A British Afternoon Tea
Afternoon tea is one of the most widely-recognised traits of the UK. What is an afternoon tea? How did it come about? What food is there is an afterno…
Tag: Food
Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is celebrated around the UK at the start of Lent. Learn all about the traditional food and events that take place on this day.
What Is Pimms?
Pimms is a British alcoholic drink that is. very popular in summer and most bars, cafés and restaurants will offer this.
Tips For Dining In The UK
The British can be very particular when it comes to dining at a restaurant. Hopefully these tips will help you feel more at ease! Reserve…
It’s Great British Bake Off Time!
For the best experience, we recommend viewing this post on our website. The definitions for words in bold and purple can be found at the…
My Favourite Restaurants around the World
I've been lucky enough to try the cuisines of many restaurants around the world. Take a look at my top five restaurants and why they are my favourite …
Pubs
Learn what a British pub is and why they are the cornerstone of social life in the UK. We've delve into the history of the pub whilst reviewing the ru…
British Supermarkets
Learn about the British food industry and which supermarkets you need to know for visting the UK as a tourist or for business.
Dinner Party Guidelines
Table manners are part of a culture and something you can only learn by experiencing them first-hand. Read our guide to table manners for a dinner par…
Traditional British Food
Take a look at the top 10 traditional British dishes and learn about their history as well as their recipes. We review the topic of food and countable…
Fish and chips grew in popularity following the first world war as it was one of the few foods that wasn’t rationed, so people could eat however much they wanted and since then, it’s become one of the most popular meals in the UK. You can find this in most pubs and British restaurants, but it’s normally eaten as takeaway food.
The fish is deep-fried in oil to create a batter and it’s served with chips on the side. The type of fish varies, but you’ll usually find haddock or cod as the main choice. British chips are thick cut, so not quite the same as fries. Traditionally, this is wrapped in newspaper and then served to the customer. Before eating, we pour vinegar over the dish and then tuck in. You may also find tartar sauce (another name for mayonnaise mixed with herbs) and mushy peas (garden peas mashed and mixed with mint and butter) on the side.Â
A traditional full English breakfast (also called a “fry-up†or “full Englishâ€) has fried eggs, sausages, back bacon, grilled tomatoes, baked beans, a slice of toast and fried mushrooms. Of course, with a cup of tea. You will find many variations of this breakfast with some offering more than these basic ingredients and some only offering a few.Â
The other British countries also have a take on this breakfast. The full Welsh breakfast includes cockles (a mollusc found on the beach) and laverbread (seaweed). The full Irish breakfast normally includes Irish soda bread and a full Scottish breakfast includes a tattie scone (mashed potato that is fried) and sometimes haggis (sheep’s pluck mixed with oats and spices).
Toad in the hole is an adaptation of a Yorkshire pudding. Rather than filling the individual holes in a muffin tin, the Yorkshire pudding batter is placed in a large dish and sausages are spread around in the batter. Once this has cooked, it’s served with gravy and sometimes mashed potatoes.
The history of the name “bangers and mash†dates back to world war one. With the strict rations in the UK at the time, meat wasn’t readily available, so when sausages were made there was very little meat content and a very high quantity of water or other fillers. This led to the likelihood that the sausage could burst (“bangâ€) at any moment when being cooked, hence the name bangers and mash.Â
A scotch egg is usually eaten as a light lunch or as part of a picnic. At the centre is a hard boiled egg, and this is then wrapped in sausage meat and topped with breadcrumbs. The entire scotch egg is then fried.Â
The history of the Scotch egg is unknown. There are many claims from different areas in the UK to the Scotch egg, so there is no definitive history. Nowadays, scotch eggs can be easily found in supermarkets as a “lunch snackâ€.
The sauce is normally made by mixing butter, beer, cheese, mustard and Worcestershire sauce in a pan then it’s poured over the toast and placed under the grill. There are many variations of this recipe, the main ones being different takes on this in each British country. The English rarebit uses wine instead of beer and the Scottish rarebit adds a slice of cheese on top of the melted cheese sauce.
As you can see, British food is very heavy and it’s usually eaten as the main course at dinner time. The best place to get British food is in the local pub and you don’t need to go very far in the UK to find a pub!
