The Great British Food Myths

[Eatmywords]

I think this all boils down to, well, boiling.

[Anna N]

22 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Full English Breakfast

Given that I left Britain in 1958 and have only returned on two occasions in the 80s, even the term Full English Breakfast had no meaning to me except from afar. 
There are many reasons why my experience should never be considered usual.

Weekday breakfast for the most part for me was porridge or bread and dripping or bread and jam. 

 

Yet I have an enduring memory of a Sunday breakfast. I would like to think it’s a real memory but I I’m not sure. When I do the math there are certain things about it that could not be unless we want to rewrite the history of time. My father is cooking it. There are eggs, bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms and fried bread. I do not recall a single Christmas dinner/lunch (I am sure there must’ve been such things) and yet I can smell the bacon and taste the fried bread from this breakfast.  
Sunday breakfast seems to me to have been much more in use in my family than full anything. 

[liuzhou]

28 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Given that I left Britain in 1958 and have only returned on two occasions in the 80s, even the term Full English Breakfast had no meaning to me except from afar. 
There are many reasons why my experience should never be considered usual.

Weekday breakfast for the most part for me was porridge or bread and dripping or bread and jam. 

 

Yet I have an enduring memory of a Sunday breakfast. I would like to think it’s a real memory but I I’m not sure. When I do the math there are certain things about it that could not be unless we want to rewrite the history of time. My father is cooking it. There are eggs, bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms and fried bread. I do not recall a single Christmas dinner/lunch (I am sure there must’ve been such things) and yet I can smell the bacon and taste the fried bread from this breakfast.  
Sunday breakfast seems to me to have been much more in use in my family than full anything. 

 

I too, have no real recollection of weekday breakfasts in my schooldays - or even later. There must have been something, though. On annual holidays (vacations) my parents would treat us to a Kellog's selection pack of individually boxed servings - this was a major treat.

Sunday breakfast though was special for me, too. All sat around the table with bacon and egg, for sure. Black pudding definitely. Fruit pudding, too. I don't remember beans or tomatoes. I never ate a mushroom until I was in my 20s.

My mother's twin sister had a life-threatenting allergy to mushrooms. Once, in their 70s, my mother and her twin were flying from the UK to Australia after their elder sister died there and one of the meals served on board the flight contained mushrooms, despite the crew having been told of the allergy. My aunt took one bite, spat it out and went into anaphylactic shock. The plane had to make an emergency landing in Korea* to rush her to hospital. It was touch and go as to whether she would survive. She finally recovered and made it to Australia. The airline compensated her generously without argument.

This is why we were never served mushrooms at home. Despite the twins being identical, my mother was not allergic and actually quite liked mushrooms the few times she ate them, but she preferred to avoid them and certainly not feed them to us in case we had inherited any strange allergies. We haven't shown signs of any food allergies, although my sister is similarly allergic to bee stings! All my siblings and their kids are mushroom-OK.

* Fortunately, South Korea.

 

Edited June 2, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[Anna N]

26 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

I never ate a mushroom until I was in my 20s.

The very thought of you being allergic to mushrooms now that you live in China and are surrounded with such bounty gives me the shivers.  
When you mention cereal I do recall Weetabix!

[liuzhou]

13 hours ago, Anna N said:

The very thought of you being allergic to mushrooms now that you live in China and are surrounded with such bounty gives me the shivers.  
When you mention cereal I do recall Weetabix!

 

Yes, even long before my moving to China, I regularly counted my blessings for not inheriting that gene or whatever it was.

Ha!  I haven't thought of Weetabix in decades. I do remember my father taking a dry Weetabix and buttering it like a slice of toast and eating it. But he was a very strange man in many ways! 

I read they now do an organic version. The world was waiting for that!

 

Edited June 3, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[nickrey]

On 6/2/2021 at 2:01 AM, liuzhou said:

 

Arrgh! I'd just about managed to purge (or at least suppress) all thoughts of cod liver oil from my memory. Now it has come flooding back!

My grandparents ran a local tobacconist / newsagent shop and were often presented with rabbits and other game in the hope of receiving a bit of extra tobacco in return. I'm told they never went along with the illegal bartering but I'm not sure I believe it.

