United Kingdom

Country - United Kingdom

Cuisine Description - British cuisine is the specific set of cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom. Historically, British cuisine means "unfussy dishes made with quality local ingredients, matched with simple sauces to accentuate flavor, rather than disguise it."[95] However, British cuisine has absorbed the cultural influence of those that settled in Britain, producing hybrid dishes, such as the Anglo-Indian Chicken tikka masala, hailed as "Britain's true national dish".[96][97]
British cuisine has traditionally been limited in its international recognition to the full breakfast and the Christmas dinner.[98] However, Celtic agriculture and animal breeding produced a wide variety of foodstuffs for indigenous Celts. Anglo-Saxon England developed meat and savoury herb stewing techniques before the practice became common in Europe. The Norman conquest introduced exotic spices into Great Britain in the Middle Ages.[98] The British Empire facilitated a knowledge of India's elaborate food tradition of "strong, penetrating spices and herbs".[98] Food rationing policies, put in place by the British government during wartime periods of the 20th century,[99] are said to have been the stimulus for British cuisine's poor international reputation.[98]
The first recipe for ice cream was published in Mrs. Mary Eales's Receipts in London 1718.[100] The 18th-century English aristocrat John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich is most renowned for the claim to have originated the modern concept of the sandwich which was named after him. It is said that he ordered his valet to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of bread, and because Montagu also happened to be the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, others began to order "the same as Sandwich!".[101] In 1767, Joseph Priestley invented carbonated water (also known as soda water), the major and defining component of most soft drinks.[102][103]


Apple pie has been consumed in England since the Middle Ages.
Each country within the United Kingdom has its own specialities. Traditional examples of English cuisine include the Sunday roast; featuring a roasted joint, usually beef, lamb or chicken, served with assorted boiled vegetables, Yorkshire pudding and gravy.[104] Other prominent meals include fish and chips and the full English breakfast—consisting of bacon, grilled tomatoes, fried bread, black pudding, baked beans, fried mushrooms, sausages and eggs. Various meat pies are consumed such as steak and kidney pie, shepherd's pie, cottage pie, Cornish pasty and pork pie, the later of which is consumed cold.[104]
Sausages are commonly eaten, either as bangers and mash or toad in the hole. Lancashire hotpot is a well known stew. Some of the most popular cheeses are Cheddar and Wensleydale. Many Anglo-Indian hybrid dishes, curries, have been created such as chicken tikka masala and balti. Sweet English dishes include apple pie, mince pies, spotted dick, scones, Eccles cakes, pancakes, sponge cake, Battenberg cake, Jaffa cakes, trifle, custard, and sticky toffee pudding. Common drinks include tea, which became far more widely drunk due to Catherine of Braganza,[105] while alcoholic drinks include wines and English beers such as bitter, mild, stout, and brown ale.[106] Scottish cuisine includes Arbroath Smokie and Haggis; Irish cuisine features the Ulster fry and Irish Stew and Welsh cuisine is noted for Welsh rarebit. Whisky dates back to Ireland and Scotland in the Middle Ages, with each producing their own unique brand, Irish Whiskey and Scotch Whisky. Copyright Wikipedia