Traditional British Cooking

High Tea is a purely British institution. Though foods for high tea and supper are mostly interchangeable, it was more the custom to have something cold for high tea and something hot for supper.

The Turkey compared with the hen is a new resident in Britain. Contrary to common belief it is not the oldest British Christmas bird; the goose is much more traditional. America can claim the turkey for her own where it is a “must” for Thanks-giving Day in November. The best turkeys come from Norfolk and due to modern rearing methods are available all the year round.

Hare and Venison are the best known of game meats in Britain. Venison is the culinary name for all breeds of the deer and the free ranging forest deer from Scotland are considered the choicest.

Veal is not typically traditional British meat; it was never popular among working people in the country. In fact it was rather suspect, what was wrong with the calf that it had to be killed?

What we call roast meat today is really baked meat; roasting was done in front of the open fire. Roasted meat should be cooked in an oven tin in a hot oven, so that it comes into contact with dry heat on all sides to get the characteristic brown “crust”. To a housewife meat is the thing and a vegetable course is a hit-or-miss affair.

Christmas Pudding. Britain could well be called the “Land of Puddings”, so many puddings there are, but the Christmas pudding is a special thing. The hostess clears the table, and in comes standing on a large dish, a big, round dark-brown pudding, with a flag or a piece of holly stuck in at the top of it and flames licking round its sides. This is the celebrated Christmas pudding, covered with white sauce and burning in brandy. It is made with eggs, flour, sugar, mixed dried fruit, chopped peel, grated carrot and shredded suet.

Marmalade. The traditional coarse cut bitter marmalade which is part of the British breakfast is made from Seville oranges. But marmalade can be made from any of the citrus fruits, sweet oranges, grape-fruit and lemons. These fruits make a sweeter marmalade for tea-time.

Scones are small soft tea cakes of barley meal or wheat-flour usually of quadrant or triangular shape.

Custard is a sweet mixture of eggs and milk, sweetened and flavoured, and baked or boiled. It is often eaten with fruit.

Fish and Chips. The pieces of fish (cod, haddock, plaice) are dipped in a mixture of flour and water and then dropped into deep boiling oil for a few minutes. They come out crisp and hot. Chips are small pieces of raw potatoes also fried crisp.

Kippers are split, salted and smoked herrings; they can be grilled or pan-fried, and nothing should be added to them but a little butter and they need no longer than 5 minutes on each side.

Chutneys are cooked mixed pickles in which fruits and vegetables are blended with spices and vinegar so that you get a sweet sour preserve.

Cheeses. A whole book could be written about the cheeses of the British Isles, their history and tradition. Cheddar is perhaps the most popular. It has been a favourite since Tudor times and has firm composition and a sharp tang. Being so firm, it is excellent for cooked cheese dishes. Cheshire cheese is one of the oldest English cheeses. It is a curdy, rather crumbly cheese with superb tangy flavour.

Gravy is a sauce made chiefly from the juice that comes out of meat while it is being cooked. It can also be cooked specially. Chop vegetables (onions, carrots, celery), heat fat and fry these until lightly browned. Add flour, stir over low heat until smooth, add stock, slowly stir all the time until boiling again. Cover and simmer 10 minutes, then strain into sauce-boat. A small glass of sherry added just before serving is an improvement.

Exercise 1. Pick out from the text:

a) all words used to denote the ways food may be cooked, i.e. boiled – to boil…

b) dry ingredients; i.e. flour…

c) spices, i.e. salt…

Exercise 2. False or True?