traditional british food

Traditional British Food


Lucrare pentru obtinerea diplomei de

atestat la limba engleza 2010

Profesor Coordonator: Realizat de:

Simerea Mihaela Sandu Alina-Elena

Clasa a-XII-a E

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Tabel of contents:

1. Introduction

2. A Brief History of the British cuisine3. British regional cuisine

4. Traditional cuisine

4.1. Basic ingredients and traditional cuisine4.2. Drinks

5. Regional British meals

6. Personal Conclusion

7. Bibliography

1. Introduction

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British cuisine has carved a niche for itself in the hearts of food connoisseurs all over the world. British food has evolved considerably incorporating the cooking styles and cuisines of other countries yet at the same time retaining its originality. Each region of Britain has it own characteristic culinary traditions that have played a major role in enriching the history of British cuisine. For instance, the pork pies have been identified with the culinary customs of the shires, whereas in Cornwall, the pasty constituted an important part of lunch of the workers. Some cuisines in Britain although associated with particular localities have attained a national recognition, like the very famous Yorkshire pudding.

A great part of my spare time, I have spent it watching Jamie Oliver’s TV shows about preparing traditional British dishes. Because of that, when I saw this task I decided to chose it to find more information about food in United Kingdom and offer the opportunity for others to find out new information.

To emphasize my way of thinking I consider that I have chosen the subject “British food” because had always been captivated by the flavor of any dish that exists and I have been interested in anything that has to do with Great Britain.

Also, I consider that the food is subject with a major importance and this is not only because if you do not eat properly you cannot have a healthy life but also because food is the support of everything that lives around us. Another controversial aspect that make me chosen this subject is the way that British food had been influenced in history by others way of cooking.

Remarkable is the fact that the GB is a place where food and meals are an important part of people lives. In the first place Britain is a country where everyone respects the time of a meal, and of course everyone eats or tries to eat at the certain time. Secondly people of this part of the world consider food to be an important part of any event of festival. This is not only because food is indispensable but, also because an event or a feast that has a little of everything brings people together.

All in all, the utmost aspect which made me chosen this subject was the fact that I love cooking and I love learning new things about food.

In conclusion I believe that food is the most important thing in life because without it we cannot live but be careful: EAT TO LIVE, DO NOT LIVE TO EAT!!1

1. A brief history of the British cuisine

1 Anthelme- Brillat- Savarin

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British cuisine has always been multicultural, a pot pourri of eclectic styles. In ancient

times influenced by the Romans and in medieval times the French. When the Frankish Normans

invaded, they brought with them the spices of the east: cinnamon, saffron, mace, nutmeg, pepper,

ginger. Sugar came to England at that time, and was considered a spice -- rare and expensive.

Before the arrival of cane sugars, honey and fruit juices were the only sweeteners. The few

Medieval cookery books that remain record dishes that use every spice in the larder, and chefs

across Europe saw their task to be the almost alchemical transformation of raw ingredients into

something entirely new (for centuries the English aristocracy ate French food) which they felt

distinguished them from the peasants.

During Victorian times good old British stodge mixed with exotic spices from all over the

Empire. And today despite being part of Europe we've kept up our links with the countries of the

former British Empire, now united under the Commonwealth.

One of the benefits of having an empire is that we did learn quite a bit from the

colonies. From East Asia (China) we adopted tea (and exported the habit to India), and from

India we adopted curry-style spicing, we even developed a line of spicy sauces including

ketchup, mint sauce, Worcestershire sauce and deviled sauce to indulge these tastes. Today it

would be fair to say that curry has become a national dish.

Among English cakes and pastries, many are tied to the various religious

holidays of the year. Hot Cross Buns are eaten on Good Friday, Simnel Cake is for Mothering

Sunday, Plum Pudding for Christmas, and Twelfth Night Cake for Epiphany.

Unfortunately a great deal of damage was done to British cuisine during

the two world wars. Britain is an island and supplies of many goods became short. The war effort

used up goods and services and so less were left over for private people to consume. Ships

importing food stuffs had to travel in convoys and so they could make fewer journeys. During

the Second World War food rationing began in January 1940 and was lifted only gradually after

the war. The British tradition of stews, pies and breads, according to the taste buds

of the rest of the world, went into terminal decline. What was best in England was only that

which showed the influence of France, and so English food let itself become a gastronomic joke

and the French art of Nouvell Cuisine was adopted.

2. British regional cuisine

In the late 1980's, British cuisine started to look for a new direction. Disenchanted with the

overblown (and under-nourished) Nouvelle Cuisine, chefs began to look a little closer to home

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for inspiration. Calling on a rich (and largely ignored) tradition, and utilising many diverse and

interesting ingredients, the basis was formed for what is now known as modern British food.

