liuzhou

Not really, but I'll get to what I (and many others) believe to be the reason for the false reputation shortly.

Come on! People have been being negative about British food for decades.

Institutional food is never great in any country or culture.

2. Britain Doesn't Have Good Ingredients - Part A Of all the claims, this one is surely the dumbest. British beef has long been considered among the world’s best. Where does Aberdeen-Angus, sometimes just called Angus come from? Yes, Britain, specifically Scotland. Much of that raised today in Britain is shipped to France, with the top Parisian chefs (and customers) paying top prices. Angus beef is America’s favourite, introduced in 1873. Sorry, folks, it’s British. Today, the breed is found worldwide and is prized for its marbled beef. The Japanese love it, too! Welsh lamb, Queen Victoria’s favourite, is also well regarded, although the French don’t eat so much of that. Leg of Lamb Rabbit, introduced by the Romans, is still popular. Often cooked with the same herbs the animal feeds on. Rabbit with juniper berries is also a classic pairing. Tamworth pigs, Gloucester Old Spot Pigs, Berkshire pigs etc. are prized around the world for their meat as are other heritage breeds. Order seafood in Paris and it’s going to have been caught in Scottish waters- some of the best in the world. Langoustines and brown crab are particularly prized. Scottish seafood is exported to the USA, Spain, Italy and Portugal, with growing interest in Southeast Asia. Loch Fyne, a sea loch on Scotland’s west coast has some of the most highly prized oysters. I’ve eaten them in Paris, too. Traditional foods such as kippers (cold smoked herring) and Arbroath smokies (hot smoked haddock) may be brown but are far from bland or boring. Yes, ‘brown’ is another complaint levelled against British food right here on these forums. Many, maybe most, foods are brown; not just British. Smokies Haggis is neither bland, or boring. Instead it is well spiced. The same with black pudding (blood sausage). Haggis (centre) Coming next: A surprise!

Same here.

I would normally roast or bake sprouts, but I am temporarily oven-less. When (if) the things arrive, I'll share how I cook them. The method you mention does sound interesting.

which as I've pointed out before aren't Chinese. Clams and black fermented beans is a fairly common dish where I am, but not in most of China. Too far from the clam beds I guess. Many years ago, I spent time living in Xi'an (one tear) and later, Hunan (two years). Never saw a clam! Much to my regret.

Yes, tourists generally go to all the wrong places to eat. Not only in Britain. And order bad renditions of every cliché possible. I cringe at some of the videos on YouTube showing people's British food eating experiences and end up shouting at the computer. "Why are you going there! Can't you see a tourist trap when you are in the middle of one!? Don't you realise there isn't a single British customer in there?" Many British sausages are relatively heavily spiced. Not supermarket bangers, I'll admit. And Italian sausages are eaten in Britain just as much as in America. We too have a large Italian population. Few people use garlic powder or garlic salt. We use fresh garlic and salt instead. Anyway, I'll get to sausages in detail later. The traditional pork pie is, again, seasoned but not heavily but name me one cuisine where everything is heavily seasoned? Some things just don't need it.

Indeed I do. In fact, I intend referencing her in a later post.

Your post came to mind when I read this today.

The article doesn't mention it, but loquats are also used here in southern China to make a kind of tisane / "tea".

1. The British Don't Use Herbs and Spices. In fact, Britain developed herbed stew techniques long before the rest of Europe. Garlic was widely used (Britain still eats more garlic than the south of France, which has what is often considered a garlic laden cuisine - another stereotype.) British food uses more spices and herbs than most! I live in China now and that cuisine is very low on the variety of spices and herbs it uses. No parsley, sage, rosemary or thyme! They do have herbs by the thousand, but they are used medicinally; not as part of dinner. Wild samphire was widely eaten and later cultivated. Rock samphire was mentioned by Shakespeare in King Lear. This refers to the dangers involved in collecting rock samphire from sea cliffs. But people took the risk as the herb was so highly valued. Rock Samphire The Romans introduced, among others, coriander, chives, marjoram, stinging nettles, rosemary, onions, spearmint etc., all of which were happily adopted by the British and became part of the cuisine. The British Empire came about partly because of the search for spices and in the 18th and 19th centuries, Britain was among the leading spice trading nations. Saffron arrived much earlier via the Phoenicians! It is still extensively cultivated in east England near the town of Saffron Walden. I wonder where that town got its name! Mustard had long been grown in Britain before the first prepared English mustard went on sale in 1720. Coleman’s mustard (first produced 1814) from England is sold internationally. English mustard is one of the strongest flavoured mustards you will find. Far from bland or boring! It is coloured with turmeric. Mint sauce with roast lamb has been widely mocked. In fact it has an interesting history. Queen Elizabeth 1 (1533-1603) wished to encourage the wool industry and decided the people were eating too many of the sheep. In order to stop this, she introduced a law (not banning its consumption; that would have been a step too far), insisting that lamb or mutton could only be cooked with “bitter herbs”. Mint was considered to be such a herb. So the cooks complied and discovered that mint with sheep is actually damned delicious. People 1; Queen 0. The ubiquitous Brown Sauce, the nation’s second favourite after tomato ketchup is heavily spiced. Few people can pronounce Worcestershire Sauce (introduced 1837 in England) correctly, but it is used world-wide to add flavour to dishes. I can buy Lee and Perrins Worcestershire sauce here in China, but there are also local versions. Mention has been made of Indian and Pakistani influences on British food. Incidentally very few of the “Indian” restaurants in Britain are either Indian or Pakistani. They are mostly Bengali. And the curries they serve are nothing like what is served in the Indian sub-continent. The worst Indian food I ever ate was in India! British food's adoption of Indian spices and making them their own belies any notion that British food is bland and spice-less. To be continued

