FOOD EMBLEMS IN THE UK
Coordinator: Author:Istrate Ramona Porumbcean Teodora
Colegiul National Mihai EminescuLucrare pentru obinerea
atestatului de competene lingvistice la limba englez
Clasa a XII-a A 2015
Contents
Introduction2Chaper 13Food and its importance3Chapter 2- Food
Evolution in Uk42.1 Brief Histry on food evolution in UK42.2
British regional cuisine5Chapter 3 Traditionally cuisine63.1. Basic
ingredients and traditional cuisine63.2 Traditionally emblematical
dished73.3 Meals and meal times9Chapter 4- Celebrity
Chefs10Conclusion12IndexBibliography
Introduction
British cuisine has carved a niche for itself in the hearts of
food connoisseurs all over theworld. British food has evolved
considerably incorporating the cooking styles and cuisines of other
countries yet at the same time retaining its originality. Each
region of Britain has it owncharacteristic culinary traditions that
have played a major role in enriching the history of British
cuisine. For instance, the pork pies have been identified with the
culinary customs of the shires, whereas in Cornwall, the pasty
constituted an important part of lunch of theworkers. Some cuisines
in Britain although associated with particular localities have
attaineda national recognition, like the very famous Yorkshire
pudding. I have decided to aproach this theme beacuse I perceive
food as a way of expressing one country culture and evolution.I
believe that when we talk about food we should not only think about
it as something that is eaten in order to sustain life, it is also
a way of describing people lifestyle and activities.This quotidian
aspect has evolved into a sample for any country and in UK it has
created a true brand in people life style.A great part of my spare
time, I have spent it watching Jamie Olivers TV shows about
preparing traditional British dishes. Because of that, when I saw
this task I decided tochose it to find more information about food
in United Kingdom and offer the opportunityfor others to find out
new information.To emphasize my way of thinking I consider that I
havechosen the subject Britishfood because had always been
captivated by the flavor of any dish that exists and I havebeen
interested in anything that has to do with Great Britain.Also, I
consider that the food is subject with a major importance and this
is not onlybecause if you do not eat properly you cannot have a
healthy life but also because food is thesupport of everything that
lives around us. Another controversial aspect that make me
chosenthis subject is the way that British food had been influenced
in history by others way of cooking.Remarkable is the fact that the
GB is a place where food and meals are an important partof people
lives. In the first place Britain is a country where everyone
respects the time of ameal, and of course everyone eats or tries to
eat at the certain time. Secondly people of thispart of the world
consider food to be an important part of any event of festival.
This is notonly because food is indispensable but, also because an
event or a feast that has a little of everything brings people
together.All in all, the utmost aspect which made me chosen this
subject was the fact that I lovecooking and I love learning new
things about food.
Chaper 1
Food and its importance
It is often said that you are what you eat.Human evolution
marked the food evolution too.If we draw a compaarison betwwen
whatever peopel used to eat long time ago, we will see a huge
development. Wild fruits and raw meat were replaced with cooked
food. Each and every culture has developed a specific type of
cooking based on a characteristically set of flavours combination
unique to that culture, which evoled over time. Other differences
include preferences (hot or cold, spicy or dull,etc.) and
practices. Many cultures have diversified their food by means of
preparation, cooking methds, and manufacturing.For example in Asia,
(in UK Asinan cuisinegenerally refers to South Asian cuisine)is
represented by the rice and noodles that are the mainly incredients
for 80% of their recipes.
As you travel through Europe, youll find regional similarities
in adjacent countries. Whether youre comparing fruit pastries,
dried sausages, cheeses, or potato dishes, youll find that each
European country has a unique gastronomic signature.
