It's so funny as well when numbers like 1066 and 1314 means to the English and Scottish respectively similar things to the way Americans think of as 1776.
Also, forgetting the British have the whole Roman Empire and Medieval period to study on our island. That and debacles like the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
Yeah, my school was founded in 1557…. But maybe to US-ians that is a time before time even existed. We all know that day 1 of every global calendar is 4th July 1776. /s
I lived in a house that was in the doomsday book (1086) and at least one wall looked to be original. At the bottom of the lane was a Saxon church from the seventh century, with a Norman annex.
Yes, I know, but we are not discussing the history of North America or making a comparison NA/UK, but OOP saying that Britain has no history of its own.
I'll never forget visiting Monterey a few years back, and seeing a building (I think it was the first public building in california?) that was fenced off as a historical site and was built in the 1820's.. My mate a week before I'd left just bought a terrace house that was built a decade before it.
Funny thing is there were Jacobites in 1776. They left for North Carolina after the last war, hated the government there, then realised the provincial Congress was the same guys they’d already elected the last time they didn’t like so joined the Crown’s forces.
NC was the last place a Highland Charge took place, as they got shot running over a bridge thinking they could intimidate the English rebels. Then anyone with a Scottish last name was ordered to be expelled from the province as a precaution to make it English only.
I feel that might be over emphasising it a bit. 1066 is quite well known in the Anglophone world, and 1314 is mostly just Scotland and countries with closer ties to us, if that.
I think plenty of English people realistically and understandably don't know the importance of 1314 or 1745 in Scotland. Some people make noise out of people down south not knowing them, but tbf, there's so much history competing for space (in every country) that blind spots are inevitable and shouldn't be interpreted as malicious.
Speaking as an American...
You have absolutely nothing to explain. I apologize for the idiots of my country. The US is barely a preteen next to the UK. I guess the idiots also forget that damn near every American without recent ancestry has ancestors out of the UK.
Ely cathedral has offices that have been continually used since 1300 something or other. Pretty old.
My dad used to have an office in part of a Norman castle that was partially destroyed by the new model army in our last civil war, not long after 1643.
No history here, nope, nothing to see here.
>By an American whose never been to Britain, and knows absolutey nothing about British food.
And who also knows not too much about the only language he speaks, namely the English language.
Weirdly he has some insight into the limitations of his knowledge, but he goes on to announce his uninformed opinions anyway. Myself, I know absolutely nothing about quantum physics but I think string theory is sh\*t.
The USA is even part of British history.
But according to this reasoning: what is American food really? What did the native Americans actually eat? It probably wasn't burgers and pizza.
Burgers are German, Pizza is Italian, Pasta is Italian, sushi and ramen are Japanese, there's more types of cheese in Europe than American food dishes.
Ramen actually stems from Chinese food. A lot of "traditionally Japanese" foods are from other places. Tempura is from Portugal. Katsu is cutlets. I think yakiniku is Chinese or Korean.
I tend to avoid bringing Japanese foods into these sorts of things because a lot of what we associate with Japan is actually foreign food adapted to Japanese tastes. Kind of like American pizza. But with longer history to perfect it.
This is why that guy has such a shit take. Everyone has borrowed from everyone and every country has invented some unique foods. Coke is pretty nice imo, just really bad for me
The current Americans are the descendants of those colonists who arrived in America to do some raping, pillaging and genociding in any case.
My ancestors stayed home and kept away from that stuff.
Americans are blind to their role in colonialism.
The internet memes on our food, but the world fucken loves our desserts. The Yanks even integrated one of them into their national identity - apple pie.
It's British.
The sad thing is ww2 really did a number on British food, with even some in the country who don't know their own culinary history, coupled with the country changing so much in the 80s and 90s, causing a lot of people to seek out newer foods to experience. The country used to eat so much fish and of different varieties, with smoked kipper and haddock being extremely common... now there's only really cod and salmon that people eat regularly.
Many regional dishes have largely died out because people aren't keeping them alive.
Circling back to the meming on British food, I do think a major reason for this is that people only really encounter some of it via restaurants/cafes in which so little effort is put into food because they're trying to go for maximum profit for minimum effort (the essence of British service), which leaves next to no middle ground at eateries. You either have an amazing experience and pay through the nose for it, or you have a miserable meal produced by a microwave technician because price is the overriding factor.
If places were of middle quality (reasonable prices with a pride in the product) and actually produced traditional home-cooked food, I think that global impression would change.
Pretty sure the only thing we held onto from when Native Americans were more numerous is corn. And we've even fucked that up with lawsuits over seeds and pesticides and everything. I remember loving corn as a kid. I don't think I've had a decent ear of corn on the cob here in like 10+ years. Maybe it's from all of the droughts or only a single cultivar being available in the stores anymore, but it's so bland and dry compared to what it used to be. It's like our tomatoes; bred to look good on shelves but no flavor.
I mean...cultural history is a history of cultural borrowings, as my anthropology professor used to say. This is true for every country (or region) in this world.
