British cuisine

British cuisine is the heritage of cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom and its dependent territories. Although Britain has a rich indigenous culinary tradition, its colonial history has profoundly enriched its native cooking traditions. British cuisine absorbed the cultural influences of its post-colonial territories—in particular those of South Asia.^[1][2]

British cuisine
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In ancient times Celtic agriculture and animal breeding produced a wide variety of foodstuffs for the indigenous Celts and Britons. Anglo-Saxon England developed meat and savoury herb stewing techniques before the practice became common in Europe. The Norman conquest introduced exotic spices into England in the Middle Ages.^[3] The British Empire facilitated a knowledge of Indian cuisine with its "strong, penetrating spices and herbs".^[3] Food rationing policies put into place by the British government during the wartime periods of the 20th century^[4] are widely considered today to be responsible for British cuisine's poor international reputation.^[3]

Well-known traditional British dishes include full breakfast, fish and chips, and the Christmas dinner.^[3] People in Britain, however, eat a wide variety of foods based on the cuisines of Europe, India, and other parts of the world. British cuisine has many regional varieties within the broader categories of English, Scottish and Welsh cuisine and Northern Irish cuisine. Each has developed its own regional or local dishes, many of which are geographically indicated foods such as Cornish pasties, Cumberland sausage, and Arbroath smokies.

History[]

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Beginnings[]

Romano-British agriculture, highly fertile soils and advanced animal breeding produced a wide variety of very high quality foods for indigenous Romano-British people. Anglo-Saxon England developed meat and savoury herb stewing techniques and the Norman conquest reintroduced exotic spices and continental influences into Great Britain in the Middle Ages.^[3] Following the Protestant Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries, "plain and robust" food remained the mainstay of the British diet, reflecting tastes which are still shared with neighbouring north European countries and traditional North American Cuisine. British beef in particular developed a worldwide reputation for quality.^[5] Developments in plant breeding produced a multiplicity of fruit and vegetable varieties.

Turkey for Christmas dinner[]

Since first appearing in Christmas dinner tables in England in the late 16th century, turkey has become more popular, with Christmas pudding served for dessert.^[6][7] The 16th-century English navigator William Strickland is credited with introducing the turkey into England, and 16th-century farmer Thomas Tusser noted that in 1573 turkeys were eaten at Christmas dinner.^[8] Roast turkey may be served with stuffing, gravy, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes and vegetables.^[9]

20th century decline[]

During the World Wars of the 20th century difficulties of food supply were countered by measures such as rationing. Rationing continued for nearly ten years after the Second World War, and in some aspects was stricter than during wartime, so that a whole generation was raised without access to many previously common ingredients, possibly contributing to a decline of British cuisine.^[4]

Post-war revival[]

A hunger for cooking from abroad was satisfied by writers such as Elizabeth David, who from 1950 produced evocative books, starting with A Book of Mediterranean Food, whose ingredients were then often impossible to find in Britain.^[10]

By the 1960s foreign holidays, and foreign-style restaurants in Britain, widened the popularity of foreign cuisine. This movement was assisted by celebrity chefs – on television and in their books – such as Fanny Cradock, Clement Freud, Robert Carrier, Keith Floyd, Gary Rhodes, Delia Smith, Gordon Ramsay, Ainsley Harriott, Nigella Lawson, Simon Hopkinson, Nigel Slater and Jamie Oliver, alongside The Food Programme, made by BBC Radio 4.

From the 1970s, the availability and range of good quality fresh products increased, and the British population became more willing to vary its diet. Modern British cooking draws on influences from Mediterranean, and more recently, Middle Eastern and Asian cuisines.

Anglo-Indian cuisine[]

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Colonial British Empire began to be influenced by India's elaborate food tradition of "strong, penetrating spices and herbs". Traditional British cuisine was modified with the addition of Indian-style spices, such as cloves and red chillies. Fish and meat are often cooked in curry form with Indian vegetables. Anglo-Indian food often involves use of coconut, yogurt, and almonds. Roasts and curries, rice dishes, and breads all have a distinctive flavour.

Curry became popular in Britain by the 1970s, when some restaurants that originally catered mainly to Indians found their clientele diversifying.^[11] Chicken tikka masala, a mildly spiced dish in a creamy sauce, invented around 1971 in Britain, has been called "a true British national dish."^[12]

National cuisines[]

English[]

English cuisine has distinctive attributes of its own, but also shares much with wider British cuisine, partly through the importation of ingredients and ideas from North America, China, and India during the time of the British Empire and as a result of post-war immigration. Some traditional meals, such as sausages, cheese, roasted and stewed meats, meat and game pies, boiled vegetables and broths, and freshwater and saltwater fish have ancient origins. The 14th-century English cookbook, the Forme of Cury, contains recipes for these, and dates from the royal court of Richard II.^[13]

Northern Irish[]

Northern Ireland's culinary heritage has its roots in the staple diet of generations of farming families—bread and potatoes.^[14] Historically, limited availability of ingredients and low levels of immigration resulted in restricted variety and relative isolation from wider international culinary influences. The 21st century has seen significant improvements in local cuisine, characterised by an increase in the variety, quantity and quality of gastropubs and restaurants. There are currently two Michelin star restaurants in Northern Ireland, both of which specialise in traditional dishes made using local ingredients.^[15]

Scottish[]

Scottish cuisine shares much with English cuisine, but has distinctive attributes and recipes of its own. Traditional Scottish dishes such as haggis and shortbread exist alongside international foodstuffs brought about by migration. Scotland is known for the high quality of its beef, lamb, potatoes, oats, and sea foods. In addition to foodstuffs, Scotland produces a variety of whiskies.

