Is British Food REALLY the Worst?

[@zupermaus9276]

Toast sandwich is NOT a thing in the UK - often mentioned as a joke. The fact it's actually from a real recipe in the 19th century is news to me!

[@jr_8292]

Americans often don’t get these jokes

[@nullakjg767]

@@jr_8292 yeah like beans on toast, i dont get that joke but brits seem to love canned beans on toast. they dont even cook their own beans lmao.

[@yourbestpallshawn4139]

@@jr_8292eat your beans and bread bro

[@stevenclarke5606]

I’ve never heard of a Toast sandwich, it’s not a British thing

[@Communist-Doge]

I've made one! Plus, it's served in Blumenthal's restaurant in Berkshire. It's not a popular food but it comes from Britain nevertheless. 🇬🇧

[@mygetawayart]

I say this as an Italian, British food doesn't deserve the hate. It's warm, comforting, cozy and hearty. It's the perfect food for a cold dreary day. Wholly underrated. Much love from italy.

[@yourbestpallshawn4139]

Lazy mush

[@ykwan1447]

Trust me the German food is the worst!

[@Discotekh_Dynasty]

Thanks boss. It’s rainy day food, and to be fair our desserts are much better

[@giada951]

@@Discotekh_Dynasty Your desserts are delicios, especially Sticky Toffee Pudding

[@mrsmay03]

I think if your on vacation..it's not what your looking for.. they're more homie things

[@njackson1989]

from the UK, never heard of a toast sandwich before this video.

[@njackson1989]

great video though.

[@thesupervideogamenerdmore3171]

It was a dish that was made as a desperate option for a depression of economics there. Bread was not that expensive, and it filled you up.

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

I think is because is so bad

[@nullakjg767]

in the US, i thought beans on toast was a joke. turns out its real 🤮🤮🤮🤮

[@patryksz.8910]

tbf for European standards of bad food, UK gets too much bad rep. Their neighbor across the sea, the Netherlands, has a much worse cuisine, possibly one of the blandest in Europe.

[@uyennguyen-ey8sw]

lol yes went i visited there, i had no idea what to eat, cuisine in general was terrible, all i ate was herring lol and stuff at the supermarkets and markets!

[@kattkatt744]

Yes, soo happy to see somebody saying this. Much of Dutch food is horrible (or rather horribly execute), and just like the UK they rely on the foods from their former colonies to make up the difference.

[@dynasty0019]

Pretty much any Western European nation with a drinking culture has bland food.

[@thesupervideogamenerdmore3171]

They have hagelslag, untoasted bread with butter and chocolate sprinkles.

[@MichouThe]

I have to disagree, the netherlands has better snacks amd better pastry

[@brainwheeze6328]

As someone who's lived in the UK for a time and visited a lot of different parts of the country, I've had the pleasure to try a lot of traditional dishes (or at least ones informed by them), and many of them were delicious. Particularly the desserts! One thing I think has resulted in this stereotype is poor eating habits. Like you say in the video, cooking is often regarded as a chore in the UK, and as such a lot of people opt for ready-made meals and take aways. It's like that joke about "British Tapas" being nothing but fries, hash browns, nuggets, and beans, in other words, foods that are already prepared and which you only need to heat up. Like you Matthew one of my parents (in my case, mother) is from the UK, but I think she introduced me to all the wrong aspects of British cuisine and eating habits. If it wasn't for the fact that I grew up right next door to my Portuguese grandparents, then I don't think I would've had much in the way of proper meals!

[@bushcrafty7274]

Britain has longer work hours than the rest of Europe. Who wants to spend hours cooking when you get home?

[@brainwheeze6328]

Isn't the average work day 9-5?

[@nullakjg767]

worst food i ever had in my life was in fancy london resturant.

[@ParadoxriftsAU]

I think the key missing component to British cuisine that will never translate to an international audience is the cold rainy weather. Most signature dishes that evolved on the British Islands did so in order to be both warm and filling. It isn't a cuisine that adapts well to warmer and drier climates in the same way that the appeal of a banana split is largely lost on people living within the Arctic circle.

[@ditta7865]

That is why fish and chips is ready good in Australia because we have a dry weather. My Nana was from UK and loved the food here that was British but done by Oz's.

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

But France is 10 . And British is 0 😂 And the Border

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

British food is like Soviet home there is only one color and one taste

[@ggarlick46]

The most popular cheese in the world is English cheddar. Stilton is also in the top 3. Best variety of pies in the world, best desserts. British food isnt posh and full of overfussy sauces like the French but it is very delicious. Look at the many videos on ytube of tourists, particulary from the US, they love our pub restaurants.@@carkawalakhatulistiwa

[@hanifleylabi8071]

@@carkawalakhatulistiwa French food is the most overrated on the planet.