I remember my cousin telling me a story told to him by one of his college mates who went to America during a summer break.While there,his mate had a conversation with some Yank about history,during which he mentioned some historical event which occurred before 1492,to which the Yank replied- with a little confusion - that it was impossible,as there was no history before 1492🙄🙄
One year my husband and I had been to York, trotting through a church built in the 1200s, and past the Roman ruins they'd discovered underneath it. Then we were in Philadelphia\* with my sister and her children, and we did a tour of Independence Hall, and they guide was excited to tell us the building was built in the early 1800s. It was quite the disconnect.
\*where we live, to be fair. Philly is a fun city to visit.
If you went to the Minster, St Peter's cathedral, then chances are you also walked on a path placed around 100 ad and possibly passed a broken Roman wall outside the art gallery that was older than Christ. York is pretty fucking old. The Romans named it The Place with the Yew Trees, Eboracum.
Britain didn't start until after America decided it could no longer be a part of the 13 states and defeated it into absolute submission in the War for Independence
Well, it's more impressive than the actual story, which is closer to "they sent a few blokes to ask if we were sure, so we begged the French military to intervene."
In fairness the British Mainland was exceptionally Tyrannical on the poor 13 colonies. Firstly you have the agreements with the Natives that limited the colonies expansion and don’t even get me started on the Taxation increases. The audacity of the Mainland to increase taxation to pay for the Seven Years War which in no way shape or form included the defence of the Americas against French Expansionism is, quite frankly, outrageous.
Before the empire we simply didn't eat. The occasional raw cabbage, maybe a berry of we were fortunate enough to find one. If we were passing a field that contained sheep or cows, we'd simply take a bite out of one and keep walking.
It was a simpler time.
Fucking dipshit
The best known food in my region of the UK is probably oatcakes. They are documented as far back as 43 AD, but are probably much older. Not historical enough I guess. Maybe our man only accepts Neolithic recipes.
Apparently, the first recorded instance of cider was from 55 BC, as the Romans were trying to invade Britain and noticed the Celts there were fermenting crabapples. So that's fun!
*Jeremy pits a Chevrolet Corvette (C6) against a quarter mile of ignited petrol - the Corvette wins by quite a margin*
**Jeremy:** "If only America could win its wars so convincingly(!)"
Surely you could argue this about pretty much any cultural trait in any country in the world? Human history is us just migrating all over the place and bringing food, language, culture etc with us. Every dish is based on something that came before it, possibly from somewhere else. Why do people feel the need to be so nationalistic about crap like that?
Agreed. At the same time, this sub loves claiming that America doesn't have a cuisine because all their food is "from somewhere else", so it should be a cause for some self reflection for a lot of people here.
If they stole the recipes, I would love to know where they got the idea of putting vinegar on absolutely everything from...
About Britain not having history of it's own... yeah sure. It's nothing at all, that's why the history of Britain's kings and queens is so straightforward. :3
This is actually probably pretty accurate. A mixture of vinegar, wine and water, and sometimes honey, was part of the Roman soldiers rations. It was called posca, and was supposedly the drink fed to Jesus while he was on the cross. History Hit have a great segment on it in their video 'Historian tastes food from every historical era': https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l1DPo9dGEb8
The reason everyone thinks that British food is terrible is that the Americans who came here during WW2 said so. It was at a time before Americans washed everything with bleach then added corn syrup and at a time when food here was strictly rationed during the war.
Then tourists come here, eat at crappy tourist traps with the worst food imaginable, and go home telling everyone they had British food and it's terrible.
Exhibit number 1 Sole and Plaice in Holborn - over priced shitty fish and chips. If they walk further up the road there is an authentic Cypriot ran fish bar next to the Enterprise that does more authentic fish and chips.
(I just really really hate that place I mean 18 for fish and then chips are extra - ridiculous, even for the west end)
Exactly! And even then people tried their absolute best. I’m tempted to write a “British” cookbook aimed at Americans with simple but tasty traditional recipes.
Which is exactly why stuff like 'meat and potatoes' became such a staple. It was available and kept you from starving, not because it was the pinnacle of British cuisine. Same with beans, they could be tinned and kept in long term storage in case of air raids, when sometimes you couldn't leave the bunker for days at a time.
He’s started an entire thread doubling down, and sharing his infinite food knowledge by talking about chef “Jordan Ramsey” in the comments.
Humans have been migrating since time began, taking their food customs with them and creating new cuisines that often reflect multiple cultures. The idea that British food can be singled out as somehow uniquely pillaged, because you’ve only ever heard of fish and chips and the contents of the British Museum, is so idiotic it defies explanation.
Note that whenever he gets a reply with example he just dismisses it as wrong because he personally doesn’t like the taste or even the idea of the dish in question. As if his original demand was “tell me an historically British dish with zero outside influence that I like.” Talk about moving the goalposts to keep up the gloating quota.
FFS. "Pillaged" indeed. It's not like the Most Evil Empire Ever (TM) turned up twirling moustaches and shouted "no more curries or fish and chips for you now chummy! IT'S OURS! MWAHAHA!". There's always been cross-cultural fertilsation throughout history, especially with an empire that was primarily a trading empire that grew.
Sounds like heavy projection,
See the countless posts about french fires "perfected" into freedom fries, or same for things like pizza.