Welsh[]

Welsh cuisine includes recipes for Welsh lamb, and dishes such as cawl, Welsh rarebit, laverbread, Welsh cakes, bara brith and Glamorgan sausage.

Dates of introduction to Britain[]

Prehistory (before 43 AD)[]

bread from mixed grains: around 3700 BC[16] dog: possibly a ritual food, or used for cremation or animal sacrifice [17] oats: around 1000 BC[16]

wheat: around 500 BC[16] rabbit: late Iron Age/early Roman[18]

Roman era (43 to 410)[]

apple (?) asparagus[19] cherry[20] celery chives[21] coriander[22]

cucumber garlic grape leek marjoram onion

parsnip pears pea pheasant, possibly[23] plum rosemary

sausages[24] spearmint[25] turnip wine

Post-Roman period to the discovery of the New World (410 to 1492)[]

kipper: 9th century (from Denmark or Norway) rye bread: Viking era,[26] around 500 AD[16] peach (imported): Anglo-Saxon

orange: 1290[27] pheasant, by 1059[23] sugar cane: 14th century[28] carrot: 15th century[29]

1492 to 1914[]

turkey: 1524[30] cayenne pepper,[31] parsley:[32] 1548 refined sugar: 1540s[27] lemon: 1577 (first recorded cultivation)[33] peach (cultivated): 16th century[33] potato: 1586 horseradish:[34] 16th century

tea: 1610 or later[35] banana (from Bermuda):[36] 1633 coffee: 1650[37] chocolate: 1650s ice cream: first recorded serving in 1672.[38] broccoli: before 1724[39] tomato (as food):[40] 1750s

sandwich: named in the 18th century curry: first appearance on a menu 1773; first Indian restaurant 1809[41] rhubarb (as food): early 19th century[42] three-course meal: about 1850 (developed from service à la Russe)[19] fish and chips: 1858 or 1863[27] Marmite: 1902[43]

After 1914[]

• sugar beet: 1914–1918
• sliced bread: 1930^[27]

See also[]

• Cuisine of the Thirteen Colonies
• Culture of the United Kingdom
• List of British breads
• List of British desserts
• List of United Kingdom food and drink products with protected status
• List of English dishes

References[]

Further reading[]

• Addyman, Mary; Wood, Laura; Yiannitsaros, Christopher (eds). (2017) Food, Drink, and the Written Word in Britain, 1820–1945, Taylor & Francis.
• Brears, P. (2008) Cooking and Dining in Medieval England
• Burnett, John. "Plenty and Want: The Social History of English Diet," History Today (Apr 1964) 14#3 pp 223–233.
• Burnett, John. (1979) Plenty and want: a social history of diet in England from 1815 to the present day, 2nd ed. A standard scholarly history.
• Burnett, John. (2016) England eats out: a social history of eating out in England from 1830 to the present, Routledge.
• Collingham, Lizzy (2018). The Hungry Empire: How Britain's Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World. Vintage. ISBN 978-0099586951.
• Collins, E. J. T. (1975) "Dietary change and cereal consumption in Britain in the nineteenth century." Agricultural History Review 23#2, 97–115.
• Green, Kate & Bryan, Melanie (2020) "Around Britain in 50 foods"; in: Country Life; February 12, 2020, pp. 36-41
• Harris, Bernard; Floud, Roderick; Hong, Sok Chul. (2015) "How many calories? Food availability in England and Wales in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries". Research in economic history.. 111–191.
• Hartley, Dorothy. (2014) Food In England: A complete guide to the food that makes us who we are, Hachette UK.
• Meredith, David; Oxley, Deborah. (2014) "Nutrition and health, 1700–1870." in The Cambridge economic history of modern Britain. Vol. 1.
• Woolgar. C.N. (2016) The Culture of Food in England, 1200–1500.

Historiography[]

• Otter, Chris. "The British Nutrition Transition and its Histories", History Compass 10#11 (2012): pp. 812–825, doi:10.1111/hic3.12001

External links[]

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Cookbook:Cuisine of the United Kingdom

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cuisine of the United Kingdom.

• Food Stories – Explore a century of revolutionary change in UK food culture on the British Library's Food Stories website
• George Orwell's essay "In Defence of English Cooking"