In my defense, everything I worked for in the first 18 years of my life fell apart in the next two, so I've just kind of given up on anything that isn't now or in the very near future.
No no you see, Americans work* so much, they don’t have time to first learn and then practise to cook healthy meals at home. Hence fast food chains!!
*work American style, as in staying at work long hours but also spend about 60% of their work day chatting with co workers, or on the phone, going on personal, non-work related errands, browsing the internet, selecting, getting, eating, and ridding their bowels of food.
Try getting a blue collar job, and tell me again how the majority of American workers are slacking. Must be nice over there in your "office job," that clearly can be done working at home.
Also I don't know about other office jobs, but in IT, it was feast or famine. When there was work to be done, we worked 100 hour weeks, but when we finally managed to put out all the fires, yeah we would spend weeks at a time working on side projects, not slacking off.
i just learned (on Lemmy) that Americans basically don't get raises annually. 1 or 2% raise apparently is the burn. so 40% work in a work day sounds way too much for me. good job, American workers. those fuckers don't deserve your labor even at 40%. keep slacking, i say.
American workers. those fuckers don't deserve your labor even at 40%. keep slacking, i say.
I wish. That person has never seen what blue collar workers go through. In food service for example, and I literally cannot stress this enough, YOU WILL NOT GET A BREAK. Their favorite phrase is, "If you have time to lean, you have time to clean." This is because there will be exactly one chair in the manager's office, so that no one is allowed to sit for their entire shift, except the manager.
They get pissy if you ask for your federally required 15 minute break or your 30 minute lunch. This is doubly true for wait staff or delivery drivers. In fact I have been told by multiple bosses at delivery jobs that if I try to take a break at the store, I will be fired.
The rule of thumb over here seems to be, "the less you are paid, the more you WILL work."
It's because the ruling class created the biggest, most successful gang of slave hunters in human history, armed them to the teeth, and gave them immunity from prosecution. Anyone that does try to wrest some power back from the ruling class, historically, gets shot.
Yeah but they still spend most of their lives in a place they don’t want to be in, while being prideful about how hard they work compared to all other nations
Depending upon the type and quantity of food, climbing it might be a more difficult task than expected (says me who had McDonald's today (though for the first time in a couple months)).
We eat that way because we don't. Heart disease is the only way we're going to end up going out quickly enough to avoid end of life hospital bills. I mean it's not like any of us have the means to afford to retire.
Imagine giving it out but not being able to take it.
If it was just a bit of fun then, its still just a bit of fun now.
Just to be clear, we want you to have free healthcare. Its not meant as gloating and you should be angry. Just not at us. You deserve free health care and you won't find many British people who wouldn't want you to have it too.
Don't eat at a JD Wetherspoon, it's basically McPub.
As I said in another comment, British cuisine basically had to be neutered during the wars due to extended rationing. People lived, but long-term damage was made. The best food here isn't British, but British takes on foreign food.
It changed people's perception of food. They might've thought spices were too strong.
40s and 50s food was simple to make and high in calories, like you're trying to survive in a zombie apocalypse or something. My grandparents didn't experience a lot of the post-war optimism a lot of the world seemed to have because Britain got fucked in a properly long-term way. Being an island that fought to the very end left it in a fairly unique position.
Like others have said, the war ‘locked in’ perceptions but there were years of supply shortages and government rationing of foodstuffs afterwards, ending in the early 50s.
Cookbooks were re-written at the time to emphasize economic meals like stews and soups that used a lot of vegetables you can grow in the garden and to use up scraps. Potatoes, leeks, and cabbage grew to feature much more heavily, meat was OUT as was sugar and most fruit… You try working varied and fun meals with those limits
So combined with the more ‘bland’ cuisine of the era and extensive rationing limitations, generations of households got used to cooking and eating the basic foods. Immigration and globalization has broadened the modern offerings, but the British classics’ are undeniably under spiced shades of grey and brown.
Also I imagine industrialization did a number even before the world wars. As I understand it a lot of Northern European recipes relied on certain styles of preservation that wouldnt be possible in say a London tenement. Hell just looking at my own families recipes from back during westward expansion it heavily emphasizes cured meats and foraged ingredients. Either that or harrassing Mexicans for spices.
Bleu cheese is good, but this is the first time in 43 years I've ever heard someone praise British cheese above Swiss or French cheeses.
Edit: looking it up that does look tasty. I'll have to find some nearby.
Edit 2: fucking hell. It's $20 a pound.... Gonna have to get some though, any suggestions on a wine pairing? Apparently I could get an entire wheel for $130, but I don't have a cellar to store it in, and there's no way I'd go through an entire Skyrim sized wheel of cheese.
If you like sharp cheeses, I would highly recommend the cheese shop in Cuba, NY. They make some excellent extra sharp white cheddar.
Though I haven't been there recently enough to offer any suggestions, London is packed with really good restaurants. You'll be able to find basically whatever you want there.
I don't know Southampton very well but I see there is a "The Pig..." there. I've been to one elsewhere and it was really good.
In terms of London, I'd say don't limit yourself to the south, you're never really more than 45 mins away from anywhere really. Brick Lane is a fun area, it's kind of hipstery/street food/vintage clothing-y but also has two of my favourite places.
SMOKESTAK - one of the best things to actually survive the barbecue revolution a few years ago. Everything is smoked on premises, no take out.
Beigel Shop. This is one of (if not the) oldest bagel joints in London. It's open 24/7, take out only, they only do three things (lox, chicken & salt beef). Have the salt beef with pickles and mustard, expect to queue, thank me later.
E. Thought Beigel was older, it's only from the 70s.
E2. Found it, it was next door. It's from 1855, link updated
Awesome! I forgot to mention there's a Dishoom round the corner from all the Brick Lane stuff, it's all based on Bombay style food. They're open for breakfast too, can highly recommend the breakfast keema, best cure for a hangover I've ever found.
Also, if you're interested in the whole salt beef sandwich thing, The Brass Rail at Selfridges is a fucking institution. Pro tip: if you see a queue but there's a few people hanging back, it means they're just about to bring out a fresh load of brisket. Hold off until those folks swoop in.
Edit: actually you know what, have some more recommendations.
Literally any Hawksmoor, there are a few in London, they're always in art deco spaces, but in unusual places - Air Street is in the arches over some of the biggest shops in London, just off Piccadilly circus. If you want to know what a proper roast looks like, go here. Beef cooked over charcoal, charged by weight.
The Quality Chop House - this is an old favourite. Chop houses used to be all over London, they were a kind of after work eatery for your average businessman. Drop in after work, hang your hat by the door, have a beer and a chop, at some point later remember you have family, stagger home etc. As far as I know, this is the only chop house that still exists that has the original Victorian setup - very, very narrow benches and extremely thin tables (eat up, then fuck off!), and the folks who took it on have maintained the tradition of cooking their chops over coals. I mention this specifically because they have "mince on toast" on the menu which is what the OOP is shitting on. It's a very traditional dinner and this would be the best place to try it outside of home cooking. Also, their confit potatoes are incredible. Small plates, expect to share, if you're going there at the weekend it will be empty because nobody actually lives in Farringdon. They also do pretty decent set menus on weekdays and there is a roast on Sundays!
I was in London for a week last year and I went to that exact Dishoom three times, twice for breakfast and once for dinner. Probably my favorite meals of that trip. Everything was delicious, and I ended up buying a tin of their chai so I could make it at home.
If it’s not too late for your visit, the most renowned curry house in soton is Kutis. I used to live near the city rather than in it and found myself more often than not heading out to the new forest to find a country pub to go for nice meals.
Fun fact: the first curry shop to open in GB predated the first fish and chippery. Curry may not have been invented in GB, though apparently Chicken Tikka Masala was, but I would claim that the popularization of curries worldwide was certainly influenced more by the British than the Indians.
I would be shocked if that is true about the fish and chips coming after the curry. But, if it turns out to be true, I promise to repeat it very often.
Pretty much all the big brand pub meals are like that now. If it involves anything more than 15 minutes in an air fryer or a quick blast in the microwave, it isn't on the menu.
I went to a cafe the other month, and asked for the toasted sandwich without the mustard. They couldn't do it because they were all pre-packed. A bloody sandwich! It's a crying shame as well, because the cafe used to be owned by somebody else, who did the best triple-cooked chips I've ever had, and went bust when the nearby carpark owner started slapping parking fines on all their customer's cars. I liked the two mile walk to get there, but I get that a lot of people don't.