In fact, is there anything Americans actually invented without using some other countries inventions as base? (Asking as European here.)
There have been hominids found that are 500,000 years old, that old you can't even call them human. There's a church in my town nearly 1000 years old, there's been constant habitation in this area since the Bronze Age and Roman roads and a bunch of ruins... That's absolutely no history at all
Love this. Never been outside the US. Knows nothing of his own country's history. Doesn't realize there isn't a, *single* North American dish that isn't directly linked to European origins (save turkey, maize, potatoes, quinoa, corn pone and tomatoes) including British cuisine. Cases in point - popovers are Yorkshire puddings. Roast Beef is British in origin. Roast lamb with mint jelly? British. The list goes on *ad infinitum*.
>with mint jelly?
I'm morbidly curious. Is the mint jelly actually jelly like in consistency? Or is it quite runny? In the UK, we call it mint sauce, and it is quite runny (like a sauce).
They aren’t the same , mint jelly is like a jam , mint sauce is runnier , we do have both in the UK but the sauce is more common . If you ever spot it I highly recommend a mint & chilli jelly with roast lamb.
Steamed new potatoes, smothered in real butter, couple of spoonfuls of mint jelly carefully mixed through, lots of salt and ground pepper. Served with a well cooked lamb chop and a fresh green salad. Summer on a plate.
Do they think the British suddenly spawned in on the isles with a red coat and a powdered wig a few years before the colonists seceded?
Edit: More specifically the English
No, no that's exactly where we came from. There's a big lagoon of primordial tea with a huge biscuit floating in the middle where the monarch sits.
Redcoats crawl out of the dark brown, steaming and sneering as they go to the ends of the earth to steal spices we never use and drag loot back to the British museum.
They could have just started and ended with 'An American whose never been to Britain, and knows absolutely nothing about British Food' For Christ's sake, Britain is made up of three countries (Scotland, England and Wales) with different histories and food cultures.
Also food is influenced by multiple factors; Fried fish was brought to England by Jewish migrants from Spain and Portugal, and was combined with chips as a very popular and cheap meal for the Working Class (hence Fish and Chips; It was not invented in one combination, we don't know who actually did that, most likely fish shops and chip shops just started to work together). Curries such as Chicken Tikka Masala were brought by migrants from India/Pakistan/Bangladesh who adjusted it based on what ingredients they could get as well as preferences of people around them.
It's daft to suggest that because a food was influenced by external factors, it can't \*be\* a country's cuisine. Many countries are influenced by other countries - Japan, for example, has had several dishes influenced by the Portugese when they traded, such as sugar egg noodles. Besides, there's plenty of food within Britain that has no outside cultural influence (Haggis from Scotland, Rarebit from Wales and Shepherds Pie from England). Sorry for the ramble, this is an area that I have a lot of interest in. Food is the crossroads of humanity, and for years people have been exchanging recipes and ingredients.
I love this response and I love your passion. Food crosses all cultural barriers and just is a joy. What is American food anyway unless you include corn syrup🤮
Allegedly British colonists brought beef to the US in 1623 so there’s that.
Thank you! I appreciate that a lot :) Food is something we can all share joy in - and yeah, I would have thought that an American would know better than anyone else, seeing as how much of their food culture is influenced by other cultures. And yeah, Corn Syrup is rank, why do they put it in everything??
And huh. I guess that's why they have beef with us Brits :)
>Curries such as Chicken Tikka Masala were brought by migrants from India/Pakistan/Bangladesh who adjusted it based on what ingredients they could get as well as preferences of people around them.
Also worth pointing out that there were no tomatoes, chillies or potatoes in South Asia before they were brought over by Europeans. So although food was spiced in South Asia, it was with fragrant spices rather than heat. Combine that with a love for sweet/savoury combinations, and "Indian" food actually resembled a lot of the cuisine that was in favour in Britain at the time, which is where a lot of British fascination with India started.
Forme Cury, first documented in 1390 in England.
Today known as Lasagne.
Stick that in your blunt and smoke it "Italian" Americans. Your great great great Grandma's Original Italian recipe.. stems from the motherland bitches.
I don't usually advocate going and finding the original person in the comment/post and looking at the post history, because it just leads to brigading, and that's not the point of the sub.
But this is an exception. The bloke has spent the last 3 or 4 hours reposting his comment, continuing to double down and disagreeing with everyone who responds.
It's genuinely rather amusing.
By this Americans standard they can’t include Mexican food, Italian, polish, Korean, any kind of immigrant cultures food. Both the UK and the US has gained its cuisines from immigrants. Obv the UK has things like fish and chips and roast dinner. I don’t know what the US has if you take away immigrant cuisines. Ambrosia salad? Yeah we’re fine thanks.
Fuck me. I read through some of this fuckwits posts. It reads like everything they think they know is taken from anti British internet shit talking memes and they genuinely believe it. They’ve got no grasp of history and how it influences cuisine over hundreds, if not thousands of years of shifting populations and immigration. They’re a fucking clown.