Game has enjoyed resurgence in popularity although it always had a central role in the British

diet, which reflects both the abundant richness of the forests and streams and an old aristocratic

prejudice against butchered meats.

In London especially, one can not only experiment with the best of British, but the best of

the world as there are many distinct ethnic cuisines to sample, Chinese, Indian, Italian and Greek

restaurants are amongst the most popular.

Although some traditional dishes such as roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, Cornish

pasties, steak and kidney pie, bread and butter pudding, treacle tart, spotted dick or fish and

chips, remain popular, there has been a significant shift in eating habits in Britain. Rice and pasta

have accounted for the decrease in potato consumption and the consumption of meat has also

fallen. Vegetable and salad oils have largely replaced the use of butter.

Roast beef is still the national culinary pride. It is called a "joint," and is served at

midday on Sunday with roasted potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, two vegetables, a good strong

horseradish, gravy, and mustard.

Today there is more emphasis on fine, fresh ingredients in the better

restaurants and markets in the UK offer food items from all over the world. Salmon, Dover sole,

exotic fruit, Norwegian prawns and New Zealand lamb are choice items. Wild fowl and game are

other specialties on offer.

In fact fish is still important to the English diet, we are after all an island

surrounded by some of the richest fishing areas of the world. Many species swim in the cold

offshore waters: sole, haddock, hake, plaice, cod (the most popular choice for fish and chips),

turbot, halibut, mullet and John Dory. Oily fishes also abound (mackerel, pilchards, and herring)

as do crustaceans like lobster and oysters. Eel, also common, is cooked into a wonderful pie with

lemon, parsley, and shallots, all topped with puff pastry.

3. Traditional cuisine

3.1. Basic ingredients and traditional cuisine

Meat – The British people consume regularly all types of meat: pork, rabbits or some wild bird species. All of these may be served in restaurants, but, also, fish (salmon, cod, trout) is present.

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Vegetables- potato is the basic vegetable in Britain, used since the earliest times, when it was the principal food for poor families, then following cucumbers, cabbage, onions, peas.

Fruit - mainly apples grown throughout the country, but also berries, which grow smoothly thanks to the cooler climate

Traditional meal is rarely eaten nowadays, apart from Sundays. A recent survey has proved that most people in Britain eat curry! Rice or pasta dishes are now favoured as a “British Dinner”.

The Sundays Roast Dinner

Sunday lunch time is a typical time to eat the traditional Sunday Roast. Traditionally, it consists of roast meat (cooked in the oven for about two hours) two different kind of vegetables and potatoes with a Yorkshire pudding. The most common meats consumed are beef, lamb or pork, chicken is also popular. Beef is eaten with hot horseradish sauce, pork with sweet apple sauce and lamb with green mint sauce. Gravy is poured over the meat.

Beefsteak, Oyster, and Kidney Pudding: Oysters may seem unlikely in this meat

pudding, but their great abundance in the Victorian age and earlier eras inspired cooks to find

ways to incorporate them creatively in many different recipes. This steamed pudding combines

the meats with mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, and Worcestershire, then wraps the whole in a suet

pastry.

Black Pudding: invented in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis black pudding is often served as

part of a traditional full English breakfast.

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Cock-a-Leekie : This Scottish specialty can be classified as a soup or a stew. It combines

beef, chicken, leeks, and prunes to unusual and spectacular ends.

Crown Roast Lamb: The crown roast encircles a stuffing of apples, bread crumbs, onion,

celery, and lemon.

Eccles Cake : Puff pastry stuffed with a spicy currant filling.

Hasty Pudding: A simple and quick (thus the name) steamed pudding of milk, flour,

butter, eggs, and cinnamon.

Irish Stew: An Irish stew always has a common base of lamb, potatoes, and onion. It

could contain any number of other ingredients, depending on the cook.

Likky Pie Leeks: pork, and cream baked in puff pastry.

Mincemeat: Beef suet is used to bind chopped nuts, apples, spices, brown sugar, and

brandy into a filling for pies or pasties - not to be confused with minced meat!.

Mulligatawny Soup: What this soup is depends on who is cooking it. Originally a south

Indian dish2, it has been adopted and extensively adapted by the British. Mullitgatawny contains

chicken or meat or vegetable stock mixed with yogurt or cheese or coconut milk and is seasoned

with curry and various other spices. It is sometimes served with a separate bowl of rice.