 I was also put off milk for life after the free one-third of a pint of milk at school. It used to sit outside the canteen all morning. In winter it was often frozen solid; in summer horribly warm.

You should have tried growing up in South Australia. In summer, the temperatures often reached 40C (or 100F). The milk left out in the playground in bottles was horrid by the time we drank it at morning recess. 

[Allura]

I've only been to England once, and that was for a work trip where I didn't really get a say in where we went (and the team had established places they always went to). I can say that what stuck out to me was the quality of the ingredients. The eggs at breakfast, for instance, were lovely compared to what we get in the US. 

 

Although the one that stood out to me: are ham & cheese sandwiches not a thing in England? We went to a sandwich shop one day for lunch and it seemed it was a very surprising thing? Or it might just have been my rapid-fire mid-atlantic US accent bit me again.

[liuzhou]

45 minutes ago, Allura said:

are ham & cheese sandwiches not a thing in England? We went to a sandwich shop one day for lunch and it seemed it was a very surprising thing? Or it might just have been my rapid-fire mid-atlantic US accent bit me again.

Ham amd cheese sandwiches are certainly a thing in Britain - very common. They come cold (untoasted) and hot (toasted or fried), in which case they are called "ham and cheese toasties". In fact, ham and cheese sandwiches are common all over Europe. Think croque monsieur in France, toast in Italy etc.

 

I made one (untoasted)  yesterday, here in China.

[haresfur]

On 5/28/2021 at 8:19 AM, Kerala said:

My first experience of British food was school meals as a 7 year old. Every lunch was so bland, I almost cried. At one school assembly I listened aghast as the head master railed against too much spice spoiling the palate. I think he might have been drawing an analogy with too much excitement dulling your experience of life. I was so glad when I discovered mint sauce. Tasted weird, but at least I could taste something!

 

50 years later, I can appreciate the difference between roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, chips, boiled and steamed new potatoes. Bring me the blandest thing on the menu!

 

 

British school food in the 1970s was the stuff of horror movies. I know from more recent (although still long ago) visits that things have changed but the iconic British caff wasn't much better. Like anywhere, it does depend on what level of dining you seek out and how knowledgeable you are. Even back then, I had some really nice meals with my rich friends. 

 

As for the French and their food, I fail to see what the hype is about so I discount their opinions about British food. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

13 minutes ago, haresfur said:

 

British school food in the 1970s was the stuff of horror movies.

 

You should have supped at an orphanage, any clime or continent, in the 1950's.  Maybe in comparison to the 40's the 50's were gastronomically enlightened but, hey, at least in the '40's my parents were alive and my mother knew how to bake a pie.

 

Not wishing to get into a pissing contest (something that I don't do well) what about British school food did you find objectionable in the 1970's?

 

The school foods that made me lose my lunch* were canned asparagus and salty, salty creamed dried beef.  Still a step up from orphanage cuisine.  I never could get into bleeding chickens.  And at the orphanage there were maggots on the meat.

 

 

*quite literally.

 

 

 

[jmacnaughtan]

3 hours ago, haresfur said:

As for the French and their food, I fail to see what the hype is about so I discount their opinions about British food. 

 

@liuzhou, I don't suppose you want to do a sequel about French Food Myths?

[haresfur]

2 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

You should have supped at an orphanage, any clime or continent, in the 1950's.  Maybe in comparison to the 40's the 50's were gastronomically enlightened but, hey, at least in the '40's my parents were alive and my mother knew how to bake a pie.

 

Not wishing to get into a pissing contest (something that I don't do well) what about British school food did you find objectionable in the 1970's?

 

The school foods that made me lose my lunch* were canned asparagus and salty, salty creamed dried beef.  Still a step up from orphanage cuisine.  I never could get into bleeding chickens.  And at the orphanage there were maggots on the meat.

 

 

*quite literally.

 

 

 

 

I'm sure there were worse meals in many places/times so I don't want to argue to the bottom either (Australians from farming communities talk about the school milk they had to drink that was delivered in the morning and kept out in the heat until noon.) But dodgy over-boiled cabbage, lumpy mashed potato (I hated potatoes at the time) and 2 fish sticks comes to mind (I could eat the fish sticks, anyway). Then again the fried blood sausage in my Swedish school was pretty revolting to me.