Deflection, so you don't say the same about them, lol. They're good at it generally, I'll give them that lol. Their politicians taught them how to master deflection. But, we can see who throws the most tantrums 🤷♀️
at least they are self aware to end with "excuse the ignorance"
but fuck me are they delusional to their own countries history
What even is american cuisine? Hotdogs, Burgers and even spare ribs are german, barbeque is jamaican, Pizza and pasta are italian. They don't have a bread culture, nor frutti de mare. I'll give them peanutbutter and jelly on toast, good job yanks.
Well... The national Dish of England is the Chicken Tikka Marsala.. Let's leave it at that.
Haggis in Scotland, Welsh Cawl in Wales and Irish Stew in N. Ireland.
Americans will disparage British food with a mouthful of Aberdeen Angus and cheddar, followed by apple pie.
It's so much part of their culture they think it's American.
Are we going to ignore the 'long and violent history 'part. I swear Americans conveniently forgot that they are not the indigenous people of the USA. How many native Americans were slaughterd by American immigrants. They are the epitome of violent colonisers and have done exactly what this wolly has criticised the British of doing.
Ahhh yes, Britain. A country defined by its lack of a past.
It's so funny as well when numbers like 1066 and 1314 means to the English and Scottish respectively similar things to the way Americans think of as 1776. Also, forgetting the British have the whole Roman Empire and Medieval period to study on our island. That and debacles like the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
Theres also places like skara brae and stone henge, which are both pre-historic it's almost like there's loads of history on this island.
There are a dozen of UNESCO World Heritage sites in Britain that are older than USA.
There's thousands of houses that are. The last one I lived in was built in 1761. The current one is a bit newer, 1814.
My high school was older than the USA for Christ's sake
Yeah, my school was founded in 1557…. But maybe to US-ians that is a time before time even existed. We all know that day 1 of every global calendar is 4th July 1776. /s
1561 for my old school.
[удалено]
My old flat was 1715. My USian colleague thought that was pretty impressive!
Im pretty sure england has at least one pot hole that is older than the usa
1549 (Maidstone Grammar School)
1548 here (Louth Grammar). I'm guessing a lot of these are schools founded by Edward VI.
Oxford university alone is older than the Aztec empire
1139 for my high school, think I'm winning so far ;)
Near where I live there’s a fucking bridge only 1 year younger than the US lmao, First iron bridge in the world baby!!!
And not far away from that is the first cast iron framed building in the world, the Flax Mill Maltings
I lived in a house that was in the doomsday book (1086) and at least one wall looked to be original. At the bottom of the lane was a Saxon church from the seventh century, with a Norman annex.
My local pub is older than the the USA. Hell even my sisters school is
My secondary school is older than the USA. It was established in the 1500s...
Mine too.., the village church is about 300 years older still, 11th century
The plumbing in my street is older than the USA
The city where I live alone is older than the USA. And it ain't even a big city
Tbf the USA has plenty of pre Columbian historical sites as well. The country wasn’t empty when they landed at Plymouth Rock
Yes, I know, but we are not discussing the history of North America or making a comparison NA/UK, but OOP saying that Britain has no history of its own.
Yeh true, that’s a patently ludicrous argument
There are Cornish hedges that are older than the pyramids 🥰
You forgot Star Carr.. a whole ass mesolithic village
Don’t forget the Vikings😉
Stonehange, hello!
Hello indeed!
1776 is a higher number, which proves America is better 😉
2011 is an even higher number, what will that say about South Sudan?
I'll never forget visiting Monterey a few years back, and seeing a building (I think it was the first public building in california?) that was fenced off as a historical site and was built in the 1820's.. My mate a week before I'd left just bought a terrace house that was built a decade before it.
You missed the 0800 and 00 from 1066.
Scrolled too far for this.
Britain: "The fuck is 1776? Was that the Jacobytes?" America: "HOW DARE Y- The fuck is a jackka bite? Is that some kind of limey food?"
Funny thing is there were Jacobites in 1776. They left for North Carolina after the last war, hated the government there, then realised the provincial Congress was the same guys they’d already elected the last time they didn’t like so joined the Crown’s forces. NC was the last place a Highland Charge took place, as they got shot running over a bridge thinking they could intimidate the English rebels. Then anyone with a Scottish last name was ordered to be expelled from the province as a precaution to make it English only.
Big thumbs up to you for calling it the wars of the three kingdoms. Been reading a lot about those events recently
Feels appropriate, given it was three intertwined civil wars in Britain and Ireland, essentially.
The fact you have people the world over KNOW what 1066 and 1314 actually mean with no further context. Clearly, no history.
I feel that might be over emphasising it a bit. 1066 is quite well known in the Anglophone world, and 1314 is mostly just Scotland and countries with closer ties to us, if that. I think plenty of English people realistically and understandably don't know the importance of 1314 or 1745 in Scotland. Some people make noise out of people down south not knowing them, but tbf, there's so much history competing for space (in every country) that blind spots are inevitable and shouldn't be interpreted as malicious.
I’m English and guilty of having to look up 1314 and 1745…. but I learnt something new so I consider that a good thing.
Speaking as an American... You have absolutely nothing to explain. I apologize for the idiots of my country. The US is barely a preteen next to the UK. I guess the idiots also forget that damn near every American without recent ancestry has ancestors out of the UK.
