Identity: thefoundations of British culture 2.. British cuisine, mocked for so long by foreigners, now ranks among the best on Earth.. The fusion of traditional British food with foreign
Trang 11 Identity: the
foundations
of British culture
2 Literature
and philosophy
3 Art, architecture and design
4 Performing arts
5 Cinema, photography and fashion
6 Media and communications
7 Food and drink 8 Living culture:
the state of modern Britain
All hail the gastro revolution
My how the tables have turned British cuisine, mocked for so long by foreigners, now ranks among the best
on Earth The last 20 years have transformed the way Brits see their food Restaurant-goers spend more, are more demanding and more appreciative; aware that their options extend beyond meat and two overcooked veg The fusion of traditional British food with foreign influences, from Indian to French, Thai to Italian, has been central to its renaissance But let’s not get carried away Granted, Britain has some of the best restaurants in the world, people are more knowledgeable about cuisine and food has become a key part of national culture, but have attitudes really changed that much? Can we say that British people live and breathe food like the Italians or the French? Do they construct their days around lengthy mealtimes? In truth, probably not Not yet.
1586 Francis Drake brings the humble potato back from the Americas.
1762 John Montagu invents the sandwich.
1847 Joseph Fry mixes cocoa butter and cocoa powder and comes up with the
chocolate bar
1861 Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management is published.
Boil your cabbage for 45 minutes she urged
1890 Frenchman Auguste Escoffier arrives to cook at the Savoy Hotel and introduces the
‘brigade de cuisine’ system, a structure still used in all the top restaurants today
1950 Elizabeth David writes A Book of Mediterranean Food, introducing olive oil, garlic
and other treats to the British diet
1954 14 years of food rationing comes to an end.
1967 The Roux brothers open Le Gavroche; it became Britain’s first Michelin three-starred
restaurant in 1982
2007 Clare Smyth becomes the first (and only) female chef in Britain to run a restaurant
with three Michelin stars (Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road)
Great moments in British food
Top nosh
Of late, Britain has
consistently been voted
third in the world league
tables of fine dining The
San Pellegrino World’s
Best Restaurants list
named six British
establishments in their
2008 top 50 Heston
Blumenthal’s Fat Duck
restaurant in Berkshire
was voted second best
in the world for the third
year running
Past his sell-by date
Former French President
Jacques Chirac joked in
2005 that English food
was the second worst in
Europe (he gave Finland
top spot) “You can’t
trust people who cook
as badly as that,” he
reportedly added Many
in France still refer to
British people as ‘le
rosbif’
Big day for brown stuff
A recent poll found
Worcestershire sauce to
be the British foodstuff
with the greatest global
impact The brown,
runny, fishy,
vinegar-based delicacy, produced
by Lea and Perrins in the
same Worcester factory
for a hundred years, isn’t
really British at all –
Lord Sandys, Governor
of Bengal, brought the
recipe home to England
from India in the early
19thcentury
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