The press has never been kind to British food. When compared to French haute cuisine, most traditional British food is simple and made in a plain way. It's not unusual for food critics to write about traditional British dishes in a way that almost sounds like an apology, as if it were wrong to enjoy a good, thick piece of beef with Yorkshire pudding. If they praise anything, it's a nod to how cleverly British foods are named. For example, dishes like bubble and squeak and spotted dick can be found on restaurant menus.
Still, despite all the jokes and apologies, the best British food is hearty, tasty, and simple. This is what the country that changed the world ate to keep going. There is no other country in the world that makes roast beef as well as the British do, and there is no better way to eat the tender meat than with a puffy, hot Yorkshire pudding made with the meat's juices. Few desserts can compare to a well-made trifle or treacle tart, either.
British food is a mix of things that are easy to make and good for you. Some people say it's not very creative, but that could be because the food doesn't need much creativity to make it taste good. It's not because the British lack creativity when it comes to food ideas. Sometimes you need a translator just to figure out what's on your plate because you don't know how to say its name. You can find "mushy peas," "steak and kidney pie," "fish and chips," and "bangers and mash" on a restaurant's take-out menu.
At each meal, you can eat well-known British foods. Here are some of the most popular:
Breakfast:
A full English country breakfast has meat, eggs, pancakes or toast, and side dishes like hash and bangers and mash. It's the kind of hearty food that most other cultures eat for dinner. It is often made with leftovers from the night before, cut up and fried with spices and butter. This is sometimes called "country hash."
Tea:
The British have been having tea in the middle of the afternoon for hundreds of years. Finger foods like crumpets with jam and clotted cream, small watercress sandwiches, and scones with raisins or dried fruits are often served at mid-afternoon tea.
Sunday Dinner:
Sunday dinner has been a family tradition for a long time. It's the only meal of the week where everyone in the family gets together. Almost every meal has a roast joint of beef, lamb, pork, or chicken, which is served with a potato, a vegetable, and very often Yorkshire pudding.
In British food, puddings and custards are very common. Puddings are usually made with suet and breading and are baked, boiled, or steamed. Dried fruits and nuts are often added to puddings. The trifle is one of the most popular and tasty British desserts, and there are almost as many ways to make it as there are cooks. The base is usually a leftover sponge cake from another meal. It is soaked in Madeira or port and put in a dish with layers of custard, jam, fruits, and Jell-O. Whipped cream is put on top. The result is a tasty mix of all the good things about British cooking, which is simple, practical food meant to fill the stomach and please the taste buds.
