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{{Cuisine of Britain}}
{{Culture of the United Kingdom}}
'''British cuisine''' is the specific set of cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom, including the [[English cuisine|cuisines of England]], [[Scottish cuisine|Scotland]], [[Welsh cuisine|Wales]] and [[Northern Irish cuisine|Northern Ireland]]. According to food writer [[Colin Spencer]], historically, British cuisine meant "unfussy dishes made with quality local ingredients, matched with simple sauces to accentuate flavour, rather than disguise it".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Spencer |first=Colin |title=British Food: An Extraordinary Thousand Years of History |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2003 |location=New York City}}</ref>
International recognition of British cuisine was historically limited to the [[full breakfast]] and the [[Christmas dinner]]; however, [[Celtic fields|Celtic agriculture]] and animal breeding produced a wide variety of foodstuffs for indigenous [[Celts]]. Wine and words such as beef and mutton were brought to Britain by the Normans<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Craig-Atkins |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Jervis |first2=Ben |last3=Cramp |first3=Lucy |last4=Hammann |first4=Simon |last5=Nederbragt |first5=Alexandra J. |last6=Nicholson |first6=Elizabeth |last7=Taylor |first7=Allie Rae |last8=Whelton |first8=Helen |last9=Madgwick |first9=Richard |date=6 July 2020 |title=The dietary impact of the Norman Conquest: A multiproxy archaeological investigation of Oxford, UK |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=15 |issue=7 |pages=e0235005 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0235005 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=7337355 |pmid=32628680|bibcode=2020PLoSO..1535005C |doi-access=free }}</ref> while [[Anglo-Saxon England]] developed meat and savoury herb stewing techniques before the practice became common in Europe. The [[Norman conquest]] introduced exotic spices into [[Great Britain in the Middle Ages]].
New foodstuffs have arrived over the millennia, from [[sausage]]s in Roman times, and rice, sugar, oranges, and spices from Asia in the [[Middle Ages]], to New World beans and potatoes in the [[Columbian exchange]] after 1492, and spicy curry sauces from India in the 18th and 19th centuries. Many vegetables seen today in British cuisine such as cabbage, peas, and cherries, were also brought as crops by the Romans.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lipkowitz |first=Ina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u5Q9Zklcl_kC&pg=PA1 |title=Words to Eat By: Five Foods and the Culinary History of the English Language |date=5 July 2011 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-1-4299-8739-4}}</ref>
Traditional British dishes include [[full breakfast]], [[Sunday roast|roast dinner]], [[fish and chips]], [[toad in the hole]] and [[shepherd's pie]]. Traditional
The sandwich is named after its supposed inventor, [[John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-05-09 |title=Sandwich celebrates 250th anniversary of the sandwich |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-18010424 |access-date=2024-04-10 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
▲Traditional British dishes include [[full breakfast]], [[Sunday roast|roast dinner]], [[fish and chips]], [[toad in the hole]] and [[shepherd's pie]]. Traditional British desserts include [[trifle]], [[scone]]s, [[apple pie]], [[sticky toffee pudding]] and [[Victoria sponge cake]]. [[Cheddar cheese]] also famously originated in the village of [[Cheddar, Somerset|Cheddar]] in Somerset. Modern British cuisine has also been strongly influenced by other cuisines from around the world, and has in turn strongly influenced the cuisines of many other cultures around the world.
