The Great British Meal
 

Well, at last, the British meal is seemingly making a comeback and all the supermarkets are prepared for it ... notice Tesco's new advert.

Whilst I do enjoy an Indian, Chinese, Italian, French meal now and then do like to be able to taste the meat, vegetables, bread I am eating without smotherings of curry, oyster,tomato and garlic sauces. Can you imagine eating these every day.

Other nationalities criticize us for not garnishing our foods in above mentioned, but to me, better than every dish tasting the same.

Long live the sausage and mash, roast beef dinners, steak and kidney, fish 'n chips, etc., etc., etc.

So to European/Asian culinary experts :p :p

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British food when it's cooked well, is the best in the world.:)

Steak puddings, steamed in rags, served with thick chips and a rich gravy, yum.:)

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You can't beat a moist beef sandwich or steak and chips. Not that I have them very often at all but every now and then it's a good meal.

A while ago Chris complained when I made a fairly fancy dish for us (probably a curry or chinese) and gave the kids fish fingers and chips. When I asked him what his problem was he said that he wanted fish fingers and chips too sometimes. I made it for him the very next day and he made fish finger butties covered in ketchup and he was as happy as larry (who also likes fish fingers I believe)!

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We also have the best puddings in the world.

Jam Rolly Poly with custard, Spotted Dick, Christmas Pudding, Triffle, which the Italians call Zuppa Inglese (English Soup), when they poorly try to immitate it.

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.....and don't forget bread and butter pudding!

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I did.:( My favourite....and summer pudding.

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And don't forget that 'if you want doughnuts like Fanny's' we could always tune in to see Mrs Cradock on television.:D
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/fun_...0/fanny203.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Cradock

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I can agree with all of the foods mentioned, except this one, I know it's very popular, but It always just seemed to me to be bread dipped in custard and would make me gag just being near to it.:(

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Nowt wrong with bread and butter pudding Less is yummy yumy yummy. :D

you must be developing a queezy belly. :s_sick:

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I am well known in my family and circle of friends for being a hater of foreign food.....I cannot stand the smell of curry...it makes me heave.
I do the traditional Roast dinner every Sunday....and as I speak there is a dish of beef and barley in the oven....I like to be economical and use the cooker for more than one dish.......I have put some stewed steak to one side and tomorrow I will make a batch of rustic cornish pasties for later in the week. Bread and butter pudding is one of my speciality puds...as is boozy trifle.....I also make a mean baked egg custard. Give me good old traditional food every time...you can keep your Chinese, Italian, Indian food.

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Like all things food is on the equivilent of a sushi conveyor and avery now and then we fancy a change so we have a change. Next month it might French followed by Itallian Greek and a canibal feast. We are adventures with food but also fickle at the same time.

Roast beef with all the trimmings will aways win with me. :D

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Just pleased to see that we are adopting a little bit of common sense now and can put our fingers up at (particularly) the French. I never thought our food was tasteless, but most foreign dishes always have the same flavour. No difference to me between chicken, beef, pork curry. Just the difference in the spices/herbs used and no sensation whatsoever of the meat or vegetables.

Might as well be Less's rat for all we know.

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Please will you adopt me Margaret? :D :D :D

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I don't quite know what hubby would make of that....but I will give you some of my recipes!

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And Less if you don't like Bread and buttter Pudding....i do a slightly up-market version using Madeira cake or swiss roll and dried fruit.....cherries, juicy plump sultanas, apricots, pineapple...whatever fruit you like.
This goes down a treat either hot or cold...with custard, or with cream and ice cream. I don't make it very often because it isn't good for the waistline...or the arteries......but it is good 'stick to the ribs' grub.

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hey margaret wouldnt mind your recipe for pasties .im hopeless with most pastry dishes , im more rbyp ,lancashire hotpot sort of person

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My mouth is watering at the thought of Margaret's bread and butter pudding........ I think we should all go round for tea.:D I do like some variety in my food and have no problem eating curry, garlic etc but.... you can't beat good old roast beef and Yorkshire pud with lashings of meaty gravy, roasties and veg.

The French may think that we are crap cooks but I have travelled far and wide and the only place I have ever had a dose of food poisoning from was.........FRANCE!!!!!!!

