Student Life

What to Eat in England

May 15, 2012 , 2 English for Less

What to eat in England? You probably have been thinking about this since you decided to come and study English. For a country with over a thousand years of history, you’d figure there would have been plenty of time to learn how to cook.  The early English people passed over cooking lessons in favor of learning how to build a more effective torture device but there are traditional dishes that you will find delicious.

Being serious –  there are many gorgeous English dishes that you must try when you come to the UK.

Fish and chips — well known food of England.  Is it good?  Well, yeah, it is.  The crust is always golden brown with a light crunch, and the fish (usually cod) is flaky and moist. I would like to also  mention the fact that one of the best fish and chips in the country is in Hastings. The name of the place is Maggie’s. Don’t expect anything fancy but the food… it is brilliant. You can find the place  here (Mark “A” on the map).

The full English breakfast is a terribly unhealthy but incredibly delicious  dish of items such as fried tomato, fried mushrooms, baked beans, eggs, bread, bacon and black pudding (which is a kind of sausage).

By the way, the definition of “pudding” means two shockingly different things for Americans and Brits.  American pudding is a smooth, creamy dessert item.  But in England, pudding can be anything from sausage to bread.

Meat pies are basically like chicken pot pies, with steak and kidney pie being one of the most popular.

The Sunday roast is a traditional dish usually served on… get this… Sunday.  It’s roast beef, steamed vegetables, roasted potatoes and Yorkshire pudding.  Again, don’t be fooled by the word pudding.  There’s nothing pudding-like about Yorkshire pudding, it is a kind of salty biscuit.

Toffee pudding is a popular dessert made with a rich, nutty cake (like a bread pudding) and covered in warm toffee sauce.

I can’t cover all the well known dishes in one article. I only mention my personal favourites, so go ahead and taste them all if you can.