I recently had a colleague from Mexico visiting me and he absolutely could not get enough of Wetherspoons food. He actually went back another 3 times during his stay.
Chicken Tikka Masala appears to have credibly originated in the UK. It's probably as British as Beef Stroganoff is Russian (okay, looking it up, it looks like the latter may be at least a bit of a myth, but it gets my point across).
As American as Mac and Cheese is my go-to, since while there were pasta and cheese sauce dishes elsewhere, Thomas Jefferson got obsessed with Elbow Macaroni specifically, and had the extrusion machines shipped to his property in the US while he was an ambassador in Italy.
He then created a simpler version of oven baked Mac and Cheese, and insisted on serving it at every formal dinner at Monticello, while he was president.
I'm not disagreeing there. But were those British chefs who came up with it? And not chefs they brought back from places which Brits had conquered? Obviously no.
And, needless to say, tikka masala is about as far from modern English cuisine as you can get.
Well, they were British chefs with South Asian heritage who of course were indirectly here because of horrific Imperialism
But it is British, its very British. Despite what Farage and co want you to believe, we're a multi-cultural nation and have been for centuries.
British-Indian cuisine is at this point distinct and diverse enough from traditional Indian cuisine that it is its own thing. And its super widespread - even the racists discuss how shitty they are over a curry
You know, this got my mind working for a bit. We have a similar phenomenon in the United States, where just about every ethnic cuisine is kind of a bastardized version of the more authentic dishes brought here by people emigrating from their home countries. American Chinese, Tex Mex, etc are all distinctly American but have clearly been inspired by their origin but modified for western tastes and sensibilities. It makes me wonder at what point a certain cuisine is considered to be a genuine and unique creation, rather than just something adopted from elsewhere by way of either conquest or cultural exchange? How many things do we associate with a particular nationality as being their specialty when that style of cooking or method of preparation or presentation were probably acquired along the way somewhere and forgotten with time? I guess it's hard to know for sure.
If I wanted to be rigid about it I would say it can be considered as part of the region if you can locally source the ingredients. Anything ingredient you have to import should invalidate the fish but my actual opinion is, who cares. If it's good it's good.
Thomas Jefferson gave us Mac and Cheese. That's 100% American food inspired by other pasta and cheese dishes, but Jefferson just got obsessed with Elbow Macaroni for some reason.
I'm pretty sure the only reason Apple Pie is associated with the US is because Johnny Appleseed was a drunk that wanted lots of cider.
But, more to my point: let's say I walk into an English pub, and ask what they've got on the menu. How many times do you think they'll tell me about the unseasoned fried fish, or the unseasoned fried potatoes, before they mention "oh and we've got chicken tikka masala"
Don't know why you are getting downvoted, you are absolutely right. The last time I was in London, which to be fair was over 10 years ago, their bread tasted sweeter than some cakes in my country.
I was there 7 years ago. I love bread and all forms of buns. I am an absolute fanatic. I cannot eat English bread, tho. It's straight up vile to me. :< Like, I cannot say anything bad about everything else in there. But the bread is so terrible...
it's not that we don't like them - but more that they're more winter/holiday focused (speaking generally), and usually roasted rather than fried.
But also, Brussels are on the menu everywhere (edit: where i am) in the US. middle of July, at a bar, get a side of Brussels. I don't think Brussels are served commonly at Sunday lunch year round in the uk.
What region if you don't mind me asking. I've lived in a couple of US states on the west coast and I've never encountered Brussel sprouts so casually and definitely never fried.
It's usually in a part of a dinner at a 'nice' sit down restaurant and always roasted in the oven.
Where in the U.S.? Lots of people hate them. In fact, I've never seen a side of Brussels sprouts just given to you as a side. Maybe it's an option, but there are always other options.
DC area checking in. They are super popular right now, especially roasted or deep fried. Fortunately, I haven't seen anyone serving the boiled nasties my mom used to make...
However, it originating in the indigenous cultures of the Caribbean and Central America, would explain why it's so prevalently associated with southern states.
I'm not arguing about its origins, I'm saying you're playing Family Feud (aka Family Fortune overseas) and the host asks you to name a type of American cuisine.
Is "bbq/barbeque" on the board? I'd say it's probably #2 or #3 after Hamburgers (arguably bbq), hot dogs (arguably the same), fried chicken / wings (arguably the same), or pizza (arguably not "American" if bbq isnt either)
Others would be, TexMex, gumbo, cheesesteak, Thanksgiving dinner.
Anything else - deep-dish, pie a la mode, eggs benedict, candied yams, new England chowder, NY strip steak, Boston creme pie, a cheeseball... are way more niche than bbq
Fair enough, I would throw Mac and Cheese up there with BBQ. Thomas Jefferson apparently created the dish, based on other pasta and cheese sauce dishes, but he got hung up on elbow macaroni and served the stuff at every state dinner at Monticello.
My only question is why are the Yorkshire puddings hollow? All the ones I've had have been stuffed with mince and vegs, but I've never been outside 49 of the 50 states.
This is how I grew up eating them, but some people from the North of England would argue they should be the size of the plate and function like a bread bowl / taco bowl
What you're describing is more niche as is known as a "pop over"
Rationing lasted until the mid-50s and left a lasting impression on people's diets. It's taken decades to recover socially, mainly with the aid of foreign cuisine.
At first, I thought that you declared Indian immigrants as a minimum viable product. After some googling I guess it's meant to be most valuable players. Small but significant difference. 😂
While we're on this tangent, I've always felt the need to point out the following.
Minimum Viable Product = Poorly planned, or not planned at all, crappy product that is created in haste by overworked, stressed out developers to make some middle manager in a suit and sneakers type feel like they're doing something to please corporate, because they don't have the guts or good sense to push back. This abomination is usually sold as "we'll flesh it out in phase two." Phase two never happens, because they're off chasing whatever other shiny thing they think is important. Also, the last MVP that they farted out "didn't gain traction." /rant
There are many good ones, and many rip off artists who spend as much time disguising their horseshit as they would just doing real work. At a certain point, consultancies started hiring less and less experienced people who had to sell more and more bullshit.
Acronyms and abbreviations are psychologically powerful; they imply something is commonplace or important to the point of it not needing to be spelled out. When you suddenly coin a random one you can pretend you know something the listener doesn't-- you're right back to the emperor's new clothes--most people are too scared to ask. Any industry, same shit.
I mean, we had rationing in Italy too, but you don't see people struggling to make a passing meal here. I'm pretty sure we were also much poorer than the British both going into and coming out of WW2
Savory mince is simultaneously one of the best and worst meals I've ever had in my life. When its done right its amazing, when its bad its proper fucking garbage.
You can't actually be sure that stew doesn't have a ton of ground spices in it, because they wouldn't show. The flavor could be so intense you might need the plain potato bites to rest your mouth. (Highly unlikely but possible.) The real crime is the complete lack of anything green on the table. It's like they looked around at the lush greenery all around them and decided to leave it all outside.
Truthfully, I've been to the UK and had some great food, I just like to rag on the brits!
But yes, the lack of color is probably the real issue with this meal. You really want some fiber to go with a meal like this, to say nothing of the missing nutrients. As an American though, mocking an all brown-and-white plate of food seems a little hypocritical, haha.
You're supposed to spice those naked potatoes with the meat and gravy. This is basically Haggis if I recall correctly, without fancy serving. And it is really good.
Haggis is traditionally sheep organ meat, oats, and spices. Black pepper and nutmeg are usually the dominant ones, although I assume that's a development from within the last couple hundred years since neither is native to anywhere near Scotland. You'd serve it alongside potatoes and turnips, traditionally both mashed with a bit of butter.
As an American, this comment almost made me drop my gun and steer my F-350 off the road (I was scrolling and driving ofc). I feel so sorry for you guys, I hadn't realized you'd been living like this since we broke up.
You can do so much with potatoes and a little bit of spices. Maybe start out with some black pepper, or some chili powder or paprika. Old Bay would also go great. If you're really feeling adventurous, instead of conquering India, you could pan fry the potatoes instead of boiling them, and use a little hot sauce or ketchup. For boiled or baked potatoes in particular, dressing them with some sour cream or sauerkraut can be very good.