[@Arkantos117]

As a Brit I just assume that fellow Brits who think that British food is terrible just had mothers who couldn't cook. Our takeaways often suck yeah, but actual British meals/recipes are great. Anything can suck when put together by an unskilled person. Also beans on toast (usually with egg) is great but heinz are one of the worst brands for it these days.

[@newtube7187]

Yep try Branston and the difference is amazing.

[@rodrigoperalta822]

I find British food just too bland and simple compared to the cuisine of other countries that include a lot of sauces and vegetables to give a lot of flavor

[@Arkantos117]

@@rodrigoperalta822 I doubt you've even eaten much British food.

[@yourbestpallshawn4139]

Eat your bean bread bro

[@RendererEP]

I'd say a lot of them are rootless urban self loathing middle class hipster gentrifyers where nothing is ever good enough for them. These days, the cities are good for diverse food, the coast (the posher parts) and countryside for traditional food, especially home kitchens.

[@Searrows]

Toad in a hole, Bangers and Mash, Cornish Pasty, Steak Pie, Full English, Yorkshire pudding, England has many really delicious savory dishes. English cuisine also has a mean desert game.

[@avruvimtu2204]

No toad in a hole, ty

[@JohnSmith-sm7ez]

Is! Beef Wellington not British? Love veggie wellingtons also,

[@hailhummus]

British desserts are underrated!

[@lawsontse1545]

Delicious by UK standards you mean

[@zakugodofwar1005]

They are not good by international standards… even criminally bad Wagamama has endless lines outside all their door fronts. You walk around the high streets you can feel the Brits have terrible tastes. They like Sushi bars where warm salmon are served… Japanese will vomit. Fish and chips and ADB are okay but miles apart from French and Italian. The likes of Steak Pie and Yorkshire Pudding are serviceable at best, many of them are just awful. Yorkshire shouldn’t even be called a pudding. Pudding looks like this 🍮… god! Why even bother making Toad in a hole…or black pudding… Those aren’t even food.

[@howmanybeansmakefive]

I say this as a British Pakistani that has lived in a lot of other euro countries, British food 'culture' on the whole really isn't that bad, and dare I say uniquely good. In a way its 'badness' is one of its strengths. Brits aren't uber-nationalistic with their food and so are open to a lot of different influences (I'm looking at you Italy/France). In general Brits are open-minded when it comes to food, and home cooks will often make/try dishes from around the world, and you can find global influences even in minor cities/towns. And people increasingly incorporate influences like using spices in Shepherd's Pie (not that it necessarily needs loads), or chicken tikka pasties in Greggs. Also Dutch/Nordic food seems to get a pass haha, while UK sausages, pasties, pies, comfort dishes, baked goods really are world class.

[@LoboFuerte-b6s]

Swedish people squeeze fish roe mixed in with mayonnaise from a tube onto crackers with hard boiled egg slices for breakfast. The only reason why Brits get a bad rep for food is because they are a more well-known country with a higher volume of tourism.

[@nullakjg767]

you wont find a british restaurant or a scandanvain restaurant in the US. theyre both garbage.

[@nullakjg767]

@@novagb6717 it doesnt make sense to put american restaurants in a failing economy. but as for british restuarants in the US, who told you that lie? there might be 1 british pub per major city but they rarley serve food. italian, chinese, indian, mexican, french, japanese, vietnamese, thai, columbian, greek, and less common but you can find german, russian, and lebanese, but you wont find british or scandanvian.

[@T1CHE14]

​@nullakjg767 The US literally has corn dogs, that's it. And that was probably german. Even your bbq is from the carriban. "barbacoa" is what it was originally called.it was being cooked long before texas existed. My local pub is older than your country 😅 and as a nation you are already falling after just a century on top.. looks like the usa will be the fastest rising and falling empire in history. Being American certainly is not the badge of honour you think it is. 😂😂😂

[@nullakjg767]

@@T1CHE14 ​ the UK is a vassal state to the US. as a peasant you arent really in a position to make those judgements. your nobility already bent the knee decades ago and sees the merit in it.

[@ivanthaboi]

Nah come on kaviar is fire I'm not a fan of the mayo version or knäckebröd but nothing beats hard boiled eggs with smokey kaviar

[@ashhabimran239]

Ngl, most of the time it just feels like a stereotype created and perpetuated by Americans (who are notorious for stereotyping) who've never been anywhere near the UK, or if they had, they had their view shaped by ONE bad experience. Definitely pales compared to other cuisines, but the simplicity and comfort of it works for many. Also thought it was weird how other countries can have odd food combinations that look weird to the rest of the world and most people wouldn't bat an eye

[@ericktellez7632]

Because those odd dishes are genuinely rarities and specific to regions within those countries. The green and brown looking dishes of your country are literally the most known ones, it’s not the same excuse at all. What you are putting fort is the weird looking ones for the most part.

