Cooking Techniques That Are Excellent For All Types of Food

 In recent years, there has been a lot of discussion regarding the importance of bringing in international tourists to this nation. It is well known that from the perspective of a foreign visitor, England's two worst flaws are the difficulty of purchasing alcohol and the melancholy of our Sundays.

IMPROVING ENGLISH COOKING

Both of these are caused by fanatical minorities that will require considerable legislation and other measures to subdue them. However, there is one topic where public opinion may quickly result in a change for the better: I'm talking about food.

Even English people themselves frequently claim that English cuisine is the worst in the world. The best English cooking is, of course, just French cooking, according to a recent statement I read in a book by a French author. It is claimed to be not just ineffective but also imitational.

Now that is just untrue; as anyone who has spent a significant amount of time overseas will know, there are a variety of delicacies that are virtually impossible to find anywhere else than English-speaking nations. The list could undoubtedly be expanded, but for now, here are a few items that I personally searched for abroad but were unsuccessful in locating.

Kippers, Yorkshire pudding, Devonshire cream, muffins, and crumpets come first. Then comes a list of desserts that, if I gave it in full, would be endless: I'll single out apple dumplings, treacle tart, and Christmas pudding for special note. A nearly identically extensive list of cakes follows, including, for example, black plum cake (like the kind you used to get at Buzzard's before the war),

Then there are the various ways of cooking potatoes that are peculiar to our own country. Where else do you see potatoes roasted under the joint, which is far and away the best way of cooking them? Or the delicious potato cakes that you get in the north of England? And it is far better to cook new potatoes in the English way — that is, boiled with mint and then served with a little melted butter or margarine — than to fry them as is done in most countries.saffron and shortbread buns. Additionally, there are several varieties of biscuits, many of which are admittedly finer and crisper in England than they are elsewhere.

Then there are the many English-specific sauces. For instance, bread sauce, horse-radish sauce, mint sauce, and apple sauce. Not to add redcurrant jelly, which is wonderful with both mutton and hare, and many types of delicious pickles, which we seem to have in more abundance than most other nations.

Then what? The only haggis I've ever seen outside of these islands was one that came from a can. I've also never seen Dublin prawns, Oxford marmalade, a variety of jams (such marrow jam and bramble jelly), or sausages that are particularly similar to ours.

The English cheeses are another option. There aren't many of them, but in my opinion, Stilton is the world's best cheese of its kind.Wensleydale follows closely following. Excellent English apples include the Cox's Orange Pippin in particular.

Finally, I'd like to add a word to describe English bread. From the large Jewish loaves flavored with caraway seeds to the Russian rye bread that is the color of black treacle, all the bread is delicious. However, if there is anything that compares to the soft portion of an English cottage loaf's crust (and how soon will we be seeing cottage loaves again? ), it is that. I'm not aware of it.

Undoubtedly, some of the items I've mentioned above could be found in continental Europe, just as it's feasible to buy vodka or bird's nest soup in London. However, they are all indigenous to our borders, and over vast swaths of land, they are utterly unknown.

I doubt you would be successful in locating a suet pudding south of, say, Brussels. Even the word "suet" itself does not properly translate into French. Additionally, the French never cook with mint and only use black currants as the base of a drink.

It will be evident that, in terms of inventiveness and ingredients, we have nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to our cooking. However, it must be acknowledged that there is a significant problem from the perspective of the foreign tourist. This is because excellent English cuisine is almost exclusively seen inside of private residences. The poorest English home is more likely to have what you desire, like a good, rich slice of Yorkshire pudding, than a restaurant, which is unavoidably where the visitor must consume the most of his meals.

It is a reality that it is really difficult to discover English-themed eateries that provide delicious meals. Pubs typically only offer bland sandwiches and potato crisps as food options. While if you want a decent cheap dinner you naturally gravitate towards a Greek, Italian, or Chinese restaurant, the fancy restaurants and hotels virtually all emulate French cooking and write their menus in French. If people continue to associate England with lousy food and confusing rules, we will probably fail to draw tourists. There isn't much that can be done about it right now, but eventually restrictions will stop, and that will be the time when our national cuisine will once again flourish.Every restaurant in England does not have to be foreign or terrible by nature, and the first step towards change will be a less patient outlook among the British audience.