Syllabub: In the seventeenth century, a milkmaid would send a stream of new, warm milk

directly from a cow into a bowl of spiced cider or ale. A light curd would form on top with a

lovely whey underneath. This, according to Elizabeth David, was the original syllabub. Today's

syllabub is more solid (its origins can also be traced to the seventeenth century, albeit to the

upper classes) and mixes sherry and/or brandy, sugar, lemon, nutmeg, and double cream into a

custard-like dessert or an eggnog-like beverage, depending upon the cook.

Trifle: Layers of alcohol-soaked sponge cake alternate with fruit, custard and whipped

cream, some people add jelly, but that's for kids.

Welsh Faggots: Pig's liver is made into meatballs with onion, beef suet, bread crumbs,

and sometimes a chopped apple. Faggots used to be made to use up the odd parts of a pig after it

had been slaughtered.

2 The name means pepper water in tamil

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Welsh Rabbit (or Rarebit): Cheese is grated and melted with milk or ale. Pepper, salt,

butter, and mustard are then added. The mix is spread over toast and baked until "the cheese

bubbles and becomes brown in appetizing-looking splashes"3.

Westmoreland Pepper Cake: Fruitcake that gets a distinctive kick from lots of black

pepper. Other ingredients include honey, cloves, ginger, and walnuts.

Fish and chips is fish fried in egg crust, served with fried potatoes, in most cases the code is used, fresh or smoked, add salt, with vinegar. In a classic way it is served in paper.

Shepherd’s pie or cottage pie is the most popular pie served, consists in minced meat, lamb or beef, mixed with onions and covered with mashed potatoes and then kept in oven 45-60 minutes.

Yorkshire pudding was invented during the war, when it was a food shortage, in that time it was made marking pudding with fat from the roast meat left from Sunday.

Another dish, resulting in debris but very tasty, is Bubble and Squeak, made of scraps of potatoes, cabbage and roast cold.

British import much of its food products, and I believe they have learned to live relatively cheaply.

3.2. Drinks

3 Jane Grigson in English Food, London: Penguin, 1977

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Bitter is the traditional British beer (also known as ale). It is quite strong and leaves a bitter taste in your mouth after drinking. It is usually served at room temperature. Light ales (or mild brews), contain fewer hops and are less alcoholic; these are popular in central and north-eastern England. Strong ales have a high alcoholic content and a strong flavour. Real ale is a term used for a beer which brewed from natural ingredients (hops, malted barley, yeast and pure water) and stored in a wooden barrel (a cask) until it is served. For more information, see the website of CAMRA.4

Stout is dark brown (almost black) and tastes a little bitter. The most popular example is the Irish drink called Guinness. You may need to wait some time for this drink. Do not be surprised if the barman starts serving someone else before finishing pouring your drink.

Lager is a lighter- coloured type of imported beer, and is normally served cold. Examples are Fosters Ice, Stella Artois or Becks. When you order a drink, don't just ask for a glass of beer: ask for bitter, stout or lager, or ask for a particular brand name.State if you want a pint or a half pint (if you don't say, it will be assumed that you want a pint). A pint is about half a litre.

There may be a choice between bottled beer or draught beer (served by tap from a barrel).

OTHER ALCOHOLIC DRINKS

Herefordshire Cider

Wine is an increasingly popular drink in the UK and can be bought in pubs as well as in wine bars, although the choice in pubs may be limited. The most common option is to ask for a glass of the house wine (red or white).

Cider is a traditional English alcoholic drink made from apples. It is also known as scrumpy. It may be sweet or dry. You normally order a pint or half pint of cider.

Whisky is a strong drink produced in Scotland and in Ireland. It can be served on the rocks (with ice). You normally order a shot of whisky in England and Wales, or a dram in Scotland (US measures such as a jigger or gill are not used in the UK). The volume of whisky used for this measure can vary from one place to another, but must be shown on a sign in the pub (it is normally a multiple of 5ml).Alcopops are bottled drinks which may taste of lemonade but are actually alcoholic. Examples are a Smirnoff Ice or a Bacardi Breezer.

Drinks are often mixed (known as a cocktail). For example, common mixed drinks are:Gin and tonic; Whisky and coke; Rum and coke; Vodka and orange; Vodka and tonic; Bloody Mary (this is vodka and tomato juice).SOFT DRINKS

4 The Campaign for Real Ale

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Non-alcholic drinks are known as soft drinks.Soft drinks may be still (not fizzy) or sparkling (fizzy or carbonated). Popular still

drinks include still mineral water and fruit juices (especially apple, orange or pineapple juice).Tomato juice is sometimes served with tobasco sauce or Worcester sauce.

