These days, the stereotype of “bad food in Britain” is woefully dated. Britain has been on the leading edge of the foodie revolution, and I find it’s easy to eat very well here. Here are some examples of the foods I’ve enjoyed in my British travels.
One of the joys of traveling in Britain is enjoying breakfast at each B&B. Your hosts pride themselves on having a long list of classic “English fry-up breakfast” elements for their guests to check off: fried toast, blood sausage, porridge, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, grapefruit sections, Weetabix, and so on.
For me, one breakfast-time frustration is cold and crunchy toast with butter that’s not melted, but scraped across the top. The toast (“white or granary?” is the cheery question you get each morning) comes in a rack designed so it gets cold long before it meets your butter.
Pub grub is fun, but after the heavy breakfasts and lots of meat pies and fish-and-chips, finding a restaurant that raises the gastronomic bar is a welcome change. And these days, even the simplest town has a little foodie place where you can get well-presented “mains” featuring local and seasonal produce. This delightful plate of Cornish cheese and local fish was good enough to earn this just-opened restaurant a place in the new edition of my guidebook.
One of England’s most famous celebrity chefs is Rick Stein. His base is the Cornish fishing port of Padstow, where he runs a cooking school and a variety of Rick Stein restaurants. His flagship restaurant in Padstow is named, simply, Seafood Restaurant. I took time for a drawn-out, three-course lunch here…and loved it. I needed to give this Rick Stein a serious taste, because for the last several years in England, when I mention my book, people say “Oh, Rick Stein…he’s very good.” Now I better understand who people are confusing me with…and I’m OK with it.
It’s fun to be on the road grabbing photos to illustrate points I make in my lectures. For example: “In the market, characteristic little cafés that cater to local shoppers provide both a great value and a charming memory.”
The toast rack may cool the toast rapidly but it does not get soggy! My friend and I went to London for two weeks and she agreed about the cold toast. I found it a revelation…I stand my toast on end so it does not get soggy laying on a plate. So much nicer with scrambled eggs!
We were just there in June and had a great time and no rain. Wanted to say that Salisbury was one of our favorite places. You should give it more recognition. Enjoyed the market, the church, the church common, thrift stores, and going to Old Sarum. Mostly we just enjoyed talking to the people. They are so friendly.
Hidden under the streaky bacon in Rick’s photo is one of the glories of the Full English: English back bacon, taken from the loin, nearly fat free, and absolutely delicious. Also the star of the wonderful English Bacon Butty or Bacon Bap sandwich. (butty originating from northern English slang for a slice of buttered bread; bap refers to a flat bread roll).
My understanding of cold British toast vs. warm American toast is that British Butter varies in flavor, from different regions and dairies. So you want to TASTE it. Warm toast only melts it into oblivion, but then most American butter is unidentifiable in taste.
Rick and fellow fans:
I too was surprised by how good the food in England is.
Cherrie-oh,
Der Doppelganger
Florida
We really enjoyed the food in England last year much more than we thought we would. Just like Ireland there are so many more options than the food of the past. The breakfasts were a little much for me, but they were gracious to just cook the parts that you wanted.
My 86 year old English father has always referred to toast racks as “toast coolers”! But he would gladly trade the warm American toast to be able to get some of that delicious English bacon.
Who would have thought when I woke up this morning I would get a tasty toast tip today? This looks to me like a fascinating place to get in some local tasting and polite conversation. I’m sure they would serve up quite a hearty meal for dinner also. Thank you for sharing and I enjoyed reading your blog!