Joined on 31/05/2007
Granzay, 2 Sèvres,79
Posts 7,796
Re: Sirloin Steak
I live in town...
I know my English may be broken, but I really meantadopting, because, whatever you say, most of the time, what can be found in the UK is foreign food , not a slight touch of exoticism added to British food, .. I'm sorry if I touch your patriotic soul , but I mean it, and even other British people agree on that.
To me, UK food is excellent traditional food you can still find in country pubs.
For instance, I had the best steak pie ever up north, close to the lake district .
I adore trifles, a lovely sunday roast, scones, suasages, etc.. THAT IS British food to me.
But I'm sorry, the millions of restaurants that serve Chicken Korma, chinese fried noodles and sushi or samosa... You can't say this is UK food with a touch of exoticism.
I adore exotic food. By the way, I am well known among my friends for being a good cook, ( family tradition)
I love the UK, I ve lived there, and have a real interest in the country, its culturre,its history...
If you have humour, yes, it passed over my head, or ... not?
Life has a habit of biting you on the bum in ways that you least expect
Joined on 23/08/2004
Southern Manche - 50
Posts 1,681
Re: Sirloin Steak
Frenchie wrote:
For instance, I had the best steak pie ever up north, close to the lake district .
I adore trifles, a lovely sunday roast, scones, suasages, etc.. THAT IS British food to me.
That is stereotypically traditional British food but that isn't what I'm talking about and indeed, though when done well it is good, a diet of roasts, sausages, trifles, scones is dull and predictable too. Not to say a tad on the unhealthy side.
Frenchie wrote:
But I'm sorry, the millions of restaurants that serve Chicken Korma, chinese fried noodles and sushi or samosa... You can't say this is UK food with a touch of exoticism.
<sound of forehead hitting keyboard in despair> No, I would not and have not. Though touches of those cuisines may influence more traditional ideas. And that open-ness to influence and innovation is what I'm talking about.
But as you continue to miss the point, I think I'll leave you to your trifle and scones and wish you bon appétit!... not to mention... on egin! guten appetit! buon appetito! buen appetito! bon apetis! bom apetite!
Joined on 31/05/2007
Granzay, 2 Sèvres,79
Posts 7,796
Re: Sirloin Steak
N'importe quoi.........
Creative cuisine, OK, to a certain extent, whether in France or the UK, but same thing, this is not what you get in people's homes or even in average restos..
ANd NO, I didn't miss yur point.
If you want the last word, yeahhhhh have it, and I'll go cook my tian de légumes d été .
Life has a habit of biting you on the bum in ways that you least expect
Joined on 23/08/2004
Southern Manche - 50
Posts 1,681
Re: Sirloin Steak
Frenchie wrote:
...this is not what you get in people's homes or even in average restos..
Now that is my point... because from my experience over the past (say) 10 years that is what I'm getting from (non-French) restaurants and in people's homes...
It's not a question of being patriotic - though it may be for you -
it's a question of compare, contrast and analysis. I don't desperately
want British food to be better - I live in France, I'm staying in
France, I'd be delighted if French food was running rings around the
rest of the world... but I don't think it is any more.
And now I'm handing the thread back to Bob T et al... while pondering a nice (pink in the middle) magret for supper...
I am struggling to recognise this English cuisine with borrowed influences adding a different dimension to often well known British dishes.
If the traditional dishes which in my view we should be proud of are boring and stereotypically traditional what does exactly does English cuisine have to be proud of? Bangladeshi imigrants reinventing themselves as Indian restauranters and creating chicken tikka masala for the deadened taste buds of the after pub trade?
How many English people actually know of any of their regional specialities let alone be proud of them, carry on the tradition etc? The shopping trolleys at any supermarket will tell you hardly any, if I hadnt done a traditional british cookery course when I was young then I would not know of the existence of Sussex pond pudding to name but one. Whenever I have cooked this or other regional dishes for friends in Sussex no-one has ever heard of it.
Contrast that to the number one question that I am asked by French people, "what is your regional speciality", or "what are the regional specialities in England) I am always ashamed of my ignorance to answer the second one.
My French friends are proud of their own regional specialities and love nothing better to debate at length the taste of all the other regional fare, en bref they are proud of their countries cuisine, with reason I say, in a way that I have never experienced in any other country especially England.
Joined on 25/09/2007
Peak District & Périgord Noir
Posts 1,144
Re: Sirloin Steak
J.R's gone native said: "I am struggling to recognise this English cuisine with borrowed influences adding a different dimension to often well known British dishes".
I think I know what Catalpa is talking about. Traditionally (i.e. when I was a child) we would have had a lamb / beef casserole, roast or similar. Now we have things like slow cooked venison with bitter chocolate, lamb shank braised in red currant sauce, chicken braised with pumpkin, wild mushrooms and cream. (And, yes, we eat these at home.) These are not 'traditional british dishes' nor are they obviously french, italian whatever. The UK simply has a much better range of produce available now which has been influenced, to a large extent, by the cultural mix of its population. The media has also elevated food (both cooking and eating) to a serious pass time / hobby rather than the functional mundane topic it was in our parents and grandparents era.