[@jasonallen6081]

​@@ericktellez7632 like what for instance ? You should be able to list them.

[@erint5373]

Homemade Sheppard's pie can't be beaten on a winter's day. But 100% this is due to Brits having lost their connection with their own food culture, not being able to cook properly and subsequently over relying on factory made prepared garbage. There are a lot of local dishes that are actually delicious, when someone who can cook takes the time to cook them well. Let's not mistake microwave lasagne for Italian food, or Heinz for the extensive sauce and fermentation traditions that existed in these isles for centuries. For reference I have British parents but grew up in Ireland & NZ- and moved to UK about 7years ago. My experience of Brits is that nobody has ever really taught them how to cook, and when someone does it's seen almost as extravagant or poncy/posh/showoff. If you want to eat well here you tend to cook at home a lot.

[@reeseprince8]

Speak for yourself

[@avruvimtu2204]

I noticed here and people who talk about "British" cuisine actually refer to *English* cuisine not British cuisine because *British cuisine as a whole is even RICHER*. English cuisine though is *Jagged Hared, Roast Beef, Jellied Eels (yeah they are pretty good with lots of chili vinegar and an acquired taste), Shepherd's Pie, Stargazey Pie, Toad-in-the-Hole (not like it but some ppl might), Banger n' Mash, Beef Wellington, Steak and Kidney Pudding, Fish and Chips (contrary to the emerging belief now it wasn't invented by Sephardic Jews, the English people eat those seperately on regular occasions, the Sephardics just added them next to each other and did essentually nothing), Windsor Soup, Lancashire Hotpot, Pork Pie etc.* The English cuisine is not poor.

[@hanifleylabi8071]

@@reeseprince8 it's true. Compared to France, Italy, mid east, Asian nations we just don't have a big cooking culture.

[@reeseprince8]

@hanifleylabi8071 it's 2023 I think people can cook anything they want from tesco we're not limited to just english ingredients but world wide foods and you'll be surprised how much we have compared to many other countries in that field so I guess its who you ask

[@hanifleylabi8071]

@@reeseprince8 I'm not surprised, I know our supermarkets sell a lot more international ingredients. And of course people in places like Italy also use convenience type ingredients. But the food culture here is nothing like there or places like Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Lebanon etc

[@lorrainemoynehan6791]

aside from food, the UK public transport is light years ahead of US. All cities and towns have public transport and rural areas have some buses. This does not exist in the USA outside of a couple of cities - mainly on east coast and Chicago, and none of them match average towns in the UK

[@dereksheffield7412]

Bruh there’s public buses for almost every city in the US

[@JohnSmith-sm7ez]

British produce and food standards is world class.

[@tabernathy0428]

Only poor people ride public transportation. Lol.

[@lorrainemoynehan6791]

@@tabernathy0428 ah yes of course, that old chestnut. You live somewhere built for cars not people. What a dated concept! How very 1950s. So many of the cars that are driven in the land of the free are bearly roadworthy and would not pass an MOT or equivalent in other European countries, but hardly surprising as the road surface and other infrastructures are substandard. Would you be surprised to learn that extremely wealthy people use pubic transport outside of the USA - because it works efficient I feel sorry for people who live in a place with so few options

[@tabernathy0428]

@@lorrainemoynehan6791 Extremely wealthy people don't even fly with the public. They get their own jets and own yachts. They might get a driver at minimum. Only the poor sing the virtues of being crammed on public transit with the unwashed masses and mentally ill. Stop deluding yourself. Buy a nice car and enjoy your ride.

[@Ulfcytel]

French cuisine was fashionable in Britain for a long period which coincided with the growth of modern literature and journalism. What we would now call influencers looked down on native (peasant or provincial) dining compared with the smart ideas from Europe. Thus we made our own bad rep. In recent years, that trend has been reversed, with media chefs emphasising more traditional cookery methods and ingredients. Plus the growth of country pub dining, which also reflects those more local influences. Incidentally, the wartime rationing regime was carefully designed by a group of young nutritionists to be well balanced and healthy within the limitations of the situation (the UK, even then, imported a lot of its food and was just coming out of a severe agricultural crisis during the preceding decade). Indeed, it was one of the best diets the nation has ever had. Rationing actually got worse in the years after the War, when the country was virtually bankrupt and had lost a lot of shipping.

[@JamesCorp]

The reason for American stereotype of British food is bland is because of world war 2 when Americans where stationed in the uk and the uk was under rations so people had to make food last longer and use what they had available, so lots of boiled and bland food because of it.