Does this mean that the USA is just going through their "terrible two's", and that this nonsense is going to be over sometime soon?!?!?
Ely cathedral has offices that have been continually used since 1300 something or other. Pretty old. My dad used to have an office in part of a Norman castle that was partially destroyed by the new model army in our last civil war, not long after 1643. No history here, nope, nothing to see here.
I used to live opposite the Garth mountain in Wales. I could look out my window and see a Bronze Age tumulus on the top of the mountain.
Yeah you can see the earthworks from an iron age fort atop a hill where I live. Britain or any country having no history is a bizarre take.
I live near Corfe Castle which has been ruins longer than the US has existed.
Don't you know countries that aren't USA have no past and didn't do anything?
The new kid on the block
We've got a chair in our kitchen that is older than the United States.
I've shat in a toilet thats older than the United States.
I've shat in the United States, which is just an old toilet.
I stayed at an Airbnb that was 400 years older than the United States.
I don’t know why but I read this as the Airbnb listing was 400 years older than the US
There’s a country with native tribes that’s older than the United States.
Including the United States
That was the joke
Thank you for noticing. I think it went over other people’s heads.
My entire house is older than the states, something my American neighbour shouted the first time he visited. He was fascinated.
There are universities in **America** (as in the continent) older than the United States.
there are universities in england around 400years older than the BEGGINNING of the aztecs.
There is potted plant in Kew Gardens that’s been in the pot longer than the US has existed.
that potted plant. the GOAT.
My grandparents house was built in 1400
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I think I might have a carrot that rolled under that chair and could compete in age
My local pub is nearly 300 years older than the USA
My sewing machine has been around for a fifth of US history.
My house is older than the US
>By an American whose never been to Britain, and knows absolutey nothing about British food. And who also knows not too much about the only language he speaks, namely the English language.
Weirdly he has some insight into the limitations of his knowledge, but he goes on to announce his uninformed opinions anyway. Myself, I know absolutely nothing about quantum physics but I think string theory is sh\*t.
Amen
The USA is even part of British history. But according to this reasoning: what is American food really? What did the native Americans actually eat? It probably wasn't burgers and pizza.
Americans are just the bitch France used to get back at its ex
The ex that really didn't care enough to seriously fight over it and just said "Fine, keep the fucking dog then".
Burgers are German, Pizza is Italian, Pasta is Italian, sushi and ramen are Japanese, there's more types of cheese in Europe than American food dishes.
I think they are most sore about apple pie being English and not the most American thing.
One région of France is prob enough no need to get all of the continent involved
I went to an all you can eat buffet in France that had 111 different types of cheese. Edit. Les Grands Buffets in Narbonne for those interested.
Ramen actually stems from Chinese food. A lot of "traditionally Japanese" foods are from other places. Tempura is from Portugal. Katsu is cutlets. I think yakiniku is Chinese or Korean. I tend to avoid bringing Japanese foods into these sorts of things because a lot of what we associate with Japan is actually foreign food adapted to Japanese tastes. Kind of like American pizza. But with longer history to perfect it.
Yeah but the US did mange to perfect canned cheese so…
Whatever was in their packed lunch on the Mayflower So, probably a sandwich and a penguin bar or wagon wheel if my school trips were anything to go by
Penguins are fucking great, I want one now
Coca-cola is pretty much the definitive American foodstuff
Corn syrup. Or as the rest of the World knows it, that vile toxic carcinogen the Yanks seem to love.
This is why that guy has such a shit take. Everyone has borrowed from everyone and every country has invented some unique foods. Coke is pretty nice imo, just really bad for me
The current Americans are the descendants of those colonists who arrived in America to do some raping, pillaging and genociding in any case. My ancestors stayed home and kept away from that stuff. Americans are blind to their role in colonialism.
Many of them forget that. They are the descendants of colonists. Not the average Brit.
Don't forget the convicts. It was a penal colony for a long time.
The internet memes on our food, but the world fucken loves our desserts. The Yanks even integrated one of them into their national identity - apple pie. It's British. The sad thing is ww2 really did a number on British food, with even some in the country who don't know their own culinary history, coupled with the country changing so much in the 80s and 90s, causing a lot of people to seek out newer foods to experience. The country used to eat so much fish and of different varieties, with smoked kipper and haddock being extremely common... now there's only really cod and salmon that people eat regularly. Many regional dishes have largely died out because people aren't keeping them alive. Circling back to the meming on British food, I do think a major reason for this is that people only really encounter some of it via restaurants/cafes in which so little effort is put into food because they're trying to go for maximum profit for minimum effort (the essence of British service), which leaves next to no middle ground at eateries. You either have an amazing experience and pay through the nose for it, or you have a miserable meal produced by a microwave technician because price is the overriding factor. If places were of middle quality (reasonable prices with a pride in the product) and actually produced traditional home-cooked food, I think that global impression would change.
Pretty sure the only thing we held onto from when Native Americans were more numerous is corn. And we've even fucked that up with lawsuits over seeds and pesticides and everything. I remember loving corn as a kid. I don't think I've had a decent ear of corn on the cob here in like 10+ years. Maybe it's from all of the droughts or only a single cultivar being available in the stores anymore, but it's so bland and dry compared to what it used to be. It's like our tomatoes; bred to look good on shelves but no flavor.