[Kerala]

2 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

You should have supped at an orphanage, any clime or continent, in the 1950's.  Maybe in comparison to the 40's the 50's were gastronomically enlightened but, hey, at least in the '40's my parents were alive and my mother knew how to bake a pie.

 

Not wishing to get into a pissing contest (something that I don't do well) what about British school food did you find objectionable in the 1970's?

 

The school foods that made me lose my lunch* were canned asparagus and salty, salty creamed dried beef.  Still a step up from orphanage cuisine.  I never could get into bleeding chickens.  And at the orphanage there were maggots on the meat.

 

 

*quite literally.

 

 

 

In my case, literally, the food was bland compared to my first 7 years of life eating Indian food every meal. It's hard to know quite how much of my reaction was because the food was awful and how much due to not understanding it at all. Through my teenage years eating at a (very) few white friends' houses, the food seemed indifferent at best, inexpert and unambitious.  I'm hesitant to say it, but a lot of home cooking here in Britain still seems that way.

[liuzhou]

30 minutes ago, jmacnaughtan said:

 

@liuzhou, I don't suppose you want to do a sequel about French Food Myths?

 

No.

I'm not qualified. It's over 40 years since I lived in France and over 20 since I last visited.  I have mentioned that I have eaten some awful food in France, though. However, the best is excellent and ruinously expensive, while cheaper, more simple places can sometimes surprise. In good or bad ways!

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, Kerala said:

a (very) few white friends' houses, the food seemed indifferent at best, inexpert and unambitious.  I'm hesitant to say it, but a lot of home cooking here in Britain still seems that way.

 

I think that is true anywhere in the world. It has nothing specifically to do with Britain. Not all home cooks, wherever they are, are brilliant at what they do. 

Some aren't interested and cooking is just an unwelcome but necessary chore. Many people just see food as fuel. Members here mostly live to eat; most people do the opposite. Others are just incompetent or inexperienced.

I have a good friend here in China who appreciates good food, but simply cannot cook it.  My mother, who was French, was the same. I've had dull cooking in homes all over the world, including India.

[Kerala]

2 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

I think that is true anywhere in the world. It has nothing specifically to do with Britain. Not all home cooks, wherever they are, are brilliant at what they do. 

Some aren't interested and cooking is just an unwelcome but necessary chore. Many people just see food as fuel. Members here mostly live to eat; most people do the opposite. Others are just incompetent or inexperienced.

I have a good friend here in China who appreciates good food, but simply cannot cook it.  My mother, who was French, was the same. I've had dull cooking in homes all over the world, including India.

I agree there's a lot of it world-wide, @liuzhou.

 

The adherence to custom can act as a buffer against this. If those customs were fractured, in this instance as you propose by two World Wars, then it wouldn't be surprising that in the 70s, housewives without home training of good food should turn out indiferent meals. It takes a long time for standards to improve.

 

The French and Italian approaches seem very interested in authenticity, following recipes faithfully. The British have a more easy-going attitude. "Bish bash bosh! Job's a good'un!" as Jamie Oliver says. While that can give great results if you're talented or keen, it provides no protection to the untrained and inept.

[gfweb]

On 6/3/2021 at 2:14 AM, nickrey said:

You should have tried growing up in South Australia. In summer, the temperatures often reached 40C (or 100F). The milk left out in the playground in bottles was horrid by the time we drank it at morning recess. 

 WTF?

[liuzhou]

On 6/3/2021 at 2:14 PM, nickrey said:

You should have tried growing up in South Australia. In summer, the temperatures often reached 40C (or 100F). The milk left out in the playground in bottles was horrid by the time we drank it at morning recess. 

 

Although it rarely reached 40℃ in Scotland, 30℃ was possible in summer and the same thing happened. Every week, two pupils were designated "milk monitors". Although many of my classmates were happy to get out of class, I hated to be chosen for this task. We had to colect the stinking milk from where it was sitting in the sun behind the school canteen. We had to carry the crates and visit each classroom and dole out a bottle to each kid.