Mediterranean Cuisine Meat lovers willrevel in delicious
preparations of lamb, beef, and seafood; thanks to the extensive
use of vegetables, pulses, cheeses, seeds and nuts, this cuisine is
a pleasure for vegetarians as well.The Central European food
Hungary, renowned for its goulash and paprika-based dishes, has
dozens of other specialties to try. If youre in the Czech Republic
at Christmas time, feast on the traditional Christmas meal of carp
and potato salad. In Lithuania try the smoked meat and fish
specialties, and the tasty black rye bread youll find on every
table. Chapter 2- Food Evolution in the UK
2.1 Brief Histry on food evolution in UK
British cuisine is the specific set of cooking traditions and
practices associated with the United Kingdom. Historically, British
cuisine means unfussy dishes made with quality local incredients,
matched with simple sauces to accentuate flavour, rather than
disguis it.British cuisine has always been multicultural, a pot
pourri of eclectic styles. In ancient times influenced by the
Romans and in medieval times the French. When the Frankish Normans
invaded, they brought with them the spices of the east: cinnamon,
saffron, mace, nutmeg, pepper, ginger. Sugar came to England at
that time, and was considered a spice -- rare and expensive. Before
the arrival of cane sugars, honey and fruit juices were the only
sweeteners. The few Medieval cookery books that remain record
dishes that use every spice in the larder, and chefs across Europe
saw their task to be the almost alchemical transformation of raw
ingredients into something entirely new (for centuries the English
aristocracy ate French food) which they felt distinguished them
from the peasants.During Victorian times good old British stodge
mixed with exotic spices from all over the Empire. And today
despite being part of Europe we've kept up our links with the
countries of the former British Empire, now united under the
Commonwealth.One of the benefits of having an empire is that we did
learn quite a bit from the colonies. From East Asia (China) we
adopted tea (and exported the habit to India), and from India we
adopted curry-style spicing, we even developed a line of spicy
sauces including ketchup, mint sauce, Worcestershire sauce and
deviled sauce to indulge these tastes. Today it would be fair to
say that curry has become a national dish.Among English cakes and
pastries, many are tied to the various religious holidays of the
year. Hot Cross Buns are eaten on Good Friday, Simnel Cake is for
Mothering Sunday, Plum Pudding for Christmas, and Twelfth Night
Cake for Epiphany.Unfortunately a great deal of damage was done to
British cuisine during the two world wars. Britain is an island and
supplies of many goods became short. The war effort used up goods
and services and so less were left over for private people to
consume. Ships importing food stuffs had to travel in convoys and
so they could make fewer journeys. During the second world war food
rationing began in January 1940 and was lifted only gradually after
the war.The British tradition of stews, pies and breads, according
to the taste buds of the rest of the world, went into terminal
decline. What was best in England was only that which showed the
influence of France, and so English food let itself become a
gastronomic joke and the French art of Nouvell Cuisine was
adopted.
2.2 British regional cuisine
In the late 1980's, British cuisine started to look for a new
direction. Disenchanted with theoverblown (and under-nourished)
Nouvelle Cuisine, chefs began to look a little closer to homefor
inspiration. Calling on a rich (and largely ignored) tradition, and
utilising many diverse andinteresting ingredients, the basis was
formed for what is now known as modern British food.Game has
enjoyed resurgence in popularity although it always had a central
role in the Britishdiet, which reflects both the abundant richness
of the forests and streams and an old aristocraticprejudice against
butchered meats.In London especially, one can not only experiment
with the best of British, but the best of the world as there are
many distinct ethnic cuisines to sample, Chinese, Indian, Italian
and Greek restaurants are amongst the most popular.Although some
traditional dishes such as roast beef and Yorkshire pudding,
Cornishpasties, steak and kidney pie, bread and butter pudding,
treacle tart, spotted dick or fish andchips, remain popular, there
has been a significant shift in eating habits in Britain. Rice and
pastahave accounted for the decrease in potato consumption and the
consumption of meat has alsofallen. Vegetable and salad oils have
largely replaced the use of butter.Roast beef is still the national
culinary pride. It is called a "joint," and is served at middayon
Sunday with roasted potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, two vegetables, a
good strong horseradish,gravy, and mustard.Today there is more
emphasis on fine, fresh ingredients in the better restaurants
andmarkets in the UK offer food items from all over the world.
Salmon, Dover sole, exotic fruit,Norwegian prawns and New Zealand
lamb are choice items. Wild fowl and game are otherspecialties on
offer.In fact fish is still important to the English diet, we are
after all an island surrounded bysome of the richest fishing areas
of the world. Many species swim in the cold offshore waters:sole,
haddock, hake, plaice, cod (the most popular choice for fish and
chips), turbot, halibut,mullet and John Dory. Oily fishes also
abound (mackerel, pilchards, and herring) as docrustaceans like
lobster and oysters. Eel, also common, is cooked into a wonderful
pie withlemon, parsley, and shallots, all topped with puff
pastry
Chapter 3 Traditionally cuisine
3.1. Basic ingredients and traditional cuisine MeatThe British
people consume regularly all types of meat:pork, rabbits or some
wild bird species. All of these may be servedin restaurants, but,
also, fish (salmon, cod, trout) is present. VegetablesPotato is the
basic vegetable in Britain, used sincethe earliest times, when it
was the principal food for poor families,then following cucumbers,
cabbage, onions, peas. Fruit Mainly apples grown throughout the
country, but alsoberries, which grow smoothly thanks to the cooler
climateTraditional meal is rarely eaten nowadays, apart from
Sundays. A recent survey hasproved that most people in Britain eat
curry! Rice or pasta dishes are now favoured as a British
Dinner.
