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157 replies

piefed.social

Fuck that. Every culture has great food if you're willing to get over your preconceptions.

89
SkunkWorkzreply
lemmy.world

And the comparison doesn’t even make sense. Like British beans on toast is low effort breakfast food that people make at home. Japanese people rarely make sushi at home. A better comparison would be Natto.

57
nullspacereply
lemmy.world

The English stole all that spice to sell it, not put it in their food.

20
FishFacereply
piefed.social

There's a whole other comment thread about that. But food doesn't need spices to be delicious - most relevant to the picture, sushi does not have spices in it.

33

Not only that, but the British use a hell of a lot of both herbs and spices in traditional cooking. And also there’s the whole mildly racist element in not considering Anglo-Indian cuisine (which is very distinct from traditional Indian) to be British food.

14

We stole the spice so we could make them inhale cinnamon powder.

Whilst they were coughing profusely we then stole the opium...

3
Kandareply
reddthat.com

Would you like the Norwegian potato or the potato?

4
sopuli.xyz

And many have horrible food, war crime level food (Im looking at you haggis).

4
FishFacereply
piefed.social

Every culture has horrible food too, but so what?

Haggis is a bad example though. Bet you've never eaten it.

10

Hehe! It's actually pretty good. Just - like all good peasant food - don't think about what it's made of :)

2
lemmy.ml

Natto is an acquired taste, but regular haggis is just grains with meat and gravy. It's baseline good, and can be really good if seasoned well.

Of course you can find horrible versions that are basically just a sack of fat. But you can find bad versions of all food.

5

Organ meat is meat. And at least lung, heart, and liver are delicious.

5

Haggis is great

Lorne sausage is so bad they had to fashion it into a novelty shape

The British crime of pork pies should never be forgiven

1
lemmy.world

I've never been to england but I know curry is a big thing there and curry massively outranks every food in the comic

3

Curry is South Asian. But for us it's a side dish with rice or roti as the main dish. Having curry by itself is a British thing.

2

You should go for a food tour. They have the best and most diverse food I've ever seen.

2

There are four types

Japanese - bland and tasteless

Chinese - spicy

Indian - OMG

Jamaican - MOAB

1
Zephyrreply
sh.itjust.works

You're right it's just that some are more vibrant and contrasting to others. Like for instance if one is living in a jungle there's just going to be more sources of food than in an area in the arctic or tundra. Like traditional Mongolian cuisine is going to contrast from somewhere tropical like Vietnam or Indonesia. I think that's the big take away here.

3
FishFacereply
piefed.social

Yeah. I don't think the meme is just about "vibrancy" or "contrast though". Miku looks depressed in the last panel, and the food is a negative stereotype.

1
Zephyrreply
sh.itjust.works

I guess when I'm saying vibrant I also mean in taste. Like certain areas just have more going on food wise and some areas trend more toward brown food, brown taste. Obviously now we have global society so you can find sushi in the Sahara but what the general population generally eats is definitely contrasting in flavors from one region to another. I can say pretty comfortably that Nigerian food is simply more flavorful than kenyan cuisine in most circumstances.

1

So some food is more flavourful than others, hence some cuisines will be more flavourful than others. But I don't actually want every dish I eat to be very flavourful, because that in itself becomes boring. So where it becomes problematic is when people pretend that being less flavourful means being bad or boring, and that being on average less flavourful means always less flavourful.

Baked beans, even though they're brown, from a can, and pretty mushy, are packed with flavour: the sauce is made with tomatoes (acid! sugar!), enhanced with vinegar (more acid!) and brown sugar(!) and a load of garlic and onion powder (aromatics!) and pepper (spicy heat!) are dumped in there. Beneath it all is a bit of Worcester (or similar) sauce, which is a fermented fish (salt! umami!) sauce containing more spices. All that in a can of goop that you heat up in the microwave as a student.

This is lazy stereotyping.

1
rtxnreply
lemmy.world

Brits made those up so the colonies would give them the spices willingly, out of sheer pity.

They did fuck all with the spices, but that's not the point.

45

Traditional British food actually uses a lot of spices, just not usually chilli. British food is full of coriander seed, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, aniseed, mace, rosemary, parsley, black pepper, mustard etc. They were originally used because people believed they would preserve meat and extend the shelf life. So recipes from before refrigeration use a lot of it, but also things like Christmas food and desserts use a lot (especially cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg and cloves). There's a blend of spices sold in British shops specifically for sweet things called mixed spice similar to pumpkin spice in the states.