Yeah, I'm of the opinion that you should only boil a potato if you intend to mash it. Otherwise, what are you even doing? There are faster and tastier ways to prepare it.
You should boil them a bit in an alkaline water before roasting as well. It breaks down the surface into a starchy mess that crisps up wonderfully while they roast.
Alkaline water? Do you mean salt water or water with vinegar? I don't know enough about Ph to know which one makes alkaline water.... I think vinegar is an acid, but is salt a base?
Neither, I'm referring to adding a small amount of baking soda to the water. You're correct about vinegar being acidic. Table salt is neutral. Sodium bicarbonate is basic and increases the alkalinity of the water.
The unseasoned boiled potatoes and the untoasted bread are just bland.
The ground beef and carrots in the undefinable brown liquid would be a textural nightmare. I cannot fathom how it tastes because the closest thing in the US would be a sloppy joe.
The real problem with this is lack of technique and seasoning.
Here’s how I would “fix” this:
Toast the bread, roast and season the potatoes, make the ground beef and sauce into a something resembling Salisbury steak, and cook the carrots as their own side dish.
The bread is a sop. You can't sop with toast; that's insane. The "undefinable brown liquid" is stock and is common across the world's cuisines. If you season the potatoes further, assuming they're lightly salted, you run the risk of overseasoning the dish (they're sitting next to a very rich stew). You're just making these up now.
I cannot fathom how it tastes
Then don't say anything! Easy peasy!
Edit to add: The only problem as it were with this food is that it lacks colour, so of course you wouldn't serve this at a restaurant. But when's the last time anyone gave a fuck about colour when bashing out tea on a thursday eve?
The closest thing in America would be a meat gravy meant to go on mashed potatoes. My family always cheaped out on seasoning and used a French onion soup seasoning packet, so thats the majority of what it tastes like to me.
One of my favorite dishes from being a kid, would put corn on top of gravy on top of mashed potatoes.
The stack of buttered bread is disgusting. My parents used to do that when I was a kid though and I didnt question it.
I don't even know what I'm looking at. Sliced white bread with butter, HP sauce, salt or pepper shaker, and a plate with what seems to be boiled potatoes and some unknown viscous fluid with what might be sliced (presumably cooked) carrots.
FWIW it wasn't the Germans flying overhead that led to the shitty food and not much of it - it was the Germans in their submersible tin cans that were the big problem.
To all of you saying "this literally looks like poop", "why are they eating boiled vomit", etc, post the last thing you made and I'm sure I could come up with some shitty things to say about it.
It's fucking very obviously a normal ass plate of potatoes and meat stew with carrots. Do the potatoes look a little bland? Maybe, but there's stew to dip it in. Regardless, a well seasoned potato has a good flavor all by itself. The stew looks like every other homemade stew I've ever seen. It's hard to make that shit look "pretty", but I know y'all scarf shit like that down. Get off your high fucking horses. There's plenty of other valid things to complain about with British culture, but making fun of their food is asinine.
Things are pretty fucked here and what I thought were saner parts of the world seem like they're starting to fall for the same shit. We need distractions.
I saw this video recently where this guy tried every iconic local cuisine from every American state, and I swear to God half of them made me want to throw up.
Americans will act like British cooking its an abomination despite most of them never having even heard of steak and ale pie, or Lancashire hot pot, or Welsh rarebit. Meanwhile they'll throw fucking marshmallows on a tray of mashed squash and declare it an ancient family recipe.
Funny, but sadly, I've seen my best friend sharing these memes (neither from the U.K nor the U.S.).
Since the first time I saw them, I thought they were kind of rude and probably inaccurate as no national cuisine is dull. I googled and read... What seems to have happened is that we've normalized British cuisine because it is part of many countries now. We think British dishes are regular dishes. Anyway, I don't like these memes.
Watched Once Were Warriors last night and the dinner Temuera Morrison has in that is even more bland and basic than any of these memes. So it’s more of classist meme than anything.
Also, I think you’re right about loads of core British dishes just being ubiquitous now. My American colleague told me about the Shepherd’s Pie he made, which apparently came out a bit too rich.
It is basically a meat pie filling just with potatoes instead of pastry. People will look down their noses at this because of the plating and then happily eat hundreds of extremely similar foods.
The plain boiled potatoes do feel very UK "my parents grew up in the tail end of rationing" style. Idk if it's because I grew up with it that I don't mind, or if I know just putting a bit of the gravy on it means they don't need to be cooked any other way.
Saying all that that though, I don't tend to boil potatoes like this personally and would totally mash them or something.
I'm 48, my parents absolutely grew up through rationing which lasted into the 1950s. Plain boiled potatoes was a really common way of serving them all through my childhood. Even now they will commonly eat plain potatoes, with a bit of butter on them. In fact as they have got older, now in their 80s, their meal might just be plain potatoes and peas.
This dish, mince and tatties, was an absolute staple at my Scottish grannie's house, with an overboiled cabbage as well for good measure.
My mum often served just boiled potatoes like this, due to growing up during rationing. They’re actually fine as long as they’re not over-boiled, and then when you get the Jersey Royals in season it’s an absolute crime to peel, chip, over-season or mash them.
I would probably add a little bit of butter and salt, but you're right, the flavour potential of simple potatoes can be criminally undervalued sometimes. Particularly home grown or fresh new potatoes.
Our drill sergeants taught us that you have to use the Kool-Aid mix, as that has something in it to counteract the digestive issues. Idk if that's true or not, but I never had digestive issues because of an MRE, and I always used the Kool-Aid packet.
We didn't really go over MREs in Navy boot. I doubt the RDCs would have bothered telling us that tidbit of information, since there's really no reason a sailor should be eating those things. I just got curious and bought a few from the Army/Navy surplus stores. I never drank more than a taste or two of the Kool aid packet. Those things aren't exactly tasty, kinda medicinal aftertaste in my opinion.
Not who you asked but I'm pretty partial to the chili Mac, especially if you got some hot sauce to drizzle on it! It's the one I look for first whenever we're given some to choose from!
They used to come with little Tabasco bottles in them. I had little bottles of Tabasco all over the kitchen for a while after leaving the Army. Do they not come with that anymore?
I can picture that tiny Tabasco bottle clearly 😂. It was a godsend in basic training (for any MRE that came with them) I'm not sure if I had a new iteration of the chili mac or what, but when I was quarantined in 2020, mine came with crushed red pepper instead. I know for a fact I've had it with the Tabasco too though.
Plain boiled potatoes are meant as an accompagnement, you're not supposed to just eat them on their own. They're great at that, even the French do it and I think everyone can agree the French know a thing or two about cuisine.
The stew might be super tasty, but those white potatoes look bland as fuck. Throw them in an oven or skillet with some of that butter, get the edges a little crispy, sprig of whatever herbs were used in the stew, and they will be much better.
Me too. Except in a hotel in Scotland but my condition was the same. They don’t sell that stuff in supermarkets in my country, but we have the internet for that.
Over in the province we'd call that mince and onions, obviously being part of the island of Ireland the potatoes are inferred from kt being a meal.
The yanks might be taking the piss, but as far as I'm aware they put it in a bap and call it a sloppy Joe (which frankly sounds like a sex act).
Tangentially, other fine Northern Irish cuisine includes the vegetable roll, which is primarily a sliced beef sausage with a wee bit of onion and celery. Tasty.
Brother, just because you call your hamburger meat mince doesn't mean you know how to handle it better than us here in burgerland. Our sauce for it not only includes onions but also tomatoes and, in true American fashion, sugar(either from ketchup or brown sugar). And of course, said hamburger meat goes in a bun, not on a plate unless you're serving it with noodles from hamburger helper. What savages.
The dinners aren't the problem. It's the baked beans for breakfast... Also, my Dad, who was born in London, insisted on eating Marmite, which I know many of you will defend, but also piccalilli and Daddies sauce and if you like those things, I will give you major side-eye.
I don't often have them, given they are a heart attack on a plate. But an English breakfast can set you up for the day and baked beans are a staple ingredient. Particularly if they are cooked in the bacon/sausage fat.
Neither saag paneer nor gyros have such things in them either and they're delicious. Probably because Indian and Greek food are better.
For that matter, a plain old carrot doesn't have any high fructose corn syrup in it. Ever tried one? They're quite nice. You don't even have to cook them.
Of course, that's just what THEY want you to think.