==History==
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[[Bread]] from mixed cereal grains was first made around 3700 BC in Britain.<ref name="bfed">{{cite web |url=http://www.bakersfederation.org.uk/antiquity.aspx |title="Bread in Antiquity", Bakers' Federation website |publisher=Bakersfederation.org.uk |access-date=3 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420002939/http://www.bakersfederation.org.uk/antiquity.aspx |archive-date=20 April 2010 }}</ref>
[[Cider]] is an ancient British beverage. The first recorded reference to cider dates back to [[Julius
[[Roman Britain|In Roman times]], further foods were introduced, such as [[sausage]]s,{{sfn|Davidson|2014|p=717}}<ref name=HickmanSausage>{{cite news |last1=Hickman |first1=Martin |title=The secret life of the sausage: A great British institution |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/the-secret-life-of-the-sausage-a-great-british-institution-422185.html |work=The Independent |access-date=15 April 2015 |date=30 October 2006}}</ref> [[rabbit]],<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20061211130559/http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba86/news.shtml archive Unearthing the ancestral rabbit]", ''British Archaeology'', Issue 86, January/February 2006</ref> herbs and spices from further south in the Roman empire such as [[chives]]<ref>[http://www.steenbergs.co.uk/content.php?pageid=7 "Chives", Steenbergs Organic Pepper & Spice] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211074122/http://www.steenbergs.co.uk/content.php?pageid=7 |date=11 December 2007 }}</ref> and [[coriander]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thebestpossibletaste.co.uk/ShowDetails.asp?id=132 |title="Coriander", The Best Possible Taste |publisher=Thebestpossibletaste.co.uk |access-date=3 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213084359/http://www.thebestpossibletaste.co.uk/ShowDetails.asp?id=132 |archive-date=13 December 2010
Bread and butter became common fare among the middle class and the English, in particular, gained a reputation for their liberal use of melted butter as a sauce with meat and vegetables.<ref>{{Cite web |title=McGee, Harold (2004). On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York City: Scribner. ISBN 978-0-684-80001-1. LCCN 2004058999. OCLC 56590708. |url=https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchCode=LCCN&searchArg=2004058999&searchType=1&permalink=y |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=catalog.loc.gov}}</ref>
In the Middle Ages, the [[Anglo-Saxons]] introduced [[bacon]] to Britain sometime during the 1st millennium AD.<ref>{{cite web |title=History Of Bacon |url=https://englishbreakfastsociety.com/history-of-bacon.html|access-date=19 September 2021 |publisher=English Breakfast Society }}</ref> The [[Norman conquest]] reintroduced spices and continental influences into [[England in the Middle Ages|Great Britain in the Middle Ages]];<ref name="Spencer">{{cite book |title=British Food: An Extraordinary Thousand Years of History |first=Colin |last=Spencer |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-231-13110-0 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]}}{{pages needed|date=January 2018}}</ref> [[Orange (fruit)|orange]]s arrived in the late 13th century,<ref name="everwon3">{{cite web|url=http://www.open2.net/everwondered_food/history/history_timeline3.htm |title="Food History Timeline", BBC/Open University |date=18 November 2004 |access-date=3 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041118084945/http://www.open2.net/everwondered_food/history/history_timeline3.htm |archive-date = 18 November 2004}}</ref> [[sugar cane]] in the 14th,<ref>Lee, J.R. "Philippine Sugar and Environment", Trade Environment Database (TED) Case Studies, 1997 [http://www.american.edu/TED/philsug.htm]</ref> and [[carrot]]s in the 15th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://website.lineone.net/~stolarczyk/history2.html |title=Stolarczyk, J. "Carrot History Part Two – A.D. 200 to date" |date=3 March 2005 |access-date=3 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050303170245/http://website.lineone.net/~stolarczyk/history2.html |archive-date=3 March 2005}}</ref>▼
▲
=== Early modern to 19th century ===
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The [[turkey (bird)|turkey]] was introduced to Britain in the 16th century,{{sfn|Davidson|2014|p=836}} but its use for [[Christmas dinner]], with [[Christmas pudding]] for dessert, was a 19th-century innovation.{{sfn|Davidson|2014|p=187}}<ref name=BRO>Broomfield, Andrea (2007). "Food and cooking in Victorian England: a history". pp. 149–150. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007</ref> Other traditional British dishes, like [[fish and chips]] and the [[full breakfast]], rose to prominence in the Victorian era;{{sfn|Panayi|2010|pp=16–17}}<ref name=MrsB355>{{cite book |title=Mrs Beeton's Cookery Book |date=1922 |publisher=Ward, Lock & Co. |edition=New |chapter=Meals and Menus. Breakfast |pages=355–358}}</ref> while they have a status in British culture, they are not necessarily a large part of many people's diets.<ref name="Ashley2004">{{cite book |last=Ashley |first=Bob |title=Food and Cultural Studies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2vYp3_IngH8C&pg=PA77 |year=2004 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-27038-0 |pages=77–83}}</ref>
The world’s first sweet tasting pea was developed in the 18th century by amateur plant breeder Thomas Edward Knight of Downton, near Salisbury, England.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pea Facts |url=https://peas.org/pea-facts/ |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=Yes Peas!}}</ref>