Over the years I’ve been on eG, various people have made disparaging remarks about British food, repeating long debunked myths. These I feel I need to re-debunk. The disgraced, corrupt French President, Jacques Chirac, at an international meeting in 2005, said, “One cannot trust people whose cuisine is so bad. The only thing they have ever done for European agriculture is mad cow disease, After Finland, it is the country with the worst food.” This is typical of the propaganda that has been levelled at British food for years. Like all stereotypes it is largely untrue. “British food is (in)famous for being unseasoned...“ claimed one member recently, later adding that he was not referring to salt. It has been suggested that British food is bland and boring. Clichés and stereotypes like this are usually invented by people who have never tasted the food. It is my intention to try to debunk these ideas as much as I can. It won't be difficult.

I love how the tracking is timed to the second, yet they take a week to find and dispatch the things!

May 27th. According to the tracking report 00:03:35, my sprouts have left Shanghai and are on their way to Liuzhou with no intervening stops. I don't know how they are being shipped, but it it is unlikely I'll be hearing any more today. It's around 30 - 32℃ at the moment, so not as hot as it gets. But perishable items are usually shipped in these effficient insulating foam boxes with icepacks, which are good for 2-3 days - the most it takes most deliveries to arrive..

Most people in the UK just say Wooster Sauce. If we do use the 'shire' part, it is pronounced 'shir' and unstressed. Not the 'shyer' I hear from many Americans. There is a reasonably good article on brown sauce on Wikipedia here. I can buy HP sauce here in China. I have a bottle in the fridge, but it easily lasts me a year. Not something I use often.

Yes, the same beans are normally part of a full English (or Scottish etc) breakfast. But not on toast. With toast and the rest.

I was thinking a bit more about this and although I haven't changed my mind about vinegar, I do remember some deviants putting Worcestershire sauce on the dish. Of course, we don't pronounce it like furrners do! Also grated cheese is sometimes applied by heathens.

Well, at 19:21 local time, finally something happened. Tracking is showing that they have been picked up in Shanghai and shipped to a depot elsewhere in Shanghai to be forwarded to their next staging post, wherever that may be. Hopefully, I'll find out in the morning.

I'm betting you aren't going to find this down your local "Peking Garden" or whatever. Duck heart fried rice. Rice, soy braised duck hearts, garlic, ginger. chilli, scallions and coriander leaf / cilantro. Note lack of egg or soy sauce. This is Chinese.

Britain. Baked Beans. Pay attention! No. 1. Only Heinz Baked Beans from a can are permitted. Violations of this law are dealt with strictly. You will be laughed at by your family, mocked in the streets and be called rude names! It should be pointed out and I'm about to do so, that British Baked Beanz (as we like to spell them - Heinz Meanz Beanz) are different from US baked beans. They are somewhat sweeter and come in day-glo tomato sauce. No. 2. Only white bread is permitted. Preferably pre-sliced and plastic-wrapped Chorleywood process bread. Artisan bread is a big no-no. Your social standing and credibility will be ruined forever. Sourdough will get you deported! No. 3. The toast may be toasted to your preference, so long as that is medium brown. No. 4. The toasted bread should be lathered with butter or, if you want to really fit in, margarine. Healthy spreads are strongly discouraged. Cutting the toast into triangles attracts the death penalty! No. 5. The beans should be heated through, but never allowed to reach 100℃ which is the boiling point of water in civilised countries. No. 6. The beans should be liberally spread over the hot toast, then salt and pepper added even more liberally. Then add some more pepper. Always black pepper. No. 7. Excuses such as "I can't buy British beans here" are not accepted. If I can buy them in China, you can buy them! No. 8. Eat and repeat and smile!

Who told you that? It is nonsense. If anything, British food tends to be over-seasoned.

Brussel sprouts are almost unknown in China. I'd never found them. However, on May 20th, my birthday, I found some for sale online. Of course, I ordered some. By May 23rd, not only had they not arrived, but the website tracking service was showing no movement. They promise to ship within 48 hours. It was now 60 hours. So I contacted the sellers. No reply, but I was able to leave a message. May 24th, I get the news that the package has been lost in transit. I ask them if it was in transit, why didn't the tracking say that it had been dispatched. I'm still waiting for an answer to that question. Anyway, they said they would re-ship them immediately. May 26th Still no sprouts. Still no tracking information. I contact them again. "Oh! It's been raining for two days, so we couldn't pick them! We are picking them now and will send later today!" Yeah, right! Anyway, later I'll update this mini blog of my sprouts adventures en route from Shanghai to me. If they ever get en route. I was tempted to tell them where they could put their sprouts but we are only talking about $4 USD (plus $1.25 delivery) and it has become quite amusing to see what happens next. I just hope they are here for Christmas dinner!

I have never heard of the practice.