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"and as I speak there is a dish of beef and barley in the oven..."
I'm slavering here , I can almost smell it

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Y'all are making my mouth water! I was raised on good Lanky fare and it never did me a bit of harm.

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the big "fault" wiht british food is nothin to do with taste etc its to do with lazy cooking habits...

done properly fish and chips is fine and personally its my fave food

with bad habits and ppl not takin care they cook the food in deep oil and dont really take much care of how its done - that is what was the core decline of the british food -

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Reading the above posts I don't think there has been a decline.

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if there hasnt been a decline

why the come back?

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Kate mentioned a comeback, most other posters have always enjoyed British food by the sound of it.

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I cook my dishes from scratch.......I don't buy frozen Yorkie puds or pastry...it is easier and cheaper to make my own.
Roast potatoes too...who would buy frozen roast spuds for goodness sake?
Good fresh veggies, well cooked.....can't be beaten.

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And I will make some herb dumplings to float on the top and make this a substantial home cooked meal.

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Just what is being bought most in supermarkets now I think Mani (probably ready-made meals though :( ), they are not selling so much of the foreign food now.

Food cooked in oils !! well, only chips methinks and a few other items ? Rest is cooked without any heavy embellishments so that you get the true taste of the meat, veg, etc. Juices that run out are used to make 'the gravy'. not covered in spicey sauces that help it lose the taste.

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Margaret, now you have gone too far , now you are beginning to torture people , bet you make a great cheese and onion pie.

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Yes, that is another one of my stock recipes that is a hit with the family.
When I was out in Oz for a visit i was forever being asked to cook good old fashioned grub like this. I have open invitations to many houses over there....as long as I don't mind doing a bit of cooking!

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I hate all that foreighn muck. Give me good old fashioned pea and ham soup any day.
Or Cheese n onion and or tomato done int thoven with milk to make a gravy to dip your bread in. Mmmmm
Cornbeef stew is another favorite of mine.
margraret can I come to tea with lettie for some bread and butter pudding or egg custard?

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You just sit back and enjoy your grits and vittles.:D

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yuk. grits and polenta , same stuff (corn mush) different name ,one cheap the other expensive (trendy), neither have any taste whatsoever, just put on the plate to take up space , reminds me of baby food.

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That made me laugh

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Be quiet.

Just open your tunnel wide.

Her comes the chuff-chuff.

Whoo, whoo.

Good boy.

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Told my neighbour the other day that my mum did the best joint ever. Got such a funny look untill i said "Beef". :D

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Thats my speciality ,cheese and onion pie ,the trick is making sure the onions are properly cooked....

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I must admit I make a great cheese and onion pie........YUMMY

My speciality is Bacon hotpot......lovely.

But in winter I make a Onion Curry......very simple to make but tastes wonderful and keeps you warm.:D

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There so obviously has been a decline in british food, I don't know how you can possibly not see it. Everywhere you look there's chinese and indian fast food outlets, all the northern chippys are chinese, supermarkets have curry pot counters and pizza counters. brewers fayre even sell curry now. Lots of service area that used to little chef are curry paces, there's two here, another at northhampton, a pub up the road is an indian restuarant.

can't stand indian and i'm not keen on chinese, my favourite is chicken and chips or pie and chips.

Yesterday the ex inlaws invited me to dinner for a sunday roast, beef with yorkshires, mmmmmm.

Fish finger butties are yummy,you should try them.

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Its broth and dumplings for us tonight,,,but i must admit i like it better warmed up....

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ummmm broth and dumplings ...... even after we had all left home my mum still used to make a giant pan of this just so she could freeze it and still give the family some ..best in world yummy

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Pea and ham shank................omg lovely.:D:D

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I used to love the stuff....chicken madras, beef vindaloo...I just couldn't eat enough of it. But now I can't stand it..a curry dish simply reminds me of something that has been festering away in an unflushed toilet bowl for the last six months. My apologies if that may offend some people, but that's the way it now is for me.

I don't feel that much different about pizzas, either - or at least the rubbish that masquerades under that name in the UK. If you have one in the freezer, take it out, defrost it and bung it in the compost heap or the garden waste recycyling box for HBC to carry away. You'll feel much better.

