The British One Hundred
Ok, so British food gets a pretty bad rep (occasionally quite rightly so – see item 63 on the list) but there are so many British ingredients that are well worth celebrating. The Omnivore’s Hundred got me thinking about my own personal list and I could resist no longer (considering I only posted the Omnivore’s Hundred this morning, I didn’t resist very long). I’m so interested to find out what bloggers from around the world think about some of these entries and to see how many you have eaten. Of course, being a UK resident all my life, I’ve scoffed down nearly all of them – hardly surprising. How many have you tried? Anything I’ve missed that really should be on there?
(If you would like to post the list on your blog and link back here, please do so, I would love to see all that British fare spread around!)
Edit: Apologies, I forgot to add the rules/guidelines/instructions/whatevers…
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Link back to Food Stories, if you would be so kind.
1. Grey squirrel (oh, how I’ve tried!)
2. Steak and kidney pie (one of my all-time favourite pies)
3. Bubble and squeak
4. Spotted dick (now come on, it’s a pudding people….)
5. Hot cross buns
6. Laver bread
7. Toad in the hole
8. Shepherds pie AND cottage pie (bonus point if you know the difference!)
9. Scotch egg (I’ve had excellent versions like the one at The Real Food Festival and bad ones, very bad ones…)
10. Parkin
11. Welsh rarebit
12. Jellied eels (I can’t eat the skin though)
13. Stilton (and now we have the wonderful Stichelton too)
14. Marmite (I love it, by the way..)
15. Ploughman’s lunch (I will never tire of the Ploughman’s)
16. Cucumber sandwiches
17. Coronation chicken (now THIS is another reason why we have a bad rep)
18. Gloucester old spot (my uncle keeps them in his back garden)
19. Cornish pasty
20. Samphire
21. Mince pies
22. Winkles
23. Salad cream (I used to be literally addicted to cheese and salad cream sandwiches, which is one hell of a dirty snack)
24. Malt loaf (LOVE IT spread thickly with butter)
25. Haggis
26. Beans on toast
27. Cornish clotted cream tea
28. Pickled egg (for the really hardcore, there is an old English pub tradition of putting an egg in a bag of crisps and shaking it about then eating it. I know this because I have worked in a lot of pubs in the past and talked to a lot of people from a certain generation!)
29. Pork scratchings (like I say, I’ve worked in a lot of pubs)
30. Pork pie (essential picnic food!)
31. Black pudding (William Rose do a great one if you are nearby)
32. Patum Peperium or Gentleman’s relish (I use this for seasoning)
33. Earl grey tea
34. Elvers
35. HP Sauce (got two bottles on the go right now)
36. Potted shrimps
37. Stinking bishop (I’m game though)
38. Elderflower cordial
39. Pea and ham soup (Niamh made a gorgeous one recently)
40. Aberdeen Angus Beef
41. Lemon posset
42. Guinness
43. Cumberland sausage
44. Native oysters
45. A ‘full English’ (how else would I cure my hangover? Well, apart from oysters, they are the BEST CURE)
46. Cockles
47. Faggots (practically grew up on ‘em)
48. Eccles cake
49. Potted Cromer crab
50. Trifle
51. Stargazy pie (not the original, but my own)
52. English mustard (brace yourself!)
53. Christmas pudding
54. Cullen skink
55. Liver and bacon with onions
56. Wood pigeon (see top picture)
57. Branston pickle
58. Oxtail soup
59. Piccalilli (I like it with number 30)
60. Sorrel
62. Chicken tikka masala
63. Deep fried Mars Bar (one bite! SO disgusting)
64. Fish, chips and mushy peas
65. Pie and mash with liquor (although I didn’t eat it in Manze’s, London’s oldest pie and mash shop but I will soon as it’s just down the road!)
66. Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding (with gravy)
67. Pickled onions
68. Cock-a-leekie soup
69. Rabbit and Hare
70. Bread sauce
71. Cauliflower cheese
72. Crumpets (one of my most favourite things in the world)
73. Rice pudding (I am not a fan)
74. Bread and butter pudding
75. Bakewell tart
76. Kendall mint cake
77. Summer pudding
78. Lancashire hot pot
79. Beef Wellington
80. Eton mess
81. Neeps and tatties (eat them with your haggis)
82. Pimms
83. Scampi
84. Mint sauce
85. English strawberries and cream (sigh wistfully….)
86. Isle of Wight garlic
87. Mutton (massively underrated)
88. Deep fried whitebait with tartare sauce
89. Angels on horseback (I really want to try these)
90. Omelette Arnold Bennett
91. Devilled kidneys
92. Partridge and pheasant
93. Stew and dumplings
94. Arbroath smokies (I ate one in Canteen recently and it was outstanding. Apparently, they do one of the best number 45′s in London)
95. Oyster loaves (sounds interesting though!)
96. Sloe gin
97. Damson jam
98. Soda bread
99. Quince jelly
100. Afternoon tea at the Ritz (It’s a British institution and I haven’t done it!)
I can’t wait to hear the responses to this. I am bound to have missed something absolutely essential and I know I will kick myself when someone tells me…
(The picture at the top is a salad I made recently using UK pigeon breasts, beets and watercress. It has a pomegranate dressing and is finished with more pomegranate seeds and walnuts).
Category: Memes 33 comments »
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Great list!
I would have to add trifle, lardy cake, and proper English cheddar. And on the Scottish front… clootie dumpling and pudding suppers from the chippie. Oh, how I miss black pudding suppers! (And red pudding, and white pudding. But not fruit pudding. That’s just for breakfast with Lorne sausage.)
Angelas last blog post..Orecchiette with broccoli and chilli
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:45 pm
And tablet! You haven’t lived until you’ve tried tablet! Ideally made by someone’s granny.
Angelas last blog post..Orecchiette with broccoli and chilli
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Oh good, another list to enable my procrastination. Will get to this some time!
Wendys last blog post..Working Girl
September 4th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Brilliant!
I’ll post this one up soon
kitties last blog post..My Turn! Think Spice… Think…. Fenugreek!
September 4th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Oh, brilliant. I was just saying to someone yesterday that I’d like to see a British version of this. Will link back to you when I’ve got some time.
Gingers last blog post..Steamed Fish
September 4th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Wow… so many dishes I haven’t even heard of! This will change – a friend from England just dropped off a pile of English cookbooks to “expand my education.” My husband is afraid…:)
Fearless Kitchens last blog post..Recipe: Sweet Bisteeya with Almonds
September 4th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
WOW! In my mind, I haven’t done quite bad! Love the Scottish fare – must be because my dad’s ancestors are from there – love black pudding, spotted dick (hey, where’s the sticky toffee pudding with Bird’s custard???- my all-time favorite_, cock-a-leekie, haggis, mutton, mushy peas, rice pudding and trifles are all some of my favorites! Great list!
JennDZ_The LeftoverQueens last blog post..New Foodie Blogroll Launch!!!!!!
September 5th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
i know i only tried about 7 of them, but i love, love, love the list!
September 6th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
I haven’t posted my results yet but I added Birds Custard and Fullers ESB to my list.
Reading this list made me want to make a pot of tea and plate of crumpets.
Breadchicks last blog post..Weekend Cat Blogging: Awards and One Very Cranky Lady Lives Here
September 7th, 2008 at 5:33 am
What about bangers and mash? Robert Irvine always made it sound so appetizing.
Do you know of a Chinese food list?
Chriss last blog post..Homemade Seitan
September 7th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
wow thats a 100 Brit dishes !! hmm would love to see the entries rolling in. Good luck !
kates last blog post..Kelewele
September 8th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Brilliant Helen. Right up my street. And good to see winkles on there. I’m sure there are loads to add but this is enough for any argument now!
Cheers
Dave
David Halls last blog post..Flavour Flav
September 8th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Loved this one!! Posted it today and linked back to you. Thanks for bringing back memories from my childhood with cauliflower cheese and lemon posset.
Micheles last blog post..The British One Hundered
September 10th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Hey – pretty good score
I have seen this one on a few blogs, maybe I’ll still attempt it, although I am somewhat behind, what with only coming to the UK 8 years ago! Still pondering whether to put together a South African 100…
Jeannes last blog post..Awards – for me and for South African food producers
September 10th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Angela – Trifle is already on there, it’s number 50. I agree with the additions of lardy cake and cheddar though! How odd that I didn’t put cheddar on there.
Tablet! I need to look this up! And I need to find a willing granny…
Wendy – Oh go on, do the list. I want toknow what Scottish delcacies I have missed!
