Why do people think UK food is bad?

Question

i hate it when people say UK food is terrible. Fish and chips, UK chocolate and sweets and all the things Scottland deep fry

Answer 1

I like fish and chips and Scottish Haggis.  Some of the meat pies are good but they are long on crust and vegetables and short on meat.

Answer 2

Stodgy is one word, bland and plain are two more. This is the reputation the food in the UK has, not that I actually believe it to be true. I think it's just a rumor the French spread because they want the monopoly on being the foodie's in Europe... just kidding. Though I am sure that it probably did start with the French what, centuries ago! They were more advanced in cooking science at that time... bechamel, French pastry, French bread, etc.

Having said all that, I LOOOOOVE popovers!  And scones amd shortbread. And many other things that are uniquely UK foods, so... it's just a reputation thing, and as many have already said, most are pleasantly surprised to find the food isn't as boring and bland as they've been led to expect.

Answer 3

I've visited UK and I didn't think the food was bad.  There were heaps of 'comfort food' choices on the menu, but I think the people need that, especially in Winter.  Nothing like a cottage pie and chips or pudding to cheer you up on a grey day.  There were plenty of fruit and vegie choices in the supermarket, and always a salad on the menu to choose from, so I thought the food was OK.  There weren't many interesting vegetarian menu items - but the meat dishes were varied and tasty.

UK food is OK by me.

Answer 4

it is known for that, yes.probably because the people there are so "sober"-moderated- in the sense that they do not like extremes but are restricted.as in too polite and do things by the book.and maybe they stuck ,stick to old recipes instead of adding modern things to it.like they serve very heavy-lard,fried,cream,thick gravies ....

they do not seem to give food any importance.like they do not live to eat...look at the finger foods traditionally served with tea-the tea drunk at 4:00 pm...it is tiny sandwiches and tiny things.as opposed to double triple portions u have in USA.but to each its own!

Answer 5

It's the impression and the term "English stodge". But there are some great chefs from the UK, don't despair. And although Jamie cooks some fairly heavy food to get you through an English winter he also has some great ideas of how to handle it. I do see though that English children have a bad diet though, but perhaps I should not believe everything that I see on the TV eh?

Answer 6

because most traditional dishes of the UK are pretty 'earthy' (i dont know if anyone can get that) compared to other cuisines.

like lots of potatoes, yorkshire puddings, trifles, sheperd's pie etc. i guess they probably stemmed from when many ppl were farmers or something, and during the middle ages ppl thought getting pleasure from food was a sin (i read a book on this)

UK foods are not 'exotic' with colours or flavours, like many asian cuisines, or even mediterranean foods (apparently eating tomatoes were immoral back in the middle ages because of its colour, texture and flavour), hence many find it 'boring' i guess.

Answer 7

I like the UK food, except for the overcooked peas.  I loved the mashed nips that they always serve in Scotland.

Answer 8

It comes from long ago, give a dog a bad name and all that!

I am 51, and can remember when British food was really bad (my mother cooked it every day)! Immigration has made us much more aware of flavours, so we use more herbs and spices, which we also did in the middle ages (at least, the rich did!).

Answer 9

the english cuisine improved much in the recent years, in former day hardly herbs, spices and cream was used

Answer 10

this is not ture but i like uk food & the uk food is good