Gary_W
Roadie
- Messages
- 289
We have some pretty bad processed food substitutes, but we also have some of the best food in the world, and from all over the world. Its a matter of making good choices.
I grew up in the 1970’s in the U.K. My parents were on the older side when I was born and the food was very traditional. If you didn’t stew it, you boiled it. Back then, the reputation for the food here being awful was completely understandable. Cooking wasn’t well taught in schools either - the whole thing about food just wasn’t considered important by most people.
These days you can get excellent food (and ingredients to DIY) here - I think the good thing about what British food is these days is that it’s unapologetically begged, borrowed and stolen from everywhere else in the world and made it ours. Like our museums
If you go to a country who are (rightfully) proud of their own foods (France, Italy etc) then they of course make their own things wonderfully *but* they’re (in my experience / opinion) far less likely to embrace the other styles out there because it’s deemed inferior. Because everyone takes the piss out of steak and kidney pie / roast beef / fish and chips, we Brits who cook tend to say ‘yeah, fair enough’ and make something awesome irrespective of its origin with no apology - done well, the traditional classics are great but they’re often not done well…...
Besides music, food is my other big thing and I cook constantly. Bread, bbq, Thai, Indian, French, Italian, Middle Eastern, Vietnamese, Spanish, Japanese, Mexican, Malaysian, Cajun, Chinese, occasional decent burger and (sometimes) something you could consider traditionally from here. And always on the look out the branch out further. Like music, you’ll never be able to explore it all but I think it’s worth trying. It’s all good :)
You do, of course, get the kind of Brit who goes to Spain and demands an English Breakfast before being rude to everyone, turning bright red in the sun and starting a fight. Every country has its version of that person these days as the news will tell you!