British cuisine

British cuisine consists of the cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom, including the regional cuisines of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. British cuisine has its roots in the cooking traditions of the indigenous Celts, however it has been significantly influenced and shaped by subsequent waves of conquest, notably that of the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, and the Normans; waves of migration, notably immigrants from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, China, Italy, South Africa, and Eastern Europe, primarily Poland; and exposure to increasingly globalised trade and connections to the Anglosphere, particularly the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Traditional British cuisine has been characterised as coarse, hearty dishes relying on high quality seasonal local ingredients, paired with simple sauces to accentuate their flavour. Highlights and staples of British cuisine include the roast dinner, the full breakfast, Shepherd's pie, Toad in the hole, and fish and chips; a highly diverse variety of both savoury and sweet pies, cakes, tarts, and pastries; foods influenced by immigrant populations such as curry and spaghetti bolognese; traditional desserts such as trifle, scones, apple pie, sticky toffee pudding, and Victoria sponge cake; and a large variety of cheese, beer, ale, and stout, cider, and to a lesser extent, sparkling wine.

Modern British cuisine has tended towards a stronger focus on fast food, processed foods, takeaways, and fried food. However, in the larger cities with multicultural populations, a vibrant culinary scene exists influenced by global cuisine. The modern phenomenon of television celebrity chefs began in the United Kingdom with Philip Harben. Since then, the celebrity chef scene has produced an array of well-known British chefs who have wielded considerable influence on modern British and global cuisine, such as Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthal, Rick Stein, Nigella Lawson, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and Fanny Cradock.

History

Celtic origins and Roman conquest

British cuisine has its roots in the cooking practices of the indigenous Celts. Celtic agriculture and animal breeding practices produced a wide variety of foodstuffs, such as grain, fruit, vegetables, and cattle. Archaeological evidence of cheese production can be seen as early as 3,800 BC, while bread from cereal grains was being produced as early as 3,700 BC. Ancient Celts fermented apples to produce cider, as recorded by Julius Caesar during his attempted invasions of Britain in 55-54 BC.

Strabo records that Celtic Britons cultivated millet, herbs, and root vegetables, and practised apiculture to produce honey. Trade with Celtic Gauls in what is now modern-day France and the Low Countries, as well as with the Roman Republic following its conquest of Gaul, introduced grains such as wheat, oats, and rye. Barley was grown to produce porridge and malt for beer, while flax was grown for its oil. broad beans, wild spinach, herbs, and primitive parsnips were the primary sources of vegetables and greens in Celtic Britain.

According to Julius Caesar, Celtic Britons domesticated cattle, which were symbols of status and wealth, sheep and goats for their meat and milk; and, to a lesser extent, pigs for ham. Caesar notes that Celts also domesticated geese, chickens, and hares, but it is unclear whether they were kept for food or for religious rituals due to the association with Celtic deities. Trade with Romans also led to the import of wine.

In 43 AD, the Roman Empire invaded and began its conquest of Britain, eventually encompassing all of modern-day England, Wales, and parts of southern Scotland. The Roman conquest brought a culinary renaissance to the island, importing many foodstuffs which were hitherto unknown to Celtic Britons, including fruits such as figs, medlars, grapes, pears, cherries, plums, damsons, mulberries, dates, olives, vegetable marrows, and cucumbers; vegetables such as carrots, celery, asparagus, endives, turnips, cabbages, leeks, radishes, onions, shallots, and artichokes; nuts, seeds, and pulses such as sweet chestnuts, lentils, peas, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts, and sesame; and herbs and spices such as garlic, basil, parsley, borage, chervil, thyme, common sage, sweet marjoram, summer savory, black pepper, ginger, cinnamon, rosemary, mint, coriander, chives, dill, and fennel. Produced foods such as sausages were also imported, along with new animals, including rabbits, pheasants, peacocks, guinea fowl, and possibly fallow deer.

Roman colonists were able to grow wine in vineyards as far north as Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire, and the longevity of Roman occupation is credited as creating the wine industry in Britain. The importance of seafood to the Roman diet led to its increasing popularity in Britain, particularly shellfish such as oysters. The quality of oysters from Colchester in particular became prized in Rome as a delicacy. After the end of Roman rule in Britain and the subsequent collapse of the Western Roman Empire, many of the more exotic food items, such as spices, disappeared from British cuisine until its reintroduction centuries later. After the Roman period, British cuisine predominately consisted of vegetables, cereals, and meats such as mutton.

