"british food" news and stories

According to this great article from last weeks Guardian us Brits are ignoring some of our most exciting native foods. Not only do we ignore them but we export them overseas for others to enjoy.

Eight foods that need a appreciating in the UK

1. Pilchards - did you know pilchards and sardines are the same fish? Sardines are the babies, any longer than 15cm and they become pilchards.
2. Hemp - in hot demand as a source of essential fatty acids. The US is the biggest market because they can't grow it due to the visual similarity between hemp and cannabis.
3. Spider Crabs - spiky shells... huge claws... messy to eat... the British aren't into that.
4. Chicken Feet - after my experience of these in the back streets of old Shanghai I can see why we want to shove these over to Hong Kong and mainland China!
5. Pigs Trotters - had these in St John; can't really rave that much...
6. Megrim - a flat fish found around the British coast. Never heard of it myself which might explain why 1000 tonnes a month goes to Italy and Spain
7. Langoustines - now these I do appreciate but we export 20,000 tonnes to Europe every year.
8. Razor Fish - in huge demand in Europe and the Far East
   

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The Telegraph and Sainsbury's have agreed, that following last years success with the Taste of Britian Awards, they are going to hold another event this year.

With the support of the Prince of Wales the awards give recognition to enterprise and innovation. Last years winners "displayed the courage to step out from behind the protective shield of run-of-the-mill, sure-fire commercial success to produce food and drink that was exotic yet gave more than a nod to the great traditions of British food".

The force of local British food seems unstoppable at the moment and these awards are a great way to encourage its continued development and raise awarness of all things British.

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Who says there is nothing great about British food! If the diverse range of British food bloggers is anything to go by the UK is really leading the food world, from historical English recreations, thoughtful comment through to recipes from the Ottoman Empire...

1. Cooking With Ginger has a great rant on what to eat, or rather, when what we are supposed to eat one day is countered by some other revelation the next.
2. Anne of Baking For Britain may not be one of the most frequent posters, but by heck laddie her writing is well worth waiting for. I love the mix of historical facts and adapted recipes. The latest compares homemade Sedgemoor Easter Cakes and a pack purchased from M&S.
3. Eating Leeds has AT LAST become a proper Englishman in actually liking custard - and seems to be a master at making it too.
4. The English Patis has posted one of those 'I must make this' recipes, a Spiced Apple Cake.
5. Fiordizucca Goes English is keeping it local with a Nettle Tart. Do nettles grow anywhere outside Europe, it's something we should all know?
6. Sqeezeweasle writing as Gastronomy Domaine got a mention in Olive magazine, but didnt boast about it like I did!
7. A new blog to me - Rustic - details how to recreate Hunkar Begendi and Tas Kabab which is basically lamb and aubergine from her Turkish homeland's Ottoman past.
8. Finally Johanna has been out partying and plying welcome party-people with Tomato & Pesto mini-Galettes.

I've already marvelled at that incredible sausage-covered, deep fried egg called the Scotch egg, and raved about HP Sauce, both of which I encountered at an English pub in Santa Monica, CA, Ye Olde King's Head.

Well here's another first that I loved during my happy hour there: Cornish pastie.

Wait! It's not what you think. It's pronounced "pastie" with a short "a," i.e. it rhymes with "nasty." It most certainly is not one of those tiny, round, nickel-sized stickers that "dancers" use to *ahem* cover up certain parts. The pastie is a type of savory pie, like a pot-pie, but it's held in your hands without the pot. I guess that makes it a hand-pie.

 

Obviously, this will be nothing new to a good number of people, but HP sauce is something brand new to me. Okay, actually, I have seen it many times before, and even bought a bottle of it from Surfas to take to some friends who live in an area where it's not as accessible. I had just never tasted a single drop of brown sauce.

I like it a lot. The thing is, I have absolutely no idea how to use it. Is it like ketchup for dipping? Is it something like mustard that you put on sandwiches? Like Nick and Jamaican Pickapeppa, it kind of reminds me of A1 Steak Sauce, because it is brown, but a little fruitier, and much less spicy.

When I went to Ye Old King's Head in Santa Monica, I tried several English-ish things for the first time, like a Scotch egg. (There are a few more things I tried that will get their moments of fame in the next few days). I used that HP sauce with everything - dumped on, poured in, dipped into, and was "mmm"-ing through the whole meal. I'm not sure if the staff at Ye Olde King's Head was completely appalled or maybe mildly amused.

Was I doing the equivalent of someone going bonkers over ketchup the first time?