A big thank you to those who voted for Brexit

moggie57

and what is wrong with british cheddar ? i get the 59% lighter brand and its still yummy...if we made more british food we wouldnt have to put up with poorer cheaper quality goods from europe .

Eh? What poorer quality goods from Europe? I'm still scratching my head about how olives are going to be produced in the UK.

The UK can't feed its population, especially all year round. Maybe there really are people who enjoy eating the crops the UK can produce, especially in winter, but I'm not one of them.

Most food from Europe had been of a better standard than British food which is why we have had such an improvement in quality and quantity of food in the last 30 odd years That's not to say the U.K. does not make some quality products, but let’s face it British cuisine has never had a great image.

But it's not always the ingredients that have are lacking, it's the way British cuisine unimaginatively prepares, cooks and presents the food.

but let’s face it British cuisine has never had a great image.

But that's much more to do with poor cookery than with poor quality ingredients...

I don’t accept British food is of poor quality. British beef for example is outstanding in quality. Our free range eggs are second to none, our cheeses gorgeous. I love the Brie type cheeses made in Britain, just as good as any produced abroad. British butter is lovely and our vegetables are lovely. We have many artisan bread shops where the quality of the products is outstanding. Lots of Gransnetters post regularly about buying local produce from local farms or farm shops. We eat fresh fish regularly and it is all caught and sold in Britain.

Obviously the range of foods available from abroad is huge, things we never had as children such as avocado, kiwi, mango, and many more products. These things add to our diet, but let’s not bury our heads in the sand, they also cause a massive environmental problem. We really do not need kiwis for example. English apples are among the best in the world and the variety is huge. We could choose to eat mainly British food because it’s more environmentally sound, but we do not. Many Gransnetters complaining about British food will also be on other threads saying how they engage in environmentally sound behaviours, and then they’ll go to Waitrose and buy kiwis, or fruits from South Africa or olives from Greece.

Maizie
I agree with you, it’s much more to do with preparation. However we now have world class chefs and the quality of food even in the local pubs has improved immeasurably. If you choose burger joints expect rubbish. But you can have a locally produced, prime British burger in your local pub and it will be excellent.

And the English sparkling wines rival champagne. Mind you, they’re not cheap, but we choose them from our local vineyard now rather than champagne.

Maddyone, I agree, Rick Stein has recently done a series of programmes celebrating produce from Cornwall. He has cooked up some amazing dishes, and added French or Thai touches along the way. We can achieve excellence.

Sorry, it has to be proper champagne for me though!

Ah Ellianne that’s because you haven’t tasted our gorgeous local English sparkling wine

I don't want to upset any amazing home cooks here, but we don't hear so much about British mums teaching their kids the real basics in the kitchen. Yes, baking cakes and fancy stuff maybe, but not soups, sauces, tarts etc like say the French and Italians do. I've lost count of the number of times Raymond Blanc mentions his Maman in the kitchen and Angela Hartnett her Nonna.

Well, it was moggy57 who made the strange claim about British food and she's never come back to defend it

Let's face it, most countries produce good quality foods. IMO, Greek tomatoes, lettuce and cucumber are better than any UK produced equivalents, but ours are still absolutely fine.

Oh no! The claim wasn't about British food, it was about EU food...

Big eggy face here...

I am always astonished by the posts on here that expect schools to teach children to cook, that certainly doesn't happen here in France.
I think British cuisine can be excellent and I love the range and variety of cuisines available and spices from around the world.
As I said upthread, French cuisine can be very dull and in my opinion far too far up its own backside. We do get excellent ingredients and local produce is prioritised which is better for the planet. The best thing is the freshness of the summer fruit that comes up from the south, that seems to us to have an intensity of flavour here that is diminished when it crosses the Channel.
If I had to choose one cuisine for the rest of my life I think it would be Italian.

MaizieD

Oh no! The claim wasn't about British food, it was about EU food...

Big eggy face here...

And there you have it Maizie ..... other European countries would never to stoop so low as to describe having egg on ones face! They would say looking foolish or ridiculous, but they wouldn't disrespect food!

I agree Maizie whenever we’ve been in Europe I think the quality of the fruits and vegetables and salads is amazing. Mind you, English tomatoes are wonderful when newly in, as are the Jersey Royal new potatoes.
I think there is poor quality food available wherever you live, the cheapest stuff that people buy, often because they can’t afford the better quality food. That is a problem for many people.

There are plenty of varieties of potatoes, cabbage and apples for example that are UK grown and tasty (though we seem to have few "keeping" apples these days) but some of us feel the need for other food, say, tomatoes all year round now and more variety of types of veg. If we can get it sorted and grow tender spinach in winter alongside say, leaf beat that's great but we don't seem to be doing it.

Also, wish we had enough organic dairy to meet demand...

I remember this September when we managed to escape to Kefalonia for a few days, after our evening walk, we passed a wonderful display of amazing fruits and vegetables, still open at night. I chose an enormous, ripe peach and took it back to our apartment where I sliced it and enjoyed it before bed. The flavour was intense and delicious. It is true that in Britain we just cannot buy such gorgeous peaches, they are poor whenever you buy them. Maybe they just don’t travel well.

Obviously the range of foods available from abroad is huge, things we never had as children such as avocado, kiwi, mango, and many more products. These things add to our diet, but let’s not bury our heads in the sand, they also cause a massive environmental problem.
It is true that in Britain we just cannot buy such gorgeous peaches, they are poor whenever you buy them. Maybe they just don’t travel well.

I think that's true, in fact I rarely buy avocados here in the UK. They go black before they are properly tripe, yet picked from the tree they keep well.

Lidl were stocking delicious Italian peaches a couple of years ago, the best I've tasted in the UK, but only for a short time unfortunately.
Perhaps our Kent, Herefordshire and West Country apple orchards need to be replanted.

ripe
Not tripe! (Yuk)

I'm dying to take up the point about learning cookery at your mother's knee (so to speak) but I think it should really be somewhere else

As for 'egg on ones face'. Isn't it supposed to be a good face mask? I seem to remember playing with it in my teenage years...

Perhaps our Kent, Herefordshire and West Country apple orchards need to be replanted.

No demand for them, is there, Cal? Supermarkets are full of those uniform, specially developed, monsters that travel well and 'look' appealing, but aren't grown in the UK. And it's supermarkets that drive what is grown...

And it's supermarkets that drive what is grown...

Yes, and the price they pay the farmers
No wonder they despair or give up.

Surely the genie is out of the bottle already, and good as British food can be, we can’t turn the clock back and pretend that the British public is going to embrace less choice and start cooking with and eating only British/non EU produce, I just can’t see that happening? (I am a women who is grumpy because she hasn’t been able to get celery locally since before Christmas, and last week no olives either). I just hope they solve the supply problems soon, and most importantly, that Northern Ireland’s deliveries from the UK are also sorted out.

I do remember British supermarkets when I first arrived in 1970- it was bleak and the lack of choice felt a bit like East Germany.

I also remember them. And there is no comparison with how international they are now.