Did you know the Sunday Roast is the national dish in the United Kingdom? You might have known that. But, are you also aware that Chicken Tikka Masala is also their national dish? Confused? British food is traditionally composed of beef, lamb, pork, chicken and fish served with potatoes and other types of vegetables. Common foods in Britain are: sandwiches, fish and chips, pies, trifles, roast dinners and curries. Below you’ll find a list of the most common traditional English dishes.
English Breakfast
Starting your day with a full English breakfast can be challenging for some as the items in the breakfast include: bacon (traditionally back bacon), poached or fried eggs, fried or grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, fried bread or toast with butter, sausages and baked beans, usually served with a mug of tea. As nearly everything is fried in this meal, it is commonly called a “fry-up”. Black pudding also makes an appearance and so does leftover mashed potatoes or hash browns (USA influence). In the North some people have fried or grilled oatcakes instead of the fried bread. When you order everything in the English Breakfast menu is is called a Full Monty or Full English.
Fish and Chips
The name really says it all. It’s fish (usually cod, haddock or other) deep fried in flour batter and served with chips (french fries) with a malt vinegar dressing. This is also a very popular take-away food as this is not normally a dish cooked at home. It is usually bought at a shop called “Chippie” to eat in or take out to eat with the help of a tiny fork.
Pies
Pies are a common traditional dish in the UK. A shepherd’s pie is made with minced lamb and accompanied with vegetables and mashed potatoes while the Cottage pie is made with minced beef.
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Sunday Roast
This is a very traditional dish in both Britain and Ireland. It is served on Sundays but it can be eaten at any day of the week. It consists of roasted meat, roasted potatoes or mashed served with sides of Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, vegetables and gravy.
“Traditional.Sunday.Roast-01” by by robbie jim – http://flickr.com/photos/robs-pics/326678449/. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Bubble & Squeak
Is a shallow fried dish made from leftovers of the roast dinner or the full English breakfast dishes. The main ingredients are potato and cabbage, but carrots, peas, Brussels sprouts, or any other leftover vegetables can be added.
Chicken Tikka Masala
The origins of this dish are uncertain and countries like the United Kingdom, India and even Pakistan claim to have invented it. Chicken Tikka Masala is a dish made from roasted chunks (tikka) of chicken in a spicy creamy sauce that is usually orange due to the spices used.
Desserts
English call the dessert dish pudding, they are usually hot and very high in calories (like desserts should be, right?). Some puddings have funny names like: Spotted dick, Christmas pudding, Treacle pudding, Clootie or the Jam Roly-Poly. Below is a picture of a Christmas Pudding.
“Christmas pudding” by User Musical Linguist on en.wikipedia – This Christmas pudding was made and photographed by Musical Linguist in December 2005.. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Enjoy your meals in the UK!