My issue is that not one pizzaria that I've found does anchovies the proper way. They just stick an entire fillet on each slice of pizza. Anchovies are a garnish, not a main event. They need to chop the fillets into smaller pieces and distribute evenly the same as they do with olives.
Chop a couple up until they are paste and put a teaspoon of that into 8 cups of whatever sauce you are making and watch people rave about needing to know your secret ingredient, and then totally disbelieve you when you tell them.
You're right. Places like Papa John's put the whole fillet on. Which I actually do love. Cuts through the sweetness of the sauce. But it isn't good pizza by any means.
There's a few places in NYC that do it right. My favorite is this Italian pizza place that has red and white pizzas.
Entire wars were fought for access to spices. If we have cheap access to every spice we could ever want, why not throw a bunch of spices on to make it pop with flavor?
I'm talking throwing a bit of garlic powder, some granulated onion, dash of pepper, dash of parsley and oregano and some seasoning salt to give the flavor some body if it still needs it.
Just because we have a blend called Allspice, doesn't mean we dump the whole rack in there. Also portion control is absolutely essential with most spices. Don't be jealous of us just because we never used spices as currency.
On the other hand Americans eat like they have free healthcare...
Touché!
Buuuuuuurn.
Lmao
Americans have been sold and eat up the idea that instant gratification beats the effort needed to realize something greater.
In my defense, everything I worked for in the first 18 years of my life fell apart in the next two, so I've just kind of given up on anything that isn't now or in the very near future.
"Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life
The most interesting people I know Didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives
Some of The Most Interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't"
-Sunscreen
No no you see, Americans work* so much, they don’t have time to first learn and then practise to cook healthy meals at home. Hence fast food chains!!
*work American style, as in staying at work long hours but also spend about 60% of their work day chatting with co workers, or on the phone, going on personal, non-work related errands, browsing the internet, selecting, getting, eating, and ridding their bowels of food.
Try getting a blue collar job, and tell me again how the majority of American workers are slacking. Must be nice over there in your "office job," that clearly can be done working at home.
Also I don't know about other office jobs, but in IT, it was feast or famine. When there was work to be done, we worked 100 hour weeks, but when we finally managed to put out all the fires, yeah we would spend weeks at a time working on side projects, not slacking off.
Blue collar? I was obviously not talking about you losers, so shut your gd mouth and go back to pounding rocks.
i just learned (on Lemmy) that Americans basically don't get raises annually. 1 or 2% raise apparently is the burn. so 40% work in a work day sounds way too much for me. good job, American workers. those fuckers don't deserve your labor even at 40%. keep slacking, i say.
I wish. That person has never seen what blue collar workers go through. In food service for example, and I literally cannot stress this enough, YOU WILL NOT GET A BREAK. Their favorite phrase is, "If you have time to lean, you have time to clean." This is because there will be exactly one chair in the manager's office, so that no one is allowed to sit for their entire shift, except the manager.
They get pissy if you ask for your federally required 15 minute break or your 30 minute lunch. This is doubly true for wait staff or delivery drivers. In fact I have been told by multiple bosses at delivery jobs that if I try to take a break at the store, I will be fired.
The rule of thumb over here seems to be, "the less you are paid, the more you WILL work."
every time i hear anything about the US it becomes even more unbelievable that there are no guillotines in the streets "just in case".
It's because the ruling class created the biggest, most successful gang of slave hunters in human history, armed them to the teeth, and gave them immunity from prosecution. Anyone that does try to wrest some power back from the ruling class, historically, gets shot.
Yeah but they still spend most of their lives in a place they don’t want to be in, while being prideful about how hard they work compared to all other nations
I don't care. I'll die on that hill.
Oh you will
Depending upon the type and quantity of food, climbing it might be a more difficult task than expected (says me who had McDonald's today (though for the first time in a couple months)).
It might not take a hill, a set of stairs could do it.
We eat that way because we don't. Heart disease is the only way we're going to end up going out quickly enough to avoid end of life hospital bills. I mean it's not like any of us have the means to afford to retire.
Imagine taking a joke without having to jab back 😂. Oh world you are so petty.
You couldn't
Imagine not being able to take a jab back without complaining. 😂
Imagine giving it out but not being able to take it.
If it was just a bit of fun then, its still just a bit of fun now.
Just to be clear, we want you to have free healthcare. Its not meant as gloating and you should be angry. Just not at us. You deserve free health care and you won't find many British people who wouldn't want you to have it too.
Jab backs are the best part!
🤠🤠🤠
I just continued the "food generalisation" joke because I'm neither British nor American. I can laugh at both of you.
You seem to be the one that can't take a joke.
This reminds me of that post
"Is British food really that bad?"
"If made correctly, Yes"
I’m going to be visiting in a few months. Speaking as a foreigner of course, is it British culture to minimize both color and hope in your cuisine?
Don't eat at a JD Wetherspoon, it's basically McPub.
As I said in another comment, British cuisine basically had to be neutered during the wars due to extended rationing. People lived, but long-term damage was made. The best food here isn't British, but British takes on foreign food.
Did they forget to add the spices back in or something?
It changed people's perception of food. They might've thought spices were too strong.
40s and 50s food was simple to make and high in calories, like you're trying to survive in a zombie apocalypse or something. My grandparents didn't experience a lot of the post-war optimism a lot of the world seemed to have because Britain got fucked in a properly long-term way. Being an island that fought to the very end left it in a fairly unique position.
Small history rant over.
Like others have said, the war ‘locked in’ perceptions but there were years of supply shortages and government rationing of foodstuffs afterwards, ending in the early 50s.
Cookbooks were re-written at the time to emphasize economic meals like stews and soups that used a lot of vegetables you can grow in the garden and to use up scraps. Potatoes, leeks, and cabbage grew to feature much more heavily, meat was OUT as was sugar and most fruit… You try working varied and fun meals with those limits
So combined with the more ‘bland’ cuisine of the era and extensive rationing limitations, generations of households got used to cooking and eating the basic foods. Immigration and globalization has broadened the modern offerings, but the British classics’ are undeniably under spiced shades of grey and brown.
Also I imagine industrialization did a number even before the world wars. As I understand it a lot of Northern European recipes relied on certain styles of preservation that wouldnt be possible in say a London tenement. Hell just looking at my own families recipes from back during westward expansion it heavily emphasizes cured meats and foraged ingredients. Either that or harrassing Mexicans for spices.
They probably forgot how exactly to add the spices.
I'll take British cheese over any other.
Shropshire blue forever
Bleu cheese is good, but this is the first time in 43 years I've ever heard someone praise British cheese above Swiss or French cheeses.
Edit: looking it up that does look tasty. I'll have to find some nearby.
Edit 2: fucking hell. It's $20 a pound.... Gonna have to get some though, any suggestions on a wine pairing? Apparently I could get an entire wheel for $130, but I don't have a cellar to store it in, and there's no way I'd go through an entire Skyrim sized wheel of cheese.
If you like sharp cheeses, I would highly recommend the cheese shop in Cuba, NY. They make some excellent extra sharp white cheddar.
Enjoy.
If you’d like to make any suggestions especially in the south London area or Southampton I’d be happy to hear them.
Though I haven't been there recently enough to offer any suggestions, London is packed with really good restaurants. You'll be able to find basically whatever you want there.
I don't know Southampton very well but I see there is a "The Pig..." there. I've been to one elsewhere and it was really good.
In terms of London, I'd say don't limit yourself to the south, you're never really more than 45 mins away from anywhere really. Brick Lane is a fun area, it's kind of hipstery/street food/vintage clothing-y but also has two of my favourite places.
SMOKESTAK - one of the best things to actually survive the barbecue revolution a few years ago. Everything is smoked on premises, no take out.
Beigel Shop. This is one of (if not the) oldest bagel joints in London. It's open 24/7, take out only, they only do three things (lox, chicken & salt beef). Have the salt beef with pickles and mustard, expect to queue, thank me later.
E. Thought Beigel was older, it's only from the 70s. E2. Found it, it was next door. It's from 1855, link updated
Awesome! I will make an effort to stop by the Beigel shop especially because my wife and I love bagels.
Awesome! I forgot to mention there's a Dishoom round the corner from all the Brick Lane stuff, it's all based on Bombay style food. They're open for breakfast too, can highly recommend the breakfast keema, best cure for a hangover I've ever found.
