BRITISH LIFE: THE BRITISH AND FOOD

"Foreigners have ideas about what is 'British', But some of these things are not part of most ordinary people's everyday lives."

Most books about Britain give information for tourists. Visitors can learn about good hotels, nice restaurants, famous places and beautiful buildings. This book is about British life.
Who are the British? Are they the same as the English? And how is the UK different from Britain? Britain is not an easy nation to understand. To visitors, British life is sometimes very strange. Why, for example, do people talk about the weather so much?
Another subject in this book is British food. Visitors to Britain don't always like British cooking. But why does British food have a bad name?

THE BRITISH AND FOOD

Paul White works as a cook in a top London hotel. What does he think about the British and Food?Visitors to Britain generally agree about one thing - British cooking. “It’s terrible!" they say. "You can cook vegetables in so many Interesting ways. But the British cook vegetables for too long, so they lose their taste." These visitors eat in the wrong places. The best British cooking is in good restaurants and hotels, or at home. British tastes have changed a lot over the past twenty years. In 1988 the national average for each person was 352 grams of "red" meat each week, but now it's less than 250 grams. People prefer chicken and fresh fish. And more people are interested in healthy eating these days. In 1988 the national average was 905 grams of fruit and fruit juices each week, but now it's nearly 2 000 grams. 'The British have a "sweet tooth". They love cakes, chocolates and sweets. At my hotel we cook traditional British puddings and our customers love them. Can you imagine a pudding made mostly with bread and butter? It exists in British cooking - "Bread and Butter Pudding". It's great!'

Changing Tastes

Today many people want food to be quick and easy. When both parents are working, they cannot cook large meals in the evenings. 'Ready-made' meals from supermarkets and Marks and Spencer and 'take-away' meals from fast food restaurants are very popular. If you are feeling tired or lazy, you can even phone a local restaurant. They will bring the food to your house.

Eating Out

Twenty years ago, British people usually ate at home. They only went out for a meal at special times, like for somebody's birthday. But today, many people eat out at least once a week. In the past, traditional steakhouses were very popular places, but now many people prefer foreign food. Every British town has Indian and Chinese restaurants, and large towns have restaurants from many other countries too. Pubs are also very popular. There are over 60 000 pubs in the UK (53 200 in England and Wales, 5 200 in Scotland and 1 600 in Northern Ireland). British people drink an average of 99.4 litres of beer every year. More than 80% of this beer is drunk in pubs and clubs.

Scones

Scones are a popular and traditional part of British afternoon tea. They are eaten with a cup of tea or coffee. They are easy and fun to make.
For 9-10 scones, you will need: 200 grams flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 50 grams butter and 1/2 cup milk.
1. Put the flour and salt into a bowl. Work the small pieces of butter into the flour and salt with your fingers.
2. Add the milk quickly and mix with a knife.
3. Take out of the bowl and make into a large flat shape on a table.
4. Cut into 9 or 10 round shapes. Put a little milk on the top of each.
5. Cook in a hot oven (200°c, Gas 6) for 7-10 minutes until golden-brown.
6. Put the scones on a plate and offer them to your guests. Eat them with butter. Enjoy!

The British and Tea

The British population (over the age of ten) drinks about 200 000 000 cups of tea a day. That is an average of nearly 1 040 cups of tea a year for each person. Tea - mostly green tea from China - came to Britain in the late 1500s, but it was only for the very rich. It became cheaper about three hundred years later, when it was planted in India and later in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). People from all classes started drinking it. But some people thought that too much tea was bad for your health. So they started putting milk in it, to make it healthier!

Afternoon Tea, High Tea, Lunch and Dinner

Afternoon tea is a small meal, not a drink. Now most ordinary British families do not have time for afternoon tea at home, but in the past it was a tradition. It became popular about a hundred and fifty years ago, when rich ladies invited their friends to their houses for an afternoon cup of tea. They started offering their visitors sandwiches and cakes too. Soon everybody was enjoying this exciting new meal.
But the British working population did not have afternoon tea. They had a meal at about midday, and a meal after work, between five and seven o'clock. This meal was called 'high tea', or just 'tea'. Some families in Scotland and the north of England still have 'high tea' and some restaurants in these areas offer it too. High tea is a big meal with a main dish - meat or fish – followed  by bread and butter and cakes. You drink lots of cups of tea with high tea. Today most people have a meal between 12 and 2 p.m. In the past, this meal was called 'dinner' in working families. But now most people call it 'lunch', 'dinner' has become a bigger meal in the evenings.

By Anne Collins in the book 'British Life', Penguin Longman Publishers, London, 2001, p.26-30. Typed and adapted to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.