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I did not know tikka masala was invented in Britain. Was it by an immigrant or a native Brit? What other staples dishes like Corn Beef and Cabbage do they have? Is Kedgeree indigenous?
The best guess is that chicken tikka masala was invented in the UK, likely by a Bangladeshi chef. FWIW, Wikipedia claims:
"Historians of ethnic food Peter and Colleen Grove discuss various origin-claims of chicken tikka masala, concluding that the dish 'was most certainly invented in Britain, probably by a Bangladeshi chef'."
Incidentally, corned beef and cabbage is neither British nor Irish. Best I can tell, it's an American variant on the Irish dish bacon and cabbage (the "bacon" here is normally back bacon, which is somewhat like ham or Canadian bacon).
No idea on kedgeree.
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Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133
Fish and chips can only be so good though. I have always wanted to try a roast. Is it basically the same thing as American Prime Rib roasts?
Fish and chips can be great, depending on how well it's prepared and, well, how big a food snob one is. Places in the UK and Ireland such as Rock and Sole Plaice, Master's Super Fish, and Leo Burdock, do this superbly.
If you've ever had carved roast beef at a buffet spread, you've had a roast. See this:
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Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133
I go to the links and they dont post their full menus, only a sample. That seems to be a trend with some British restaurants.
Most of the restaurants do have full set and daily menus, however in terms of seafood restaurants serving fresh seafood daily, it depends on a number of factors relating to what's in season and indeed what fresh fish comes directly from the boats that day or is delivered, and this is espacialy true in areas such as Cornwall that rely on local fishermen.
The fish has to be generally very fresh in order to retain it's taste, and they can only buy so much as it is perishable if not eaten quickly.
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Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133
Britain has some really daft items like Chip Butty which is french fries sandwiched in bread, or the famed toast and beans. But I do feel the full english breakfast looks extremely hardy and savoury. Always wanted to try.
I would hardly call a chip butty or beans on toast, the height of British cooking.
The “what fresh fish comes directly from the boats that day” is a total fabrication. I’m from the largest fishing port in the United States. That’s not how the supply chain works; particularly in a place as overfished as the UK. I can get fish caught that day if I go to the docks and filet them myself. No restaurant is going to do that. Fish goes to the daily auction and is then processed at a fish house. A distributor then trucks it to the restaurants. The minimum is 24 hours from the dock to the table. Generally, cod in the U.K. comes from Iceland and it’s several days between swimming and your fish & chips assuming it’s not frozen cod.
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Originally Posted by GeoffD
The “what fresh fish comes directly from the boats that day” is a total fabrication. I’m from the largest fishing port in the United States. That’s not how the supply chain works; particularly in a place as overfished as the UK. I can get fish caught that day if I go to the docks and filet them myself. No restaurant is going to do that. Fish goes to the daily auction and is then processed at a fish house. A distributor then trucks it to the restaurants. The minimum is 24 hours from the dock to the table. Generally, cod in the U.K. comes from Iceland and it’s several days between swimming and your fish & chips assuming it’s not frozen cod.
If you have ever watched Rick Stein's TV Show, he goes out with the local fisherman in Padstow at times, and knows many of them. You can see some of the people who he sources food locally from on his website here.
Whilst in terms of menus Stein's reataurant in Padstow has a sample menu, as well as set menu, 3 courses for £42.95 – available every day and an a la carte menu. There are also individual menus for his other restaurants and businesses.
The big fsh markets are in the major ports and cities, such as Billingsgate in London or Grimsby in the North of England, indeed most of the fish caught in Cornwall will end up elsewhere in the country.
In small coastal areas such as Padstow which has a population of around 3,000 people you can go to the harbour and buy fresh fish.
What isn't bought locally may be sent to market elsewhere but Padstow is quite far from the major cities.
Port Isaac where Nathan Outlaw owns his restaurant has a population of 721 people, and the restaurant ends to offer a sample menu rather than the more comprehensive set menu and a la carte menus offered on most websites, however with two michelin stars you can't just turn up and order a meal at his restaurant, you have to book a long way in advance,
Indeed both restaurants rely on tourism, and people coming to visit in order to sample the fine food at the restaurants.
Although in recent years both have expanded and in terms of Stein he has a number of sites and a fish mongers, whilst Nathan Outlaw also now has premises in London and Dubai, however his restaurant in Port Isaac is still the one with the two michellin stars.
Today Stein and Outlaw receive their fish from the Cornish Fish Monger, who now delivers to their premises, however menus are still subject to season and other such variations.
As the wensite states “The Cornish Fishmonger will always source and provide the finest fish and freshest seafood, sourced from local inshore boats wherever possible.”
Yes, they do have some. Game birds include grouse, quail, and partridge. Game animals include deer, hare, and rabbit. It gets eaten on occasion in homes or in restaurants that specialize in it (Rules, in London's Covent Garden area, is one that has it sometimes).
Whether that fits your definition of "widely/bountiful" or not, I can't say.
When I was studying in the UK, a friend of mine had an air rifle and we would have rabbit stew at least every couple of weeks. Bountiful? It's like Watership Down out there.
I visited London a couple of times around the turn of the century and found the food just OK -- sampling high end, low end and in between. The "celebrity chefs" seem from the lower end of the global roster with one or two exceptions.
One place I liked was Chutney Mary, which specializes in the English colonial food of India. It moved to St. James's a few years ago. Unusual and recommended, but I suspect the locals know less expensive places for this sort of thing.
So there you have it, quite a few posts on here from people that have probably never been within 1000 miles of the UK perpetuating the (like I said quite frankly stupid) stereotypical myths. To be fair though its not just (some) Americans that are guilty of this, if anything our European 'friends' are even worse!
I don't know who you're talking about, but I spent a good number of years over there. I certainly made an effort to sample what the local cuisine had to offer, but there's a reason why Nando's ultimately became the go-to for our dinners.
Personally, I've long thought that the negative stereotypes/stigmas towards British/UK food are quite undeserved.
If anything, I'd argue that the UK has some of the best comfort food dishes. Who doesn't love a good shepherd's pie, or steak/lamb and ale pie? And chicken tikka masala is more or less the UK's signature "eastern" dish - much in the same way that Orange/General Tso's chicken is in the US. Don't tell me you don't love a good plate of fish and chips either!
Come to think of it, yes there is really no "American" cuisine unless you talk about the native americans. America/Canada is made up of immigrants. I think on Mexico, and Latin American has a strong indigenous influence.
America/Canada is largely Euro migrants, and they brought over their foods. Well, there is Southern BBQ. And I am not sure, but big steaks, burgers, maybe club sandwiches, NYC/Chicago Pizza, lobster are perhaps American creations.
Southern cuisine has a lot of native foods like catfish, beans, squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, corn, pecans, etc... There’s also a lot of foods from Africa like blackeye peas, watermelon, and okra. You had Europeans, native Americans, and slaves all learning to cook from one another.
Many foods Europeans were accustomed to eating would not grow in the hot and humid South, so they had to learn to adapt.
I loved watching the Great British Baking Show on Netflix. I had no idea the British could bake so many wonderful things and the savory pies filled with meat and vegetables looked absolutely delicious.
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