Before the [[Industrial Revolution]], bacon was generally produced on local farms and in domestic kitchens. The world's first commercial bacon processing plant was opened in Wiltshire in the 1770s by John Harris.<ref name=":2" />
=== 20th century ===
{{further|English cuisine#Twentieth century}}
[[File:Homerton College - Shepherd's pie (cropped).jpg|thumb|Shepherds's pie, a traditional British dish]]
During the World Wars of the 20th century difficulties of food supply were countered by measures such as [[Rationing in the United Kingdom|rationing]]. Rationing continued for nearly ten years after the Second World War, and in some aspects was stricter than during wartime, so that a whole generation was raised without access to many previously common ingredients, possibly contributing to a decline of British cuisine.{{sfn|Dickson Wright|2011|pp=417–424}} Writing in the 1960s about British cuisine in the 1950s, the ''Good Food Guide'' called the food of the 1950s "intolerable" due to a shortage of real ingredients such as butter, cream or meat.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Warde |first=Alan |date=June 2009 |title=Imagining British Cuisine |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/175174409x400710 |journal=Food, Culture & Society |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=151–171 |doi=10.2752/175174409x400710 |s2cid=144058987 |issn=1552-8014}}</ref> A hunger for cooking from abroad was satisfied by writers such as [[Elizabeth David]], who from 1950 produced evocative books, starting with ''[[A Book of Mediterranean Food]]'',
By the 1960s, foreign holidays, and foreign-style restaurants in Britain, widened the popularity of foreign cuisine. This movement was assisted by [[celebrity chef]]s – on television and in their books – such as [[Fanny Cradock]], [[Clement Freud]], [[Robert Carrier (chef)|Robert Carrier]], [[Keith Floyd]], [[Gary Rhodes]], [[Delia Smith]], [[Gordon Ramsay]], [[Ainsley Harriott]], [[Nigella Lawson]], [[Simon Hopkinson]], [[Nigel Slater]], [[Jamie Oliver]].{{sfn|Panayi|2010|pp=191–195}}<ref>{{cite news |author=Pile, Stephen |title=How TV concocted a recipe for success |url=https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-daily-telegraph/20061016/282063387459485 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=16 October 2006}}</ref>
From the 1970s, the availability and range of good quality fresh products increased, and the British population became more willing to vary its diet. Modern British cooking draws on influences from [[Mediterranean cuisine|Mediterranean]] (especially from [[Italian cuisine]]), and more recently, [[Middle Eastern cuisine|Middle Eastern]] and Asian cuisines.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} In the 1990s and early 2000s, a form of "virtuous eclecticism" emerged in discourse around British cuisine, arguing that British cuisine can be distinguished by its apparently unique ability to draw from other cultures.<ref name=":1" />
Furthermore, from the 1970s there was an increased push to recognise a distinctly British cuisine. The [[English Tourist Board]] campaigned for restaurants to include more British historical and regional dishes on their menus. In the 1980s, in the face of globalisation - which made foreign cuisines and imported produce more widely available in the UK - a style of cooking known as Modern British Cooking emerged in an effort to construct a national cuisine for the tourist industry. This new style of cooking focused on the garden and vegetables.<ref name=":1" />
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In the 18th and 19th centuries, the [[British Empire]] began to be influenced by [[Indian cuisine|India's elaborate food tradition]] with strong spices and herbs. Traditional British cuisine was modified with the addition of [[Indian cuisine|Indian-style]] spices and ingredients such as [[rice]], creating dishes such as [[kedgeree]] (1790)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nls.uk/year-of-food-and-drink/october |title=Sustainable shore - October recipe - Year of Food and Drink 2015 - National Library of Scotland |work=nls.uk}}</ref> and [[mulligatawny soup]] (1791).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Roy |first1=Modhumita |title=Some Like It Hot: Class, Gender and Empire in the Making of Mulligatawny Soup |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |date=7 August 2010 |volume=45 |issue=32 |pages=66–75 |jstor=20764390}}</ref><ref name="Cooking under the Raj">{{cite web |url=http://www.india-seminar.com/2006/566/566_david_housego.htm |title=Cooking under the Raj |access-date=30 January 2008}}</ref>
Curry became popular in Britain by the 1970s, when some restaurants that originally catered mainly to Indians found their clientele diversifying.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.southalabama.edu/history/faculty/rogers/357/articles/Going%20for%20an%20Indian.pdf |publisher=southalabama.edu |last=Buettner |first=Elizabeth |title="Going for an Indian": South Asian Restaurants and the Limits of Multiculturalism in Britain |access-date=11 October 2015}}</ref> [[Chicken tikka masala]], a mildly spiced dish in a creamy sauce, was acclaimed "a true British national dish" as "a perfect illustration of the way Britain absorbs and adapts external influences".<ref name=GuardianMasala>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/apr/19/race.britishidentity |title=Robin Cook's chicken tikka masala speech |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=19 April 2001 |date=25 February 2002}}</ref><ref name="bbcenc">{{cite news
=== 21st century ===
British culinary preferences have continued to evolve in the 21st century. Many people in a 2021 survey had never eaten such traditional favourites as [[toad in the hole]], [[spotted dick]], [[Scotch egg]]s, [[black pudding]], or [[bubble and squeak]], and a minority did not believe these dishes existed.<ref name="BBC Food Sept 2021">{{cite web |title=Are we losing our love of classic British dishes? |publisher=BBC Food |access-date=15 October 2021 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/classic_british_dishes |date=29 September 2021}}</ref>▼