The Middle Ages

Shortly after the end of Roman rule in Britain, the Germanic Anglo-Saxons began conquering and colonising the island. The Anglo-Saxons introduced bacon to Britain during this period; rural families had their own recipes for curing and smoking bacon, while urban residents would purchase bacon from butchers who developed their own curing methods. Residents in London had access to a particularly diverse range of bacon products from across Britain. Anglo-Saxons helped to entrench stews, broths, and soups into British cuisine, along with an early form of the crumpet. Bread and butter became common fare, and the English in particular gained a reputation for their liberal use of melted butter as a sauce with meat and vegetables. Ale was a popular drink of choice among the nobility and peasantry alike, and mead production increased around Christian monasteries. Danish and other Scandinavian invaders during the Viking Age introduced techniques for smoking and drying fish.

After the Norman Conquest in 1066, the Normans reintroduced many spices and continental influences that had been lost after the departure of the Romans. Many of the modern English words for foodstuffs, such as beef, pork, mutton, gravy, jelly, mustard, onion, herb, and spice are derived from Old French words introduced by the Normans. Though eating habits and cooking methods remained largely unchanged, pig farming intensified under the Norman dynasty. The Crusades and trade with Arab Muslim empires introduced foods such as oranges and sugarcane to Britain.

It was during the late 14th century that the first cookbooks began to emerge, notably the English cookbook the Forme of Cury, containing recipes from the court of Richard II. The recipes it describes are diverse and sophisticated, with a wide variety of ingredients such as capon, pheasant, almonds, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, dates, pine nuts, saffron, and sugar. It also describes foods such as gingerbread, and sweet and sour sauces. Elaborate stews such as dillegrout became commonly served at the coronations of English monarchs. It was during the middle ages that many staples of British cuisine began to develop, such as the apple pie, an early cheesecake (called sambocade), custard, mince pies, pasties, and various forms of meat pies.

Early modern era

With the Western exploration of the New World in 1492, the Columbian exchange led to the arrival in Europe of many new foods, including refined sugar, the potato, the banana and chocolate. The growth in worldwide trade brought foods and beverages from the Old World too, including tea and coffee. Developments in plant breeding greatly increased the number of fruit and vegetable varieties.

The turkey was introduced to Britain in the 16th century, but its use for Christmas dinner, with Christmas pudding for dessert, was a 19th-century innovation. Other traditional British dishes, like fish and chips and the full breakfast, rose to prominence in the Victorian era; while they have a status in British culture, they are not necessarily a large part of many people's diets.

The world’s first sweet tasting pea was developed in the 18th century by amateur plant breeder Thomas Edward Knight of Downton, near Salisbury, England.

Before the Industrial Revolution, bacon was generally produced on local farms and in domestic kitchens. The world's first commercial bacon processing plant was opened in Wiltshire in the 1770s by John Harris.

20th century

Further information: English cuisine § Twentieth century

Shepherds's pie, a traditional British dish

During the World Wars of the 20th century difficulties of food supply were countered by measures such as rationing. Rationing continued for nearly ten years after the Second World War, and in some aspects was stricter than during wartime, so that a whole generation was raised without access to many previously common ingredients, possibly contributing to a decline of British cuisine. Writing in the 1960s about British cuisine in the 1950s, the Good Food Guide called the food of the 1950s "intolerable" due to a shortage of natural ingredients such as butter, cream and meat. A hunger for cooking from abroad was satisfied by writers such as Elizabeth David, who from 1950 produced evocative books, starting with A Book of Mediterranean Food, stipulating ingredients which were then often impossible to find in most of Britain.

By the 1960s, foreign holidays, and foreign-style restaurants in Britain, widened the popularity of foreign cuisine. This movement was assisted by celebrity chefs – on television and in their books – such as Fanny Cradock, Clement Freud, Robert Carrier, Keith Floyd, Gary Rhodes, Delia Smith, Gordon Ramsay, Ainsley Harriott, Nigella Lawson, Simon Hopkinson, Nigel Slater, Jamie Oliver.

From the 1970s, the availability and range of good quality fresh products increased, and the British population became more willing to vary its diet. Modern British cooking draws on influences from Mediterranean (especially from Italian cuisine), and more recently, Middle Eastern and Asian cuisines. In the 1990s and early 2000s, a form of "virtuous eclecticism" emerged in discourse around British cuisine, arguing that British cuisine can be distinguished by its apparently unique ability to draw from other cultures.