The most popular sparkling drinks is Coke or Diet Coke (you may get either Coke or Pepsi when you ask for this).

If you ask for lemonade in a pub you will get the fizzy drink5.Bitter lemon is a similar drink that you can order which is served from a small

bottle.Ginger beer6 or ginger ale are not alcoholic, despite the sound of the names.Other sparkling fruit drinks include Appletize or Orangina. Sparkling mineral water7 or a tonic water8 are also available.

4. Regional British meals

In many European countries it is normal to have a long break in the middle of the day when all members of the family return to their houses to eat together. This is not very common in Britain because normally it is a long way from the place of work or school to the home. Consequently the British people tend to have a big breakfast before they go to work and the meal at midday is not spent with the members of the family but with workmates or schoolmates. Lunch is normally eaten between 12.30 pm and 1.30pm. Most people finish work at five thirty. It often takes at least an hour to get home from the school or workplace so people tend to eat their evening meal or "dinner" between 6.30pm and 8pm.5 In the US, lemonade is still and pop is fizzy6 Canada Dry7 Perrier8 Schweppes

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On Sundays people don't have to work so they take the opportunity eat together with their family. Sunday lunch is usually the best meal of the week and many of the meals which are considered typically British are eaten for Sunday lunch. For example roast beef and yorkshire pudding.

This is a typical British family eating together on Sunday.After lunch the father will smoke his pipe and read the newspaper sitting on his favourite

armchair while his wife washes the dishes. The children will play traditional English games such

as hopscotch, skipping or doctors and nurses.

Although everyone in Britain understands that "breakfast" is the first meal of the day. There is a lot of confusion about the words for other meals such as "dinner, lunch, tea, high tea , elevenses, brunch, supper" and if you ask a British person what these words mean, most of them will give you a different answer according to what part of the country they are from or from what social class they are from. Another example of this is the pronunciation of the word "scones"9.

Afternoon tea

5 o'clock tea story.

The story goes that a certain Anna Maria Stanhope, Duchess of Bedford and one of the favorites of Queen Victoria, who was the First, after four o`clock, to drink tea with biscuits. He liked the idea briefly and invited friends to join him for lunch Frugal, filled with plenty of tea. Along cakes, cookies, butter spreads, sweets of all kinds, including some exotic flavors. The atmosphere was pleasant enough, and guests felt great, so it was not long until other ladies takes the idea and take the first steps toward tradition. A pretentious tradition with complicated rules.

Five o'clock tea is a typical British tradition and consists of tea and cakes, cookies, etc. 5 o'clock tea often is confused with "high tea" which is specific to English. High tea was a substantial meal, which included cold or warm meat, bread, butter, pickles, cheese and of course, tea.

I think five o'clock tea is more interesting than the traditional and high tea is different from other countries. For example, in Romania there that tradition that I could call a great since then at five o'clock that serves everyone tea biscuit with friends discussing various topics in a friendly atmosphere.

9 A type of cake eaten with Devonshire clotted cream, strawberry jam and cups of tea, known as a "cream tea"

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5. Personal Conclusion

To offer a personal conclusion I believe that food is the most important aspect of life that influences us. Firstly no one can live without food and that's why we learned to cook to survive. But while evolving different recipes I discovered that we have seemed more delicious than others, and through this way I learned to eat only what we love.

But even if this is completely true, food do not have to be a proposal in life but a way of surviving. With regard to the way food is cooked in Great Britain I think that in Britain is a special place where flavors of many countries had encounter.

Even British cuisine does not say much she give to Great Britain world famous chefs. Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay are among the top-known chef in the world. Blumenthal and Ramsay hold even the three-Michelin-rated restaurants, world peak of refinement.

Great Britain is a place where everyone can enjoy food because here the meals are an important part of people life.

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British cuisine is not recommended for those who want to follow a healthy lifestyle and dietary essential because it is too consistent in calories. In recent years trying to revive modern British cuisine with Mediterranean and Asian influences, but so far without great success. For ordinary people, British cuisine will always be similar based on substantial breakfast of beans or fried fish served with potatoes.

To put in a nutshell, I think I have learned some important aspects about “British food” that had influenced my vision that I had about Great Britain.

6. Bibliography

Great British Food author Heather Hay FrenchThe Diary Book of British Food author Ebury PressBritish food an Extraordinary thousand Years of History Colin Spencer, Elizabeth MartynFood & Bar MagazineGood Food Magazine Kitchen Secrets MagazineBody + Soul MagazineWeb Bibliography: www.wikipedia.org

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http://www.wikipedia.org/


www.artline.ro

www.britishoppe.ro

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