Also, if you're interested in the whole salt beef sandwich thing, The Brass Rail at Selfridges is a fucking institution. Pro tip: if you see a queue but there's a few people hanging back, it means they're just about to bring out a fresh load of brisket. Hold off until those folks swoop in.
Edit: actually you know what, have some more recommendations.
Literally any Hawksmoor, there are a few in London, they're always in art deco spaces, but in unusual places - Air Street is in the arches over some of the biggest shops in London, just off Piccadilly circus. If you want to know what a proper roast looks like, go here. Beef cooked over charcoal, charged by weight.
The Quality Chop House - this is an old favourite. Chop houses used to be all over London, they were a kind of after work eatery for your average businessman. Drop in after work, hang your hat by the door, have a beer and a chop, at some point later remember you have family, stagger home etc. As far as I know, this is the only chop house that still exists that has the original Victorian setup - very, very narrow benches and extremely thin tables (eat up, then fuck off!), and the folks who took it on have maintained the tradition of cooking their chops over coals. I mention this specifically because they have "mince on toast" on the menu which is what the OOP is shitting on. It's a very traditional dinner and this would be the best place to try it outside of home cooking. Also, their confit potatoes are incredible. Small plates, expect to share, if you're going there at the weekend it will be empty because nobody actually lives in Farringdon. They also do pretty decent set menus on weekdays and there is a roast on Sundays!
I was in London for a week last year and I went to that exact Dishoom three times, twice for breakfast and once for dinner. Probably my favorite meals of that trip. Everything was delicious, and I ended up buying a tin of their chai so I could make it at home.
I can highly recommend their cookbook if you're into cooking. Their chicken ruby is probably one of the greatest things I've ever put in my face.
They call it chicken ruby but it's basically a butter chicken/tikka masala.
The salt beef is better than the lox? I'm suspicious.
The smoked salmon is good too, but it's more of a normal sandwich. The salt beef is a bit more obscene, like you need a lie down after.
Ahh, like a good Thanksgiving feast, got it.
If it’s not too late for your visit, the most renowned curry house in soton is Kutis. I used to live near the city rather than in it and found myself more often than not heading out to the new forest to find a country pub to go for nice meals.
It is not too late! Just a few more days.
Fun fact: the first curry shop to open in GB predated the first fish and chippery. Curry may not have been invented in GB, though apparently Chicken Tikka Masala was, but I would claim that the popularization of curries worldwide was certainly influenced more by the British than the Indians.
I would be shocked if that is true about the fish and chips coming after the curry. But, if it turns out to be true, I promise to repeat it very often.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindoostane_Coffee_House
They are the first curry shop, opened in 1810
https://docksidehhi.com/the-history-of-fish-and-chips/
According to that the first fish and chippery opened in 1860
So what's pre-war british food like ?
Curry. I'm being totally serious. The first curry shop predates both WWII and the first fish and chippery in GB.
Pretty much all the big brand pub meals are like that now. If it involves anything more than 15 minutes in an air fryer or a quick blast in the microwave, it isn't on the menu.
I went to a cafe the other month, and asked for the toasted sandwich without the mustard. They couldn't do it because they were all pre-packed. A bloody sandwich! It's a crying shame as well, because the cafe used to be owned by somebody else, who did the best triple-cooked chips I've ever had, and went bust when the nearby carpark owner started slapping parking fines on all their customer's cars. I liked the two mile walk to get there, but I get that a lot of people don't.
I recently had a colleague from Mexico visiting me and he absolutely could not get enough of Wetherspoons food. He actually went back another 3 times during his stay.
English national dish is Chicken Tikka Masala. With a bit of garnish it can look quite colourful.
Lmao I guess when you've subjugated half the world, you can claim any dish as your own.
Chicken Tikka Masala appears to have credibly originated in the UK. It's probably as British as Beef Stroganoff is Russian (okay, looking it up, it looks like the latter may be at least a bit of a myth, but it gets my point across).
As American as Mac and Cheese is my go-to, since while there were pasta and cheese sauce dishes elsewhere, Thomas Jefferson got obsessed with Elbow Macaroni specifically, and had the extrusion machines shipped to his property in the US while he was an ambassador in Italy.
He then created a simpler version of oven baked Mac and Cheese, and insisted on serving it at every formal dinner at Monticello, while he was president.
I'm not disagreeing there. But were those British chefs who came up with it? And not chefs they brought back from places which Brits had conquered? Obviously no.
And, needless to say, tikka masala is about as far from modern English cuisine as you can get.
Well, they were British chefs with South Asian heritage who of course were indirectly here because of horrific Imperialism
But it is British, its very British. Despite what Farage and co want you to believe, we're a multi-cultural nation and have been for centuries.
British-Indian cuisine is at this point distinct and diverse enough from traditional Indian cuisine that it is its own thing. And its super widespread - even the racists discuss how shitty they are over a curry
You know, this got my mind working for a bit. We have a similar phenomenon in the United States, where just about every ethnic cuisine is kind of a bastardized version of the more authentic dishes brought here by people emigrating from their home countries. American Chinese, Tex Mex, etc are all distinctly American but have clearly been inspired by their origin but modified for western tastes and sensibilities. It makes me wonder at what point a certain cuisine is considered to be a genuine and unique creation, rather than just something adopted from elsewhere by way of either conquest or cultural exchange? How many things do we associate with a particular nationality as being their specialty when that style of cooking or method of preparation or presentation were probably acquired along the way somewhere and forgotten with time? I guess it's hard to know for sure.
That's an interesting thought.
If I wanted to be rigid about it I would say it can be considered as part of the region if you can locally source the ingredients. Anything ingredient you have to import should invalidate the fish but my actual opinion is, who cares. If it's good it's good.
Thomas Jefferson gave us Mac and Cheese. That's 100% American food inspired by other pasta and cheese dishes, but Jefferson just got obsessed with Elbow Macaroni for some reason.
I'm pretty sure the only reason Apple Pie is associated with the US is because Johnny Appleseed was a drunk that wanted lots of cider.
Another example.
Fish and chips is Portugese. Surprisingly, so is vindaloo
"British chefs with South Asian heritage" lmao. That's one way of putting it.
Yes. I agree. It is VERY British.
Would you like to go more into the origin of the phrase "British-Indian"?
I'm not denying the fucked up colonial history. You seem to be denying that South Asian immigrants are British - they are
But, more to my point: let's say I walk into an English pub, and ask what they've got on the menu. How many times do you think they'll tell me about the unseasoned fried fish, or the unseasoned fried potatoes, before they mention "oh and we've got chicken tikka masala"
Not exactly a national dish, in my opinion.
How about 'spoons on a Thursday? Actually I think they have Curry on the menu all week now.
It was invented in the 1970s. It's not exactly classic cuisine. It definitely counts as modern British.
Honestly you'll find pretty much the same food here as anywhere else.
You just need to stick to real British food, such as pizza, curry and Chinese.
Beware their bread.
Don't know why you are getting downvoted, you are absolutely right. The last time I was in London, which to be fair was over 10 years ago, their bread tasted sweeter than some cakes in my country.
I was there 7 years ago. I love bread and all forms of buns. I am an absolute fanatic. I cannot eat English bread, tho. It's straight up vile to me. :< Like, I cannot say anything bad about everything else in there. But the bread is so terrible...
What, UK too?
Is it always leftovers day or is there a plate shortage?
Why are there always 15 items on the plate with British food?
depicted: 6, and gravy.
to make a typical American meal:
swap cauliflower for macaroni, double the amount of cheese sauce
roast potatoes for fries
roast meat for BBQ
gravy for bbq sauce
peas for collard greens
carrots for Brussels sprouts
yorkshire puddings for a slice on plain, untoasted, unbuttered wonderbread
Since when do the British not like Brussels sprouts?
Since they left the EU and now anything from Brussels costs more
Me and my sister don't like them so that's at least 2 of us
George Bush Sr. famously hated them. For some reason, people found that funny. I didn't get it then and I still don't get it.
They used to taste far more bitter. Then in the late 90s, a breeder was able to remove that flavor.
I liked them bitter.
it's not that we don't like them - but more that they're more winter/holiday focused (speaking generally), and usually roasted rather than fried.
But also, Brussels are on the menu everywhere (edit: where i am) in the US. middle of July, at a bar, get a side of Brussels. I don't think Brussels are served commonly at Sunday lunch year round in the uk.
What region if you don't mind me asking. I've lived in a couple of US states on the west coast and I've never encountered Brussel sprouts so casually and definitely never fried. It's usually in a part of a dinner at a 'nice' sit down restaurant and always roasted in the oven.
Atlanta
Where in the U.S.? Lots of people hate them. In fact, I've never seen a side of Brussels sprouts just given to you as a side. Maybe it's an option, but there are always other options.
DC area checking in. They are super popular right now, especially roasted or deep fried. Fortunately, I haven't seen anyone serving the boiled nasties my mom used to make...
British ex pat in Atlanta, Georgia here
We like sprouts.
America is big. This is like a southern meal maybe? Or more like what the stereotype of the south is.
Roughly 40% of the us population lives in "The South," I think its fair to generalize that southern BBQ is an American staple cuisine.
The word barbeque comes from the Caribbean. I know people associate BBQ with the US, but it seems to have originated outside the US.
https://www.cindersbarbecues.co.uk/cinders/who-invented-the-bbq-the-history-of-barbecues/#:~:text=The%20Origin%20of%20'Barbecue',on%20sticks%20above%20a%20fire.
However, it originating in the indigenous cultures of the Caribbean and Central America, would explain why it's so prevalently associated with southern states.
I'm not arguing about its origins, I'm saying you're playing Family Feud (aka Family Fortune overseas) and the host asks you to name a type of American cuisine.
Is "bbq/barbeque" on the board? I'd say it's probably #2 or #3 after Hamburgers (arguably bbq), hot dogs (arguably the same), fried chicken / wings (arguably the same), or pizza (arguably not "American" if bbq isnt either)
Others would be, TexMex, gumbo, cheesesteak, Thanksgiving dinner.
Anything else - deep-dish, pie a la mode, eggs benedict, candied yams, new England chowder, NY strip steak, Boston creme pie, a cheeseball... are way more niche than bbq
Fair enough, I would throw Mac and Cheese up there with BBQ. Thomas Jefferson apparently created the dish, based on other pasta and cheese sauce dishes, but he got hung up on elbow macaroni and served the stuff at every state dinner at Monticello.
My only question is why are the Yorkshire puddings hollow? All the ones I've had have been stuffed with mince and vegs, but I've never been outside 49 of the 50 states.
This is how I grew up eating them, but some people from the North of England would argue they should be the size of the plate and function like a bread bowl / taco bowl
What you're describing is more niche as is known as a "pop over"
I still don’t find this appealing tbh
Oh it's smiling! Hello! 👋
Deconstructed Sheppards pie
And now it is suddenly fancy enough for the insta crowd.
Exactly.
What is that? Potatoes with a side of stew on a plate?
Nearly - minced beef in gravy with some chopped vegetables thrown in (usually peas and carrots), next to boiled potatoes (that are usually mashed up).
Some parts of the UK have bread and butter as a side with everything.
It is a hearty dinner mind - it's not flashy or instagram-ready, but it is tasty and fills you up.
Rationing lasted until the mid-50s and left a lasting impression on people's diets. It's taken decades to recover socially, mainly with the aid of foreign cuisine.
Indian immigrants are the MVPs 👍
At first, I thought that you declared Indian immigrants as a minimum viable product. After some googling I guess it's meant to be most valuable players. Small but significant difference. 😂
While we're on this tangent, I've always felt the need to point out the following.
Minimum Viable Product = Poorly planned, or not planned at all, crappy product that is created in haste by overworked, stressed out developers to make some middle manager in a suit and sneakers type feel like they're doing something to please corporate, because they don't have the guts or good sense to push back. This abomination is usually sold as "we'll flesh it out in phase two." Phase two never happens, because they're off chasing whatever other shiny thing they think is important. Also, the last MVP that they farted out "didn't gain traction." /rant
Some places have switched to MLP, “Minimum Lovable Product” for this reason, but that just really means My Little Pony.
Why does the same acronym have meanings on two extremes :(
In short, consultancies.
There are many good ones, and many rip off artists who spend as much time disguising their horseshit as they would just doing real work. At a certain point, consultancies started hiring less and less experienced people who had to sell more and more bullshit.
Acronyms and abbreviations are psychologically powerful; they imply something is commonplace or important to the point of it not needing to be spelled out. When you suddenly coin a random one you can pretend you know something the listener doesn't-- you're right back to the emperor's new clothes--most people are too scared to ask. Any industry, same shit.
I like all the acronyms and shit. It helps me know who to ignore, or avoid working for / with.
Oh shit that would have been so bad hahah
I mean, we had rationing in Italy too, but you don't see people struggling to make a passing meal here. I'm pretty sure we were also much poorer than the British both going into and coming out of WW2
Britain was extremely import-based, which is why it lasted so long even after the war.
Savory mince is simultaneously one of the best and worst meals I've ever had in my life. When its done right its amazing, when its bad its proper fucking garbage.
If you're going to boil them at least throw some cream and chives on?
Looks like a lovely bit of scran that does. Yall too obsessed with overdone memes to appreciate a nice bit of comfort food.
Nah I'm just too obcessed with spices and would like to see some used in this meal, especially on those naked potatoes.
You can't actually be sure that stew doesn't have a ton of ground spices in it, because they wouldn't show. The flavor could be so intense you might need the plain potato bites to rest your mouth. (Highly unlikely but possible.) The real crime is the complete lack of anything green on the table. It's like they looked around at the lush greenery all around them and decided to leave it all outside.
Truthfully, I've been to the UK and had some great food, I just like to rag on the brits!
But yes, the lack of color is probably the real issue with this meal. You really want some fiber to go with a meal like this, to say nothing of the missing nutrients. As an American though, mocking an all brown-and-white plate of food seems a little hypocritical, haha.
You're supposed to spice those naked potatoes with the meat and gravy. This is basically Haggis if I recall correctly, without fancy serving. And it is really good.
Haggis would have cabbage and lung meat wouldn't it?
Haggis is traditionally sheep organ meat, oats, and spices. Black pepper and nutmeg are usually the dominant ones, although I assume that's a development from within the last couple hundred years since neither is native to anywhere near Scotland. You'd serve it alongside potatoes and turnips, traditionally both mashed with a bit of butter.
Yeah now that I am thinking about it haggis is probably better than what OP posted. It's been years since I ate it while visiting Edinburgh :D
Spices on boiled potatoes? I only put salt on mine. What are you recommending?
As an American, this comment almost made me drop my gun and steer my F-350 off the road (I was scrolling and driving ofc). I feel so sorry for you guys, I hadn't realized you'd been living like this since we broke up.
You can do so much with potatoes and a little bit of spices. Maybe start out with some black pepper, or some chili powder or paprika. Old Bay would also go great. If you're really feeling adventurous, instead of conquering India, you could pan fry the potatoes instead of boiling them, and use a little hot sauce or ketchup. For boiled or baked potatoes in particular, dressing them with some sour cream or sauerkraut can be very good.
I happen to love the other comment about us eating like we have universal healthcare because my favorite potato is the loaded one lol
Baked potato, sour cream, bacon, chives, melted cheese... (Insert Homer drooling image)
I’m american, homie. I’m just not a fan of complicated potatoes is all. But i appreciate the recommendations.
But like...
Why aren't the potatoes in the sauce?
That just seems obvious to me 🤷♀️
Even then, those look like boiled potatoes served plain. Toss some herbs on there and roast them for a bit. It's not hard.
It's not hard and it's not necessary. There are different ways to enjoy a potato.
Naked potatoes mixed in with a hearty sauce are fine.
Though imo they should be brushed with oil and salt, then roasted (or airfried!) because boiled potatoes are boring lol
Yeah, I'm of the opinion that you should only boil a potato if you intend to mash it. Otherwise, what are you even doing? There are faster and tastier ways to prepare it.
You should boil them a bit in an alkaline water before roasting as well. It breaks down the surface into a starchy mess that crisps up wonderfully while they roast.
Oh, that sounds great, thanks for the tip!
Alkaline water? Do you mean salt water or water with vinegar? I don't know enough about Ph to know which one makes alkaline water.... I think vinegar is an acid, but is salt a base?
Neither, I'm referring to adding a small amount of baking soda to the water. You're correct about vinegar being acidic. Table salt is neutral. Sodium bicarbonate is basic and increases the alkalinity of the water.
