British food has not been discussed enough in media and in reality too.Infact if you ask a layman about British food, he would be clueless.So was I, til I visited UK in 2011 Summer
So far I had just heard about Fish and Chips.Which is like the vada pao of UK.The most commonly available. Basically it consists of fish (usually fried in a batter made of water and flour with a little baking soda).Chips refers to what the ameican call as” fries”Mind you..The British refer to fries (French fries) as chips and chips(like lays or wafers) as “crips”.This is staple dish of UK and you will get it at joints and outlets
Then comes macaroni cheese.The best food for vegeterians.Its a rather bland version of what we get here.Good to have as a side dish.
The next possible food which I ate without thinking was the baked beans.And I loved them .Somewhat like a westernized distant cousin of our home made Rajma .This particular dish is generally sold frozen.It is typically made in tomato puree and sugar is added for a little flavour.Tradtionally it is eaten with a bread
Next comes a famous English food item.”Crumpet”.This was completely new to me.This is a kind of pancake or a bread.It can be compared to a small uttapa. Usually the size of a small pancake.It is circular in shape having a flat top with many small pores. Crumpets are generally eaten hot with butter, , honey, jam, marmalade, peanut butter, cheese, Nutella. The Scottish variety of Crumpet is a little different.It may contain raisins in between
Scones as the English call it is pronounced as “Skawns”.Generally a favorite for afternoon tea time. These are light, buttery quickbreads made with flour, sugar, butter, milk or cream, and eggs, besides a leavening agent such as baking powder and are are usually round in shape,
My personal favorite was Hashbrowns .When I tasted them I thoughts it’s a cheese bread or something but actually they are cooked potatoes, fried until brown.The mixture is usually pressed down into a flat cake in the pan and browned on one side, then turned and browned on the other. It's sometimes only browned on one side. Other ingredients such as chopped onion and green pepper are often added for flavor excitement.
Think Scotland Think Haggis.
Haggis is a very old Scottish dish, which combines meats, spices and oatmeal to create a a delicious feast. Its description is a little weird and hence people may not experiment.
In fact, its simply delicious. If you haven't tried authentic Scottish Haggis...you must
The famous Scotsman Poet Robert Burns has made a special poem on Haggis”Address to Haggis” thus considering it an integral part of Scottish Culture
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place
(Translated as :Fair is your honest happy face,Great chieftain of the pudding race,Above them all you take your place)
Haggis is tradionally to be had with Neep and Tatties.”Neeps” is a shortened form of Turnip and “Tattties” is shortened for potatoes
Oh dear..last but not the least...Tea is an important part of the british cuisine.I couldn’t understand the difference between “builders tea” or “breakfast tea” and “afternoon tea”..but they really savoutr tea.They have it with meals and serve it either with milk and sugar or honey and lime.
All said and done..Just 10 days were not enough to know about this beautiful country and its lovely food.After eating all this I returned back home thinking that I will cook it sometime,but the day hasn’t dawned yet.Lets hope it happens soon
Whenever this happens will post the recipe on the blog
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