Chicken Curry is the most popular British dish as of about 10 years ago and It’s only gotten better since then.
It’s like a US state dish but given the size and population that’s fair. Even more important it’s good.
It’s also been developing for about 100 years. It’s the British/Indian equivalent of Pizza. And It’s beautiful.
Thank you Indians
Jamaican curried goat is divine, and it must be Jamaican curry, and added water must be tricked very slowly down the side of very hot, cast iron Dutch oven and simmered quite a while. I was fortunate enough to have a Jamaican neighbor show me the trick. And to my American compatriots, sweet potatoes are not yams.
I heard once that when spices became so cheap that even the commoners could afford it, the upper class in Britain started to claim that really good food doesn’t need any spices to taste good and that bland food is the best. This supposedly made the British cuisine way blander.
I thought it was cuz they lost a bunch of ships during wwii and then they had the rationing of foods, and hadn’t recovered their flavor palate since then.
A lot of the “bland” food is just food that was made during the world wars that has evolved over time after the fact.
But to say British food has no spices completely disregards the whole curry scene over here. It’s not just curry from India. A lot of “Indian” dishes were invented in the UK.
Aye like a lot of time that people are making fun of English cuisine they’re usually just making fun of meals that poorer families would make or that no one regularly makes in their right mind.
I mean it’s usually just cheap, lazy food. I like a good beans on toast every once and a while. Sometimes you just want a no effort meal.
I don’t think flavor palates degenerate that quickly. Especially with that many Indian residents.
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Clearly you’ve never had rich friends, they’re notorious for having everything and never using it.
“Oh man, I didn’t know you play guitar. That’s a beautiful Orange double stack and Thunderverb.”
“I bought that when I tried to learn guitar, haven’t used it since.”
“Never dip into your own supply”
- brits, probably
Money can’t buy you taste 😉
Well, the whole spice trade was literally wealthy people buying taste.
…eh…profiting in a commodity trade doesn’t mean you…Ever see any midwestern farmer actually eat chickpeas? They love the bushel price most years though.
Britain conquered India, many other parts of Asia and much of the Americas and yet they still eat Marmite. Willingly.
bovril too, huuurk
What do you think tea is made of?
Does anyone use tea as a spice?
Tea is spice
Spice isn’t necessarily spicy. It also contains herbs.
Yeah, oregano, cumin, and such are spices. But I’m not arguing it isn’t a pungent plant used culinarily I’m saying it’s not used as a spice. A spice is used to add flavor to a dish, tea is more of an ingredient. It’s closer to strawberries in culinary use. By adding strawberries to something its flavor is so impacted we either specify that it’s a strawberry version of the dish. Tea is more like that. Coffee too.
Whatever a Bay leaf is, tea is too. Same process.
Interesting. I never heard tea referred to as such and won’t use it in speech, but it’s a fascinating bit of trivia, for me.
But extremely different culinary uses.
I asked chatgpt for ideas
Black Tea Infused Chicken: Marinate chicken in brewed black tea with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and honey for a flavorful twist.
Black Tea Glazed Salmon: Create a glaze with brewed black tea, honey, soy sauce, and a dash of lemon juice to brush over baked or grilled salmon.
Black Tea Poached Pears: Poach pears in brewed black tea with cinnamon, cloves, and a touch of sugar for a delicious dessert.
Black Tea Ice Cream: Infuse heavy cream with brewed black tea, then mix with sugar and vanilla before churning into ice cream
Fascinating. Hopefully someone itt have tried some of those and gives a critique.
Yeah some of those sound like decent novelties. Tea ice cream sounds good. But notice in each of these situations it’s being used far more like a fruit than bay or oregano would be. It’s never “do you know what this dish could really use? A bit of tea” no its “let’s build a dish to show off that we can use tea culinarily” its never curry with tea in its masala. It’s never used to spice up your rice. It’s never part of your dry rub. It’s never thrown into your soup or stew.
Man, it used to drive me nuts that people would say “spicy” or “too spicy for me” when they clearly meant “too hot” but then i started to pay close attention. They were using the term properly, they were actually bitching about the garlic and cumin and cardamon and white pepper and curry and anise and whatever else i was using. Mustard was too much. Yeah, some of them used spicy for hot, but those were the people who could handle spice or hot,
Leaves?
mfing brits will make tea and I ask what kind and they say “Lipton”
Yorkshire or Tetley, usually
Nobody drinks Lipton in the UK
Yes, I’ve never heard or seen anyone from the UK so much as acknowledge to Lipton as actually being tea. TBD, though, I actually prefer our Bigelow teas to Twinning, though. Especially the Earl Grey.
