British cuisine

[Terry]

British food has traditionally been based on beef, lamb, pork, chicken and fish and generally served with potatoes and one other vegetable. The most common and typical foods eaten in Britain include the sandwich, fish and chips, pies like the cornish pasty, trifle and roasts dinners. Some of their main dishes have strange names like Bubble & Squeak and Toad-in-the-Hole.

The staple foods of Britain are meat, fish, potatoes, flour, butter and eggs. Many of their dishes are based on these foods.

[Big_Becka]

Foreign cuisine is very popular in Britain. It is often said that curry is the new national dish ;-) The indian dishes served in Britain are actually tailored to British tastes: you would never find a Balti if you went to a restaurant in India. For the best curry, visit the "Curry Mile" in Birmingham or Manchester.

As well as Indian food, Chinese and Italian are very popular - they can be made much more healthy than traditional British food, and there are restaurants in every town.

British food is now making a comeback, though. Different areas have different specialities. The best fish and chips come from the North Sea coast, and proper pasties ONLY come from Cornwall :-P Check this: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/">http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/</a><!-- m -->

[Faw_Peter]

Ingredients
For the eggs
* 2 tsp white wine vinegar
* 2 free range Eggs
For the Hollandaise
* 2 egg yolks
* ½ Lemon, juice only
* 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
* 100g Butter
To serve
* 1 English muffins, split and toasted
* 4 slices Parma ham, or Serrano ham
Method
1. For the eggs: add the vinegar to a small pan of just-simmering water and swirl it round rapidly to make a whirlpool. Crack an egg into a cup, then pour into the centre of the whirlpool and poach for 2-3 minutes, or until the white is set. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl of warm water while you cook the next egg the same way. Drain both eggs on kitchen paper.
2. For the hollandaise: place the egg yolks into a food processor with some salt and blend to combine.
3. Gently heat the lemon and vinegar together in a small non-reactive pan, then pour into the egg yolk mixture, blending continuously until well combined.
4. Gently melt the butter in the same pan until foaming, then slowly drizzle the melted butter into the egg yolk mixture with the motor running until the mixture comes together to form a thick, creamy sauce.
5. To serve, lay two slices of ham over each toasted muffin half and top with the poached eggs. Pour over the hollandaise sauce and serve immediately.

[Faw_Peter]

Big_Becka do you know some interesting recipes that you can share with us, being a genuine inhabitant of Britain?

[Big_Becka]

Hmmm... I don't want to be guilty of making you all fat! :lol:

You mentioned Toad in the Hole - this was one of my favourites when I was little!

Ingredients:
8oz (256g) Plain Flour
2 Eggs
14fl oz (400ml) milk
8 Sausages

Method:
1) Heat your oven to 220degC / 425degF / Gas Mark 7
2) Beat the egg with the milk in a bowl
3) Add the flour gradually to the bowl, stirring to make a thin batter
4) Put 1tbsp oil in a roasting tray, and heat it in the oven for 3 minutes, until the oil smokes. (It is very important that the oil and the tray are hot!)
5) Put the sausages in the tin, and pour the batter over the top
6) Bake the mixture for 30 minutes. The pudding should rise considerably in the oven.

Serve with some boiled vegetables and gravy. Serves 4 people.

You can also use this batter to make Yorkshire Puddings. Instead of pouring the batter over some sausages, use a muffin or cake tray and just cook the batter on its own. Yorkshire Puddings are usually served with a roast beef dinner.

[Big_Becka]

Bangers 'n' Mash (or Sausage and Mashed Potato)

Any kind of sausage works well, so you can try cider sausages or Lincolnshire / Cumberland Sausages (sausages make with a local recipe of herbs and spices to those counties)

Ingredients
1-2 large potatoes per person
Milk
Butter
Salt and Pepper
Sausages
Gravy mix.

Method
1) Peel the potatoes if you want to (it depends if you want creamy white mash, or if you want some of the fibre and goodness from the skins). Wash and chop the potatoes into fairly small (1 inch cube?) pieces.
2) Boil the potatoes in a large pan of salted water, until they are very soft (about 1/2 hour).
3) While the potatoes are cooking, fry or grill the sausages. Some people still insist on frying sausages in lard, but it is much healthier to use vegeatble oil or grill them. Make the gravy according to the instructions on the packet.
4) Drain the potatoes and mash them. Add milk, butter, salt and pepper as you mash the potatoes - I would use about 1tbsp butter and a small splash of milk, but some people like more.
5) Spoon the mash onto plates, and put the sausages on top. Pour gravy over the top.

English people would usually eat this with some garden peas on the side, or some fried onions and mushrooms. We would also have a little english musard on the side, or sometimes add a teaspoon of mustard to the mash to make it spicy :-)

The Irish have a similar dish called 'colcannon' which is mashed potato and cabbage. To make this, just add some chopped cabbage to the potatoes while you are boiling them, and then mash them together.

I eat a vegetarian version of this dish, using veggie sausages, vegetarian gravy, low fat spread (instead of the butter) and soy milk.