 

The crates were heavy and cut your hands and the stink of rotten milk had me gagging the whole time. It marked me for life. I've never drunk milk since. I like cheese (even the smelly ones) and good yoghurt (usually home made), but that is my total dairy intake.

 

I drink my coffee black.

Edited June 4, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

5. Sossidges

 

In the 1970s (and later) in Britain, one of the most popular television shows, broadcast on a weekend evening, was “That’s Life” hosted by one Esther Rantzen. It started out as a consumer protection show, challenging semi-legal or dishonest practices in stores etc., but soon changed into a general light entertainment show – and when I say “light”, I mean feather-light.

 

The episode most people remember featured a talking dog named Prince, which was claimed to be able to say “sausages”! This went viral as we never said then, and to this day, British people of a certain age often pronounce “sausages” as the dog supposedly did. The fact that the dog’s owner was manipulating the mutt’s mouth and throat and very obviously using ventriloquism didn’t bother anyone!

 

 

Prince was able to “say” a few other words, but, significantly, it was sausages that struck a chord with the British people, so important are they in British cuisine (as they are in many others).

So, it is no surprise that the asinine YouTubers have to include sausages in their must-see list of what to eat in the UK. That sausages are included in the full breakfasts discussed above isn’t enough for them, because in their deluded minds sausages are what the British live on! We eat little else!

 

There is no denying that we eat a lot of sausages, but what these people want to eat is that classic “Bangers and Mash”. So, off they all go like 19th century explorers to discover exactly the same places that every other of the breed has already found. What they don’t realise as they rhapsodise over their lunch is that most of them aren’t eating “bangers and mash”, at all!

 

I lived in Moscow in the latter days of the Soviet Union, when food was very scarce and what was available was very poor quality. Cabbage and gristle stew was the mainstay, unless you were a top ranking communist or a pampered foreigner. I’ve mentioned this in detail here.

 

Several years later, long after the USSR collapsed and food supplies were again available normally, a fashion arose among a certain segment of the Muscovite population. Restaurants opened specialising in cabbage and gristle and became briefly popular!

This reminds me of the YouTubers seeking out war-time food which most people hated at the time. “Bangers” were made out of the sweepings of the abattoir floors mixed with cereal and water, causing them to explode when cooked, hence the name. Cheap and nasty.

Apart from the fact that they would probably be illegal now, standards have risen and, although the British still love a sausage, they want something non-explosive. Supermarkets now all sell what they call “premium sausages”, or something similar, while their regular sausages are what the WWII housewife could only dream of..

 

And although there are many cafés and pubs offering “bangers and mash” on their menus, the sausages are a lot better than war-time bangers. In fact, it is actually more common now to see the dish described as “sausages and mash”. Any café selling real “bangers” wouldn’t last the week.

So, what is the dish “bangers and mash? Simply, fried sausages served with mashed potato and an onion gravy. This is a simple, filling dish which is easy for the café or pub to prepare in large quantities. The sausages today will range from decently well made and seasoned to specialist artisan sausages.

And not all sausages are served with mash. 25 years ago, I regularly ate lunch in this pub near London University, where I worked.

 

 

In fact, I ate there the day before I left for China. Here is the menu from that day - it changed regularly.

 

 

Also, in 2019, I ate this traditional London sausage from a street food stall. Delicious.

 

 

 

For those wishing to taste real, traditional, regional sausages (and some newbies) made by real human beings here is a round up up some of the best types.

 

Cumberland

 

Probably the best known traditional sausage is the Cumberland sausage. This has been around for about 500 years and is noted for its special shape. Rather than being formed into links, it is usually one long sausage, coiled into a spiral. In 2011, the “Traditional Cumberland Sausage”, to give it its official name was awarded Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status, meaning its specifications and area of production are legally protected..

Cumberland sausage consists of coarsely minced pork, seasoned with black pepper, nutmeg, cayenne, thyme and sage (we don’t use herbs and spices?). The meat content is a minimum 85%, often higher. But the word to look for is that “Traditional”. Some supermarkets do sell mass-produced Cumberland sausage without that word and meat content can fall as low as 45%. Without “Traditional”, there is no protection.

