Eating in Great Britain

What do the British like to eat?

According to businesscarriers, British food doesn’t have a good reputation, for example in contrast to French cuisine. That’s a shame because there are really delicious things to do in the UK! And it’s always interesting too!

From breakfast to dinner

It starts in the morning with breakfast, the breakfast. This is traditionally very rich. It usually includes scrambled eggs, fried bacon, sausages, baked beans (white beans in tomato sauce) and maybe a grilled tomato. First there may be cornflakes and toast, preferably with jam. It’s called jam here. As Marmalade only those jam is called, which is made from citrus fruits, so, for example, from oranges.

After such a hearty breakfast, lunch is a bit easier. It’s called lunch and often consists of just a little something like a soup, pie or sandwich. The afternoon tea is typically British. The tea is drunk with milk and sugar, with small cakes, sandwiches or regional specialties, for example scones in Cornwall. In the evening there is dinner. If you take it particularly late and it is less festive, it is also called a supper.

National dishes

The fish & chips are very typical. Fish is of course fish, but chips are not our potato chips, they are french fries. Sometimes there is also pea puree. In a rolled up newspaper like in the past, you usually no longer get this dish. Depending on whether you buy it at a snack bar, eat it in a pub (an English bar) or a restaurant (because there is one too!), You eat it from a paper bag, from a paper plate, from a styrofoam bowl or from one right plate.

As a national dish, fish & chips have now been replaced by Chicken Tikka Masala. This is an Indian dish made from chicken in a tomato sauce. It is one of the curry dishes that are very popular. Pieces of meat are served in a sauce.

Classics: Sunday Roast and Pies

In addition to fish & chips, there are other typical British cuisine classics. This includes the Sunday Roast. This is the Sunday roast. However, it is also on the menu in some restaurants on weekdays. The roast itself can be prepared from any type of meat, such as beef, pork, chicken or lamb.

Then there are potatoes and a vegetable, mostly peas, but sometimes also carrots or broccoli. The Yorkshire pudding is a must. Contrary to what we thought, this is not a pudding as we know it. It is baked in a pie pan in the oven, typically along with the roast. The batter resembles a pancake batter. In the photo you can see the Yorkshire pudding in the upper right corner. It has a trough into which you can pour the gravy.

All kinds of pies are also typically British. Either you bake something with puff pastry or shortcrust pastry or the filling is in a closed dumpling pocket. There is sweet and savory, for example with meat and potatoes. In Shepherd’s Pie, minced meat is baked with mashed potatoes. Mash (mash) is otherwise popular, as in classic bangers and mash: bangers and mash. “Guten Appetit” means in English: Enjoy your meal !

Something sweet for dessert

For dessert there is always something sweet. It can be a chocolate or cheesecake or a crumble. The fruit is baked with sprinkles. You can find out how you can easily make an Apple Crumble in our participation tip.

The English love sauces not only with their warm meals (for example mint sauce), but also with dessert. This is often a chocolate sauce or a vanilla sauce (custard).

9 typical Scottish dishes

1. Haggis – THE Scottish specialty! Offal cooked in the sheep’s stomach.
2. Fish ‘n’ Chips: Not just British, but Scottish too! Fish fried in batter with french fries. This includes classic pea puree or just green peas.
3. Millionaire Shortbread: Shortbread – a sweet pastry – is topped with caramel and chocolate, mmmh.
4. Scottish Tablet: Sugar, milk and butter are the ingredients for this dessert. Tablet is similar to fudge, but it also contains sahen and is softer. Fudge can also be bought all over Scotland.
5. Scones: There are those in the rest of Britain too. The Scots also eat their scones with clotted cream (thick cream) and jam (jam).
6. Breakfast in Scottish: This is also similar to that in England. There are scrambled or fried eggs, fried bacon, sausages, grilled tomato, baked beans, fried mushrooms and black pudding (blood sausage). That includes toast.
7. Porridge: If you don’t want to have a hearty breakfast, you can use porridge, the porridge.
8. Burger: There are burgers in every pub. That includes thick fries.
9. Cullen Skink: This soup is typically Scottish again. Fish, potatoes and onions belong in it.