3.2 Traditionally emblematical dished
British food has traditionally been based on beef ,lamb, pork,
chicken and fish and generally served with pattoes and one other
vegetable. The most common and typical food eaten in Britain
includes:
1. The SandwichIt was named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of
Sandwich, an 18th-century English aristocrat, although he was
neither the inventor nor sustainer of this food. It is said that he
ordered his valet to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of
bread, and because Montagu also happened to be the Fourth Earl of
Sandwich, others began to order The same as Sandwich!. It is said
that Lord Sandwich was fond of this frm of food because it allowed
him to continue playing cards while eating without getting his
cards greasy from eating meat with his bare hands.2. Fish and
ChipsWho first had the bright idea to marry fish with chips remains
the subject of fierce controversy and we will probably never know
for sure. It is safe to say it was somewhere in England, but
arguments rage over whether it was up north or down south. Some
credit a northern eutrepreneur called John Lees. As early as 1863,
it is believed he was selling fish and chips out of a wooden hut at
Mossley market in industrial Lancashire. 3. Meat PiesBritish mea
pies come in all shapes and flavours. Od time favourites can be
found on most local high streets-usually in the traditional
butchers shop.The humble pie was still very famous in Victorian
times when meat pies were sold all over England by travelling
pie-men who walked the streets with their freshly made pies held
high in a basket. They sold their wares in taverns and public
houses and were always to be seen at race meetings and fairs. 4.
TrifleLayers of alcohol-soaked sponge cake alternate with fruit,
custard and whippedcream, some people add jelly, but that's for
kids.5. Welsh FaggotsPig's liver is made into meatballs with onion,
beef suet, bread crumbs,and sometimes a chopped apple. Faggots used
to be made to use up the odd parts of a pig after ithad been
slaughtered.6. Welsh Rabbit (or Rarebit) Cheese is grated and
melted with milk or ale. Pepper, salt,butter, and mustard are then
added. The mix is spread over toast and baked until "the
cheesebubbles and becomes brown in appetizing-looking
splashes".
7. Yorkshire puddingIt was invented during the war, when it was
a food shortage, in thattime it was made marking pudding with fat
from the roast meat left from Sunday.Another dish, resulting in
debris but very tasty, is Bubble and Squeak, made of scraps of
potatoes, cabbage and roast cold.British import much of its food
products, and I believe they have learned to live
relativelycheaply..3.3 Meals and meal timesTraditonally, the meals
are: Breakfast- between 7:00 and 9:00 Lunch between 12;00 and 1:30
p.m High Tea- anywhere from 5;30 at night to 6:30 p.m Dinner-
between 7:00 and 8:30 p.mA typical English breakfast consists of
bacon, poached or fried eggs, fried or grilled tomatoes and
mushrooms, fried bread or toast with butter and sausages, all
washed down with a cup of coffee. Nowadays, however, a typical
English breakfast is more likely to be a bowl of cereals, a slice
of toast, orange juice and a cup of coffee. In the winter many
people eat porridge or boiled oats.LunchIt is the main meal of the
day, and it is served between 12:00 and 1:30 p.m.. In the middle
Ages, great nobles ate the most formal dinner, around noon. A
typical British meal for lunch is meat and two vegetables. One of
the vegetables that is almost used are patatoes.High TeaHigh Tea is
an early evening meal, tipically eaten between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m..
It is now largely followed by a later lighter evening meal. High
tea wuld usually consist of cold meats, eggs or fish, cakes and
sandwiches. In it is origin, the term high tea was used as a way to
distinguish it from low tea or afternoon tea. Low tea was served in
a sitting room where low tables were placed near sofas or chairs
generally. The word high referred to a table, this one on a dining
room table, and it would be loaded with substantial dinner dishes-
meats, cheese, breads, perhaps the classic sheperds pie or steak
and kidney pie.
