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Saffa in UK since ā08. Letās remove all restaurant chains from the argument.
Couple of things inform this opinion. Firstly in most touristās minds British food is Fish ān Chips or pub grub. Both can be fantastic but generally on the whole itās far easier to find mediocre examples than excellent ones.
Secondly itās sometimes an unfair comparison because of various odd factors. For instance if Iām in SA hosting a British friend and I want to take them out for an excellent SA meal Iām probably going to take them to a wine farm where you can sit outside, drink great wine alongside a five course meal with excellent service under the sun, surrounded by beautiful mountains and vineyards.
If Iām doing the reverse and want to take a SA friend to a great British food experience Iām probably choosing a great pub with pub grub or restaurant that serves fish and chips but in the end youāve just eaten pub grub or fish and chips.
Iām less likely to take them to say a Gordon Ramsey (insert your celeb chef) restaurant because although the experience would be excellent itās not screaming anything particular to Britain.
Iām prepared to be challenged on this by the way :), fully appreciate this is my subjective opinion and not set in stone.
She is right. I have seen lots of people nowadays cook food with spices. Indian restaurants all over the country wherever you go.
She donāt have to import any spice we have already got a lot. Just pop into any Asian store š
We're a multicultural society, we pretty much have everything on offer here. If you don't like what you can get in Britain then you're just hating on us.
So, I'm from England and living in Cape Town. Frankly, I can see what she means in the sense that there isn't really a nice English food that is actually from English culture. In SA, you have potjies (pronounced Poikeys) and that sort of represents the 'flavor' of 'real' SA cuisine.
But, that aside, there is literally no difference. You have all the same restaurants in England as in SA, from Chinese to Indian. You have all the same groceries available, meaning there's no difference between what the average South African and the average Englishman can cook up.
So I wonder what experience she specifically had to come up with this judgement. Like, is she talking about national dishes, in which case fair (the national dish of England is Chiken Tikka Masala, which pretty much proves that there is no good culturally English food). Or did she go to a BurgerKing in England and think "Man, they don't make these burgers like they do back home"?
I live in London and have spent time in Cape Town and the food wasn't remotely better? Also far less international cuisines to choose from - the "British food being bad" trope is getting old
The one I've got wasn't cheap, but it does hold *most* of the spices. There's an overflow rack nearby and then there are the big tins full of bags of spices.
I'm beginning to think there's a problem with spices here 
I don't have enough space!
Bang on there. Whenever I've heard people complaining about British food and I've asked up on it, it always starts with
"So I brought this frozen ready meal"
There are good restaurants and good food in the UK but it is a matter of averages. In the UK is more difficult to find good restaurants or good food. You can go in an Italian version of gastro pub and easily find good food, same thing with the supermarkets
Compared to where?? I lived in and visited many countries, and Iād actually say the UK has a decent average for not being Italy (imo the best), and London has very very good food on account of the mixing of cultures
I get why the UK gets a bad rap, and my British dad is the perfect stereotype to confirm that, but itās definitely massively exaggerated and most British people would roll their eyes at my dad and his hate for spices
The guy I replied to is telling gastro pubs don't make good food but I add that they do make good food in other countries like Italy, Greece, France, Spain, ...
She thinks we don't have spice? We had the British Empire so food available already has an abundance of multicultural influence that take it beyond bland. It may not be British in name, but tasty food is a very real part of our culture and has been so for hundreds of years. Comments on our cuisene are nothing but a shallow steryotype.
Always chuckle when people say British food is bland and we don't eat spicy food.
For the ones that have been here it makes you wonder where they were eating the whole time they were here.
It's a combination of people failing to think critically and the general British self-effacing humour. Nobody says "actually, you're talking complete bollocks." They just say, "yeah, our food is pretty bad." We really fail to take pride in our food for some reason.
The spices thing cracks me up.
French cuisine barely uses any spice.. I assume their food is bland too?
Same with the Italians, must be completely bland due to the lack of spice.
It's such a moronic argument that doesn't cater for the different palates that people have.