A tip about sausages!

Don't bung 'em in the frying pan, or even under the grill....stick 'em in a roasting tray - a bit of oil at the bottom just to stop sticking - and do 'em slowly for 30/40 minutes in the oven; and whatever you do, don't prick the skin.

Enjoy!

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Although I love good Brirish grub, I do like good food full stop, wherever in the world it comes from.

Some of my favourite food was consumed in the south of France. Bouillabaisse, or escargot smothered in garlic butter and fresh herbs, yum. Not to mention authentic Italian food, which is savoured over there with a glass of wine, not something scoffed down in front of the goggle box.

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We will be sampling both at the next meet then Slinks? :D :D

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I like most foods Italian Chinese, Indian, but you cant beat good old English. In fact I've always said that if someone decided to do home deliveries form an English Fish and Chip shop they make a fortune. We can get most types of food delivered to the door so why not good old fish and chips

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three of my rustic pasties. Ok, I know they aren't beautiful to look at but they are scrummy to eat. Mmmmmmmm!

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well im gonna have a go margaret so i will let you know how they turn out

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Cherokee.........
I've PM'd you my recipe along with some tips on pastry...hope you don't mind.

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I like roast beef butties with horseraddish sauce but have yet to find a decent one. :( Does anyone have a sugestion or recomendation?

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One of my fav snacks is a a hot roast beef and onion sarny


Morrisons batons (tried it with others but not the same )
fry some chopped onions in butter
micro beef for 1/2 mins
micro buttered baton for 15 secs
put beef on baton lace with onions .ummmmm yummy

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Sounds good does that and I will give it a try. It always amazies me what we can do with tradional food to make it more exciting and avoid binning the left overs.

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Whey hey thanks Margaret
made some meat and onion pasties today using your tips on the pastry and they went down a treat ..
best pastry ive ever made .........cheers once again

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Well Margaret, (or after Neils post should we now call you Maddona? (can I call you Mad for short)), that does sound delicious I hope you can make a few big bowls of it and bring them to the next meet.

I think you all deserve to know why I can't stand bread and butter pudding and it's like, (and just thinking about the following description is again making me gag).:s_drunk:

Those of you that like myself grew up in the '50's will remember Sunday Tea, it was the highlight of a long and boring day of nothing to do because everywhere was shut and enjoyment of any form that didn't involve religion was frowned upon, even by atheists!

Anyway pudding,
My Dad like many others was ex-army having served through the second World War, which meant that at times while fighting there where days at a time when the troops had no time to eat.
This had the effect on him that no food should be wasted, so if buttered bread was placed on the table he expected it to be eaten.
I being about five was impatient to get to the sweet course Fruit cocktail and carnation milk, to assist in this I had foolishly hidden my bread under the table cloth, my Dad discovered it just as I was dipping my spoon into my pud', He then made me eat the bread by dipping it into the carnation milk and juices of the fruit, this causing the bread to become soggy and most unpalatable to me I then had to finish the rest , as soon as I was allowed to leave the table I had one quick dash to the toilet to relieve myself of my complete tea.

So you see I can't stand soggy bread of any kind, so 'Bread and Butter pudding' is one food I will never be able to stomach.

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Less your problem isn't really with bread and butter, it is actually your need to be more sneaky.


Aged two, I hid a bowl of fruit and carnation under the stairs. I hid it quite well, as I actually lifted a floorboard, and it wasn't found until the next people who lived in the house suspected they had a dead rat somewhere.

I still hate tinned fruit, and am still as thorough in my sneekiness.:D

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Less, you can call me anything you like...just don't call me late for tea :)

I can't imagine the Cabinet pudding(which is what the cake version of Bread and butter pudding is called) would go down that well with a pint or two of 'old and filthy'.....pasties seem to be a btter accompaniment.......!

And Cherokee...glad to have been of help.

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Yes, pasties will do fine, it will give you the perfect excuse to get down to the next meet, "Just nipping out dear, got my charity work to do, they can't exist on accyweb with parkin alone, they need something to line their stomachs while they drain the pub dry.":p