British cuisine is not just any cuisine. It is comprised of a very specific set of cooking methods and traditions associated with the millennia-old United Kingdom. Often referred to as, “unfussy dishes made with quality local ingredients, paired with sauces that are simple and yet accentuate flavor, rather than conceal it”, British cuisine is at once unique, elegant, and yet quite simple.
British cuisine is the amalgamation of influences from the many cultures who have settled in the small isle of Great Britain. Hence, the cuisine has produced a plethora of hybrid dishes. The Anglo-Indian Chicken Tikka Masala is one prime example, and we will be offering that recipe here on this page.
(Photo Attributed to Author: Charles Haynes from Bangalore, India)
Fish and chips, a globally popular “take-away” food of the United Kingdom, was a favorite meal of the Beatles. And, when the Beatles launched their famous “invasion” of the USA in 1964, they were often found, in between concerts, at an American diner (with security keeping the screaming fans at bay, of course) dining on the American version of this classic British dish which they loved so much. Reports have it, they thought our American style of preparing their beloved fish and chips was “bloody good!“The indigenous Celts with their historically early animal breeding and agricultural practices made possible a very wide variety of food ingredients for the people of Britain – long before many other cultures had such a luxury.
The Anglo-Saxons developed savory herb and spices stewing methods, with many meat choices to add, long before such methods, ingredients, and practices became available and common to the rest of European cultures. Added to that, in the Middle Ages, the Norman conquest introduced exotic spices into England.
All these factors contribute to British cuisine being perhaps the most storied, and long-standing traditional way of cooking in the modern world. And the style of eating is also traditionally quite formal, compared to many other cultures. The world-famous “tea and crumpets” lunch, or mid-afternoon snack, for instance, originated in Imperial Britain. And this culinary practice has been adopted by scores of other cultures, one especially of note being South Africa, which Britain colonized for over a century.
While the world-renowned “fish and chips” dish and the British “full breakfast” are what British cuisine
British Traditional Sunday Roast Meal (Photo Attributed to and Copyrighted by: adactio)
has been for the most part known for, British foods are far more inclusive and varied than given credit for. Dishes like Steak and Kidney Pie, Shepherd’s Pie, the formal Sunday Roast, Bangers and Mash, just to mention a few, exhibit the considerable array and variety of British cuisine.
The variety is also expanded and defined by regions. Dishes like Cornish Pasties, Cumberland Sausage, Welsh Cakes, Yorkshire pudding, and Arbroath Smokie are products that reflect the cultural and regional concentrations of Anglo-English, Welsh, and Scottish peoples.
For your convenience, the recipes we are offering are listed below in alphabetical order. Click on whatever catches your fancy, and you will be taken to a page that has just that one recipe on it, in print-friendly format.
So off we go now, to Jolly old England, for a blimey good spot of …
British Cuisine!
British Sunday Roast (perhaps Great Britain’s most famous meal)
Fish and Chips with Mushy Peas
Kedgeree (smoked fish in rice with curry, cream, parsley and eggs)
Come back soon and often, and leave a comment if there is a British dish you’d like us to include!
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