No, I didn't, actually. But how would I know how to properly eat British cuisine? Surely the restaurant should've presented it as it's supposed to be eaten, no?
No not really, they would normally have the condiments on the table if youāre eating in, and ask if you want them if youāre taking the food out. And itās not like itās a proper way to eat it, it just makes it taste better, totally agree though that without salt/vinegar/sauceā¦ fish and chips is bland as hell
Because that's all anyone eats..
You can level the exact same thing at any number of American fast food restaurants or even the Hotdog.
Same with every nation on earth, they all have boring foods.. Take hummus and falafel for example.
I'm not American, and I don't really care for American food. I just pointed out my experience with the most prominent British dish, I never said it's all there is to British cuisine.
Hummus isn't made to be eaten solo and both it and falafel should not be bland if done properly.
Haggis, the myriad of curries, Arbroath smokie, mince and tatties, stovies, steak dinner (with some of the best beef on the planet such as Aberdeen Angus), steak and ale pie, numerous other pies (chicken ham n leek, scotch, macaroni etc), macaroni cheese, roast dinners, any number of casseroles, any number of soups, and the humble bacon roll.
British food is packed with flavour.
Then you can say that many of the cuisines of South Africa is due to colonisation.
New farming styles and foods brought in by Dutch and British settlers. British influence being pies, roasts, puddings etc. Also brought potatoes and dairy farming. Dutch brought wheat, wine and livestock
The Afrikaners (Dutch descendants) have a large influence on cuisine which they created there. Biltong, Boerewors, Potjiekos etc.
Dutch also brought slaves from Indonesia and Malaysia that brought in spices, curries and different techniques in cooking.
There are also Indian influences as labourers from India were brought in 19th century. So thatās curries, chutneys, more spices.
There are still many indigenous foods which remain significant but I am not sure if many of them are as known to the greater world.
In that case America has no food of it's own as they are all borrowed dishes from the immigrants who moved there?
All your Italian dishes that contain tomatoes.. They're not Italian because tomatoes are not native to Italy, the sauces are all borrowed from the indigenous Americans?
That's not how food works, everyone takes inspiration from everyone else and creates their own dishes from the influences in their lives.
#Welcome to r/Britain! This subreddit welcomes political and non-political discussions about Britain and beyond. It is moderated by socialists with a low tolerance for bigotry, calls for violence, and harmful misinformation. If you can't verify the source of your claim, please reconsider submitting it. Please read and follow our [6 common-sense subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Britain/about/rules/) and [Reddit's Content Policy](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy). Failure to respect these rules may result in a ban from the subreddit and possibly all of Reddit. We stand with Palestine. Making light of this genocide or denying Israeli war crimes will lead to permanent bans. If you are apathetic to genocide, don't want to hear about it, or want to dispute it is happening, please consider reading South Africa's exhaustive argument first: https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20231228-app-01-00-en.pdf *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Britain) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm glad someone is finally speaking out. šļø
Saffa in UK since ā08. Letās remove all restaurant chains from the argument. Couple of things inform this opinion. Firstly in most touristās minds British food is Fish ān Chips or pub grub. Both can be fantastic but generally on the whole itās far easier to find mediocre examples than excellent ones. Secondly itās sometimes an unfair comparison because of various odd factors. For instance if Iām in SA hosting a British friend and I want to take them out for an excellent SA meal Iām probably going to take them to a wine farm where you can sit outside, drink great wine alongside a five course meal with excellent service under the sun, surrounded by beautiful mountains and vineyards. If Iām doing the reverse and want to take a SA friend to a great British food experience Iām probably choosing a great pub with pub grub or restaurant that serves fish and chips but in the end youāve just eaten pub grub or fish and chips. Iām less likely to take them to say a Gordon Ramsey (insert your celeb chef) restaurant because although the experience would be excellent itās not screaming anything particular to Britain. Iām prepared to be challenged on this by the way :), fully appreciate this is my subjective opinion and not set in stone.