 

 Image by Andy / Andrew Fogg; licenced under CC BY 2.0

Lincolnshire

 

Lincoln sausages are also made with coarsely chopped pork and breadcrumbs / rusk, but this time flavoured with sage, pepper and onion. Minimum meat content is 70% and natural casings are used. Sulphite is is usually added as a preservative (450 ppm maximum).

Image by Chris Mear; licenced under CC BY 2.0

 

Oxford

 

Oxford sausages date back to the 18th century. The John Nott’s sausages in the menu I show above are a type of Oxford sausage made from a recipe on page 488 of his book, “The Cook's and Confectioner's Dictionary: Or, the Accomplish'd Housewife's Companion” (link to digitised edition), published in 1723 (not 1720 as the menu claims). However, they were truly popularised by being included in Mrs Beeton’s “Book of Household Management” (link to downloadable version, recipe on page 837) published in 1861.

 

John Nott's recipe for Oxford Sausages

 

Quote

837. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of pork, fat and lean, without skin or gristle;
1 lb. of lean veal, 1 lb. of beef suet, 1/2 lb. of bread crumbs, the
rind of 1/2 lemon, 1 small nutmeg, 6 sage-leaves, 1 teaspoonful of
pepper, 2 teaspoonfuls of salt, 1/2 teaspoonful of savory, 1/2
teaspoonful of marjoram.

_Mode_.--Chop the pork, veal, and suet finely together, add the bread
crumbs, lemon-peel (which should be well minced), and a small nutmeg
grated. Wash and chop the sage-leaves very finely; add these with the
remaining ingredients to the sausage-meat, and when thoroughly mixed,
either put the meat into skins, or, when wanted for table, form it into
little cakes, which should be floured and fried.

_Average cost_, for this quantity, 2s. 6d.

_Sufficient_ for about 30 moderate-sized sausages.

_Seasonable_ from October to March.

Isobel Beeton's Book of Household Management 

 

Unusually, the Oxford sausages are traditionally made from a 50:50 mixture of pork and veal and are highly spiced with pepper, cloves, mace, sage, and nutmeg and flavoured with lemon and herbs. In recent years, their has been a movement against veal by the animal rights mob, so some makers, though thankfully not all, are substituting lamb or going for 100% pork.

 

Image by Kaihsu Tai; licenced under CC BY-SA 3.0

 

Newmarket

 

Newmarket pork sausages are, surprisingly, from the horse-racing town of Newmarket in Suffolk, England. Their are two varieties, each made by a different Newmarket family. In 2012, the two were awarded joint PGI protection.

 

Image by Allexbrn; licenced under  CC BY-SA 3.0

 

Manchester

 

Manchester sausages are made from pork, traditionally flavoured with white pepper, mace, cloves, ginger, sage, basil and nutmeg.

 

Marylebone

 

The Marylebone sausage is named for Marylebone, an area in north-central London. They are seasoned with mace, ginger and sage.

 

Gloucester

 

Traditionally, Gloucester sausages are made using pork from the rare-breed pig, Gloucester Old Spot and are flavoured with sage. In 2010, the Gloucestershire Old Spots Pig Breeders' Club was awarded Traditional Speciality Guaranteed status by the EU, meaning that pork labelled as Old Spot, must be the real deal.

 

Lorne Sausage

 

This might be stretching the definition of sausage a step too far for some, but in Scotland, we are proud of our beloved Lorne sausage (even if we rarely call it that). It is made with beef and spiced with black pepper, nutmeg and coriander seed. Unlike most sausages it is not cased in intestines, natural or synthetic, but pressed into a square shape and chilled. It is then cut into square slices. So, in most of Scotland, it is referred to as “square sausage”.

Square sausage is usually used as part of a full-Scottish breakfast, but also (my favourite) often served sliced in a bread roll with ketchup or brown sauce. Its shape and size make it a perfect fit.

There is a fascinating article here giving the history of the Lorne sausage and the origin of its name (plus a recipe).

 

Public domain image

 

Black Pudding

 

Many countries have their versions of blood sausage and black pudding is the British one. Well, actually at least two. Scottish and English are slightly different.