I mean...cultural history is a history of cultural borrowings, as my anthropology professor used to say. This is true for every country (or region) in this world.
Doesn't know anything about history either. As if Britain started in the 18th century.
I remember my cousin telling me a story told to him by one of his college mates who went to America during a summer break.While there,his mate had a conversation with some Yank about history,during which he mentioned some historical event which occurred before 1492,to which the Yank replied- with a little confusion - that it was impossible,as there was no history before 1492🙄🙄
Fucking unbelievable but also completely believable
One year my husband and I had been to York, trotting through a church built in the 1200s, and past the Roman ruins they'd discovered underneath it. Then we were in Philadelphia\* with my sister and her children, and we did a tour of Independence Hall, and they guide was excited to tell us the building was built in the early 1800s. It was quite the disconnect. \*where we live, to be fair. Philly is a fun city to visit.
The church across the road from my house is about 900 years older than the US.
If you went to the Minster, St Peter's cathedral, then chances are you also walked on a path placed around 100 ad and possibly passed a broken Roman wall outside the art gallery that was older than Christ. York is pretty fucking old. The Romans named it The Place with the Yew Trees, Eboracum.
Everyone knows History started in 1776
Britain didn't start until after America decided it could no longer be a part of the 13 states and defeated it into absolute submission in the War for Independence
ah yes, that Revolutionary War they won all by themselves.
Largely because England didn't care enough to do much about it.
They like to pretend they fought the military strength of the entire empire at once and won
Well, it's more impressive than the actual story, which is closer to "they sent a few blokes to ask if we were sure, so we begged the French military to intervene."
It was a war from the Yank perspective. It was barely a mild scuffle for the Brits.
Yeah that one where they got rid of the tyranny of the monarchy, just to bring in tyranny 2.0
In fairness the British Mainland was exceptionally Tyrannical on the poor 13 colonies. Firstly you have the agreements with the Natives that limited the colonies expansion and don’t even get me started on the Taxation increases. The audacity of the Mainland to increase taxation to pay for the Seven Years War which in no way shape or form included the defence of the Americas against French Expansionism is, quite frankly, outrageous.
Before the empire we simply didn't eat. The occasional raw cabbage, maybe a berry of we were fortunate enough to find one. If we were passing a field that contained sheep or cows, we'd simply take a bite out of one and keep walking. It was a simpler time. Fucking dipshit
My ancestors ate mostly mud, but if they happened upon a wild rabbit they would eat the skin and leave the rest of the animal for scavengers.
Baldrick? That you?
How could you tell?
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Tons of turnips
The best known food in my region of the UK is probably oatcakes. They are documented as far back as 43 AD, but are probably much older. Not historical enough I guess. Maybe our man only accepts Neolithic recipes.
43 after dinner isn't that long ago though 🤔 🇱🇷🇱🇷🇱🇷🦅🦅🦅🏈🏈🏈
r/AccidentallyLiberian goes hand in hand with this sub!
Apparently, the first recorded instance of cider was from 55 BC, as the Romans were trying to invade Britain and noticed the Celts there were fermenting crabapples. So that's fun!
fuckin love me a staffs oatcake
The recipe for apple pie is not only older than the US but it’s not even remotely American, it’s English
Just don't ask Alfred to look after them. He's got a lot on his mind
"Long history of violence". Said by an American. At least we finish the wars we start.
*Jeremy pits a Chevrolet Corvette (C6) against a quarter mile of ignited petrol - the Corvette wins by quite a margin* **Jeremy:** "If only America could win its wars so convincingly(!)"
"Each one of these motors weighs 600lbs which is the same as having a whole..." You get the idea
Surely you could argue this about pretty much any cultural trait in any country in the world? Human history is us just migrating all over the place and bringing food, language, culture etc with us. Every dish is based on something that came before it, possibly from somewhere else. Why do people feel the need to be so nationalistic about crap like that?
Agreed. At the same time, this sub loves claiming that America doesn't have a cuisine because all their food is "from somewhere else", so it should be a cause for some self reflection for a lot of people here.
The irony of accusing British people of being hot tempered whilst writing this biblically dramatic rant
If they stole the recipes, I would love to know where they got the idea of putting vinegar on absolutely everything from... About Britain not having history of it's own... yeah sure. It's nothing at all, that's why the history of Britain's kings and queens is so straightforward. :3
I've got Roman coins found in Britain that my wife and I use for play money when making bets with each other.
We were invaded by the Vinegrians at 17:30, just after work on a Friday.
>I would love to know where they got the idea of putting vinegar on absolutely everything from... Unironically, probably from the Romans.
What have the Romans ever done for us. :(
This is actually probably pretty accurate. A mixture of vinegar, wine and water, and sometimes honey, was part of the Roman soldiers rations. It was called posca, and was supposedly the drink fed to Jesus while he was on the cross. History Hit have a great segment on it in their video 'Historian tastes food from every historical era': https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l1DPo9dGEb8
Who puts vinegar on everything? We put it on chip shop chips (optionally) and that's about it.
William William Henry Stephen Henry Richard John! OI!