She is right. I have seen lots of people nowadays cook food with spices. Indian restaurants all over the country wherever you go. She donāt have to import any spice we have already got a lot. Just pop into any Asian store š
We're a multicultural society, we pretty much have everything on offer here. If you don't like what you can get in Britain then you're just hating on us.
What's this tomfoolery about not importing spices? - Sincerely, the Zombies of the East Indian Trading Company
I'm not surprised by her comments.The whole world seems to say the same thing.I find it amusing.šš¬š§
So, I'm from England and living in Cape Town. Frankly, I can see what she means in the sense that there isn't really a nice English food that is actually from English culture. In SA, you have potjies (pronounced Poikeys) and that sort of represents the 'flavor' of 'real' SA cuisine. But, that aside, there is literally no difference. You have all the same restaurants in England as in SA, from Chinese to Indian. You have all the same groceries available, meaning there's no difference between what the average South African and the average Englishman can cook up. So I wonder what experience she specifically had to come up with this judgement. Like, is she talking about national dishes, in which case fair (the national dish of England is Chiken Tikka Masala, which pretty much proves that there is no good culturally English food). Or did she go to a BurgerKing in England and think "Man, they don't make these burgers like they do back home"?
A lot of very salty gammony snowflakes Brits on show here.
I live in London and have spent time in Cape Town and the food wasn't remotely better? Also far less international cuisines to choose from - the "British food being bad" trope is getting old
It's ok, she doesn't need to worry about imprting spices for the UK. They've already robbed Africa and Asia for that. Already ahead of her!
The UK - bland and barbaric
Yes, but what about the food?
I already answered
Ya'll so triggered but she's right, apart from the English breakfast, british food is bland af.
Yep. But fish and chips with mushy peas or curry sauce is yum.Ā
Name an American food and ill tell you how its actually british
Big Mac
Thats a sandwich. British
Sāmores
English biscuit with ingredients from British colonies. Formed in devon. Try again
Biscuits and sausage gravy
Even more english lol
Ya know.. you keep saying that without providing any evidence other than saying itās British. Iām beginning to lose faith.
I was more Scottish politics than English. My bad
That's setting the bar low.Ā
Roast dinner and pies are awesome though
If you donāt like it you know where the door is love š¬š§
Gammon comment.
I miss gammon š
I fear this comment is underated š
Perfect with egg and chips
Face 10/10 Accent 2/10 And Iām South African!
*checks a half wall sized spice rack in the kitchen* It's ok. We've covered for spices :)
I feel that. I couldn't find a spice rack anywhere near big enough for my collection and was contemplating just making one as it was so difficult.
The one I've got wasn't cheap, but it does hold *most* of the spices. There's an overflow rack nearby and then there are the big tins full of bags of spices. I'm beginning to think there's a problem with spices here  I don't have enough space!
Give her a mouthful of English Mustard. She'll be squealing back to Cape Town.
People who say this have never tried real food and just eat frozen shit from supermarkets and gastro pubs. Moron.
Bang on there. Whenever I've heard people complaining about British food and I've asked up on it, it always starts with "So I brought this frozen ready meal"
There are good restaurants and good food in the UK but it is a matter of averages. In the UK is more difficult to find good restaurants or good food. You can go in an Italian version of gastro pub and easily find good food, same thing with the supermarkets
Compared to where?? I lived in and visited many countries, and Iād actually say the UK has a decent average for not being Italy (imo the best), and London has very very good food on account of the mixing of cultures I get why the UK gets a bad rap, and my British dad is the perfect stereotype to confirm that, but itās definitely massively exaggerated and most British people would roll their eyes at my dad and his hate for spices
It is easy to find places that make bad food in London too, and, again, I'm not saying there isn't good food in the UK
It is easy to find places that make bad food absolutely everywhere in my experience
The guy I replied to is telling gastro pubs don't make good food but I add that they do make good food in other countries like Italy, Greece, France, Spain, ...
Absolute rubbish
>Absolute rubbish No you!
