• @bostonbananarama@lemmy.world
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    1601 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
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    311 year ago

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

    • ZeroCoolOP
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      81 year ago

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

        • @Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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          111 year ago

          I guess it would be nice since it doesn’t mix with the rest of the food, but I’m not bothering with two plates at home.

    • RiverGhost
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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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    271 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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    221 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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    201 year ago

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

    • @Tamo@programming.dev
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      261 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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          91 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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            71 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 😁.

          • @tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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            21 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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    131 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
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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.

  • @Zeshade@lemmy.world
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    121 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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      11 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.

  • Flying Squid
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    121 year ago

    You can have my gooseberry jam when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers!

  • @gmtom@lemmy.world
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    91 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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      241 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@midwest.social
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        81 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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          41 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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      161 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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        31 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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      151 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.

      • @Skipper_the_Eyechild
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        01 year ago

        Wtf. There’s so much more to cheese than ‘burger cheese’, whatever the fuck that is.

        • @theRealBassist@lemmy.world
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          21 year ago

          Burger cheese is a specific kind of cheese that is commonly used for things like burgers in the UK.

          Very similar to kraft singles.

      • @GiveOver@feddit.uk
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        31 year ago

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

          • @gmtom@lemmy.world
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            31 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@midwest.social
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              01 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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                21 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.

      • @EnderMB@lemmy.world
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        81 year ago

        Chicken Tikka Masala

        I could go on and list dozens, because the joy of British food is that it’s often a mix of different cultures and techniques. Britain is one of those rare places where they’ll steal food from everywhere, while also being one of the best places to get “authentic” versions of another country’s cuisines.

        • @doctorcrimson@lemmy.today
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          1 year ago

          Just like how all the good Chinese food was invented in America.

          EDIT: I apologize but I was partly joking, I love Shaoxing Wine and real Soy Sauce for cooking. There are clearly some good dishes from the many vast cultures of China.

          • @nixcamic@lemmy.world
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            21 year ago

            Honestly as someone who grew up with lots of Chinese immigrants friends real Chinese food maybe is a bit odd the first couple of times you eat it but after that it beats the pants off of any American Chinese food.

        • @orphiebaby@lemm.ee
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          -11 year ago

          This is still the stupidest, most disingenuous response. I don’t even have time to go into the like 10 things wrong with this response.

          • @EnderMB@lemmy.world
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            11 year ago

            You don’t have time because it’s widely accepted by many that chose to make Britain their home, and you’d spend your time arguing with what is essentially established truth at this point.

            As for it sounding stupid, well, it’s not on us to make you understand it. Do some critical thinking, and come back when you have the time.