5 Iconic Dishes of British Cuisine
The delicious, the strange and the ugly.
Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay - you likely know these names and many others in the British food industry, but British food still has long been categorized as "bad" for its supposed poor food, lack of imagination, stodgy puddings, and weak tea. Only Fish & Chips Or English breakfast traditionally considered to be British dishes, which tastes the least surprising but the least overwhelming. In the past ten years, the level of the British catering industry has been greatly improved. Restaurants from Europe, America or Asia can be seen everywhere in Britain, these restaurants with different price points are quite authentic, however the British local cuisines are not so popular. In this article, we will introduce some authentic British dishes that you may not know about. They may not be very attractive, but there are some meaningful stories behind each of them!
Beef Wellington
Thanks to Gordon Ramsay, this 18th-century dish has become popular all over the world in recent years. Tender filet mignon coated with foie gras and French mushroom puree (duxelles, chopped mushrooms, onions, thyme or parsley, mixed with black pepper, sautéed in butter), wrapped with puff pastry and grilled until it became crunchy, the aroma of the high-grade beef tenderloin has been further enhanced. The dish was created in celebration of the first Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, and his victory at the Battle of Waterloo. The Duke was given his title after defeating Napoleon Bonaparte the year before, and not long after he became Prime Minister. Such an iconic character needed immortalising, so (naturally) they named a pastry ensconced beef dish after him.
Stargazy Pie
The name of this dish is romantic, but is an odd-looking invention - The heads and tails of pilchards poke out of a shortcrust lid, just like the fish are looking up at the starry sky. Originating from Cornwall, southwest England, the pie is made with sardine, conger eel, horse mackerel, herring, dogfish, ling plus a seasonal seventh fish (or just sardine). Including eggs and potatoes, topped with a pastry lid and bake, and the fresh fish is full of aroma. The Stargazy Pieorginated in Mousehole, Cornwall (pronounced mow-zul) in honour of a brave fisherman called Tom Bawcock. Legend has it that Tom sailed out into a violent stormy sea to fish when the village was facing starvation. He returned with seven types of fish which were made into a pie and shared among the townsfolk, thus saving them from famine - hurrah! To this day his heroic deeds are celebrated every 23rd December in the town.
Photo: Is this fish head pie Britain's most disgusting Christmas recipe? (Source: https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/food-and-drink/cornwall-christmas-recipe-stargazy-pie-8510092)
Haggis
Haggis – the national dish of Scotland, traditionally packed into a sheep's stomach and boiled, but today it can be replaced with a casing, or restaurants usually remove the stomach bag before they serve. the filling is composed of the liver, heart, and lungs of a sheep (or other animals), minced and mixed with beef or mutton suet and oatmeal and seasoned with onion, cayenne pepper, and other spices., boil in water for about three hours, or fry until fragrant. There are many variations of Haggis. It can also be stuffed with pork, beef or game. As the times change, there are also vegetarian versions; they are usually served with mashed potatoes and kohlrabi, and pairing with Scotch whisky is the most traditional combination. Haggis is traditionally served as part of the Burns supper on or near January 25, the birthday of Scotland's national poet Robert Burns. Burns wrote the poem Address to a Haggis, which starts "Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!" In Burns's lifetime, haggis was a common dish of the poor as it was nourishing yet very cheap, being made from leftover parts of sheep otherwise discarded.
Black pudding
The above two dishes plus the Black pudding are confusing to non-British people. Don't be fooled by the name, it is not a pudding, but a sausage made from pigs' blood. In ancient times, butchers kept pudding in order not to waste pigs’ blood, but today it is likely to be made with imported dried blood - pig or cow blood mixed with fat, bound with oatmeal or barley, with peppermint oil, marjoram, thyme and other spices. Different parts of the UK have slightly different recipes (grains or spices) and more flavour variations. It can be served cold, grilled, fried or boiled as part of the traditional English breakfast. We may not appreciate this strange food, but it used to be a delicacy that only aristocrats could enjoy; now it has become more popular overseas and has become an authentic dish in New Zealand, Nova Scotia, New South Wales and other places.
Eton mess
Finally, a simple and delicious dessert that seems to be odd, but actually has a lot of origins from the aristocratic schools in the United Kingdom. Eton mess, made with strawberries or bananas mixed with ice cream or cream. The meringue was a later addition. It was originally a snack produced by the tuck shop of Eton College, an aristocratic British school, and the generally-accepted story is that the pudding was dropped at an Eton v Harrow cricket match in the late 19th century. The dessert is occasionally seen at Harrow School and its name changes to "Harrow mess". Eton mess is suitable for summer, and the ingredients can be replaced with berries that are abundant in summer. And when it is replaced with bananas, it is called "Lancing mess", which is the exclusive dessert of Lancing College (Lancing College), a famous school in West Sussex, south of England. I really want to try eating on the classical and beautiful campus.
Curries in Britain
The origins of Indian curry and Britain can be traced back to the East India Company in the 18th century. Nowadays, there are nearly 10,000 Indian restaurants in the UK, and there is also an Indian Street in Brick Lane, which is crowded with hipsters in East London. Former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook once said that Chicken Tikka Masala is "the real British national dish", and Indian curry is widely available locally. When I traveled to India, I felt that the authentic curry was too greasy and thick. On the contrary, it was easier to eat in the UK, and the exquisite presentation of Western food was unique.
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