Do the English really have bad food?

[Deleted]

I'm from Italy.
When I travel abroad, any kind of food seems bad.

Mhm, Italians can cook. I don't see how any other food would seem bad. Asian food is by far superior compared to European (again, according to my tongue)

[Sarella]

Occam's Razor.

English food, as in the historically English foods like meat pies or a casserole, don't tend to be spiced up. The meat and two veg staple of the country brings it's flavour out through simple mechanics (salt and pepper only) compared to, say, Hungarian cooking which is choc-a-bloc of paprika; or an indian delight with seventy billion herbs and spices used to flavour it.

So people who have palette's that ascribe taste with variety, they will normally prefer a foreign dish. And because people prefer to limit information where possible, the fact that English food tends to lack spices, causing it to be labelled as boring, causes people to think that is boring. And most people say boring is terrible.

So, English food get's changed in people's memory to terrible.

Occam's Razor.

PS. The English do not have bad food, they have excellent food. Provided you don't demand a cornucopia of different flavours with each bite.

[Deleted]

I think I get it now.

The food in England is amazing.
but English food is terrible.

[Deleted]

I think I get it now.

The food in England is amazing.
but English food is terrible.

Depends on what you want out of your food tbh. My brothers, who live down in Hereford, eat more upmarket foods, like tuna steak and salmon. Up here, i'm on more seasonal and manly foods, like Shepards Pie, Bangers and Mash and a proper Sunday Lunch.

Also, there is no food stuff in the world which can match the awesome power of a Parmo. Seriously, that was my saving grace when I was at University in Newcastle.

[Deleted]

You were eating at the wrong places. There are tons of restaurants that serve cuisine from all over the world. You can get everything from great Ethiopian food to amazing french cuisine and everything in between. You just have to go to the right places.

Thats my reasoning behind the food in the UK.

and no, i went to all the proper places. using toptable, trip advisor, hotel concierges, and the 'word around the street' to decide where to go.
The trip was amazing. Just the food wasnt of high enough standard to be up to the hype/snub others.

[Deleted]

'Fine dining' in England is usually french schooled cuisine, which all chefs are taught. The rest are foreign restaurants.

The only places I've seen that do 'typical English food' are pubs, not restaurants.

I've been all over Europe and the US. The only places with comparably better restaurants are Italy, Poland (and 1/4 of the price) and certain French cities.

[Deleted]

Mhm, Italians can cook. I don't see how any other food would seem bad. Asian food is by far superior compared to European (again, according to my tongue)

Trust me, it gets boring quickly.
This is from living in asia (prior london) for about 12 years.
Hong kong, dubai, bangkok/phuket specifically.

[Deleted]

Polish food? are you kidding me. Maybe the restaurants I went to were rubbish, but it was not a culinary experience I had in Poland.

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Trust me, it gets boring quickly.
This is from living in asia (prior london) for about 12 years.
Hong kong, dubai, bangkok/phuket specifically.

I suppose everything gets boring once you've eaten it too much. Indonesian cusine is amazing.

[Deleted]

I'd just say : beans and jelly. Seriously, jelly. Thinking of that blobbing thing makes me shiver.

[banan163]

Most UK dishes i've seen looks dull and boring when i think of english food i think of fried stuff not sure where that image came from though same with the US. The nordic countries also have quite the boring looking food, this is just my POV dont take it as fact:P

[Deleted]

I suppose everything gets boring once you've eaten it too much. Indonesian cusine is amazing.

Not really, asian food specifically. Probably the most boring out of all cuisines.
People will be completely baffled when I say this, because the food usually incorporates the best usage of a plethora of spices.
after a while though, the food comes down to having 4 distinct baselines of taste:
1.salty
2.peppery
3.oyster sauce
4. curried

oh and spicy. literally anything can be spicy.

[Deleted]

I'd just say : beans and jelly. Seriously, jelly. Thinking of that blobbing thing makes me shiver.

What the heck? That sounds like something I used to "cook" when I was 5. Back then, I could mix ANYTHING and cook it.....anything.

[belfpala]

To the OP... I guess it depends where you are in the US. In most parts, "fine dining" just means the place itself is fancier, not that the food is necessarily better. Most of the best restaurants are surprises, unassuming looking, but can do a few food items amazingly well. They almost definitely aren't in tourist areas.

[Deleted]

England has some of the dullest cuisines in Europe. The Netherlands, Germany, England and Sweden are all terrible. It's as boring as it can get.
(Just my opinion)

Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas would like a word with you....

[Saeran]

You can't beat tripe and chips with loads of vinegar :P

[Deleted]

I lived at my friends place in a small village in Wiltshire for a while and that food was very, very different compared to what I was used to. I loved it though, even though it was a bit overcooked, but I certainly understand why most people wouldn't like it.

[Deleted]

You can't beat tripe and chips with loads of vinegar :P

I feed that stuff to my dogs, I did not think anyone would be mad enough to eat tripe in modern times.

[Saeran]

I feed that stuff to my dogs, I did not think anyone would be mad enough to eat tripe in modern times.

Well that and black puddings are a Lancashire delicacy

[Nefarious Tea]

A lot of it I think has to do with the sort of "traditional/stereotypical" British fare; things like blood pudding, for instance. Because americans push their "culture" on the rest of the world, and they don't eat things like that (I have no idea why; they're not big in Canada either, where I live), they think they are gross in the way a child thinks a vegetable is gross. North america wastes a LOT of the animal from a food perspective.

With typical arrogance, if they don't like it, it must be objectively bad. And so British food is seen as being stereotypically "bad" food.

[Deleted]

Not really, asian food specifically. Probably the most boring out of all cuisines.
People will be completely baffled when I say this, because the food usually incorporates the best usage of a plethora of spices.
after a while though, the food comes down to having 4 distinct baselines of taste:
1.salty
2.peppery
3.oyster sauce
4. curried

oh and spicy. literally anything can be spicy.

Wow, I disagree. Indian and Indonesian dishes are absolutely delicious.
Have you tasted Rendang?

I don't think you can boil it down to those 4 only.