United Kingdom Food and Drink: Classic Dishes
Listed below are a few of the many dishes associated with the cuisine of the United Kingdom. Recipes for these classic dishes and many others can be found in the Recipes section.
APPETIZERS
Angels on Horseback – Oysters wrapped in bacon and served on buttered toast "points" (triangular pieces of toasted white bread) were a popular Victorian dish in England. Oysters were once a major source of protein for the British, as part of savory pies and most daily meals in one form or another, but they are now far less popular.
Cornish Pasty – A savory meat turnover traditionally made with ground beef and mashed parsnips and potatoes. Pronounced to rhyme with "nasty," not with "hasty."
Cucumber Sandwiches – A classic accompaniment to afternoon tea.
Scotch Eggs– Hard-boiled eggs covered with sausage filling, breaded, and fried.
Welsh Rarebit – Melted cheddar cheese mixed with mustard, cayenne, and dark beer served over toasted bread.
BREADS
Scones – A common teatime accompaniment served with butter, jam, or double cream.
SOUPS
Broad Bean and Bacon Soup – A hearty bean soup made from young tender broad beans.
Brown Windsor Soup – A traditional beef soup.
SALADS
Coronation Chicken Salad– Chicken salad with apricots, onion, and red wine.
MAIN DISHES
Ploughman’s Lunch – A popular pub lunch offering of sliced meats, cheeses, breads, salad items (tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers), and sliced apples served with a chutney of tomatoes, vinegar, onions, spices, and raisins.
Beef Wellington – A sirloin of beef served en croute (encased in pastry) with a mushroom paté.
Dorset Jugged Steak – A traditional Dorset dish in which chunks of steak are slow-cooked in a port gravy flavored with cloves.
Fish and Chips – Arguably the national dish of England, this is a dish best eaten immediately after preparation. Large pieces of firm white fish (cod, haddock, plaice) or skate (ray) are dipped in a light batter and deep-fried. Chips are fried potatoes similar to American French fries or Belgian frites, but larger, a bit soggier, and served with malt vinegar. A common side dish with fish and chips is "mushy peas"—boiled and mashed marrow peas flavored with mint.
Full English Breakfast – This mammoth morning meal includes eggs, bacon, grilled tomatoes, fried bread, black pudding (blood sausage), baked beans, fried mushrooms, sausages, and "bubble and squeak" (leftover mashed potatoes and boiled cabbage made into patties and fried).
Haggis – Scotland’s national dish of oats, suet, and diced sheep offal (heart, lungs, liver) cooked in a sheep’s stomach.
Salmon Kedgeree – From the Indian dish khichri, this is made of boiled rice, chopped hard-boiled egg, and minced fish fried in butter with salt, pepper, salt, watercress, parsley, and marjoram.
Shepherd’s Pie – A casserole of ground lamb and peas spiced with thyme and baked with a smooth mashed potato crust. Cottage pies, made with beef, and fisherman's pies, made with seafood and potatoes in a béchamel sauce, are also popular savory casseroles.
Steak and Kidney Pie – A savory meat pie containing chopped beef and kidneys in a thick gravy.
Stargazy Pie – A Cornish fish pie, made from small fish called pilchards arranged so the fishes’ heads pop through the crust facing skyward.
SIDE DISHES
Glamorgan Sausage – A crispy, cheesy, gooey delight, Glamorgan sausage is a vegetarian dish created in Welsh dairy country at a time when cheese was more plentiful than meat, leading it to be nicknamed “poor man’s sausage.”
Toad-in-the-Hole – A classic dish served to British children.
DESSERTS
Spotted Dick – A steamed sweet pudding with raisins.
Trifle– Layers of cake, custard, and fruit are displayed in a glass dish.
BEVERAGES
Ale – British ale is world-renowned for its creamy texture, bitterness (often from the distinctive hops grown in Kent), and the complex range of malty flavors derived from the country’s excellent barley. There are innumerable styles of ale including delicate Burton ales made in open trough fermenters, strong and sweet Scottish ales, dark and light-bodied "milds," pitch black stouts made with oatmeal, and the classic bronze or golden-colored "bitter" served at room temperature.
Fruit Wines – Elderflowers, dandelions, and nettles are used to make traditional wines. Hard cider and perry (a cider made from pear juice) are far more popular, however.
Whiskey – Scotland and Northern Ireland produce outstanding whiskies. Those from Northern Ireland (like Bushmill’s) are in the lighter Irish Whiskey style. Scottish whisky (spelled without the "e" in Scotland) is called whisky in Britain and Scotch in the United States.
HOLIDAY FAVORITES
Christmas Trifle – A trifle is a dessert made from thick custard, fruit, sponge cake, fruit juice or jelly, and whipped cream.
Holiday Roast – Traditionally this was a baked ham, goose, or leg of lamb, but nowadays turkeys are the most popular meat to be roasted for large holiday gatherings.
Mincemeat Pies – A traditional British pastry made during the Christmas and New Year season. Modern mincemeat does not usually contain meat, but has dried fruit, suet, spices, and sugar. It is often spiked with alcohol, but if the alcohol does not appear in the mincemeat filling, it is prominent in the "hard sauce" served with the pie.
Wassail – A mulled ale flavored with aromatic spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger) that is a traditional Christmas treat.
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