryside, and you stop at a local pub or restaurant for breakfast, prepare yourself. The classic British breakfast is a large meal, bigger than what we're used to as Americans, and most of it tends to be fried. Fried bacon and eggs, fried bread, and fried tomatoes are standards. The true British country experience involves a breakfast heavier than your knapsack.

Asking for coffee with your breakfast in the UK is just no fun. Give the tea sensation a try. British cuisine leans heavily on tea, served with milk and sugar, the latter of which is usually coarse, brown, and unrefined. Tea is served for any meal and any time in between. It's just as classically British as it sounds.

Any typical British meal, whether it's breakfast, lunch or dinner, tends to consist of some form of potatoes. Especially in the countryside, the British rely heavily on potatoes and serve them in very traditional manners. A wonderful British treat is something called a pasty. Meat, potatoes, vegetables and warm gravy are wrapped in a flaky bakery crust and sold ready to eat. Pasties are treated like take-out sandwiches or fast food, walking down the street with a paper cone or napkin wrapped around them. They keep your hands warm too!

The other major staple of typical British food is, of course, fish and chips. Fish and chip shops abound in all cities in England. British fish and chips are amazingly crackly, cooked until the coating is rich brown and salty, and the meat inside tenders white and flaky. Chips, or potato wedges, are served hot and crispy on the side, and generally, the whole thing is smothered in as much vinegar and salt as the consumer can stand. There is something distinctly British about that malt vinegar- left on the tables at restaurants like American ketchup.

The smells and flavors of traditional British cuisine are well worth experiencing. If you find yourself in England, take time out to explore the sites, the back pathways and rolling fields. And stop at a bakery for a pasty, stop for fish and chips. Order tea instead of your usual coffee. The British experience just isn't the same if you miss out on this marvelous tradition- authentic British food!

Author: John Sanderson

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BRITISH CUISINE

British cuisine has always suffered from bad press. The simple homespun fare and plain preparation of most traditional British foods pales when compared to French haute cuisine, and it’s not uncommon for food critics to sound almost apologetic when writing about traditional British dishes as if there were something shameful in enjoying a good, thick joint of beef with an accompaniment of Yorkshire pudding. If they speak in glowing terms of anything at all, it is a nod to the clever naming of British foods, where dishes like bubble and squeak and spotted dick appear on restaurant menus.

A traditional Sunday roast: roast beef, vegetables, mashed potatos, Yorkshire pudding and gravy.
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

And yet, for all the snickering and apologetic references, British cuisine at its best is hearty, delicious, simple fare on which to fuel the nation that influenced the entire world. There is no other nation in the world that does a roast of beef to such perfection, nor any better accompaniment to the succulent meat than a puffed, piping hot Yorkshire pudding prepared in its drippings, and few cuisines have a dessert that can compare with the pure heaven that is a well made trifle or treacle tart.

British cuisine is a blending of the practical with the nutritious. If it is, as some say, unimaginative, that may be because the food itself needs little imagination to fancy it up and make it palatable. It is certainly not because the British mind lacks imagination when it comes to food – the common names for everyday meals sometimes require a translator just so you’ll know what’s on your plate. A walk through a restaurant take-away menu offers such dishes as ‘mushy peas’, steak and kidney pie, fish and chips and bangers and mash.

There are well-known British dishes for eating at each meal. Some of the most popular include:

Breakfast:

A full English country breakfast includes meat, eggs, pancakes or toast and side dishes like hash and bangers and mash. It’s hearty fare, the sort that is set on the table for dinner in most other cultures. It often includes leftovers from last night’s dinner, diced and fried together with seasonings and butter, sometimes called country hash.

Tea:

The tradition of mid-afternoon tea is one that’s been observed by the British for centuries. Among the most common dishes served at mid-afternoon tea are finger-foods like crumpets with jam and clotted cream, dainty watercress sandwiches and scones with raisins or dried fruits.

Sunday Dinner:

The Sunday dinner has a long tradition as being a family occasion – the one meal of the week at which all family members gathered. A roast joint of meat – beef, lamb, pork or chicken – is nearly a requirement, and it is served with a potato and vegetable, and very often accompanied by Yorkshire pudding.

Puddings and custards feature prominently in British cuisine. Baked, boiled or steamed, puddings are usually made with suet and breading, and studded with dried fruits and nuts. One of the most popular and delightful British desserts is the trifle, and there are nearly as many variations as there are cooks. The base is a sponge cake, often left over from another meal. Soaked in Madeira or port, it is layered in a dish with custard, jam, fruits and Jell-O and topped with whipped cream. The end result is a delicious mélange that is features all that is good about British cookery – plain, practical cooking that is meant to fill the belly and satisfy the taste buds.