Furthermore, from the 1970s there was an increased push to recognise a distinctly British cuisine. The English Tourist Board campaigned for restaurants to include more British historical and regional dishes on their menus. In the 1980s, in the face of globalisation – which made foreign cuisines and imported produce more widely available in the UK – a style of cooking known as Modern British Cooking emerged in an effort to construct a national cuisine for the tourist industry. This new style of cooking focused on the garden and vegetables.

Anglo-Indian cuisine

Main article: Anglo-Indian cuisine

Kedgeree, an Anglo-Indian dish

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the British Empire began to be influenced by India's elaborate food tradition with strong spices and herbs. Traditional British cuisine was modified with the addition of Indian-style spices and ingredients such as rice, creating dishes such as kedgeree (1790) and mulligatawny soup (1791).

Curry became popular in Britain by the 1970s, when some restaurants that originally catered mainly to Indians found their clientele diversifying. Chicken tikka masala, a mildly spiced dish in a creamy sauce, was acclaimed "a true British national dish" as "a perfect illustration of the way Britain absorbs and adapts external influences".

21st century

Culinary standards and preferences have continued to evolve in the 21st century. Debora Robertson, writing in The Daily Telegraph, has claimed that the 21st century has seen 'a revolution in British dining, fine and otherwise' and now rivals that of France.

A 2021 survey, by Mortar Research, showed many people claim never to have eaten traditional favourites such as toad in the hole, spotted dick, Scotch eggs, black pudding, or bubble and squeak, and a minority did not believe these dishes existed.

Also in 2021, a YouGov survey reported 8% of respondents claimed to be eating a plant-based diet and more than a third of respondents said they were interested in becoming vegan. In 2023, Government statistics on meat and fish consumption showed Britons were eating the least meat at home since record keeping began in 1974.

In recent years, there has been a growing movement to revive traditional British bread-making. Chef Michel Roux Jr highlighted the decline of artisanal baking in the UK and the need to return to traditional methods. In a BBC article, Roux emphasised the importance of making bread with simple, natural ingredients and the benefits of supporting local, independent bakeries. He hopes that public awareness and consumer choices will help preserve this valuable culinary heritage.

Definitions

According to Warde, three definitions of British cuisine in response to globalisation predominate:

• Modern British cooking draws on Britain's culinary history to create a new British traditional cuisine.
• Virtuous eclecticism highlights the melting pot of different national cuisines present in the UK.
• Another approach draws on popular, common products to produce a form of historical continuity between historical and modern cuisines.

British food has tended to be perceived internationally as "terrible": bland, soggy, overcooked and visually unappealing. The reason for this is debated. One popular reason is that British culinary traditions were strong before the mid-20th century, when British cuisine suffered due to wartime rationing. A lot of myths about British food originate from this period.

Popular dishes

A Sunday roast of roast beef, roast potatoes, vegetables and Yorkshire pudding

According to a 2019 survey by YouGov, the most popular British food is the Yorkshire pudding, which over 85% of Brits say they like, closely followed by Sunday roasts and fish and chips. The least popular was jellied eels, which only 6% of those who had tried it liked. Scones and Victoria sponge are the most popular sweet foods, while the Deep-fried Mars bar is the least popular.

Curries are a large part of British cuisine, with cooks in the United Kingdom creating curries distinct to the country. Chicken tikka masala, which comprises 15 per cent of orders in British Indian restaurants, was called "a true British national dish" by the Foreign Secretary Robin Cook in 2001. Generally, British curries are thicker and sweeter than their Indian counterparts. Furthermore, curry sauces in Britain are interchangeable between meats, while in India different meats have non-interchangeable sauces. A key ingredient to a British curry is curry powder, a "British concoction" of spices.

National cuisines

English

Main article: English cuisine

English cuisine has distinctive attributes of its own, but also shares much with wider British cuisine, partly through the importation of ingredients and ideas from North America, China, and India during the time of the British Empire and as a result of post-war immigration. Some traditional meals, such as sausages, bread and cheese, roasted and stewed meats, meat and game pies, boiled vegetables and broths, and freshwater and saltwater fish have ancient origins. The 14th-century English cookbook, the Forme of Cury, contains recipes for these, and dates from the royal court of Richard II.

Northern Irish

Main article: Northern Irish cuisine

Northern Ireland's culinary heritage has its roots in the staple diet of generations of farming families—bread and potatoes. Historically, limited availability of ingredients and low levels of immigration resulted in restricted variety and relative isolation from wider international culinary influences. The 21st century has seen significant changes in local cuisine, characterised by an increase in the variety, quantity and quality of gastropubs and restaurants. There are currently three Michelin star restaurants in Northern Ireland, all of which specialise in traditional dishes made using local ingredients.

