• bostonbananarama@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    How does the saying go:

    The beauty of their women and the taste of their food has made the British the best sailors in the world.

  • harrywrecker@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    This has probably been posted and upvoted by people who put salad on the same plate as a roast dinner.

    • ZeroCool@feddit.chOP
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      1 year ago

      “I will have the spaghetti and a side salad. If the salad comes on top I send it back.”

    • RiverGhost@slrpnk.net
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      1 year ago

      Hmm. I’ve lived in two very different countries and always had salad on the side of… Everything.

      It’s interesting to find that it’s not done there. In which situations do you eat salad?

      • problematicPanther@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        this is tangential to the general thread of salad and weird food culture, so i’m just going to leave it as a reply to your comment.

        I grew up in the south in the USA. I’m, therefore, southern. Ergo, I grew up with southern cuisine.

        Fast forward to my mid thirties. I now live in France. I invited some of my non-southern and non-american friends over for a thanksgiving dinner one year. I served fruit salad, as one does, on the side of dinner. Apparently that’s weird. Nobody else eats fruit salad as a dinner side except southerners, apparently. Also, the non-americans were weirded out by eating cranberry sauce on the bird.

  • doctorcrimson@lemmy.today
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    1 year ago

    Reminds me of that one bit, might have been on Top Gear, “7 of the 10 best restaurants in the world are in London!” “And what kind of food do they serve?” “French Cuisine.” *laughter ensues

  • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    If made incorrectly … also yes.

    But look, it’s a matter of degree. You must have a truly cultured palate to discern the subtle variations of bland. Any pleb can taste the difference between a great dish and a shit one, but only a tongue honed by centuries of mediocrity can discern the subtle variations between mushy peas and ever-so-slightly-too-mushy peas. And don’t even get me started on perhaps-a-bit-less-mushy-than-yesterday-but-I-can’t-complain peas.

    Honestly, I don’t understand all the hate.

  • kia@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    “Boiling everything is a really super smart way to cook everything.”

    • Tamo@programming.dev
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      1 year ago

      I see this a fair bit, but like our main things are Full English (fried), Fish & Chips (fried), and Roast Dinner (roasted, shockingly), so where does this come from?

      • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Like the entire “hurr British food bad” meme in general, it was just made up by Americans who have very little knowledge of the going on of things outside North America.

        I’m gonna get crucified for that statement, but it’s true.

        You’re right, British foods are typically baked, fried, or roasted. I really don’t know where this idea of boiling stuff comes from. Boiling is actually something I find unusually rare in British cooking.

        • davepleasebehave@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          during the rationing period I think boiling was more common. not sure why, but my gran would boil the hell out of sprouts. rendering them awful. always thought I hated them.

          • TIN@feddit.uk
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            1 year ago

            My granny would boil cabbage until white, that was her way of telling it was done. I used to hate cabbage.

            Then I found that you can fry it with butter and bacon and black pepper. So good… although I’ll admit that boiled was probably healthier 😁.

          • AlpacaChariot@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            They did used to taste worse as well though, the ones you buy in the shops now are a different variety to the ones back in the day

          • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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            1 year ago

            I think in the 70s and 80s in the US people were boiling the shit outta vegetables as well. I don’t know who thought turning every vegetable into watery mush was a good idea, but it’s no wonder kids from that time grew up hating peas and brussel sprouts

          • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Yes, because the stereotype was started by Americans.

            Another common stereotype is bad teeth, despite British teeth being healthier than that of the US (or Italy) by a fair margin.

            Because of the US’s ability to publish media globally, they dictate a lot of stereotypes in media.

  • merc@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    British food is generally shared with Europe. Like, Brits eat Steak, but who can say where that was invented. Steak is eaten throughout Europe. Same with various roasted meats, savory pies, sausages, etc. There might be some slight differences between “bangers”, “chorizo” and “wurst” but it’s fundamentally the same dish. Most food eaten by / prepared by Brits is fundamentally just European food. And even though KFC and McDonalds are American franchises, what they sell is essentially European food, and they’re popular worldwide.

