• southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    89
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    8 months ago

    The meme is funny :)

    That being said, the only UK foods I’ve had were made by expats here in the states. None of it was bland, with the exception of breakfast beans, “because they’re meant to be mild to start your day” as I was told by a lovely liverpudlian.

    She would do fish and chips, and the batter was well seasoned. Not heavily seasoned, but some pepper, a little paprika, and a bit of onion powder to give it some aromatic kick. Well balanced, and imo, as good as any of the southern fried fish recipes I’ve had.

    The chips were obviously just salted and vinegar used per person.

    But when we did pot luck at work, she would bring in what she called “good english food”, which included some curry a few times.

    But her shepherd’s pie? Holy hell, that was some great stuff. She said it was really cottage pie because it was beef usually. But it had the usual pepper, onion, garlic, and herbs.

    And the other expats I ate with were similar. Maybe different amounts of a given herb or spice, but it was in there.

    I think the UK food thing is a meme in itself, and likely arose the way things usually do, with the majority of cooks just being bad cooks, rather than representative of a cuisine or the way things are done properly in that country.

    • MY_ANUS_IS_BLEEDING@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      74
      arrow-down
      6
      ·
      8 months ago

      The reputation comes from the US military being stationed in the UK during the height of WW2 rationing when there was an extremely limited list of ingredients to cook with. They were unable to associate a country under an attempted siege from U-boats with a reduced supply of food.

      We do have a love of beige food at times, but it’s essentially our version of chicken tendies.

        • Aggravationstation@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          17
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          8 months ago

          Boomers made that bland war time food linger. They were children during and just after WW2 so it was part of their childhood nostalgia and they fed it to their own kids. Also we’ve had Indian/ Chinese restaurants in the UK for a while but they were mostly just in major cities at first so the average person still had little exposure to foreign or exotic food until the late 1970s/ early 1980s.

          • exocrinous@startrek.website
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            8 months ago

            Boomers weren’t children during WWII. Boomer means baby boomer, as in someone born during the baby boom. The baby boom happened after the war ended.

          • june@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            8 months ago

            My ex mother in law and her mom both can’t eat any food that’s not a certain level of bland. Too much of any spice at all and they set it aside like an autistic kid with arfid. Which… come to think of it…

            • lightnegative@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              edit-2
              8 months ago

              Yep, this sums up everyone I know over 60 that is descended from British -immigrants- sorry expats.

              Actual British people coming over now that still sound British seem to have much more refined taste. BIR-style curries are indeed very popular vs bland British “stew” / casserole

              • John_McMurray@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                edit-2
                8 months ago

                man if you make stew right it’s the most flavourful thing out there. half a bottle of red wine, couple cans crushed tomatos, chop up half your intended vegetables( Carrot, potato, onion, green onion stems, parsnips and celery for me), brown the beef, dump it all in except the other half of your vegetables, bring the level up with strong beef broth till everything is covered, and simmer covered till it all except the beef dissolves into a brown gravy, then add the other half of your vegetables and serve when they are cooked. Bay leaves and rosemary and thyme and pepper of course too. Garlic. Usually enough salt from the beef broth.

          • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            8 months ago

            I went to the the UK when I was a teenager pre 9/11 and I remember the food being amazing imo.

            But honestly I love savory food that just needs a pinch of salt to make it pop so maybe I’m the problem too.

          • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            8 months ago

            Also as an American we don’t really have room to talk. Yes there’s the iconic southern foods but even then, grits are bland and meh. But for the most part a lot of traditional American food needed to have spices rediscovered. It seems like for a long time our attitude was to use sugar, pre ground pepper, and maybe salt as seasoning for something that had any good texture cooked out of it.

        • Dasnap@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          10
          ·
          8 months ago

          We also had rationing for a good while longer than other countries after the wars (right into the mid-50s), so we have a whole generation who were pretty much raised with limited food options. That kind of national trauma sticks around and took a while to shake off.