The name “black pudding” causes some confusion. It shouldn’t. The original meaning of “pudding” was

 

Quote

1.I.1 a. I.1.a The stomach or one of the entrails of a pig, sheep, or other animal, stuffed with a mixture of minced meat, suet, oatmeal, seasoning, etc., boiled and kept till needed; a kind of sausage

 

c 1305 Land Cokayne 59 Þe pinnes beþ fat podinges Rich met to princez and kinges.

OED

 

Today, the word retains its original meaning mainly in Scotland and Northern England.

 

Black pudding meaning a “kind of sausage made of blood and suet, sometimes with the addition of flour or meal” appeared in the early 16th century.

 

Both are made with pig’s blood and oatmeal, but the English variety contains large lumps of fat. It is also spiced. Scottish black pudding does contain fat, but it is finely ground and seldom visible. English black pudding is spiced (see recipe below), whereas Scottish is not, leaving the natural flavours to dominate.

Opinion varies as to which is the better, with participants in the discussion split mostly by region of birth. I prefer the Scottish version, not for any puerile nationalism or prejudice, but because it is clearly better!

 

Stornoway black pudding, from the capital of the Outer Hebrides island of Lewis and Harris in Scotland’s far-west, has PGI status and is widely considered the best of the Scottish type.

 

Image by me.
 

There are many other British sausages. Pork and apple is a favourite and I regularly ate venison sausages from this man's farm shop. Most European sausages are also easily available in supermarkets. The best place for British sausages, however, remains good old traditional butchers'shops. Sadly, a dying breed.

 

If you roll into a British café today, unless you are very unlucky, you are not going to be met by a plate of congealing fat and detonating pink slime. You are more likely to find something like this. Enjoy!

Edited June 5, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[Susanwusan]

On 5/28/2021 at 3:12 AM, mgaretz said:

 

 

Bangers and mash with gravy - yum!  Perhaps taxi driver's background wasn't English?  Anyway, we even had a cartoon called Bangers and Mash, back in the 80s.

[liuzhou]

34 minutes ago, Susanwusan said:

 

Bangers and mash with gravy - yum!  Perhaps taxi driver's background wasn't English?  Anyway, we even had a cartoon called Bangers and Mash, back in the 80s.

A little off topic, but @mgaretz did specify a 'black taxi'. To be licenced as a 'black cab' driver, you have to pass a highly demanding examination - the toughest licencing system in the world for taxis. It normally takes three years to study for it - equivalent to a university degree course.

Basically, candidates have to memorise 32 routes within London and know all the "streets, squares, clubs, hospitals, hotels, theatres, embassies, government and public buildings, railway stations, police stations, courts, diplomatic buildings, important places of worship, cemeteries, crematoria, parks and open spaces, sports and leisure centres, places of learning, restaurants and historic buildings" within a 1/2 mile of each of those routes.

I'd say the chances of any licenced black taxi driver not knowing what 'bangers and mash' are is electron-microscope-requiringly miniscule, irrespective of their original nationality.

(Bolding of 'restaurants' by me, in a desperate attempt to include something culinary! List from Wikipedia here.)

Edited June 5, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[KennethT]

I found it interesting that the sausage restaurant listed the meat content percentage.

[liuzhou]

Just now, KennethT said:

I found it interesting that the sausage restaurant listed the meat content percentage.

 

Normal in the UK. Probably a statutory requirement.

[Kim Shook]

It was interesting seeing the Lorne sausage.  I never thought about it before, but I believe that's the first "loose" British sausage I've ever seen.  Everything I've ever seen and been offered has been in a link.  In the US breakfast sausage comes either "link" or "patty" and patty is, of course, just loose, spiced sausage meat.  

[liuzhou]

36 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

It was interesting seeing the Lorne sausage.  I never thought about it before, but I believe that's the first "loose" British sausage I've ever seen.  Everything I've ever seen and been offered has been in a link.  In the US breakfast sausage comes either "link" or "patty" and patty is, of course, just loose, spiced sausage meat.  

 

There are a very few others, but the Lorne is the most well-known.