But even if you take spice to mean only hot capsicim Peppers, the hottest curries (phall) are a British recipe. Tabasco is one of the few non British companies to receive The Royal Warrant of Appointment (permission to use the Royal cost of arms on their products) because the Royal Family love Tabasco so much.

Also Britts drink a lot of ginger. Both alcoholic and non alcoholic ginger beer and ginger wine.

22
skisnowreply
lemmy.ca

They did fuck all with the spices

The British national dish is curry.

Bigotry always goes hand-in-hand with ignorance.

8
AmyAyereply
nord.pub

The Brits are like the OG Big Daddies of spreading bigotry across the world, its ok to give it back, they are severely in bigotry debt.

9

Spectacularly missing the point of why bigotry is bad in the first place.

Telling someone they’re in “bigotry debt” over something that someone they’ve never even met did 200 years ago, and therefore fair game for pig-ignorant abuse, is as close to textbook racism as you can get. You have absolutely zero moral high ground here.

5

I was about to say this same fact on another comment above, but then I read the wikipedia article again

apparently it isn't like an 'official' national dish, I guess it comes from Foreign Secretary Robin Cook referring to it as "a true british national dish" in a speech

Chicken Tikka Massala is now a true British national dish, not only because it is the most popular, but because it is a perfect illustration of the way Britain absorbs and adapts external influences. Chicken Tikka is an Indian dish. The Massala sauce was added to satisfy the desire of British people to have their meat served in gravy. (full speech) (wikipedia)

1
FishFacereply
piefed.social

What spice is in every single British savoury recipe?

Having got three wrong answers in a short space of time, the correct answer is pepper. Now guess where pepper grows...

3

Probably pig blood or boiled yew tree bark but with a posh name.

2

It means something different in America.

The British one (sausage baked into Yorkshire pudding) is fantastic.

The American one (a piece of fried bread with an egg in the middle) is pretty sad.

6

I have never heard it referred to as toad in a hole, but fried bread with an egg in the middle is pretty good. Just pan fry with a bit of butter and salt appropriately

3
FishFacereply
piefed.social

You know toad in the hole doesn't have actual toads in?

7
ShotDonkeyreply
lemmy.world

Nooo. Noooooooo. Nooooooooooooooo. I DID NOT WANT to know this exists. (Vomiting noises...)

4

It's fish with breading. It can't possibly taste much different from something like fish and chips

1
sh.itjust.works

oh yeah everyone hates fish in sauce in pastry. Every American in New England would never eat fish in sauce in pastry

2
lemmy.world

This is what Japanese people eat for breakfast, it’s basically their version of beans on toast called Natto:

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zarkanianreply
sh.itjust.works

It has the texture of chunky snot. Most of y'all ain't ready for nattou.

23

Tastes kinda like peanut butter though and it's surprisingly good in sushi rolls where the texture can absorbed by the rice somewhat, especially when there's some other veg involved too.

5

It's definitely slimy but if I had to pick one "chunky snot" texture food it'd be raw oysters. I like oysters and natto both, but I can see how people with texture issues are turned off.

4
Someonelolreply
lemmy.dbzer0.com

It's not a very fun meal due to the smell and mess it can make if you're not careful. The taste isn't awful but it's not something I'd go out of my way to eat again.

3

My first experience was a hand roll bought at a konbini on the platform of a train station. It was windy and blew the strings of natto into my hair.

Tbh though, 10/10, I love natto.

4

The texture doesn't bother me too much anymore, but those sticky strings are annoying.

3

Some* Japanese people eat it. Even among them it's not universal enjoyed.

13
lemmy.ml

I personally love it. Add some soy sauce and mustard, stir until foamy, enjoy.

I get that some people won't get over the texture, but people like okra as well so…

6

I get that some people won’t get over the texture, but people like okra as well so…

Slimey cooked oat porridges too.

2
lemmy.zip

British food is thoroughly underrated. Who could say no to even a small part of a full english breakfast?

47
Zyratoxxreply
fedia.io

I'd always say no to the black pudding >///<

the rest is quite OK

Fish and Chips are pretty nice (especially with a good sauce tatare)

6
Zyratoxxreply
fedia.io

I mean, if I was British and said something nice about the British cuisine wouldn't that be the Obama awading himself a medal meme?

Just wanted to make the case that it isn't completely hopeless, even if the sauce tatare is a bit of cheating I admit xP

1
slrpnk.net

Vegans?

Accepting in advance the downvotes from people who get fucking weird pavlovian style when they see that word in order to give you a straight and obvious answer to your question.

5
programming.dev

They can have the beans, mushrooms, tomatoes and toast though. Doesn't sound too awful to me.

8

I mean, that's true, but I'd prefer one of those big ol' mushrooms. Why emulate one thing when you can have a great real thing? Fried potatoes/bubble'n'squeak/hashbrowns I'd go for though

0
Tiresiareply
slrpnk.net

Animals were brutalized to make half of it, the texture of the tomato is weird, and marmelade is too monotonically bitter for what is available to be combined with.

Beans on toast are honestly the best part.

But the real shame is that for an extra 10% of the price it could be so much better by adding spices. A full English isn't depressing because of its materials but because of its potential.

It's fine food, sure, but it is on the low end of dishes that include its ingredients.

(For the record, I'm Dutch, our "traditional" (read: late 19th century puritan) slop involves doing extra work to be actively hostile to flavor, making a full english seem indulgent).

-3
lemmy.world

The animals are the best bit. As for spices, I add curry powder to the beans, tarragon and thyme to the mushrooms, basil and black pepper to the tomato, and then dust the entire dish with chilli flakes. Serve it with homemade Carolina reaper sauce. The Scottish version is objectively better than the English one as it includes haggis and tattie scones. You can also serve it with deep fried cigarettes and buckfast tonic wine.

-1
pirc_loverreply
feddit.uk

You can do a very nice vegetarian full English. Veggie sausages and black pudding (I make my own black pudding with black beans which works really well); halloumi is a better bacon imo, and the rest is all vegetarian

5

Fair enough. You’d be surprised how good/close some of this stuff can be if you make it yourself when it’s stuff like sausages, black pudding, haggis.

The hard ones for me are things like lamb shank — can’t replicate the texture or fat marbling in something like a tagine.

2
fushuanreply
piefed.blahaj.zone

Look I try to eat vegan and if I find a good replacement I thoroughly enjoy and promote it (there's some extremely good vegan foie), but sadly all the replacements of black pudding or morcilla I've tried have been a disappointment.

Also, blood is usually a byproduct of the meat industry so the animal didn't die for that specific ingredient, which in my logic makes it one of the least "evil" non vegetarian products.

Anyway, please do share your bean based replacement if you want, it's probably delicious.

0

I broadly did this one: https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/vegan-recipes/vegan-black-pudding/,

But I cut a few corners — because it didn’t need to be a sausage as I was eating it at home, I cooked stuff a bit longer to reduce the moisture content, made it into a dough-type thing, and fried it up in rounds.

I don’t disagree — I think offal and blood products are certainly at the better end of things, and if I were to eat meat I’d definitely practice nose-to-tail.

Also I’ve made this and it was excellent: https://veganbellyful.wordpress.com/2013/01/01/pate-de-campagne/

I added some redcurrant jelly as it was lacking depth and I felt a bit of sweetness would help, plus I associate it with chicken from childhood.

1
aussie.zone

My favourite variant is the Welsh, which comes with cockles.

Not really convinced about adding random spices to the parts, as it’s already plenty salty and quite well balanced. A cafe near me started adding herbs to their mushrooms and that kind of ruined them, as they were really nice just in butter. The chili sauce thing is just depraved though and makes me suspect you may soon start rubbing it on your eyeballs just to feel something.

2
J92
lemmy.world

I'm not a football fan myself, but that did just make me think of this image.

32
feddit.nu

what even is the norwegian one? boiled cabbage and meat? it's like you guys have never heard of lutefisk

30

Which, to be fair, is boiled cabbage and meat

26
ximtorreply
lemmy.zip

Ahh yes lutefisk, or how l like to call it slimy ghost fish goop :S

11
lemmy.world

If its slimy, you're cooking it wrong. Heavily salt it and bake it in the oven to draw the liquid out. It should only smell like dick cheese (kukost) before cooking. Afterwards it should smell and taste like slightly caustic fish and be barely palatable if you have it with mashed potato, bacon bits, and mushy peas and wash it down with strong astringent alcoholic drink. It's pretty rank but by no means the worst Nordic dish. A dubious honour that probably goes to Greenland's kiviak.