    As for food that nobody except Brits eats, that can be pretty bad. But, often foods that only locals eat is bad. French food is world renowned, but that’s the popular “generic European” food made with lots of butter. Andouillette hasn’t caught on, and probably won’t.

    • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      I think steak is kind of like fire or the knife…it wasn’t really invented so much as discovered, and by an earlier species of hominid than us. Like you start the game with that tech unlocked.

      Edit: Actually now that I think about it, steak outright requires a knife. It is, by definition, sliced meat.

    • SkippingRelax@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      There’s more than slight differences.every country in Europe makes different kind of Sausages,hell in some countries you move by 100km and the food is completely different.

      I moved to another continent and can easily find chorizo at my local deli, I consider it pretty unique. I can occasionally get my hands on German bratwurst at fairest, love it and not even close to chirizo in look, texture or flavour. Boring English Sausages? No idea where to find them noone really sells them here.

      Then I lost you at McDonald’s and KFC selling European food, are we actually talking about food? Have you ever eaten at a local restaurant in Spain, Italy, Greece or even Germany?

      • merc@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        hell in some countries you move by 100km and the food is completely different.

        People always say that, but it’s never true.

        not even close to chirizo in look, texture or flavour

        It’s still a sausage.

        Then I lost you at McDonald’s and KFC selling European food

        KFC is deep-fried roasted chicken. Frying chicken in fat was something that people were doing in Scotland hundreds of years ago. The fact that KFC is an American corporation doesn’t mean that it’s not fundamentally making a European dish. As for McDonalds, Frisadelle is basically a hamburger patty, and it’s been a German / Scandinavian dish for centuries. Slapping bread around meat was popularized by the Earl of Sandwich around the 1760s. Maybe the hamburger in its current form is a US thing, but it’s merely a slight refinement of a few European ideas.

        I’ve eaten all over North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. That’s why I know that British food is basically just European food, just as North American food is also mostly just European food.

        • wieson@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          So I asked someone from Hamburg (Northern Germany) if they liked Käsespätzle (the most beloved southern German dish). They had never heard of it.

          That made me think, so I asked my cousin’s wife from Bavaria (Southern Germany) if they had ever eaten Matjes (a pretty well liked and popular Northern German dish). She also had never heard of it.

          • merc@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            Käsespätzle is popular in Switzerland too. It’s very well known except sometimes they call it Chnöpfli / Knoepfle / Knöpfle or Spätzli. It could be that they’d heard of it under a different name? Spätzle is even eaten in Hungary, eastern France and Serbia under local names.

            You can easily find it on the aldi-nord.de website under Spätzle. I mean, it’s possible that there are products that are on sale in local supermarkets that people have never noticed, but then is it really that the diets of the North and South are so different, or is it that some people don’t like variety or trying new things?

            As for Matjes, that’s pickled / brined Herring. It’s no surprise that people far from the sea don’t eat it. But, pickled herring is super common. It’s popular in Germany (apparently only the north), Netherlands, nordic countries, etc. Slightly different versions are popular in the parts of the UK near the ocean, in Russia and Ukraine, even Canada. In fact, it’s pretty common in Minnesota in the US despite them being far from the ocean simply because they had a lot of immigration from nordic countries.

        • ParsnipWitch@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          “The Earl of Sandwich” is just the most greatest thing or I am just too high. I hope he has a statue somewhere

          • merc@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            What’s interesting is that “The Earl of Sandwich” was just a title like “The Earl of Devon”, “The Earl of Suffolk”, “The Earl of Essex”, etc.

            Sandwiches got their name because that Earl liked playing cards and wanted food he could hold that wouldn’t mess up his cards. So, it’s like calling one of the things he (or his cook) invented “A McDonalds”. But, now, we’re so used to the name “A Sandwich” that the title “Earl of Sandwich” sounds weird. Even though “wich” is a pretty common place name ending, like “Norwich”, “Dunwich”, etc. And, “Sand” is pretty normal as part of a place name, but not as part of food.

  • Zeshade@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The meme is funny (it is!) until people take it too literally.

    Yes there are things in traditional English cuisine that are atrocious (from difficult times for some of them) but I believe what counts as English food is what you can find in England today.