Myself: douse the fries with chilli sauce. 🌶😋
Ain’t nothing wrong with fish and chips
I actually went and had some last night and jesus christ my palate was offended. Even when swimming in malt vinegar and tartar sauce, I just couldn’t stand it. I can fix this:
- Salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, cumin, and cayenne in the dry dredge
- A dry stout in the wet dredge mix instead of a lager or a pale ale, anything with a body really
- Maybe a layer of panko breadcrumbs I toasted beforehand
- A far more flavorful fish than cod, i’m thinking salmon fingers
The sun never set on the British empire, and they never used the spices they stole.
Counterpoint: some people eat food so covered in spices/herbs/etc. they lose the ability to taste more subtle flavours.
well, I gotta say, I lived in the UK, their standard for fish and chips is oily af; it’s hard to enjoy the toppings and use the thing as a vehicle for sauces etc when it’s super greasy from breading to fish. I’ve had better fish and chips in Canada and Belgium.
That kind of just sounds like you went to a bad restaurant.
No true…Englishman?
100%, they did. Good fish & chips doesn’t need fixing.
The thing about spices in cooking is that - as great as they are, and as much as they enhance flavour - you shouldn’t need them to make good food.
Fish & chips is the perfect synthesis of the “Salt, acid, fat, heat” theory of cooking. Truly delicious food starts with the combination of those elements in exactly the right amounts.
There’s a lot of great things you can do with spices. I love, love, LOVE Indian food, Thai food, Mexican food, Spanish food, Chinese food, Cajun food, etc, etc, etc. But if you don’t understand how to make something delicious without spices, you’ll never really understand how to make good food with them. It’s always about fundamentals.
It’s exceptionally easy to do as a tourist. Last I visited, first we went to a restaurant and ordered and it was subpar. So then we were told “you have to go to a Chippy, if you want real fish and chips” so we did… they should have told us which “Chippy”, they are not all the same.
That was the worst culinary experience of my life. I have never had a more oily nasty fried fish. The wet breading just fell off, and it tasted like very old oil. I threw out 2/3s of it, as did basically everyone else.
We ended up eating at indian restaurants the rest of the trip.
To be fair, this is not helped by the fact that British people are often very bad at recommending good places to eat. A lot of people value familiarity over quality.
Oddly enough, I had the exact opposite experience last time I was in London. Amazing fish and chips, terrible Indian food. Worst saag paneer I’ve ever had. By far. And that’s a low bar because I’ve had some really disappointing saag paneer.
Also, I was entertained when the South Asian guy at the Chippie asked me stuff like, “do you have a big car and a big house?” when he heard my American accent. I had to disabuse him of the notion that we’re all wealthy. I wasn’t even paying for that trip, it was an especially good contract work gig.
Are you a breakfast person? We normally just ate the biscuits from the hotel room and starved until lunch, but one day my dad and I was going to meet up with my mom and her sister for a traditional English breakfast. However we got lost and ended up in some tiny Cafe, God knows where. They were serving lasagna for breakfast, and it was delicious.
My mom and aunt actually found the place and had some beens and toast and blood sausage, they were not impressed.
Don’t get high on your own supply.
Guv.
Meanwhile, both the tomatoes in the baked beans and the potatoes used to make the fries/chips originated in the Americas and the guy who cooked it once experienced the taste of paprika, so there!
… Americans and mayonnaise …
Europeans and mayonnaise… like who wants to dip french fries in a big pile of mayo?
Me. It’s delicious.
I simply can’t eat fries without mayonnaise… I do suspect that the mayonnaise we use for fries here is different from what you get in the states, though I’ve never been there so I can’t say for sure.
My sister would. She loved mayo since she was a kid
Me! Chilli- and/or garlic-mayo is the best thing that can happen to fries, right after Tzatziki!
Dutchies smother their fries in it.
Mayo alone: ick. Mayo combined with Ketchup: heavenly.
Add a squirt of lemon juice and you’ll have what the kebab shops here call thousand island sauce
mayo with bbq sauce is more addictive than meth
Throw in dill relish and it’s Thousand Island dressing. I worked in a restaurant making it.
But call it aoli and you fancy.
Heresy! Aioli does not contain any Ketchup!
Just call it “tomato aioli” and you’re fine.
Don’t put that on all of us, the Midwest is responsible for most of that
Yeah, the rest of us prefer Chipotle Mayo
I’m more of a straight hot sauce guy, I don’t need egg goop on my chicken sandwich no matter how they dress it up
A chicken or cheese sandwich or Southern coleslaw (acv, no sugar) is about the only time I will use mayo, very sparingly. And it’s gotta be Texas Pete, copious amounts.
what is a chicken but very mature egg goop?
The fish recipes I have seen use Turmeric
British women and British cuisine… The birth of a seafarer nation.
I’m sorry but star pie will in no way ever be a preference for me. I’ve never had it and do not wish to have it.
The Brits took to the seas. The Irish took to the bottle.
This is the funniest thing I’ve read today. It makes so much sense now. 🤣