3
ximtorreply
lemmy.zip

You are not selling it to me at all, I'll pass and continue not appreciating norwegian kitchen

2
Swedneckreply
discuss.tchncs.de

if by "british food" and "nordic food" you mean the stuff people ate in the winter because it's all they had, then yeah sure it's grim

but a much more accurate summary of all germanic food is "potatoes, meat, and gravy" which is sufficiently enjoyable that it's an international staple at IKEA.

1
piefed.ca

Icelandic people: “Enjoy the rotten shark lass!”

28
Obireply
sopuli.xyz

Comparing the Nordic rotten fish stuff with cheese and wine is certainly a choice.

17

Using consistent language.

If fermented fish is rotten then cheese is rotten milk, bread os rotten dough, wine is rotten grapes, beer is rotten wheat, Jamon is rotten pork...

11
slrpnk.net

Can't say I've eaten much English beans on toast, but I've recently started putting refried beans on toast (With a Mexican-inspired spice mix in the beans, sometimes salt on top) and it's pretty good.

4

For baked beans on toast, I recommend adding the following to your beans:

  • paprika (1/4 - 1/2 tbsp)
  • a small amount of ground pepper
  • sriracha sauce (optional, amount depends on your tolerance/preference, I like to use roughly 2-3 tbsp)
  • garlic powder (1/4 - 1/2 tbsp)
  • soy sauce (0 - 2 tbsp)
  • depending on your baked beans and if/how much soy sauce you used, add salt to taste

Feel free to experiment with the amounts and adding some other stuff, would love to hear your thoughts if you ever give it a try :)

2
addiereply
feddit.uk

Get some Hendo's relish on it as well - meal for for a king.

3

I won't complained if you served me cabbage or beans. Both are delicious.

8
sh.itjust.works

Tldr tropical areas have more food sources than not tropical areas and coincidentally the cuisine from those areas is more vibrant.

7
Swedneckreply
discuss.tchncs.de

except that we've had global shipping for decades now and tacos are literally a standard food in the nordics, lol

1

I've said as much myself. You can get sushi in the Sahara. It's about traditional cuisine. Now in my personal experience, food from its origin tends to be better than its foreign renditions. For example tacos from Oaxaca are likely better than tacos from a Nordic country. Sushi is probably better in Japan than in the Sahara and so on.. not always, but usually.

1

You're not supposed to eat the skewers.

(Also those are supposed to be wood! (Looks like they're the metal kind, which is okay too))

6
lemmy.ca

As a Japanese person, I fucking LOVED beans on toast when I visited London. Don't listen to the stupid haters.

6

I actually had something similar on an English breakfast when I was in Canada, but the beans were sweetened with maple syrup.

2

I mean it's something my 8-year-old would come up with. Doesn't mean it tastes bad, it's just childish

1

My British friend actually eats beans on toast unironically and I'm curious if anyone's tried this as well, he says he enjoys it but dislikes the decision making when it comes to actually eating it with bare hands or with a fork and knife

5
pirc_loverreply
feddit.uk

People don’t chat shit about quesadillas, pupusas or burritos, but when the British do beans + starch + tomato + cheese, everyone loses their FUCKING MINDS

14

I mean, it’s a hell of a lot better for you (especially the brands without added sugar) than something like a grilled cheese, to use a comparison of similarly low effort. It’s a quick and easy meal, not a whole culinary tradition. No one is whipping up a sushi platter in Japan when they get home exhausted from work.

6

I’m not British and I like beans on toast. Sure it ain’t haut cuisine. But it’s decent low effort breakfast food. And you don’t have to eat it bland. You can add black pepper, tabasco or chili sauce, herbs or whatever. English breakfast is pretty good if you spice it up.

4

Thankfully the Philippines and Vietnam are not in the World Cup, because they would win with Balut.

4
lemmy.world

Yeah yeah Taco Friday and all but there is great food to be had in Norway, it’s not just the noble potato

4

as always, when people talk about "british" or "scandinavian" food, what they actually mean are basically desperation foods..

It's like calling spam in gelatin "american food".

2

Former Austin, Texas resident here. Breakfast tacos are one of the best "on the go" quick breakfast options in the world. Fight me!

3
programming.dev

Never tried it, but beans and wheat together give you all the essential amino acids (like rice and beans), so it makes sense.

2

you don't have to get all the amino acids in one meal, i'm pretty sure you can eat them 2 weeks apart and it'll be perfectly fine.

1