    If you want cheap then you have Indian, Chinese etc in addition to the usual fast food places. Fish and chips is good but you have to let go off your prejudices. The fish is super crispy outside and flaky inside but bland. It’s meant to be eaten covered in salt with tartare sauce or your vinegar soaked chips.

    True the cheap traditional food can be meh compared to Italy or France. If you want really nice English food you’ll have to pay more. Gastro pubs, genuine fancy “British cuisine” restaurants are everywhere but you need to be ready to pay the price.

    In addition many other countries also have soso traditional food (I think NL, DK etc according to their own citizens). But the problem obviously is that the UK are more fun to target, because the UK wants to be perceived as a superpower in other aspects as they once were. So yeah let’s make fun of their food.

    • loutr@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      because the UK wants to be perceived as a superpower in other aspects as they once were.

      And because they colonized a lot of countries and pillaged their spices, and then proceeded to do absolutely nothing with them.

      • JadenSmith@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Common misconception, as well. Take for instance our sausages: Lincolnshire and Cumberland being the most popular, both well seasoned. Or Pork Faggots (which are a type of meatball and gravy/sauce dish).

      • Cringe2793@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I do that a lot in games, I collect all the collectibles and weapons and potions, but I proceed not to use them.

  • gmtom@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    As a Brit I will take this shit from anyone except Americans. Your chese is either sheets of plastic or comes in a can, you have no room to criticise any countries food.

    • Pipoca@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      American cheese is one specific cheese made in America. It’s essentially cheese made into a cheese sauce, then chilled back into a block. There’s a number of quality levels of it based on how much they skimp on the cheese. And when eaten melted, it’s actually pretty decent, if mild.

      Most grocery stores in the US have two cheese sections. There’s the cheap shredded/sliced cheeses, and then there’s a separate section with the fancier cheeses, both foreign and domestic.

      Cheese in the US is weird. We make both Velveeta and Humboldt fog. An American cheese won the World Cheese Awards a few years ago, but most of the cheese eaten in America is cheap, mild, mass produced, pre-sliced/shredded semisoft cheese. Most of it isn’t “american cheese”, though.

      • frezik
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        1 year ago

        Just like our beer. Yeah, budweiser is watery crap. There’s also a new microbrew popping up every week.

        Also, American cheese exists for one thing: melting over everything. It provides the creamyness. If you want flavor, mix in some aged chedder, which normally doesn’t melt very well.

        • Pipoca@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          You can actually make your own American pretty easily with good cheddar, sodium citrate, and water. That’s how I usually make Mac and cheese. A+ would recommend picking some sodium citrate up on Amazon.

    • MonkRome@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Some of the best cheese in the world is made in Wisconsin. There is plenty to criticize about American food but cheese seems like an odd target.

      • gmtom@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yeah some of the best chefs in the world are British. Its a joke response to a meme, not a serious point.

        Also no one outside of America really cares about wisconsin cheese.

    • theRealBassist@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      You literally have burger cheese. It’s the same shit.

      The vast majority of people do not regularly eat Kraft singles just like the majority of brits don’t eat burger cheese every day.

    • frezik
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      1 year ago

      I bought a 20 year aged chedder from a local cheese maker this past year. It was wonderful.

      • GiveOver@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        You picked a cheese named after a place in the UK, not the best choice for a UK Vs USA argument

        • frezik
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          1 year ago

          And yet you can’t get it aged 20 years over there.

          • gmtom@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Lmao you absolutely can, just there’s not much point as both the reaction that creates the petides and the cheese crystal formation will be over long before even 5 years. So you won’t see much difference or may even deteriorate over time.

            • frezik
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              1 year ago

              What UK cheese maker does 20 years? Hook’s is the only one I could find, and I pick that up at my local farmer’s market.

              There is certainly a difference between 5 and 7 years. I’ll admit the difference between 7 and 20 is diminishing returns, but it’s there.

              • gmtom@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                It’s usually not the maker that ages them for so long but the mongers who will buy vintage cheddar and then continue to age it to sell for a premium, there’s a couple of places in london I know that would sell at least decade aged cheddar, one on jermyn Street and another in knightsbridge. But I havnt been to either in a long time so idk if they still do it.