A light brush of fats makes the outer layer crispy when cooked under high heat!
Tbh, as a British person, I think the same thing every time is see this meme. Although, I might make it worse
I'd have it with mash potatoes. Then, its like pie and mash, just without the pastry.
Can anyone tell me why there's HP sauce there?
What do you do with it?
Squirt some into your mouth before you take a bite. What else would you do with it?
I know British food tend to be memed as "brown stuff", but this doesn't even look half bad, the lighting makes it look worse than it actually is.
Slap an Instagram filter on it and it will look way better.
The unseasoned boiled potatoes and the untoasted bread are just bland.
The ground beef and carrots in the undefinable brown liquid would be a textural nightmare. I cannot fathom how it tastes because the closest thing in the US would be a sloppy joe.
The real problem with this is lack of technique and seasoning.
Here’s how I would “fix” this: Toast the bread, roast and season the potatoes, make the ground beef and sauce into a something resembling Salisbury steak, and cook the carrots as their own side dish.
Laugh at this ne'er-do-well who can not see the beauty of a plain slice of buttered white bread.
I can, but it’s better toasted
Toasted is inferior for soaking up the sauce.
Cheers to plain white buttered bread, then 🥂
you've chef'd your last boyardee, Rigatoni!
Stick it under the broiler for 45 seconds and then slap another coat of butter on top.
What do you mean unseasoned, they have salt on them. smh
Perfectly good boiled potatoes and stew.
Even cheap British bread usually tastes good.
And it would still be better toasted
I can't argue with that!
Better than USA bread but worse than e.g. French or German.
It does not. Unless you never had actual bread.
The bread is a sop. You can't sop with toast; that's insane. The "undefinable brown liquid" is stock and is common across the world's cuisines. If you season the potatoes further, assuming they're lightly salted, you run the risk of overseasoning the dish (they're sitting next to a very rich stew). You're just making these up now.
Then don't say anything! Easy peasy!
Edit to add: The only problem as it were with this food is that it lacks colour, so of course you wouldn't serve this at a restaurant. But when's the last time anyone gave a fuck about colour when bashing out tea on a thursday eve?
Stay mad bob
Very drole.
The closest thing in America would be a meat gravy meant to go on mashed potatoes. My family always cheaped out on seasoning and used a French onion soup seasoning packet, so thats the majority of what it tastes like to me.
One of my favorite dishes from being a kid, would put corn on top of gravy on top of mashed potatoes.
The stack of buttered bread is disgusting. My parents used to do that when I was a kid though and I didnt question it.
The fact that it looks like you think that the "brown stuff" is the issue there is really funny
A thick beef stew with boiled potatoes and buttered bread was a common meal in my 90s Midwestern USA childhood. It is delicious
Add butter and some green herbs, like rosemary or cilantro, on the potatoes and is an instant update on that plate
Like, make something completely different and flush this down the “loo”? Yeah that works.
I didn't even said that the bread should be garlic bread.
It's reasonable food! Most people are pretty bad at making photos look good, myself included.
I'd want a bit more seasoning on the potatoes but man, potatoes are delicious in almost all forms, even when they look plain.
Apart from the bread, it looks to be processed food free. Cooked from scratch. Very few preservatives.
How do you IRL see and eat the Instagram filter though?
I don't even know what I'm looking at. Sliced white bread with butter, HP sauce, salt or pepper shaker, and a plate with what seems to be boiled potatoes and some unknown viscous fluid with what might be sliced (presumably cooked) carrots.
It's lentils slow cooked with various cuts of meat, sausage and veggies
It's absolutely flavorful, filling and delicious. One of my favorite meals to eat in winter time.
https://blindinglygoodfood.co.uk/recipe/slow-cooked-sausage-lentil-stew/
lol, definitely no lentils in that.
It’s likely a version of mince and tatties, but with boiled potatoes instead of mash.
Looked like lentils on my phone, but you are correct.
Thanks!
FWIW it wasn't the Germans flying overhead that led to the shitty food and not much of it - it was the Germans in their submersible tin cans that were the big problem.
You know the kids who make and enjoy memes are usually back of the class types.
We did what we could, we built like 2,700 Liberty ships.
To all of you saying "this literally looks like poop", "why are they eating boiled vomit", etc, post the last thing you made and I'm sure I could come up with some shitty things to say about it.
It's fucking very obviously a normal ass plate of potatoes and meat stew with carrots. Do the potatoes look a little bland? Maybe, but there's stew to dip it in. Regardless, a well seasoned potato has a good flavor all by itself. The stew looks like every other homemade stew I've ever seen. It's hard to make that shit look "pretty", but I know y'all scarf shit like that down. Get off your high fucking horses. There's plenty of other valid things to complain about with British culture, but making fun of their food is asinine.
“Bloody Indians, Pakistanis and Indians, coming over here, inventing us a national cuisine.”
If you get the reference, you have exquisite taste in comedy. Basic Lee is on tonight!!
Is that you Paul?
Ive been watching comedy vehicle recently. He is an absolute genius.
Comedy vehicle 1-3 are yearly rewatches for me, never laughed at comedy more
You get back in the sea.
You finned cunt!
I liked it when there was nothing!
There was no crime...
The yanks seem to be attracted to this meme like somebody desperate to paint a target and distract attention away from themself.
Things are pretty fucked here and what I thought were saner parts of the world seem like they're starting to fall for the same shit. We need distractions.
I saw this video recently where this guy tried every iconic local cuisine from every American state, and I swear to God half of them made me want to throw up.
Americans will act like British cooking its an abomination despite most of them never having even heard of steak and ale pie, or Lancashire hot pot, or Welsh rarebit. Meanwhile they'll throw fucking marshmallows on a tray of mashed squash and declare it an ancient family recipe.
Funny, but sadly, I've seen my best friend sharing these memes (neither from the U.K nor the U.S.).
Since the first time I saw them, I thought they were kind of rude and probably inaccurate as no national cuisine is dull. I googled and read... What seems to have happened is that we've normalized British cuisine because it is part of many countries now. We think British dishes are regular dishes. Anyway, I don't like these memes.
Watched Once Were Warriors last night and the dinner Temuera Morrison has in that is even more bland and basic than any of these memes. So it’s more of classist meme than anything.
Also, I think you’re right about loads of core British dishes just being ubiquitous now. My American colleague told me about the Shepherd’s Pie he made, which apparently came out a bit too rich.
We do too but we refrain from photography
The Aussies would just grab all that and wack it into a shortcut / puff pastry meat and potato pie. Not half bad actually.
It is basically a meat pie filling just with potatoes instead of pastry. People will look down their noses at this because of the plating and then happily eat hundreds of extremely similar foods.
The issue people have is with how naked the potatoes are. If they were mashed and had the stew poured over them, I bet people would be salivating.
The plain boiled potatoes do feel very UK "my parents grew up in the tail end of rationing" style. Idk if it's because I grew up with it that I don't mind, or if I know just putting a bit of the gravy on it means they don't need to be cooked any other way.
Saying all that that though, I don't tend to boil potatoes like this personally and would totally mash them or something.
I'm 48, my parents absolutely grew up through rationing which lasted into the 1950s. Plain boiled potatoes was a really common way of serving them all through my childhood. Even now they will commonly eat plain potatoes, with a bit of butter on them. In fact as they have got older, now in their 80s, their meal might just be plain potatoes and peas.
This dish, mince and tatties, was an absolute staple at my Scottish grannie's house, with an overboiled cabbage as well for good measure.
My mum often served just boiled potatoes like this, due to growing up during rationing. They’re actually fine as long as they’re not over-boiled, and then when you get the Jersey Royals in season it’s an absolute crime to peel, chip, over-season or mash them.
I would probably add a little bit of butter and salt, but you're right, the flavour potential of simple potatoes can be criminally undervalued sometimes. Particularly home grown or fresh new potatoes.
Something something "The cuisine and company of the finer sex helped contribute to making the Brits the finest sailors in the world"
I know that MREs are known for being disgusting, but I actually like them.
They aren't bad. They do fuck up my digestive tract something awful. I prefer the officer's mess.
Our drill sergeants taught us that you have to use the Kool-Aid mix, as that has something in it to counteract the digestive issues. Idk if that's true or not, but I never had digestive issues because of an MRE, and I always used the Kool-Aid packet.
We didn't really go over MREs in Navy boot. I doubt the RDCs would have bothered telling us that tidbit of information, since there's really no reason a sailor should be eating those things. I just got curious and bought a few from the Army/Navy surplus stores. I never drank more than a taste or two of the Kool aid packet. Those things aren't exactly tasty, kinda medicinal aftertaste in my opinion.
Maybe it's true then.
Not who you asked but I'm pretty partial to the chili Mac, especially if you got some hot sauce to drizzle on it! It's the one I look for first whenever we're given some to choose from!
They used to come with little Tabasco bottles in them. I had little bottles of Tabasco all over the kitchen for a while after leaving the Army. Do they not come with that anymore?
I can picture that tiny Tabasco bottle clearly 😂. It was a godsend in basic training (for any MRE that came with them) I'm not sure if I had a new iteration of the chili mac or what, but when I was quarantined in 2020, mine came with crushed red pepper instead. I know for a fact I've had it with the Tabasco too though.
Those little bottles were awesome!
Whoever eats potatoes like that is a full on nut job lol
Plain boiled potatoes are meant as an accompagnement, you're not supposed to just eat them on their own. They're great at that, even the French do it and I think everyone can agree the French know a thing or two about cuisine.
I've never had plain boiled taters tbh! But I can see them working to mop up the slop 👀
You don't even need to add butter to boiled potatoes, with the right variety.
The French know nothing of cuisine! They can't even make a proper omelette, quiche, brioche, or flambé!
/This cannot possibly be needed here, but, s
A little S&P they'd be fine
Yeah that's true!
To be fair, the Brown Sauce is actually pretty neat. But not in everyones taste tho.
The stew might be super tasty, but those white potatoes look bland as fuck. Throw them in an oven or skillet with some of that butter, get the edges a little crispy, sprig of whatever herbs were used in the stew, and they will be much better.
I’m not talking about the stew. I mean the bottle on the upper center of the picture.
what is "herbs"?
It's like a vegetable but smaller.
And a vegetable is like a fruit but less fun.
First time I had brown sauce was on a breakfast sammy while on a bender at my friend's house, it was magical
Me too. Except in a hotel in Scotland but my condition was the same. They don’t sell that stuff in supermarkets in my country, but we have the internet for that.
I moved to a different state and went to a couple stores before I found it. Definitely scattered popularity in the states.
Englishman here. I've never eaten anything like this? Just me?
Same. I dont even know what it is. It's like they wanted to make shepherds pie but they were too lazy to mash the potatoes
Québécois here. My mother in law served us something very similar for lunch today. It was very good!
Looks like we kept the french language but not the french cuisine...
I was just thinking what the hell is it supposed to be? I've never in my life eaten that. Spray "cheese" anyone?
Over in the province we'd call that mince and onions, obviously being part of the island of Ireland the potatoes are inferred from kt being a meal.
The yanks might be taking the piss, but as far as I'm aware they put it in a bap and call it a sloppy Joe (which frankly sounds like a sex act).
Tangentially, other fine Northern Irish cuisine includes the vegetable roll, which is primarily a sliced beef sausage with a wee bit of onion and celery. Tasty.
Brother, just because you call your hamburger meat mince doesn't mean you know how to handle it better than us here in burgerland. Our sauce for it not only includes onions but also tomatoes and, in true American fashion, sugar(either from ketchup or brown sugar). And of course, said hamburger meat goes in a bun, not on a plate unless you're serving it with noodles from hamburger helper. What savages.
The dinners aren't the problem. It's the baked beans for breakfast... Also, my Dad, who was born in London, insisted on eating Marmite, which I know many of you will defend, but also piccalilli and Daddies sauce and if you like those things, I will give you major side-eye.
Baked beans are awesome for breakfast!
I don't often have them, given they are a heart attack on a plate. But an English breakfast can set you up for the day and baked beans are a staple ingredient. Particularly if they are cooked in the bacon/sausage fat.
Low sugar baked beans are surprisingly healthy. The rest of the fried breakfast, less so.
You're entitled to your incorrect opinion.
Marmite is salty and delicious on toast :o. This is from an American.
Marmite is notorious for it's loved/hated status. They've done a whole marketing thing around it in the past.
Even when describing things that have people on either side of the fence we'll say that it's "like marmite."
Genius advertising
Just a coincidence that none of those things contain high fructose corn syrup then? 😒
Neither saag paneer nor gyros have such things in them either and they're delicious. Probably because Indian and Greek food are better.
For that matter, a plain old carrot doesn't have any high fructose corn syrup in it. Ever tried one? They're quite nice. You don't even have to cook them.
Of course, that's just what THEY want you to think.
Food shouldn't look like its already been digested.
British food and women made for the best sailors in the world.
Thank god for Asian women 🫡
It can be argued that best women are in Belarus.
Cooking is partial digestion
I would neither cook nor eat that, but perhaps the stereotype is still valid.
The way they censored the name is a new low point. Usually, you at least need to look for a few seconds, but this is just plain readable.
Had to scroll way too down in comments to find anyone mentioning this...
What is that bread? Buttered, untoasted, sliced white bread? Wtf?
Yeah. It's there to mop up the gravy.
is probably even margarine in this case
wait till you hear about fairy bread
Dude, its buttered bread. Whats your problem?
When I was a kid, buttered plain white bread was great, but as an adult, not so great anymore.
British Empire conquered the world at one point, and had access to unimaginable variety of spices, herbs, flavors and tastes.
and they still eat nothing but boiled vomit.
EDIT: I meant all of these sarcastically!😭
Yeah, and what a character the UK has now. Really worth all that boiled dog vomit.
Looks like the meals I was recently had at the veterans hospital in the USA.
They plated it wrong and forgot to toast the bread. BLOODY ELL
Which culinary pleb made that? At least bang the taters in the stew while it cooks.
This is hilarious, but if you go to restaurants it's not true. I could totally see some people eating like this at home though.
Unpopular Opinion, Sardines on Pizza are better than Mushrooms on Pizza
I like anchovies. Sometimes they're too salty, but that's perfect after a night of drinking
My issue is that not one pizzaria that I've found does anchovies the proper way. They just stick an entire fillet on each slice of pizza. Anchovies are a garnish, not a main event. They need to chop the fillets into smaller pieces and distribute evenly the same as they do with olives.
Chop a couple up until they are paste and put a teaspoon of that into 8 cups of whatever sauce you are making and watch people rave about needing to know your secret ingredient, and then totally disbelieve you when you tell them.
You're right. Places like Papa John's put the whole fillet on. Which I actually do love. Cuts through the sweetness of the sauce. But it isn't good pizza by any means.
There's a few places in NYC that do it right. My favorite is this Italian pizza place that has red and white pizzas.
Or some rice. Or rice noodles.
Are you sure it's lentils? I have no idea, but other people are mentioning beef stew and it kinda looks like ground meat to me more than lentils.
Planet X must have terrible food if this is the best thing it has to offer. Glad I live on planet Earth.
It looks like literal poop
If your poop looks like that I worry about your diet
The funniest thing about these threads are the yanks trying to convince themselves that dumping an entire spice rack on everything makes it better.
That's the entire rest of the world my dude.
Serving vegetables boiled and plain is how you end up with a bunch of people who swear they hate vegetables. Spice helps.
Helps having good produce
My brother in Christ, there's fucking gravy right there. Anything other than a bit of salt and pepper and you've gone too far.
This is satire right?
More like culinary Stockholm Syndrome - some Brits have thoroughly convinced themselves their cuisine is good.
Entire wars were fought for access to spices. If we have cheap access to every spice we could ever want, why not throw a bunch of spices on to make it pop with flavor?
"pop with flavour"
There are only obscure german words to describe the level of gastronomic disgust I have at the phrase.
You would put ketchup on wagyu to make it "pop with flavour"
Personally I'm not a fan of vinegar tomato paste.
I'm talking throwing a bit of garlic powder, some granulated onion, dash of pepper, dash of parsley and oregano and some seasoning salt to give the flavor some body if it still needs it.
I mean, you could try a little of even one thing rather than nothing at all.
Just because we have a blend called Allspice, doesn't mean we dump the whole rack in there. Also portion control is absolutely essential with most spices. Don't be jealous of us just because we never used spices as currency.
Enjoy your beans on toast, I guess.
Wanker.
With actual baked beans and real bread. Delicious.