Ginger – great minds think alike…
fearless Kicthen -I’m lokoing forward to seeing the results.
Jenn – hey not bad! your heritage shows through!
Andreea – Get eating…
Kittie – Can’ wait!
Breadchick – I always want a pot of tea and a plate of crumpets…
Chris _ yes I thought of adding that but then already had cumberland sausage and mash somewhere else so decided against it – it’s hard with only 100!
Kate- bet you didn’t think it was possible!
David – I knew you would like the Henry Winklers!
Michele – i loved reading through your list, thank you.
Jeanne – I would love to see how many you have eaten and I would also LOVE to see the SA version!
September 10th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Being on the other side of the world from you, I think I’ve eaten only 10% of the foods on this list.
Would you call these foods uniquely British, or does it encompass foods from all over the UK?
Nates last blog post..Mochi Ice Cream from Bubbies (Honolulu)
September 11th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Your salads always look fantastic. I’ve never tried cooking wood pidgeon – is there a recipe somewhere that I’ve missed for the salad?
Lizzies last blog post..Avocado Salsa
September 14th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Great list celebrating the best of British (…and, in the case of number 63, the worst too..). I must tot up my total, think I’ve tried most of them though…!
September 15th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
I had thought about something similar. Being from New Zealand we have a shorter culinary history of only 150 years but I want to make the top 50 Kiwi classics.
PS Love the Rabbit Lasagne recipe
Richards last blog post..Pickled Red Cabbage
September 16th, 2008 at 12:36 am
this is a great list – I am considering doing my own list (Australian vegetarian) but like most of my blogging it is taking time. What I love about British food (cf Australian) is the great tradition – just the names are poetry.
Johannas last blog post..PPN: Soy bombs with two tomato sauces
September 16th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
great idea for a list
i would include
Lamb Shanks in a Guinness gravy with Colcannon
darrell roachs last blog post..Sunday Brunch
September 17th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Hey Helen – I’ve posted my list up now!
kitties last blog post..Spicy Marinated Salmon with Raw Bean Salad
September 19th, 2008 at 9:42 am
they always say the Chinese eat weird stuff, but I swear the Brits don’t lose out! I mean, some items on this list (i had to google most of them) look
1) inedible (e.g. samphire, laverbread);
2) dubious (e.g. black pudding, haggis) or
3) severely unappetizing (e.g. full breakfast, bubble and squeak, stargazy pie)
And regardless of how delectable the treats are, with names like “faggot”, “Cullen skink”, “spotted dick” and “stinking bishop”…
I fail to appreciate
orbiters last blog post..#22036 – Microwave Potato Chips
September 30th, 2008 at 7:18 am
You guys eat some odd stuff! I gave it a go and had to do my own list, from all the way over here in New Zealand.
Give it a try!
http://freshly-ground.blogspot.com/2008/09/kiwi-tucker-test.html
Dans last blog post..The Kiwi Tucker Test
October 11th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Where’s shortbread?
January 18th, 2009 at 10:37 am
I think I have only tried aroun 30 out of your 100 list. spotted dick sounds like a must to try on though.
January 25th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Oh I am going to have to do this one … laverbread – yum!
Laquets last blog post..Unconscious Mutterings #313
January 25th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Thanks, I thoroughly enjoyed this and I wish it had been longer as there were so many Welsh favourites I wanted to include – cawl, Welsh cakes, pikelets etc. An escellent 100
) A European one next?
Jo (Laquet)s last blog post..The British One Hundred
January 29th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Found you through Le Laquet and gave this a try, too: http://www.endomental.com/2009/01/british-100.html
February 18th, 2009 at 9:29 am
although i have knocked english food in the past, i really enjoyed reading through this list, and i think it shows the british can eat good british food when tehy are reminded to
marias last blog post..Mediterrasian kalitsounia (??????????? ????????)
October 17th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
cod roe ….. (fish roe compressed, battered & deep fried) from fish and chip shops! yummy
Lived in UK for 10 years myself, and this is always on my TO EAT LIST when I am back there!
Too late for your last trip, but for your future trip…. just read it today 18/10/2009
October 23rd, 2009 at 6:34 am
Hello from Russia!
Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?
July 12th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
That is one interesting list – I haven’t tried probably half of the things there. does it count if I had my afternoon tea some other of the hotels in London? I one a couple of times with clients at hilton