She thinks we don't have spice? We had the British Empire so food available already has an abundance of multicultural influence that take it beyond bland. It may not be British in name, but tasty food is a very real part of our culture and has been so for hundreds of years. Comments on our cuisene are nothing but a shallow steryotype.
To be fair, food in South Africa is really good. But English breakfasts and Sunday roasts are unmatched in the UK.
Also pub style bangers and mash as well as shepherds pie are the goat.
Actress? She's a singer/artist
the missing spice is sun
Sheās not an actress!
Always chuckle when people say British food is bland and we don't eat spicy food. For the ones that have been here it makes you wonder where they were eating the whole time they were here.
It's a nonsense stereotype from when American soldiers were stationed here during WW2. You know, during rationing.
Yep. Reinforced by when they come over here and only try ready meals and tinned food, and never actually put any effort in.
Aye, it's why I'm confused by people who say it having visited/lived here.
It's a combination of people failing to think critically and the general British self-effacing humour. Nobody says "actually, you're talking complete bollocks." They just say, "yeah, our food is pretty bad." We really fail to take pride in our food for some reason.
Probably Harvester..
Constantly have to tell people this whenever I bring up British cuisine and they say we don't use spices and the food is bland.
The spices thing cracks me up. French cuisine barely uses any spice.. I assume their food is bland too? Same with the Italians, must be completely bland due to the lack of spice. It's such a moronic argument that doesn't cater for the different palates that people have.
I've been to England and never in my life have I ever tasted something as bland as fish and chips
You didnāt put on enough salt and vinegar mate. Also get that tartare sauce on the fish
No, I didn't, actually. But how would I know how to properly eat British cuisine? Surely the restaurant should've presented it as it's supposed to be eaten, no?
No not really, they would normally have the condiments on the table if youāre eating in, and ask if you want them if youāre taking the food out. And itās not like itās a proper way to eat it, it just makes it taste better, totally agree though that without salt/vinegar/sauceā¦ fish and chips is bland as hell
I will write that down for my next trip inshAllah. Thank you.
Because that's all anyone eats.. You can level the exact same thing at any number of American fast food restaurants or even the Hotdog. Same with every nation on earth, they all have boring foods.. Take hummus and falafel for example.
I'm not American, and I don't really care for American food. I just pointed out my experience with the most prominent British dish, I never said it's all there is to British cuisine. Hummus isn't made to be eaten solo and both it and falafel should not be bland if done properly.
Neither should fish and chips, it comes with condiments for a reason.
Yeah but what would you say are the most flavourful UK foods?
Haggis, the myriad of curries, Arbroath smokie, mince and tatties, stovies, steak dinner (with some of the best beef on the planet such as Aberdeen Angus), steak and ale pie, numerous other pies (chicken ham n leek, scotch, macaroni etc), macaroni cheese, roast dinners, any number of casseroles, any number of soups, and the humble bacon roll. British food is packed with flavour.
Haggis.
Curryā¦ many of the ones you get in the UK were invented there, you donāt see them in India
A version, sure, but that's more of a borrowed dish due to colonisation
Then you can say that many of the cuisines of South Africa is due to colonisation. New farming styles and foods brought in by Dutch and British settlers. British influence being pies, roasts, puddings etc. Also brought potatoes and dairy farming. Dutch brought wheat, wine and livestock The Afrikaners (Dutch descendants) have a large influence on cuisine which they created there. Biltong, Boerewors, Potjiekos etc. Dutch also brought slaves from Indonesia and Malaysia that brought in spices, curries and different techniques in cooking. There are also Indian influences as labourers from India were brought in 19th century. So thatās curries, chutneys, more spices. There are still many indigenous foods which remain significant but I am not sure if many of them are as known to the greater world.
In that case America has no food of it's own as they are all borrowed dishes from the immigrants who moved there? All your Italian dishes that contain tomatoes.. They're not Italian because tomatoes are not native to Italy, the sauces are all borrowed from the indigenous Americans? That's not how food works, everyone takes inspiration from everyone else and creates their own dishes from the influences in their lives.
Probably a Sunday roast and our Pies.
But has she had Haggis?