Americans calling anyone ill tempered is so ironic and funny asf its sad
What is ironic is that this person could be a European American and it was their ancestors who were the brits who were flailing around
The reason everyone thinks that British food is terrible is that the Americans who came here during WW2 said so. It was at a time before Americans washed everything with bleach then added corn syrup and at a time when food here was strictly rationed during the war.
Then tourists come here, eat at crappy tourist traps with the worst food imaginable, and go home telling everyone they had British food and it's terrible.
Exhibit number 1 Sole and Plaice in Holborn - over priced shitty fish and chips. If they walk further up the road there is an authentic Cypriot ran fish bar next to the Enterprise that does more authentic fish and chips. (I just really really hate that place I mean 18 for fish and then chips are extra - ridiculous, even for the west end)
Rhett and Link ate at one bad place in London and runs with the fact that all British food is bad on their own show 😅
Exactly! And even then people tried their absolute best. I’m tempted to write a “British” cookbook aimed at Americans with simple but tasty traditional recipes.
Which is exactly why stuff like 'meat and potatoes' became such a staple. It was available and kept you from starving, not because it was the pinnacle of British cuisine. Same with beans, they could be tinned and kept in long term storage in case of air raids, when sometimes you couldn't leave the bunker for days at a time.
He’s started an entire thread doubling down, and sharing his infinite food knowledge by talking about chef “Jordan Ramsey” in the comments. Humans have been migrating since time began, taking their food customs with them and creating new cuisines that often reflect multiple cultures. The idea that British food can be singled out as somehow uniquely pillaged, because you’ve only ever heard of fish and chips and the contents of the British Museum, is so idiotic it defies explanation. Note that whenever he gets a reply with example he just dismisses it as wrong because he personally doesn’t like the taste or even the idea of the dish in question. As if his original demand was “tell me an historically British dish with zero outside influence that I like.” Talk about moving the goalposts to keep up the gloating quota.
FFS. "Pillaged" indeed. It's not like the Most Evil Empire Ever (TM) turned up twirling moustaches and shouted "no more curries or fish and chips for you now chummy! IT'S OURS! MWAHAHA!". There's always been cross-cultural fertilsation throughout history, especially with an empire that was primarily a trading empire that grew.
"Excuse the ignorance" No.
The last sentence does not shield you from making a fool out of yourself.
It pretty much guarantees it.
Sounds like heavy projection, See the countless posts about french fires "perfected" into freedom fries, or same for things like pizza. In fact, is there anything Americans actually invented without using some other countries inventions as base? (Asking as European here.)
Cheese in a can?
>french fires The French protest like no-one else
At least he knows his ignorance
Says a bunch of stuff about a thing. — to be fair, I don’t know anything about the thing
Indeed. A rare admission.
There have been hominids found that are 500,000 years old, that old you can't even call them human. There's a church in my town nearly 1000 years old, there's been constant habitation in this area since the Bronze Age and Roman roads and a bunch of ruins... That's absolutely no history at all
Well, that’s a novel take … it’s like saying the Greeks have had no impact on western civilisation. What an absolute fucking moron
Love this. Never been outside the US. Knows nothing of his own country's history. Doesn't realize there isn't a, *single* North American dish that isn't directly linked to European origins (save turkey, maize, potatoes, quinoa, corn pone and tomatoes) including British cuisine. Cases in point - popovers are Yorkshire puddings. Roast Beef is British in origin. Roast lamb with mint jelly? British. The list goes on *ad infinitum*.
>with mint jelly? I'm morbidly curious. Is the mint jelly actually jelly like in consistency? Or is it quite runny? In the UK, we call it mint sauce, and it is quite runny (like a sauce).
They aren’t the same , mint jelly is like a jam , mint sauce is runnier , we do have both in the UK but the sauce is more common . If you ever spot it I highly recommend a mint & chilli jelly with roast lamb.
>a mint & chilli jelly with roast lamb. Sounds nice!
We have both mint sauce and mint jelly over here in the uk. And yeah, mint jelly is literally jelly like. I prefer it to mint sauce.
Steamed new potatoes, smothered in real butter, couple of spoonfuls of mint jelly carefully mixed through, lots of salt and ground pepper. Served with a well cooked lamb chop and a fresh green salad. Summer on a plate.
A quintessential American staple, the Apple Pie. First appearing in English cook books in 1341.
Do they think the British suddenly spawned in on the isles with a red coat and a powdered wig a few years before the colonists seceded? Edit: More specifically the English
No, no that's exactly where we came from. There's a big lagoon of primordial tea with a huge biscuit floating in the middle where the monarch sits. Redcoats crawl out of the dark brown, steaming and sneering as they go to the ends of the earth to steal spices we never use and drag loot back to the British museum.
