On the other hand Americans eat like they have free healthcare…
Americans have been sold and eat up the idea that instant gratification beats the effort needed to realize something greater.
In my defense, everything I worked for in the first 18 years of my life fell apart in the next two, so I’ve just kind of given up on anything that isn’t now or in the very near future.
No no you see, Americans work* so much, they don’t have time to first learn and then practise to cook healthy meals at home. Hence fast food chains!!
*work American style, as in staying at work long hours but also spend about 60% of their work day chatting with co workers, or on the phone, going on personal, non-work related errands, browsing the internet, selecting, getting, eating, and ridding their bowels of food.
Try getting a blue collar job, and tell me again how the majority of American workers are slacking. Must be nice over there in your “office job,” that clearly can be done working at home.
Also I don’t know about other office jobs, but in IT, it was feast or famine. When there was work to be done, we worked 100 hour weeks, but when we finally managed to put out all the fires, yeah we would spend weeks at a time working on side projects, not slacking off.
i just learned (on Lemmy) that Americans basically don’t get raises annually. 1 or 2% raise apparently is the burn. so 40% work in a work day sounds way too much for me. good job, American workers. those fuckers don’t deserve your labor even at 40%. keep slacking, i say.
Imagine taking a joke without having to jab back 😂. Oh world you are so petty.
Imagine giving it out but not being able to take it.
If it was just a bit of fun then, its still just a bit of fun now.
Just to be clear, we want you to have free healthcare. Its not meant as gloating and you should be angry. Just not at us. You deserve free health care and you won’t find many British people who wouldn’t want you to have it too.
This reminds me of that post
“Is British food really that bad?”
“If made correctly, Yes”
I’m going to be visiting in a few months. Speaking as a foreigner of course, is it British culture to minimize both color and hope in your cuisine?
Don’t eat at a JD Wetherspoon, it’s basically McPub.
As I said in another comment, British cuisine basically had to be neutered during the wars due to extended rationing. People lived, but long-term damage was made. The best food here isn’t British, but British takes on foreign food.
It changed people’s perception of food. They might’ve thought spices were too strong.
40s and 50s food was simple to make and high in calories, like you’re trying to survive in a zombie apocalypse or something. My grandparents didn’t experience a lot of the post-war optimism a lot of the world seemed to have because Britain got fucked in a properly long-term way. Being an island that fought to the very end left it in a fairly unique position.
Small history rant over.
Like others have said, the war ‘locked in’ perceptions but there were years of supply shortages and government rationing of foodstuffs afterwards, ending in the early 50s.
Cookbooks were re-written at the time to emphasize economic meals like stews and soups that used a lot of vegetables you can grow in the garden and to use up scraps. Potatoes, leeks, and cabbage grew to feature much more heavily, meat was OUT as was sugar and most fruit… You try working varied and fun meals with those limits
So combined with the more ‘bland’ cuisine of the era and extensive rationing limitations, generations of households got used to cooking and eating the basic foods. Immigration and globalization has broadened the modern offerings, but the British classics’ are undeniably under spiced shades of grey and brown.
Bleu cheese is good, but this is the first time in 43 years I’ve ever heard someone praise British cheese above Swiss or French cheeses.
Edit: looking it up that does look tasty. I’ll have to find some nearby.
Edit 2: fucking hell. It’s $20 a pound… Gonna have to get some though, any suggestions on a wine pairing? Apparently I could get an entire wheel for $130, but I don’t have a cellar to store it in, and there’s no way I’d go through an entire Skyrim sized wheel of cheese.
If you like sharp cheeses, I would highly recommend the cheese shop in Cuba, NY. They make some excellent extra sharp white cheddar.
If you’d like to make any suggestions especially in the south London area or Southampton I’d be happy to hear them.
I don’t know Southampton very well but I see there is a “The Pig…” there. I’ve been to one elsewhere and it was really good.
In terms of London, I’d say don’t limit yourself to the south, you’re never really more than 45 mins away from anywhere really. Brick Lane is a fun area, it’s kind of hipstery/street food/vintage clothing-y but also has two of my favourite places.
SMOKESTAK - one of the best things to actually survive the barbecue revolution a few years ago. Everything is smoked on premises, no take out.
Beigel Shop. This is one of (if not the) oldest bagel joints in London. It’s open 24/7, take out only, they only do three things (lox, chicken & salt beef). Have the salt beef with pickles and mustard, expect to queue, thank me later.
E. Thought Beigel was older, it’s only from the 70s. E2. Found it, it was next door. It’s from 1855, link updated
If it’s not too late for your visit, the most renowned curry house in soton is Kutis. I used to live near the city rather than in it and found myself more often than not heading out to the new forest to find a country pub to go for nice meals.
Fun fact: the first curry shop to open in GB predated the first fish and chippery. Curry may not have been invented in GB, though apparently Chicken Tikka Masala was, but I would claim that the popularization of curries worldwide was certainly influenced more by the British than the Indians.
I would be shocked if that is true about the fish and chips coming after the curry. But, if it turns out to be true, I promise to repeat it very often.
Pretty much all the big brand pub meals are like that now. If it involves anything more than 15 minutes in an air fryer or a quick blast in the microwave, it isn’t on the menu.
I went to a cafe the other month, and asked for the toasted sandwich without the mustard. They couldn’t do it because they were all pre-packed. A bloody sandwich! It’s a crying shame as well, because the cafe used to be owned by somebody else, who did the best triple-cooked chips I’ve ever had, and went bust when the nearby carpark owner started slapping parking fines on all their customer’s cars. I liked the two mile walk to get there, but I get that a lot of people don’t.
English national dish is Chicken Tikka Masala. With a bit of garnish it can look quite colourful.
Lmao I guess when you’ve subjugated half the world, you can claim any dish as your own.
Chicken Tikka Masala appears to have credibly originated in the UK. It’s probably as British as Beef Stroganoff is Russian (okay, looking it up, it looks like the latter may be at least a bit of a myth, but it gets my point across).
Don’t know why you are getting downvoted, you are absolutely right. The last time I was in London, which to be fair was over 10 years ago, their bread tasted sweeter than some cakes in my country.
British food when it’s not presented like shit
Is it always leftovers day or is there a plate shortage?
Why are there always 15 items on the plate with British food?
depicted: 6, and gravy.
to make a typical American meal:
swap cauliflower for macaroni, double the amount of cheese sauce
roast potatoes for fries
roast meat for BBQ
gravy for bbq sauce
peas for collard greens
carrots for Brussels sprouts
yorkshire puddings for a slice on plain, untoasted, unbuttered wonderbread
America is big. This is like a southern meal maybe? Or more like what the stereotype of the south is.
My only question is why are the Yorkshire puddings hollow? All the ones I’ve had have been stuffed with mince and vegs, but I’ve never been outside 49 of the 50 states.
Deconstructed Sheppards pie