England is renowned for its quaint countryside villages, unique historical sites and typical “British weather”. However, English cuisine is not one of the first attractions that comes to mind. Instead, the English are infamous for their bland food and lack of cooking skills, having the tendency to take some perfectly fine ingredients and boil them down into a inedible grey heap of mush, as wet as their hair after a splendid English drizzle. Nonetheless, a traveller is entitled to enjoy a decent meal after a long day of sightseeing, and so here is a simple guide to some exclusive English eats (that are actually edible), delivered to you by an rather experienced connoisseur in English dishes. So scroll down – the results might be quite eye-opening.

Disclaimer: Many words use the British name or spelling in this article. There will be some references to Chinese cuisine, to make explaining easier for the viewers of this article.

Fruit

England has maintained a rather good environment in the past few years, and therefore there is an abundant amount of wild flora to be found, a number of which bear wild fruits.

• Blackberries: These small berries ripen near the end of summer and can be found in hedges, along paths and near roadsides. They are similar to mulberries (桑葚), except they have a sweeter taste and a richer, juicier flavour. It can be made into jams, which go well with ice cream and yogurt. Note: The ones in Chinese supermarkets are expensive and taste bad. When picking, be careful of the thorns.

Breakfast

There is a variety of different foods to have for breakfast in England. Here is an authentic dish worth trying:

• English Breakfast: A meal composing of different ingredients in different areas, however, common ingredients include scrambled eggs, baked beans and toast, sausages (try Cumberland), and tomatoes. Note: This dish isn’t suitable for eating too often due to its high meat and oil content (which is common in English dishes.)

Lunch

A lot of English foods came out of need, such as being made with an outer crust so miners wouldn’t get their food dirty while eating, which is the case with this food below:

• Cornish pastry: A flaky pie-like pastry with a beef, onion, potato, carrot, and gravy filling. Best enjoyed warm, as it is then quite juicy and has a flavourful umami taste. As the name suggests, it originates from Cornwall in the south-west of England.
• Fish and chips: The national dish. The fried fish is usually cod, but there are many other kinds available. The chips (薯条) are soft and fat, different to fries, and have a stronger potato flavour. Mushed peas are usually served as a side dish. Britons like to add salt and vinegar to their fish and chips (although I don’t recommend eating it this way.)

Afternoon tea

Afternoon tea is a special tradition in England, and is the time of day where people enjoy tea, light desserts, and small sandwiches along with some afternoon chat.

• Clotted cream: A butter-like cream that has the consistency of hardened ice cream. The best comes from Cornwall (which is also renowned for its dairy products). Many people enjoy this with scones and strawberry jam (but personally I don’t like scones.)
• English tea: Most people there drink at least one cup of tea a day, which shows how eminent tea is in British culture. Buy some tea from a shop and drink it the British style – with a dash of milk and white sugar.

Dinner

Dinner is the most important meal of the day in England, and dessert is served afterwards. Note: Dessert is not mentioned here as most English desserts are too sweet and contain too much jam, cream or sugar.

• Sunday roast: This dish consists of roast chicken, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding (it has a similar texture to 油条, but is a round bowl shape), carrots, greens and gravy (a rich, thin, savoury sauce, usually brown in colour, although ingredients may vary), with additional sauces, served for Sunday dinner. The best part is the gravy sauce, which you lightly drizzle on top of the dish.

Festivities & Exclusive foods

The festivity mentioned here is Christmas, and a lot of different festive foods are cooked up to celebrate. The best ones are:

• Pigs in blankets: small sausages wrapped in bacon (good, but slightly greasy.)
• Gingerbread: usually served with sweet icing.

 

• Exclusive food: Cheese. The texture is harder and more blocky, and the taste is much more savoury and strong (not recommended for people who don’t like strong, slightly smelly dairy products). My favourites are Cheddar (extra mature) and Red Leicester, which is similar to cheddar but is orange in colour and has a nutty taste.

This just about sums up this simple guide to English Eats. Hopefully you have gained some knowledge and found this guide useful.

 

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