British cuisine: Encyclopedia II - British cuisine - Traditional cuisine

British cuisine - Traditional cuisine

Despite the fast-food reputation, traditional British cuisine has survived, largely in the countryside and amongst the upper classes.

The Sunday roast is perhaps the biggest culinary indication of a steadfastly traditional household. The Sunday dinner traditionally includes a Yorkshire pudding accompanying, or occasionally followed by, a joint of meat and assorted vegetables, themselves generally roast or boiled. The most common joints are beef, lamb or pork; chicken is also popular. Since its wide-spread availability after World War II the most popular Christmas roast is turkey. Game meats such as venison are traditionally the domain of the higher classes. Game, while being a classic English preserve, is not generally eaten in the average household.

At home, the British have many original home-made desserts such as rhubarb crumble, bread and butter pudding, spotted dick and trifle. The traditional accompaniment is custard, known as crème anglaise (English sauce) to the French. The dishes are simple and traditional, with recipes passed on from generation to generation. The pudding tradition reaches its height with the Christmas pudding.

At teatime, traditional British fare includes scones with butter, jam and clotted cream, as well as assorted biscuits and sandwiches. A unique sandwich filling is Marmite, a dark brown savoury spread made from yeast extract, with a tar-like texture and a strong, salty taste. A hand-made favourite is butterfly cake. Some schools teach young children how to bake such sweets during cookery lessons.

Tea is consumed throughout the day and is sometimes drunk with meals, especially at teatime. Coffee is much less common than in continental Europe. However, coffee is rising in popularity (and quality), while tea, though still an essential part of British life, is less ubiquitous than it was. In more formal contexts wine is generally served.

The full English breakfast (or "cooked breakfast") also remains a culinary classic. Somerset Maugham is quoted as saying "To eat well in England, you should have breakfast three times a day." Fortunately it need no longer be true.

In the Victorian era, during the British Raj, Britain first started borrowing Indian dishes, creating Anglo-Indian cuisine, some of which is still eaten today although many once-popular Anglo-Indian dishes such as kedgeree have largely faded from the scene.

Another formal British culinary tradition rarely observed today is the consumption of a savoury course, such as Welsh rarebit, toward the conclusion of a meal. Most main meals today end with a sweet dessert, although cheese and biscuits may be consumed as an alternative or as an addition.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Traditional cuisine", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki