English Food

I am always both amused and annoyed when I hear foreign people criticize English food. “It’s unimaginative”, they say. “It’s boring, it’s tasteless, it’s chips with everything and totally overcooked vegetables.” “It’s unambitious”, say the French, “all you do is roasts with jam.” (We eat apple sauce with pork.) That’s the bit they find really shocking, but then the French are easily shocked by things that aren’t French.

When I ask these visitors where they have experienced English cooking, I am astonished by their reply. “In Wimpy Bars and MacDonald’s Hamburger restaurants, ” they often say. I have won my case. Their conclusions are inexcusable.

I have a theory about English cooking, and I was interested to read that several famous cookery writers agree with me. My theory is this. Our basic ingredients, when fresh, are so full of flavour that we haven’t had to invent sauces and complex recipes to disguise their natural taste. What can compare with fresh peas or new potatoes just boiled (not overboiled) and served with butter? Why drown spring lamb in wine or cream or yoghurt and spices, when with just one or two herbs it is absolutely delicious?

It is interesting to speculate what part factors such as geography and climate play in the creation of a country’s food. We complain about our wet and changeable weather, but it is the rain which gives us our rich soil and green grass. “Abroad”, says Jane Grigson, “poor soils meant more searching for food, more discovery, more invention, whereas our ancestors sat down to plenty without having to take trouble.

If you ask foreigners to name some typically English dishes, they will probably say “Fish and chips” and then stop. It is disappointing, but true, that there is no tradition in England of eating in restaurants, because our food doesn’t lend itself to such preparation. English cooking is found in the home, where it is possible to time the dishes to perfection. So it is difficult to find a good English restaurant with reasonable prices.

It is for these reasons that we haven’t exported our dishes, but we have imported a surprising number from all over the world. In most cities in Britain you’ll find Indian, Chinese, French and Italian restaurants. In London you’ll also find Indonesian, Lebanese, Iranian, German, Spanish, Mexican, Greek … Cynics will say that this is because we have no “cuisine” ourselves, but, well, you know what I think!

Which of these titles do you think is the best?

- Fish and chips against the world!

- Cosmopolitan English cooking.

- In defence of English cooking.

- Fresh is best in the English kitchen.

- English Food: Facts or Myth?

What is the author’s main point about English food? Why doesn’t he agree with foreign people’s criticism of English food? What is the comparison that Jane Grigson makes? Why are there few English restaurants? Read the article again and mark it like this:

I agree!

I don’t agree X

I find it surprising !!

I don’t understand this?

Summarize each paragraph in one or two sentences pointing out its main idea.