    • astreus@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      8 months ago

      My favourite “traditional” English meal is a good Steak and Kidney pie, made with an ale sauce. Seasoned with lots of pepper, Worcestershire sauce (anchovy sauce), onion and stock. Absolutely delicious.

    • flashgnash@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      7 months ago

      We do have a lot of very bland food over here, but a lot of us like that.

      It’s a lot more about the texture sometimes, some of us (not me) can do some amazing roast vegetables and everyone seems to have their own ancient tradition for how to make them

    • VaultBoyNewVegas@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      10
      ·
      8 months ago

      Shepard’s pie is Irish btw. Not a surprise a scouser would be able to make a good one when Liverpool has a large Irish community.

      • astreus@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        17
        ·
        8 months ago

        Common myth, not true.

        First recorded recipe for Shepherds Pie is from a Scottish cookbook from 1849. First recorded use of Cottage Pie is 1791 by an English clergyman.

        Cottage Pie was used for both lamb and beef varieties until recently and was a way of eating leftover meats.

      • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        8 months ago

        Lmao!

        A lot of people everywhere don’t know how to cook. They don’t even bother to try and learn, so they rely on corporate packaged foods and restaurants. That’s a separate thing from the cuisine of a given place, or the cooking of people that do know how to.

        That may seem like sophistry, but it is an important point to remember when talking about cooking when not joking around for fun. You can’t really use people that aren’t actually doing a thing, or have never learned how to do it as an representative example of what a country’s core is. It’s like athletics, you can’t say that Ethiopians are bad ice skaters if the average person can’t access time and equipment to ice skate in the first place. (Not picking on Ethiopia, it was just the first country that came to mind as not being very present in the world ice skating stage).

        It’s legit to say that the US has a major food education problem, as does the UK from what I’ve heard, but that is a different issue than the national cuisine.

        • Venat0r@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          8 months ago

          True, it’s not American cuisine that’s bad, apparently McDonald’s hamburgers taste better in NZ than the USA too, probably because all the beef here is grass fed.

  • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    78
    arrow-down
    24
    ·
    8 months ago

    Meanwhile yanks with their two spices - butter and sugar

    “Our food is the tastiest in the wuuuurld”

    Aye but yous can’t afford that coronary eh mate 😂

    • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      32
      arrow-down
      30
      ·
      edit-2
      8 months ago

      I mean obviously you’ve never taken the time to explore the US. US food is utterly fantastic.

      Our beer is better too.

      • Tomato666@lemmy.sdf.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        17
        arrow-down
        5
        ·
        8 months ago

        American beer is not in anyway better than European beer or even English beer.

        Something something tastes like piss.

        I think you Americans are beginning the long road to good beer with all your craft ales, but you’ve got a way to go yet.

        • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          arrow-down
          4
          ·
          8 months ago

          American modern beers - Just keep throwing hops at it until it stops tasting like piss. Doesn’t matter if it tastes more like a bunch of daffodils than beer, we’ll just call it “craft” 😂

        • bluewing@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          8 months ago

          Yeah, Prohibition killed all the beer we had and we did have good beer right up until then. And it’s been a long road back. Those large US breweries are still far more interested in cheap ingredients made cheaply.

          But you can find good craft beers scattered amongst the bad craft beers if you look. And home brewing is maybe more popular in the US than Europe, but I’m not sure of that.

          • Tomato666@lemmy.sdf.org
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            8 months ago

            You make a good point about prohibition, I guess that will have had a significant effect. Maybe there are more artisan spirits in the US now having been driven by people with secret stills making moonshine in that period. It’ll be interesting to see where you guys go with the relaxation of marijuana laws. Maybe people will be home breeding new strains.

            • bluewing@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              8 months ago

              Oddly, moonshine and bathtub “gin” became quite the impetus for the popularity of cocktails, at least in the US. Since the added flavors tended to hide the rotgut taste of the illicit booze. And the loss of beer breweries had the effect of giving rise to ice cream parlors and soda fountains since saloons had to close. Plus as Minnesotan, I feel the need to apologize for the Volstead Act, as it became known, since Andrew Volstead was a Minnesota House of Representative and Chairman of the House Judicial Committee and was pretty instrumental in getting prohibition enacted. Scandinavian Protestantism ™ is not a good thing by in large.

        • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          arrow-down
          7
          ·
          edit-2
          8 months ago

          Something something base an entire market off of a 30 year old meme. You have no clue what you are talking about. Just making up shit 🤣

          How much time have you spent in the states?

      • Nakedmole@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        8
        ·
        edit-2
        8 months ago

        American “beer” lol. Laughs in German.

        Edit: Grumpy Muricans, your downvotes only prove my point!

      • Maeve@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        5
        ·
        8 months ago

        I’ve never had a decent American beer. PBR is the closest to decent I’ve ever had.

          • Maeve@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            3
            ·
            8 months ago

            And I appreciate your admitting you ASSume way too much. Murica, heck yeah!

            • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              8 months ago

              If the best beer you can find was PBR you’re incompetent. Calling me an ass because you went directly to bitten of the barrel swill. Jesus Christ lololol.

              • Maeve@kbin.social
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                2
                ·
                8 months ago

                Whoosh!

                Let me break it down: I never said any of what you just ASSumed, twice now. You didn’t make an ass of me twice, however. And are quite intent on proving my point of American exceptionalism. You haven’t even the wherewithal to look it up, nor feel embarrassment for it, which is why other cultures generally find us not only ignorant, but obnoxious as well.

                • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  3
                  arrow-down
                  1
                  ·
                  8 months ago

                  👌👍 you are just making shit up you read on the Internet and justifying with insane circular logic. Deranged shit 🤣

        • NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          8 months ago

          Depends what you are looking for.

          I’ve had awesome stouts that were so stout they could double as a meal, and I’ve had island beers that were nice for a long hot afternoon of fishing or cooling down after out side work.

          Tbf, im not a beer snob though and choose primarily based on activity and temperature of day.

          • Maeve@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            8 months ago

            I usually like Newcastle Summer, I’m not a fan of Stella. Blue Moon is acceptable. But since neither that nor Newcastle is sold as singles near me (and a 12 oz or pint not even once a week, at most twice a month is the most I’ll drink at one time), that usually means Heineken. I’ve 2 pint cans in the fridge now (I prefer bottles), but that is because I’m the last month, a neighbor has brought me three, in return for small favors. And the first was lovely, to wash* down a nice potato poon. It balances the sweetness nicely.

            ETA: tbh I hate stouts, but I’m really not a beer drinker. When I drank liquors occasionally, I usually preferred a pricier tequila or single malt Scotch, and being on limited funds, that curbs that, nicely.

            The only time I’ve ever had Irish whisky was in Bailey’s, but if anyone can recommend a good Irish, I’ll keep it in mind.

        • robocall@lemmy.worldOP
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          8 months ago

          America has beer at the grocery store like Bud light, Coors light, and PBR, which all kind of taste the same to me. but most cities have local micro breweries for fresher beer, and more distinctive regional flavors.

      • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        11
        arrow-down
        14
        ·
        8 months ago

        Bri’ish food is some of the best in the world too. Because we know how to use spices and not high fructose corn syrup

            • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              7
              arrow-down
              15
              ·
              8 months ago

              That has nothing to do with the topic at hand, you’re just trying to change the topic, and think that somehow calling out America’s history of colonization (by not only Britain mind you) is some sort of “gotcha” moment.

              But I’ll bite. Personally, European descent. But many native friends and family members, and lots of time volunteering with local native non-profits and political campaigns. Which is likely more than 99% of Americans could say about any sort of native support.

              I’m on the west coast, you know where all the natives were forced to move. Many of the “illegals” the bigots complain about in my area are actually Native Americans or have native ancestry.

              But none of that is about the topic at hand, food and Britain’s lack of utilizing the spices they spent so much effort to get.