▲
Also in 2021, a [[YouGov]] survey reported 8% of respondents claimed to be eating a plant-based diet and more than a third of respondents said they were interested in becoming vegan.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tapper |first=James |date=25 December 2021 |title=No meat please, we're British: now a third of us approve of vegan diet |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/dec/25/no-meat-please-were-british-now-a-third-of-us-approve-of-vegan-diet |access-date=6 December 2023 |issn=0029-7712}}</ref> In 2023, Government statistics on meat and fish consumption showed Britons were eating the least meat at home since record keeping began in 1974.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Goodier |first1=Michael |last2=Sunnemark |first2=Viktor |date=24 October 2023 |title=UK meat consumption at lowest level since records began, data reveals |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/24/uk-meat-consumption-lowest-level-since-record-began-data-reveal |access-date=6 December 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
▲In September 2022, Debora Robertson wrote in the [[The Daily Telegraph|Daily Telegraph]] that the 21st century has seen 'a revolution in British dining, fine and otherwise'.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Robertson |first=Debora |date=3 September 2022 |title=Sorry, France, but British cuisine has taken the shine off your Michelin stars; French exchange The home of gastronomy is no longer all it's cracked up to be, says Debora Robertson, while the UK has undergone something of a culinary revolution. |pages=17 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London}}</ref>
== Characteristics ==
According to Warde, three definitions of British cuisine in response to globalisation predominate. Modern British
Internationally, British food tends to have a perception of being "terrible": bland, soggy, overcooked and visually unappealing.<ref name=":0" /> The reason for this is debated. One popular reason is that British culinary traditions were strong before the mid-20th century, when British cuisine suffered due to wartime rationing.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=McCrea |first=Aisling |title=Why British food is terrible |url=https://theoutline.com/post/8586/why-is-british-food-so-bad |access-date=30 November 2022 |website=The Outline |language=en}}</ref> A lot of myths about British food originate from this period.
== Popular dishes ==
According to a survey by YouGov, the most popular British food is the [[Yorkshire pudding]], which over 85% of Brits say they like, closely followed by Sunday roasts and fish and chips. The least popular was jellied eels, which only 6% of those who had tried it liked. Scones and [[Sponge cake|Victoria sponge]] are the most popular sweet foods, while the [[Deep-fried Mars bar]] is the least popular.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Classic British cuisine ranked by Britons
The [[Full breakfast|Full English Breakfast]] was
Curries are a large part of British cuisine, with cooks in the United Kingdom creating curries distinct to the country. [[Chicken tikka masala]], which comprises 15 per cent of orders in British Indian restaurants, was called "a true British national dish" by the Foreign Secretary Robin Cook in 2001.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Britain's favourite dish - let's go for a curry |url=http://britishheritage.com/lets-go-for-a-curry/ |access-date=30 November 2022 |website=British Heritage |language=en}}</ref> Generally, [[Curry in the United Kingdom|British curries]] are thicker and sweeter than their Indian counterparts. Furthermore, curry sauces in Britain are interchangeable between meats, while in India different meats have non-interchangeable sauces.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anand |first=Anjum |date=21 April 2010 |title=Sweet and murky: the British curry |url=http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/apr/21/british-curry-india-tikka-masala |access-date=30 November 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> A key ingredient to a British curry is [[curry powder]], a "British concoction" of spices.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 March 2016 |title=The Indian curry is merely a figment of the British colonial imagination |url=https://qz.com/india/639435/the-indian-curry-is-merely-a-figment-of-the-british-colonial-imagination/ |access-date=30 November 2022 |website=Quartz |language=en}}</ref>
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*{{wikibooks-inline|Cookbook:Cuisine of the United Kingdom}}
*{{wikivoyage-inline|Cuisine of Britain and Ireland}}
* [http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/foodstories/index.html Food Stories] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410231056/http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/foodstories/index.html |date=10 April 2021 }} – Explore a century of revolutionary change in UK food culture on the British Library's Food Stories website
* [[George Orwell]]'s essay [http://theorwellprize.co.uk/george-orwell/by-orwell/essays-and-other-works/in-defence-of-english-cooking/ "In Defence of English Cooking"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701102551/http://theorwellprize.co.uk/george-orwell/by-orwell/essays-and-other-works/in-defence-of-english-cooking/ |date=1 July 2015 }}
{{European topic|| cuisine|UK_only=no}}
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{{Agriculture in the United Kingdom}}
{{United Kingdom topics}}
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