The English food is not just potatoes as many people think! Okay, British people do eat a lot of potatoes but there are also a wide variety of different meals available.
What Exactly is British Food?
People are often shocked when they come to the UK and find a variety of different cuisine from all over the globe. I’m often asked about what British food actually is! What does it entail and where can we find it?
Usually English families offer a prepared meal served on a single plate for dinners. Here’s a list of common British food and where to sample them.
Fish and Chips
British people love fish and chips! This is literally chips, served alongside friend cod and also a side of ketchup, mushy peas or curry sauce (as seen in the main article feature photo). This can be brought all over the UK but is generally best near the seaside.
Gravy
Brits love gravy! They douse it over their hot dinners and it is a staple in most households. Gravy is a reduction of meat juices thickened up with flour or corn-starch. It is traditionally served in a jug and placed on the dinner table. It tends to be a rich sauce so people sparingly pour it onto their food. It’s worth a try and you can find good gravy being served in tons of places across London. Check online to find restaurants and pubs known for their good grub.
Yorkshire Pudding
This is an oblong shaped pudding made from flour, water and eggs. It’s hardly ever seasoned in my experience but the idea is to let the gravy do the talking. It is served as part of a main course, usually with beef, lamb or chicken. It can be dense or fluffy, depending on the chef but it usually tastes best alongside a roast dinner. If you like the sound of it, pop down to your local pub on a Sunday. They’re sure to have it!
Sticky Toffee Pudding
This is a rich, gooey desert oozing with toffee goodness. A very popular treat for most, it is definitely a dinner party staple. It’s made from pitted dates, butter, flour, sugar and eggs then baked for about 40 minutes to achieve the melt-in-your-mouth texture Brits love. Traditionally it’s served with cream or butterscotch sauce, but it can also be eaten with vanilla ice-cream (my preferred choice!).
Trifle
I’m not sure how British this is anymore as it’s associated with nannies and great aunts. It used to be a very popular after tea treat made up of layers. It is traditionally assembled and served in a curved glass or bowl, with a vanilla sponge at the bottom, then flavoured jelly (usually strawberry), chopped fruit pressed against the side of the glass, vanilla custard and then it’s topped with cream. It’s usually garnished with chopped fruit but there are so many modern (and tastier) variations of the dish so you’ll find some topped with chopped nuts or chocolate (yum!). You can easily pop into your local supermarket and grab a trifle but I’d suggest popping to a posh store like Waitrose as theirs is top notch.
Chicken Tikka Masala
This entry probably wasn’t expected, but did you know one of the most popular Indian food dishes actually is meant to have originated in the UK? Some believe that it was invented in the 1970s by a Bangladeshi chef in Glasgow, Scotland, who, in order to please a customer, added a mild tomato-cream sauce to his chicken tikka, which is pieces of boneless chicken marinated in yogurt and curry spices and served on a skewer, kebab-style. This is now one of the most popular dishes in the country/world!
Britain has a rich history of immigration from all over the world over the past century and this has really shaped modern British cuisine. You walk around any city centre and you can easily find food from all over the world which might come as a surprise – Japanese, Indian, Chinese, Italian, Korean etc.
Okay, this is slightly left field bit I couldn’t write a guide to British food without mentioning…
English Afternoon Tea
Yes, its true, British people drink a lot of tea! A popular social activity and trip for foreigners is to visit a hotel for English afternoon tea where you can enjoy tea, scones and cakes!
What is afternoon tea?
Afternoon tea is usually enjoyed at around 4pm in England. People usually eat:
scones with clotted cream and jam
sweet pastries and cakes
small finger sandwiches (called this because they are cut into long thin ‘fingers’)
and of course, they drink tea in delicate china cups!
How did the tradition of afternoon tea start?
Although tea drinking in England became popular in the 1660s, the tradition of ‘afternoon tea’ did not appear until 1840. Anne, Dutchess of Bedford, asked that a pot of tea, small sandwiches and cakes were brought to her room in the afternoon because she became hungry in the long gap between lunch and dinner. She started to invite friends to join her and this is how the tradition began! It soon became a fashionable social event and upper-class women would take a pause in their day to have afternoon tea with friends (sometimes they even changed into smart clothing for the event!).
Do English people still have afternoon tea today?
Unfortunately, the tradition of afternoon tea is not very common any longer. These days, people might just have a cup of tea with a small cake or biscuit in the afternoon and old-fashioned afternoon tea is just an occasional luxury (for example, a birthday treat)!
Where can I go for afternoon tea?
Thankfully, it is still possible to enjoy a lovely afternoon tea in many places in London and the UK. There are many hotels in central London which serve afternoon tea every day, for example the Ritz, the Savoy or the Strand Palace Hotel. Harrods and Fortnum and Mason are also famous for their afternoon tea. If you are planning to travel around the UK, you could also visit a small, pretty, old-fashioned tearoom in Devon or Cornwall and order a famous Devonshire cream tea (this is one of my favourite things to do in the UK!).