              • Maeve@kbin.social
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                3
                ·
                8 months ago

                Your asked them to name a spice they had that wasn’t brought by colonization. They were being entirely relevant to your question. I believe that’s called “moving the goal posts.” I also just stuck my foot in my mouth elsewhere. Lol

          • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            5
            ·
            8 months ago

            And how, in your wee head, does the fact that it came about due to colonisation make it not British?

      • MY_ANUS_IS_BLEEDING@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        arrow-down
        16
        ·
        edit-2
        8 months ago

        Been to the US a few times. Your food tastes extremely average and the only difference to anywhere else is that it has about 3 times the kcals and half the nutrition. I’ve had heartburn and constipation virtually every time I’ve visited.

        And your beer is possibly the worst in the world. It’s pisswater.

        With opinions like that I’d be surprised if you’ve even left your own state, let alone the country.

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          11
          ·
          edit-2
          8 months ago

          Where the heck did you eat? Corporate McSteakhouse? If the response when asked about beer is Bud or Coors then blink twice, you need help.

        • StereoTrespasser@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          7
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          8 months ago

          And your beer is possibly the worst in the world. It’s pisswater.

          C’mon, stop it. We Americans are bad at many things, but no one can refute that Americans have created some damn good beer over the last two decades.

    • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      17
      ·
      8 months ago

      You are clearly making a poor joke, but… Butter is literally what the French are known for. Sugarcane is from the South Pacific and sugar itself originated in India.

      Southern and Creole cuisine originated in America however, and that uses a ton of spices on par with native Indian cuisine.

    • Maeve@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      8 months ago

      Jamaican curried goat is divine, and it must be Jamaican curry, and added water must be tricked very slowly down the side of very hot, cast iron Dutch oven and simmered quite a while. I was fortunate enough to have a Jamaican neighbor show me the trick. And to my American compatriots, sweet potatoes are not yams.

  • Churbleyimyam@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    26
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    8 months ago

    Most popular dish in the UK is Tikka Massala.

    But:

    Fat, carbs and protein do not come purer than fish and chips.

    • sailingbythelee@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      8 months ago

      Exactly. Many people have an ignorant view of British cuisine, as though only foods grown in the British Isles are British. All kinds of foods and dishes from all over the world have been shipped, used, and adapted in Britain since at least the time of the Roman Empire. Heck, most of what a British, European or North American person would see on the menu of their local Indian restaurant is not traditional Indian food at all, but rather Anglo-Indian.

    • robocall@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      18
      ·
      8 months ago

      Yes, there have been a few comments mentioning Tikka masala, but can you name another British dish with flavor? I don’t think so.

      • Bob@feddit.nl
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        8 months ago

        Cornish pasty, apple crumble, scouse, trifle, haggis, rarebit, Sunday roast, shepherd’s pie, tatty scones… you can see why this “no flavour” joke is getting tiring.

        • kingthrillgore@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          edit-2
          8 months ago

          Even shitty store brand haggis has a great flavor profile for a sausage. Yes, its a sausage: its meat, salt, spices, and other fillers in an animal casing. Fight me.

          But its scottish food

          • Bob@feddit.nl
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            8 months ago

            I don’t eat animals myself but the vegan version is very good I have to say. Likewise with the vegan Cumberlands you can get, or at least could about five years ago from the Co-op.

        • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          edit-2
          8 months ago

          Turkeys are native to the Americas.

          Now that I think about it, so are potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, corn and cranberries. Thinking about my own Thanksgiving dinner table, the only thing I can identify as an Old World food are yeast rolls.

          • undergroundoverground@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            8 months ago

            Its almost as if they just swapped out the chicken for turkey, having discovered and been using potatoes for years beforehand.

            Nothing on the apple pie then? Just the one you thought you could refute, it would seem.

            By your wild “logic” that would make every pork dish ever Chinese and Southern fried chicken Indian, as the pigs we eat today and chickens come from China and India respectfully.

            • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              7
              arrow-down
              3
              ·
              8 months ago

              Yeah, apples aren’t native to the New World and apple pie wasn’t invented in the Americas. It’s not specifically British, either; it seems to have emerged independently across Western Europe in the middle ages, and was first brought to the Americas by the Dutch rather than the English. Hell, not even the quintessential American pie apple was invented here; the granny smith is Australian.

              The British invented roast turkey about as much as they invented roast bison. You want to get into more specific recipes, I’d say chicken tikka masala is British and chicken parmesan is American, but I’m not letting the British have right of way over “get bird, add heat.”

              Pumpkin pie is kind of a strange one; the first thing you’d call a “pumpkin pie” was more of a savory soup eaten by Dutch settlers in Massachusetts in the 1600s; the first pumpkin served in a pastry crust was French, and the modern pattern of “sugar pumpkin puree in a shortbread crust” was invented a few minutes after the US Constitution was ratified.

              Sweet potato pie is less ambiguous; it seems to have popped into existence fully formed in the American south in the 18th century.

              Basically all corn products including popcorn and cornbread were known to the Native Americans for thousands of years before Europeans arrived.

              The first known recipe for cranberry sauce as we would recognize it today was written in 1796 in the United States.

              Green beans are native to Central America, green bean casserole was invented in New Jersey in 1950…

              Again, what of this is particularly British? An American thanksgiving meal is as British as pizza.

              • undergroundoverground@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                0
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                8 months ago

                Apple pie is from England, even if you don’t want it to be. Its not even about it not being American but it having flavour and being nice to eat.

                They swapped out chicken for turkey and used the exact same recipe and cooking style. Declaring it unconnected changes nothing.

                Green beans is a substitute for the exact same green veg you get with a British roast meal. If I put peas into a stir fry, it doesn’t make the meal not Chinese lol.

                Again, how can you not see those mildy adapted British things as British?

                • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  arrow-down
                  1
                  ·
                  8 months ago

                  Because I’m from a country with an actual national identity of its own, not some washed up little island whose national museum has on display a lot of things stolen from elsewhere and not much of its own, because their national culture has extremely little to show for itself.

                  I don’t have to pretend we invented (checks notes) cooking food to feel like have any kind of national identity. You do, and it’s hilariously pathetic.

      • Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        8 months ago

        Yes, there have been a few comments mentioning Tikka masala, but can you name another British dish with flavor? I don’t think so.

        Let’s kick off with curries! We’ve been eating ‘curry’ since 1598, so longer than a lot of other countries have existed. As well as chicken tikka masalla, we’ve adapted or invented a few, such as:

        • Madras curries
        • Jalfrezi curries
        • Balti curries
        • Phall curries

        For other British dishes with flavour, try (in no particular order):

        • Any Sunday roast; beef with Yorkshires and horseradish sauce, pork with applesauce, lamb with mint sauce.
        • Full English, full Scottish, Ulster Fry, Full Welsh
        • Kedgeree
        • Steak and kidney pudding
        • Cream tea
        • A proper ploughman’s lunch
        • Sausage, mash, onion gravy with English mustard
        • Cullen skink
        • Shepherd’s pie / cottage pie
        • Fish pie
        • Irish stew
        • Lancashire Hot Pot
        • Marmite on toast
        • Bacon sarnie
        • Kippers
        • Sheffield fishcake butty
        • Welsh rarebit
  • Leviathan@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    20
    ·
    8 months ago

    Clearly you’ve never had rich friends, they’re notorious for having everything and never using it.

    “Oh man, I didn’t know you play guitar. That’s a beautiful Orange double stack and Thunderverb.”

    “I bought that when I tried to learn guitar, haven’t used it since.”

      • John_McMurray@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        8 months ago

        …eh…profiting in a commodity trade doesn’t mean you…Ever see any midwestern farmer actually eat chickpeas? They love the bushel price most years though.

  • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    16
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    8 months ago

    i was told by a brit that american biscuits were “salty scones”

    and i have never wanted to complain more in my life. Especially given the american propensity to make shit sweet as fuck.

