Why does British food have such a bad reputation? And is it still deserved? From bland stereotypes to trendy makeovers, we wanted to discover how UK cuisine evolved from the Industrial Revolution to today’s modern dining scene. In Paris, top British chefs redefine what British food really means.
00:01 – 01:15 British food is not everyone’s favourite
01:16 – 02:05 What even is British food?
02:11 – 03:30 A brief history of bad food
03:30 – 05:15 Why open a British Deli in Paris?
05:15 – 06:35 The revolution of school meals
06:35 – 08:32 Modern British Cuisine (in Paris)
08:32 – 10:00 Taste testing the best of British food
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25 Comments
GREGGGGGGGGS
On est tellement bon en cuisine qu’on a réussi a faire cuisiner correctement des rosbifs. Vive la France.
France – the only country in the world that loves meat, and loves pastry, but has no clue how to make a pie.
Very interesting!
As well as enclosure, Britain lacked the peasant class. The backbone of all great food cultures. They don't have as much as the rich, & they have more than the poorest & they have to be creative.
Bit of a made up video. An advert perhaps…? Also, there are better sausage rolls elsewhere in Paris in my opinion.
I grew up in a household where my mum was an excellent cook and always put a lot of effort into food. I've always found if you're in the UK and you want good food it can be found, always.
There are great pubs everywhere serving classic british dishes and doing it well, and excellent restaurants which i always take my european friends to, to showcase what the uk can do.
HOWEVER, I think its still true that in the UK if you don't know where to look and you just either – ask the average brit to cook for you, or pick a restaurant without checking its quality beforehand, you will more often than not end up with something shit.
The average brit is not focussed on food in the same way the french, italian and spanish are, and as such you have to know where to look for the great food, whereas my experience in france, spain and italy, is that you'll probably get a good meal, even if you don't check google beforehand (unless you're in a tourist trap area).
I truly believe the UK has great food, but I don't think the average brit does that justice.
your fingernail got it perfect … Britain is still cooking WW2 rationing recipes.
I have loved cooking-related shows since I was a kid watching the Galloping Gourmet (Graham Kerr in the 1970s). And this was a very nice intro to changes happening around a usually bland cuisine (English). However, the thing that captured me were the Narrator/ Presenter's dimples and eyes. She is lovely and charming and flirtatious with food and education …. so a great combination. Good job!
I think you did a really good job summarizing how British cuisine ended up the way that it is, and it's always nice to see people who understand British cuisine on a deeper level than "bland and bad". Merci beaucoup!
Many Bakeries in the U.K now sell gourmet style sausage rolls; chilli, pork and apple, Cumberland, etc. Not all like Greggs haha. Always think it's more like a paste than a sausage there. Lived abroad for 20 years and have come back and there is plenty of good food around, especially the pubs. You forgot to mention our lovely deserts. However, from visiting Rome and Lyon recently, we still have some way to go.
Ok, I love British food now 😍
You can eat very properly in a pub in the UK.
All I can say is David's' mother sucked as a cook, since that was NOT my experience when growing up and I'm older than him! We did not have TV dinners out of the freezer (Maybe once a week), my mum worked, came home then cooked a meal for the family. My dad has gone, but my mum is 90 this year and is still cooking… when her back pain allows that is!
Brussels also
Britain had a great reputation for food then the second world war came along and britain
Had extreme rationing the americans saw what we were having to eat and trolled our food
accross europe the food is good it wins awards all over the world. But reputation lingers
To the extent people tast it like it then you tell thsm its british they change there mind and
Suddenly decide they diddent like it after all. Reputation trumps tast
0:44 British food isn't very bad in the first place. I've lived in 4 countries, there's great food in England.
Loads of dishes, amazing produce too.
2:03 thats his experience growing in England, it isnt univerisal
9:46 british cooking already uses herbs and horseradish/ mustard . Shakespearian era cook books had malanagal spice dishes too.
The inclusion of the enclosures & industrial recent & war time rationing was all true and interesting of course.
Although there always been good British food & dishes & produce in the country despite these challenges
The Uk has good food ,but bad cooks.
"Britain colonized the whole damn world for spices and does not use ANY OF THEM" –I guess that person has never heard of the phrase "Don't get high on your own supply", haha.
I have had posh its not a patch on my mums or grandmas .
British eat food to survive or to get on with work and not waste time like the Italy, Spanish and French that why British have invented more things than all these Countrys combined
David dies a great sausage, however the pork pies are sometimes very bland with no jelly in them.