My answer to that question would be no but then I suppose I would say that!
I was watching a clip of an interview hosted by the late Eammon Andrews featuring actor Vincent Price and agony aunt Clare Rayner who were talking about traditional British fare. I'm well aware that British cusiine has always had a bit of a reputation as being er, not that great. I don't know why because I was brought up on it and I always thought it was fab. I was a very picky eater as a child but my mum knew that if she made some British classics, I'd wolf it down in a flash. So no I don't believe that British food is always bland and boring - but then as with any dish, it all depends on who's made it.
As a British woman now living in America, I still get told how awful British cuisine is with just one couple saying they really enjoyed it when they made a trip to Britain! Living ourt here, tradition British food is real comfort stuff for me, and many of the dishes and baked goodies that I make for my annual Bonfire Night party always go down well with my non-British guests.
So I would very much like to hear everyone's honest opinion on this subject? Do you think British cuisine has improved over the years? Was it always as bad as everyone said it was?
Those who live outside of Britain and Ireland, I'd love to hear your thoughts as well.
Here's the second part of the interview. It was fascinating and learned a great deal even though I was around during the seventies (born 1974!)
Nowt wrong with traditional British grub. We like our plain food in our house but I know for many people, whether they're British or not, it's not really their thing. Not nowadays when most people are very adventurous when it comes to trying other cuisines.
Although I was born in the UK I spent many years living abroad, only returning to see relatives. I lived in countries where the food was much more adventurous shall we say with big, bold flavours. So when I returned home I was always a bit disappointed by the lacklustre food. But I'm very happy to say that British cuisine has changed an awful lot over the years, and I think some of that has to do with influences from other countries. We're no longer afreaid to experiment and try other flavours and cuisines as well as use more herbs and spices in order to liven up what could be rather boring dishes. So yes, i think we've come a long way.
British cuisine is fab and has vastly improved over the years which is probably down to influences from other styles of cooking. But in my opinion it doesn't deserve the bad reptutaion it has around the world.
It really does depend on who's doing the cooking. Regardless of the cuisine or the dish, everyone has their own way of cooking things. Some better than others. But I don't think it's fair to write off an entire cuisine just because you had something once and it wasn't great. Us British are known for our roast dinners and that is definitely something to write home about.
I went to London in 2019 and I didn't have any problem with the food. It's true that in America we don't always talk very flatteringly about British food but I can now honestly say that I don't see anything wrong with it. In fact I was stunned by the number of different cuisines you can get out that. England is a much smaller place compared to America. But I would say that Britain has more variety in different types of cuisine than anywhere in the States.
One thing I did notice though is that you guys don't seem to have many English restaurants which I don't understand why. But if you go into a lot of the pubs you can get all kinds of traditional food like shepherds pie, sausage and mash and fish and chips.