  • BreadOven@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    20
    arrow-down
    6
    ·
    8 months ago

    Tell me you haven’t had proper British food without actually telling me.

    Don’t blindly believe everything you hear.

    Beans on toast can be done well also.

    • John_McMurray@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      edit-2
      8 months ago

      i do that all the time, but my own recipe, which is essentially hopped up chili beans on garlic toast. So i start with frying four pieces chopped up bacon in a bean pot, then add half an onion chopped n fry that soft, then a can of the heinz bbq chipotle beans, half a cup of E.D. Smith Baja Chipotle bbq sauce, half tbsp ancho powder, half tbsp jalapeno powder, quater tbsp white pepper, half tbsp garlic powder, simmer that all up and serve on and with thick cut buttered garlic toast. and to put the lie to any stereotypes bout regional cuisine, i’m doing this shit in western canada. I have a restaurant here, but this particular recipe is a bit too hot for most my customers.

      • BreadOven@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        8 months ago

        That sounds good. I’ve never seen Heinz chipotle beans though (in Canada). I’ll have to keep an eye out.

        • John_McMurray@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          8 months ago

          They’re marked as Barbecue in the big print, the chipotle is in very small print underneath. You could just start with the more easily found deep browned beans or whatever.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      8 months ago

      My father is British. My grandmother was British.

      There is no way to make British-style beans on toast palatable to people outside of Great Britain. I’m sorry.

      There are plenty of British foods I will absolutely defend as terrific. I will murder a wedge of caerphilly cheese and I sometimes import Rowntree’s blackcurrant fruit pastilles, I love them so much… but beans on toast? I can’t go with you down that road. Also, Daddies Sauce. What the fuck is wrong with you people? Including my father. How do you put that shit in your mouths?

      And don’t even get me started on Marmite.

    • kingthrillgore@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      10
      ·
      edit-2
      8 months ago

      I actually went and had some last night and jesus christ my palate was offended. Even when swimming in malt vinegar and tartar sauce, I just couldn’t stand it. I can fix this:

      • Salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, cumin, and cayenne in the dry dredge
      • A dry stout in the wet dredge mix instead of a lager or a pale ale, anything with a body really
      • Maybe a layer of panko breadcrumbs I toasted beforehand
      • A far more flavorful fish than cod, i’m thinking salmon fingers

      The sun never set on the British empire, and they never used the spices they stole.

        • Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          5
          ·
          edit-2
          8 months ago

          100%, they did. Good fish & chips doesn’t need fixing.

          The thing about spices in cooking is that - as great as they are, and as much as they enhance flavour - you shouldn’t need them to make good food.

          Fish & chips is the perfect synthesis of the “Salt, acid, fat, heat” theory of cooking. Truly delicious food starts with the combination of those elements in exactly the right amounts.

          There’s a lot of great things you can do with spices. I love, love, LOVE Indian food, Thai food, Mexican food, Spanish food, Chinese food, Cajun food, etc, etc, etc. But if you don’t understand how to make something delicious without spices, you’ll never really understand how to make good food with them. It’s always about fundamentals.

          Edit to add: Here’s another really good way to think about this; people to bring up British food and complain about a lack of spices, but you never see the same complaint about aglio e olio or caccio e pepe, two dishes that contain, respectively one herb and no spices, and one spice and no herbs (parsley, and black pepper).

          • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            8 months ago

            It’s exceptionally easy to do as a tourist. Last I visited, first we went to a restaurant and ordered and it was subpar. So then we were told “you have to go to a Chippy, if you want real fish and chips” so we did… they should have told us which “Chippy”, they are not all the same.

            That was the worst culinary experience of my life. I have never had a more oily nasty fried fish. The wet breading just fell off, and it tasted like very old oil. I threw out 2/3s of it, as did basically everyone else.

            We ended up eating at indian restaurants the rest of the trip.

            • Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              8 months ago

              To be fair, this is not helped by the fact that British people are often very bad at recommending good places to eat. A lot of people value familiarity over quality.

              • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                edit-2
                8 months ago

                We were actually there for my uncle in laws wedding, so you would think we would have gotten better advice. But I guess weddings are busy…

                The food at the wedding was amazing though. I can’t even remember it all, they brought out so much food. I think there was venison and duck, and fish I have never even heard of before, it was over the top. But his parents were like old money wealthy, so I doubt that’s common. It was also in like a minor castle, and the grounds were just gorgeous. I could have spent days just inspecting all the plants, so much variety of foreign plants and super cool hardwood trees.

                That was the only great food we had, although the Indian food pretty good. Got old after a week though.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              edit-2
              8 months ago

              Oddly enough, I had the exact opposite experience last time I was in London. Amazing fish and chips, terrible Indian food. Worst saag paneer I’ve ever had. By far. And that’s a low bar because I’ve had some really disappointing saag paneer.

              Also, I was entertained when the South Asian guy at the Chippie asked me stuff like, “do you have a big car and a big house?” when he heard my American accent. I had to disabuse him of the notion that we’re all wealthy. I wasn’t even paying for that trip, it was an especially good contract work gig.

              • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                edit-2
                8 months ago

                Are you a breakfast person? We normally just ate the biscuits from the hotel room and starved until lunch, but one day my dad and I was going to meet up with my mom and her sister for a traditional English breakfast. However we got lost and ended up in some tiny Cafe, God knows where. They were serving lasagna for breakfast, and it was delicious.

                My mom and aunt actually found the place and had some beens and toast and blood sausage, they were not impressed.

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  8 months ago

                  I am definitely a breakfast person and a full English breakfast, minus the horrific beans on toast, is great. I’m not sure about lasagna for breakfast though. Seems like kind of a heavy breakfast meal.

        • AlDente@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          8
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          8 months ago

          It was popularised by cooks from India living in Great Britain, but I don’t believe that makes it any less Indian. Just as the chimichanga wasn’t invented in Mexico, but is still considered Mexican food.

        • AlDente@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          8 months ago

          If by common knowledge, you mean that a significant portion of the population believes it, I’m not sure how reliable that evidence that is. People will believe a whole lot of strange stuff.

          On topic, even the first paragraph of the Wikipedia page states that it was “popularized by cooks from India living in Great Britain”. Regardless of where it was first created, this is clearly the product of Indian immigrants. I don’t believe their heritage should be ignored just because they moved. Although, I don’t want it to sound like I believe in a 100% black and white distinction here. It’s clearly a fusion dish with British influences. The original chicken tikka was a lot dryer and the “masala” sauce was added to make the dish creamier to appeal to British tastes.

          However, I don’t go around claiming General Tso’s chicken isn’t Chinese food, just because it was first made in New York; or that the chimichanga isn’t Mexican food, just because it was originally made in Arizona; or that a Cuban sandwich isn’t Cuban, just because it was first made in Florida. These dishes wouldn’t exist without the immigrants who modified their cultural recipes to adapt to a new environment.

          To me, chicken tikka malala is an Indian dish with British influences.

          E: Tao to Tso.

          • Nakedmole@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            8 months ago

            So let’s agree that it’s neither Indian nor British, but a fusion of the two, created in Britain by immigrants or their descendants and becoming a national dish loved by people in Britain regardless of their cultural background.

            • AlDente@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              3
              ·
              8 months ago

              “I dare you”

              How could you think this possibly warrants a dare? Do you really think people are this confrontational in real life? When traveling in other countries, I have only had positive interactions when attempting to find any common ground with locals. In this case, the worst thing that could happen is you share a laugh and they offer for you to try real local cuisine.

              Kind of related, the duck tongue and chicken’s foot I had earlier this year in Malaysia wasn’t that bad.

    • robocall@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      8 months ago

      I’m happy Great Britain was able to make one interesting dish 50 years ago, but the cuisine could use a couple more seasoned recipes.