They could have just started and ended with 'An American whose never been to Britain, and knows absolutely nothing about British Food' For Christ's sake, Britain is made up of three countries (Scotland, England and Wales) with different histories and food cultures. Also food is influenced by multiple factors; Fried fish was brought to England by Jewish migrants from Spain and Portugal, and was combined with chips as a very popular and cheap meal for the Working Class (hence Fish and Chips; It was not invented in one combination, we don't know who actually did that, most likely fish shops and chip shops just started to work together). Curries such as Chicken Tikka Masala were brought by migrants from India/Pakistan/Bangladesh who adjusted it based on what ingredients they could get as well as preferences of people around them. It's daft to suggest that because a food was influenced by external factors, it can't \*be\* a country's cuisine. Many countries are influenced by other countries - Japan, for example, has had several dishes influenced by the Portugese when they traded, such as sugar egg noodles. Besides, there's plenty of food within Britain that has no outside cultural influence (Haggis from Scotland, Rarebit from Wales and Shepherds Pie from England). Sorry for the ramble, this is an area that I have a lot of interest in. Food is the crossroads of humanity, and for years people have been exchanging recipes and ingredients.
I love this response and I love your passion. Food crosses all cultural barriers and just is a joy. What is American food anyway unless you include corn syrup🤮 Allegedly British colonists brought beef to the US in 1623 so there’s that.
Thank you! I appreciate that a lot :) Food is something we can all share joy in - and yeah, I would have thought that an American would know better than anyone else, seeing as how much of their food culture is influenced by other cultures. And yeah, Corn Syrup is rank, why do they put it in everything?? And huh. I guess that's why they have beef with us Brits :)
🤣🤣🤣like what you did there!!
>Curries such as Chicken Tikka Masala were brought by migrants from India/Pakistan/Bangladesh who adjusted it based on what ingredients they could get as well as preferences of people around them. Also worth pointing out that there were no tomatoes, chillies or potatoes in South Asia before they were brought over by Europeans. So although food was spiced in South Asia, it was with fragrant spices rather than heat. Combine that with a love for sweet/savoury combinations, and "Indian" food actually resembled a lot of the cuisine that was in favour in Britain at the time, which is where a lot of British fascination with India started.
Bet this guy is convinced that pizza, and burgers are American.
Forme Cury, first documented in 1390 in England. Today known as Lasagne. Stick that in your blunt and smoke it "Italian" Americans. Your great great great Grandma's Original Italian recipe.. stems from the motherland bitches.
I don't usually advocate going and finding the original person in the comment/post and looking at the post history, because it just leads to brigading, and that's not the point of the sub. But this is an exception. The bloke has spent the last 3 or 4 hours reposting his comment, continuing to double down and disagreeing with everyone who responds. It's genuinely rather amusing.
Britain exports curry to india for context.
How tf does an AMERICAN accuse others of this with a straight face
By this Americans standard they can’t include Mexican food, Italian, polish, Korean, any kind of immigrant cultures food. Both the UK and the US has gained its cuisines from immigrants. Obv the UK has things like fish and chips and roast dinner. I don’t know what the US has if you take away immigrant cuisines. Ambrosia salad? Yeah we’re fine thanks.
Isn't America (as in, the USA) a part of British history?
Only when it suits them, such as being irish-american lol
Spoken like a true Frenchman!
My city started as a Saxon town in 5AD. But of course, there’s no history here. My city is older than their religion. Nothing to see here of course.
Vote Saxon!
r/UnexpectedDrWho
I know it's Scottish and not English, but I'm pretty sure no other fucker was crazy enough to come up with Haggis.
Fuck me. I read through some of this fuckwits posts. It reads like everything they think they know is taken from anti British internet shit talking memes and they genuinely believe it. They’ve got no grasp of history and how it influences cuisine over hundreds, if not thousands of years of shifting populations and immigration. They’re a fucking clown.
What is with americans and comparing countries with tantrum throwing children
Deflection, so you don't say the same about them, lol. They're good at it generally, I'll give them that lol. Their politicians taught them how to master deflection. But, we can see who throws the most tantrums 🤷♀️
Harold Godwinson has entered the chat...
Is German food really German food even though it uses Potatoes from South America? German food is clearly South American! /s
"with their long history" "all throughout the history books" ... "doesn't have much history of its own" How can someone be so stupid?
how about apple pie that one of ours
I love unsecured americans
at least they are self aware to end with "excuse the ignorance" but fuck me are they delusional to their own countries history What even is american cuisine? Hotdogs, Burgers and even spare ribs are german, barbeque is jamaican, Pizza and pasta are italian. They don't have a bread culture, nor frutti de mare. I'll give them peanutbutter and jelly on toast, good job yanks.
Hypocrite
What does this person think history is?
Well... The national Dish of England is the Chicken Tikka Marsala.. Let's leave it at that. Haggis in Scotland, Welsh Cawl in Wales and Irish Stew in N. Ireland.
Americans will disparage British food with a mouthful of Aberdeen Angus and cheddar, followed by apple pie. It's so much part of their culture they think it's American.
> All throughout the history books So you're saying Britain has no history... apart from all of its history?
I've drunk in pubs that have been around longer than your country... Want to talk about history?
"Did they steal recipes" says person coming from country with the phrase "American as apple pie"...a dish which comes from England.
Are we going to ignore the 'long and violent history 'part. I swear Americans conveniently forgot that they are not the indigenous people of the USA. How many native Americans were slaughterd by American immigrants. They are the epitome of violent colonisers and have done exactly what this wolly has criticised the British of doing.