Chapter 4- Celebrity Chefs
Jamie OliverJames Trevor "Jamie" Oliver, MBE (born 27 May 1975)
is an English celebrity chef, restauranteur, and media personality
known for his food-focused television shows, cookbooks and more
recently his global campaign for better food education.Jamie grew
up surrounded by good food: his parents ran the Cricketers pub in
Essex and, from the age of eight, he started cooking and helping
the chefs there, and learning to appreciate quality ingredients
along the way. After an undistinguished school career, he decided
he wanted to cook for a living and studied catering at Westminster
Kingsway College in London.During his apprenticeship, Jamie worked
with some of the best chefs in London. He was a pastry chef for
Antonio Carluccio at the Neal Street Restaurant, then moved on to
Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers River Caf. It was while working at the
River Caf that he was spotted by a TV producer and his life changed
The Naked Chef, the first of numerous cookery shows to be fronted
by Jamie, was commissioned.Jamies work outside of the kitchen
includes campaigning for better school meals; he has also made
documentaries highlighting the issues surrounding poultry
production and the plight of British pig farmers. His Fifteen
enterprise, which now spans several cities, has helped
under-privileged young people gain valuable experience in the
restaurant business. Gordon RamsayPart restaurant empire-builder,
part celebrity, and part sublimely talented cook, Gordon Ramsay is
one of the most high-profile chefs in the world, known for his
sharp tongue and no-nonsense approach.It all could have been so
different. As a teenager he was on the books of Glasgow Rangers FC,
but injury put paid to his chances of a professional career. So,
imbued with an ambition never to fail again, he switched his
attention to cooking and completed a course in hotel management.
After graduating, his ambition took him to two of London's
legendary restaurants - Marco Pierre White's Harvey's and Albert
Roux's Le Gavroche - and then to France where he worked under Jol
Robuchon and Guy Savoy.Gordons first big break was when an employer
offered him the opportunity to take over as part-owner of Aubergine
in London in 1993; within three years the restaurant had been
awarded two Michelin stars. However, after a bust-up with the
restaurant's backers, Gordon left and took all his staff with him
to a new venture in Chelsea, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. It became a
huge critical success, earning three Michelin stars within three
years of opening. Gordon now has several restaurants in London, as
well as restaurants in New York, Los Angeles, Florida, Dubai,
Tokyo, South Africa, Ireland and France.
Annabel KarmelAnnabel is a leading author on preparing and
cooking food for children. Following the tragic loss of her first
baby, Annabel a trained Cordon Bleu cook extensively researched the
topic of feeding young children. She combined her findings with her
own experience and worked with a nutritionist to produce her first
book, The Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner, published in
1991.The book was a big hit and was endorsed by the Great Ormond
Street Hospital for Sick Children. Since then, Annabel has written
more than 19 books on the subject of feeding babies and young
children, as well as books teaching children how to cook.Annabel
has received a number of awards for her work. In 2006, she was
awarded an MBE by Her Majesty the Queen for her outstanding
contribution to the field of child nutrition.
Conclusion
To offer a personal conclusion, I believe that food is the most
important aspect of life thatinfluences us. Firstly, no one can
live without food and that's why we learned to cook tosurvive. But
while evolving different recipes I discovered that we have seemed
more deliciousthan others, and through this way I learned to eat
only what we love.But even if this is completely true, food do not
have to be a proposal in life but a way of surviving. With regard
to the way food is cooked in Great Britain I think that in Britain
is aspecial place where flavors of many countries had encounter.
.Great Britain is a place where everyone can enjoy food because
here the meals are an important part of peoples life. British
cuisine is not recommended for those who want to follow a healthy
lifestyle because it is too consistent in calories. In recent years
trying to revive modern British cuisine with Mediterranean and
Asian influences, but so far without great success. Forordinary
people, British cuisine will always be similar based on substantial
breakfast of beans orfried fish served with potatoes.To put in a
nutshell, I think I have learned some important aspects about
British foodthat had influenced my vision that I had about Great
Britain.
11
Index
Fish and chips
The Sandwich
Meat pie Bibliography
Great British Food author Heather Hay French The Diary Book of
British Food author Ebury Press British food an Extraordinary
thousand Years of History Colin Spencer, ElizabethMartyn Food &
Bar Magazine Good Food Magazine Kitchen Secrets Magazine Body +
Soul Magazine Web Bibliography: www.wikipedia.org www.artline.ro
www.britishoppe.ro www.google.ro/search