Scottish

Main article: Scottish cuisine

Scottish cuisine has closer links to Scandinavia and France than English cuisine has. Traditional Scottish dishes include bannocks, brose, cullen skink, Dundee cake, haggis, marmalade, porridge, and Scotch broth. The cuisines of the northern islands of Orkney and Shetland are distinctively different from that of mainland Scotland. The nation is known for its whiskies.

Welsh

Main article: Welsh cuisine

Welsh cuisine in the Middle Ages was limited in range; Gerald of Wales, chaplain to Henry II, wrote after an 1188 tour that "The whole population lives almost entirely on oats and the produce of their herds, milk, cheese and butter. You must not expect a variety of dishes from a Welsh kitchen, and there are no highly-seasoned titbits to whet your appetite."

In modern times, the cuisine includes recipes for Welsh lamb, and dishes such as cawl, Welsh rarebit, laverbread, Welsh cakes, bara brith and Glamorgan sausage.

• Example dishes of the four nations
• 
  English tea with scones
• 
  Northern Irish soda bread farl
• 
  Scottish haggis, neeps and tatties
• 
  Welsh cawl

International cuisines

The UK has had availability of a large variety of foreign cuisines since the post-war period. In 1970, the Good Food Guide stated: "London now has a richer variety of restaurants than any other city on Earth". In 1995, the Good Food Guide argued that the fusion of national cuisines "could only happen here", as Britain is a melting pot without as distinct of a national cuisine as other such countries.

See also

• Channel Islands cuisine
• Cuisine of the Thirteen Colonies
• Culture of the United Kingdom
• List of British breads
• List of British desserts
• List of United Kingdom food and drink products with protected status
• List of English dishes

Sources

• Davidson, Alan (2014) [1999]. The Oxford Companion to Food (Third ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19967-733-7.
• Dickson Wright, Clarissa (2011). A History of English Food. Random House. ISBN 978-1-905-21185-2.
• John, J (2005), A Christmas Compendium, Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 0-8264-8749-1
• Panayi, Panikos (2010) [2008]. Spicing Up Britain. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-86189-658-2.
• Timbs, John (1866), Something for Everybody (and a Garland for the Year), London: Lockwood and Co.

Further reading

• Addyman, Mary; Wood, Laura; Yiannitsaros, Christopher (eds). (2017) Food, Drink, and the Written Word in Britain, 1820–1945, Taylor & Francis.
• Brears, P. (2008) Cooking and Dining in Medieval England
• Burnett, John. "Plenty and Want: The Social History of English Diet", History Today (April 1964) 14.3 pp. 223–233.
• Burnett, John. (1979) Plenty and want: a social history of diet in England from 1815 to the present day, 2nd ed.
• Burnett, John. (2016) England eats out: a social history of eating out in England from 1830 to the present, Routledge.
• Collingham, Lizzy (2018). The Hungry Empire: How Britain's Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World. Vintage. ISBN 978-0099586951.
• Collins, E. J. T. (1975) "Dietary change and cereal consumption in Britain in the nineteenth century." Agricultural History Review 23.2, pp. 97–115.
• Green, Kate & Bryan, Melanie (2020) "Around Britain in 50 Foods"; in: Country Life; 12 February 2020, pp. 36–41.
• Harris, Bernard; Floud, Roderick; Hong, Sok Chul. (2015) "How many calories? Food availability in England and Wales in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries". Research in Economic History.. pp. 111–191.
• Hartley, Dorothy (2009) [1954 (Macdonald)]. Food in England: A complete guide to the food that makes us who we are. Piatkus. ISBN 978-0-74994-215-1.
• Lehmann, Gilly (2003). The British Housewife. Prospect Books.
• Woolgar. C. N. (2016) The Culture of Food in England, 1200–1500 Yale University Press.

Historiography

• Otter, Chris. "The British Nutrition Transition and its Histories", History Compass 10#11 (2012): pp. 812–825, doi:10.1111/hic3.12001

External links

• Media related to Cuisine of the United Kingdom at Wikimedia Commons
• Quotations related to British cuisine at Wikiquote
• Cookbook:Cuisine of the United Kingdom at Wikibooks
• Cuisine of Britain and Ireland travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Food Stories Archived 10 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine – Explore a century of revolutionary change in UK food culture on the British Library's Food Stories website
• George Orwell's essay "In Defence of English Cooking" Archived 1 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine