What's English Food
 

I'm planning to go to London next year. I'd like to try authentic English food for lunch and dinner. I did a search using Fodors for restaurants in the London area offering it but it doesn't tell you what to order, what the menu is or what English food is or what to expect. They mostly mention the decor and the atmosphere of the restaurants but nothing specific about the food.
I'd like to seat down and order a dish knowing what it is and more important knowing that it is English.
I'd appreciate your help.

There's nothing tastier than Mr Brains Pork Faggots!

English food per se is dull - Simpson's Divan offers smart classic English food, but more in the French style. It was always in vogue to have a cook from France in one's grand household.

Only peasants ate traditional English foods, don't bother wasting your time with it.

You can get a good idea by looking at
http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/cookbook.htm

It's a recipe site but will show you some typical dishes.

I remember fondly, Bramston Pickle and cheese sandwiches in a pub behind Selfridges. Baps are good!
I love Salads in London, the tomatoes and cucumbers are small, perfect and sweet.
We eat a lot of Indian food in London, never had any I did not like.
Scones and clotted cream ...just the thought makes me weep from homesickness for England.
Dishes that I love the sound of (although I don't even eat them)...Bangers & Mash, Bubble and Squeak, Shepherds Pie :)
I think there is a restaurant called Clarks? that serves Roast Beef and all the trimmings, Veddy Veddy English :)

An elderly uncle took us to Rules for a fine British dinner.

Roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, roasted potatoes, and 2 veg, followed by gooseberry fool with cream.

You probably couldn't last very long surviving on it, :) but I love Devon clotted cream.

http://www.devon-calling.com/food%20...tted-cream.htm

P.S. I just noticed that website mentions "toasted Cornish saffron bread." That sounds rather tasty.

As an outsider it seems to me that English food can include anything from curries to roast beef, the English have been borrowing food ideas for centuries, and since WWII they've become a world-class food nation. In the restaurants at least, just like the USA.

timeout.com, squaremeal.co.uk
are two websites that offer lots of restaurant suggestions and comments.

Curries are not English food, they are of Indian/Pakistani origin, don't get yourself confused.

English food is traced back to medieval times - English food implies wholly derived from England, not recipes that have been adapted/borrowed from other nations.

Sylvia, thanks for the great link!

Clarke's is not an "English" restaurant..Sally Clarke is a transplanted Californian..but she does some of the best food in London and her breads are splendid as is her wine list.
English food of today would include something from every corner of the world as does London.
If you are looking for nursery food or something you read about in Dickens, you can find it. Try a "caf" full English breakfast for a real fry up! Simpson's for Roast beef , pubs ( real ones) for shepherds pie, ploughman's, etc)
But London has some of the best foodand the best chefs in the world ..give them a try!

My daughter spent a year of college in London. She claimed that they (the school) managed to put corn in just about every dish served! She didn't touch corn-on-the-cob that entire summer. ;)

Linda

Agree with the corn strangeness. In Dublin they even put corn in the tuna salad. And its all nasty canned corn - no real fresh corn - even in the summer (perhaps they can't grow it in England/Ireland).

And obviously if you;ve never had fresh-picked corn you don;t know what it should taste like and just keep eating the nasty canned stuff. (My father grew up a farm and he calls it pig corn - the leftovers not good enough for people so its used to slop the hogs.)

English Food: For me, I like the simple Ploughman's lunch.
It was strange to me when I first visited France many years ago and saw those fields of corn but never seeing any on a menu. It's to feed the animals mainly, I think.

You musn't forget to try Marmite on dry toast--the epitome of English food.

I should also have mentioned Spotted Dick, a favourite of my late father-in-law.

My favorite English food is scones with clotted cream. I came home from the UK a few years ago and called stores all over town looking for clotted cream. I finally found it, and this is now one of my favorite treats. I also love curry bowls, but M_K is correct in pointing out that these are not really English food. However it has been my experience that they are better in the UK than the US, so that's why I associate them with travelling to England.

Lavernedrye, I have heard of spotted dick, but I'm embarrassed to say I don't know what it is. Please explain.

I had a most memorable dessert in an english pub years ago, I think it was called Sticky Pudding, white cake topped with warm caramel sauce.

Sticky Toffee Pudding!! yummy.... it's sponge with pureed dates and toffee sauce over it.

Spotted Dick...a whitish ,boiled, steamed soggy cakelike mass with raisins!

But Sticky Toffee Pudding ...OMG!! It is SO GOOD!!

Don't forget Toad-in-the-Hole and Stargazey Pie. One sounds unappetising, the other looks it.

"Curries" as English cooks understood them had travelled a long way from their origins and were much bastardised in the process. Essentially the curry morphed into a meat dish (often leftovers) smothered in a nasty sauce made from packaged and often stale "curry powder" and thickened with cornflour, with a few raisins thrown in for further authenticity. Often this gastronomic delight was accompanied by sodden boiled rice and some greyish, boiled-to-death vegetables. I for one, like many older Australians, grew up thinking this was a "curry", only discovering the truth in adulthood.

So the original idea may have been Indian/Pakistani, but the execution was so distinctive that I think that the traditional English curry can be regarded as naturalised. I'd hazard a guess that much traditional English cuisine has its roots in Roman gastronomy, but I wouldn't call it Italian.

I vote for the roast beef and Yorkshire pud, perhaps with an appetiser (known outside the US as an entree) of crumbed lamb's brains.

I loved the tuna and sweet corn sandwiches I ate in London when I worked there about 5 years ago. I also ate fish and chips and something called a Ploughman's lunch which was cheese sandwiches served on brown bread with creamy (mayonnaisy) salads. I was working there so I ate what my British coworkers were eating. If I were on holiday I might not have ever even heard of them.

I also ate great Thai, Indian, and Lebanese food while in the UK. Not British but very very good!

Cheers!

Steak and Mushroom Pie; Treacle Tart; Sticky Toffee Pudding; scones served with clotted cream, strawberry jam, and tea.

P M: Spotted Dick is a steamed pudding with lots of raisins in it.

You're not the only one who's embarrassed according to this story from the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2249273.stm

Someone above said ploughman's lunch was a cheese sandwich!! Hang your head!

A real ploughman's will have a wedge of a local cheese..hard, soft, blue, cow or goat.. a big hunk of butter, some fine bread..granary prefered IMC, some kind of pickle, some onions, a bit of cucumber and cress and a nice Jersy tomato!

A cheese sandwich!!!!! NEVER!

YES, Jody, never a cheese sandwich but who told tango that's what it was?

GenXer

Agree with Underhill roast beef, yorkshire pudding, roasted potatoes and two veg i.e. peas, carrots or cabbage (called greens when I was growing up). Fruit pie with custard.

Fish and chips and mushy peas.

Toad in the Hole.

Stay away from the corn. It is animal fodder - and was not never served at my house. I do not consider corn English food.

Try Weetabix for breakfast - a truly English cereal. (Can purchase this at our grocery here in the USA now)

Sylvia - that is a great food link with lots of history.

Sandy

Thanks for that explanation, Lavernedrye. I've always wondered what that is. Next time I'm over there I'll be sure to ask the waiter for Spotted Dick. I can't wait to see the look on my husband's face when I do....heehee ;-)

Try...

Roast beef with Yorkshire pudding (much like our popovers) Many pubs will serve a "Sunday Roast." This is usually beef, lamb or chicken served with potatoes and veg.

Shepherd's Pie (ground beef stew with mashed potato topping)

Bangers and Mash (Sausage and mashed potatoes)

Steak and Kidney or Steak and Ale pie (stew with a puff pastry crust)

Lamb

Fish & Chips with peas (sometimes mushy, sometimes minted.)

Soups are different in England. Most are pureed instead of chunky. They're very good and served with good, hearty bread.

Gammon Steak with egg (Gammon is ham)

Ploughman's Lunch

Cheddar cheese and pickle sandwich

Full English Breakfast (varying combo of eggs, English bacon, sausage, tomato, mushrooms, baked beans, fried bread)

Afternoon tea (tea, finger sandwiches, scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam and desserts)

Cream tea (tea, scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam)

Puddings (what we call desserts)
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Spotted Dick
Summer Pudding
Bread Pudding
Strawberries and cream
Banoffi pie (banana creamy pie with toffee)

One thing you will notice is chips (fries) are served with just about everything. Forget the low-carb diet!

Try Porters English Restaurant (<u>www.porters.uk.com</u>) for reasonably priced English fare.

jeez! and here I thought it was a Dalmatien's Pizzle :)

GenXr, head for one of the London carveries for roast beef, roast pork, wonderful roast leg of lamb, with all the accompaniments.

I think we all forgot steak and kidney pie and potted shrimps?

The idea that English food is not palatable or whatever is an 'urban myth' much like the ongoing headline about toilet paper. My perception of English food is that it be derived from locally available ingredients. I did try the whelks in a kind of jelly..only once. Fish and chips is good because the fish is often less than 24 hours from the ocean. Note the lines at a McDonald's, are they serving English food? food? Restaurants serving choice foods purchase fresh ingredients at a morning market. The chef will buy the best of whatever is available...so the menu changes. Englanders love their language, hence the wonderful title appellations especially of the desserts. What is more English than 'starters'?

When we were younger, my husband had an alotment and grew what we call sweetcorn. You had to grow it in a square formation so that the wind could pollinate it. You are right, it has to be fresh.
I am about to make a summer pudding, using redcurrants, raspberries and loganberries. It has to stand overnight with a weight on top, so we'll enjoy it tomorrow.

GenXer

What a nice thread you started.

Sylvia - are you an American living in England?

Sandy

And no one has mentioned trifle or tipsy parson yet!

Shepherd's pie has to be made with Lamb! If you use beef it's cottage pie.

Ah and english lamb..yum!

No, Sandy, I'm a retired librarian and live in Chester in England.
I did spend a couple of years in the US though.

Jellied eels

I have very little to add, because you've almost covered everything.

But,what about Melton Mowbray Pork Pies!! I was born in a nearby village(Langham) and literally grew up on them. With a chunk of Leicester Red (cheese) it's the perfect lunchtime meal. I've indulged myself many times when visiting relatives etc. over the years.
And blancmange at birthday parties-especially chocolate(other Poms will know what I mean!)
And those &quot;sugar mice&quot; with string tails served up at school dinners around Christmas time.
And Bakewell Tarts. With custard.
I was born in England and lived most of my early life there, but 30+ years of marvellous food in Australia hasn't dampened my appreciation of traditional English food.
When my Rutland-born(English) Mum says that she is &quot;cooking stew&quot;, I'm there in a heartbeat! And I never miss out on her Yorkshire Pud if I can.
Traditional English food now generally falls under the &quot;comfort food&quot; heading. More trendy stuff (generally involving coriander) is just an adaption of other cuisines. Not British.
I last visited my home town in 2001. The first place I ate was at the local &quot;chippy&quot;.A place I had happily eaten in as a child. Cod, chips and mushy peas, with a pickled onion. No coriander and no sprinklings of freshly ground pepper. Divine!!
Possum