[@giada951]

As Italian, I want to say something to everyone who wants to visit Britain but is unsure about the quality of the food because of what people say on the internet. They mostly say "It's only fish&chips" or "it has no taste". Well...they are wrong! These people probably never really tried their food but saying it's bad is just trendy. I have been in London both in 2016 and this year and I have eaten a lot of 100% British food 'cause that was one of my goals. I have eaten Sunday Roast, full english breakfast, fish&chips, sausage roll, meat pies, cornish pasty, shepherd's pie, Beef Wellington, the tipical afternoon tea with biritish sandwiches and scones, Victoria sponge cake, carrot cake, Sticky Toffee Pudding. It was ALL GOOD! Some of those dishes are even served with a delicious gravy sauce! Of course it depends on people's tastes but their food definitely doesn't deserve the hate. My advise is to do your own research about british food and the recommended places to enjoy them. You will find many pubs with very good reviews and where the british food is really good!

[@awestruckbeaver3344]

Ive found that British and many other more northern European cuisines are not based on fanciful flavours or colours. Its about being hearty and filling. Something to keep you warm on a bitter winters night

[@kibaanazuka332]

I remember someone describing Northern European food as more of "soul food" than there to just look pretty or dazzle, which isn't too far off from reality in my opinion.

[@yourbestpallshawn4139]

There 10x better food for a cold day or night lmao

[@Justicsgenie]

Honestly british cuisine has some great gems like beef Wellington

[@hadelidell4285]

So... a french dish 😁

[@yourbestpallshawn4139]

Overrated

[@therockforlife2023]

Disgusting dish

[@PolarPhantom]

I'm honestly sick of jokes about English Food. Oh yeah, all our food's brown and yellow and grey. Never heard that one before. I find it very Classist, this idea we don't eat other colours, cause that sort of stuff is most often eaten in low income areas of the UK. Yes I am English.

[@bootyspoon4675]

No one asked

[@ulexite]

A big one for me as others have mentioned is our climate and culture. We are a cold damp country, with (what used to be) solidly defined seasons and very early or late sunsets in those seasons. We natively grew a lot of veg, root veg and herbs. Our historic foods were game animals, deer, pig/boar, lamb, fish and dairy. So robust hearty and warming long cold night food is close to the the heart of british food as is/was seasonal cooking. When we eventually got spices the majority of recipes put them into our desserts/puddings as they were an expensive luxury back then and were showed off and shared, we also have a big culture of bread, baking, cakes, desserts and local bakeries. I think we can see a resurgence of british food in a lot of the gastro pub scene along side the food stall and makers markets, the damage is being undone to the trajectory of our cultural food thankfully. I love how much of a melting pot of food cultures we are now and can understand why it makes us look bad in comparison but if you find that local gastro pub in a hillside village somewhere with its seasonal, local farm sourced menu then you will get an idea imo. I always reccomend finding (a not snooty) real gastro pub to visitors. :D Final note, the war deffo played a huge part in things but something people dont know is our education system made food technology (cooking, home ec, etc) really difficult to access, the classrooms were seen as too expensive, kids had to bring in all own ingredients which parents couldnt afford then the class was made optional so whole generations arent getting the education unless its passed on via family which hasnt helped us in our home cooking where you normally find the culture.

[@armassilenciosasparaguerra1668]

Es la mejor defensa de la cocina británica que he visto. Desde México.

[@peterjackson4763]

British cooking used spices in sauces as well as deserts. English mustard, horseradish sauce, and mint sauce are traditional and certainly not bland.

[@TaleOfTheToaster]

I'm English and I'd never heard of a toast sandwich until this year. You're mostly on the money though, the only part that's truly disagreeable is the UK having worse public transport than the US and that wasn't even a food opinion

[@harryjcurtis]

I think the reputation is at least part self-made. There seems to be more of a tendency among British people to write off more everyday dishes as not rising to the level of a national 'cuisine' than exists in other European countries. Also, I wouldn't say there's a huge gulf between versions of what are essentially the same dish that exist in both British cuisine and French/other European cuisines, e.g. Shepherd's/Cottage Pie vs. hachis parmentier, or Lancashire hotpot vs. pot-au-feu. Take the filling out of a steak and ale pie, and you've got something comparable to boeuf bourguignon that's less fussy in its preparation and substitutes the alcohol used in the preparation. The fussiness of the preparation and the mystique that's been built up around the French counterparts naturally count for something, but it's a product of France itself taking its cuisine more seriously and having a better branding exercise for its food. Britain hasn't really done that for whatever reason.

[@Tax_Collector01]

As an American, I always wanted to try Fish ‘n’ Chips in a local British chips shop. Although I’ve had my fair share of it in the U.S., I believe the U.K. has something different to offer I have yet to get my hands on.

[@dynasty0019]

Fish and Chips with beer from the local pub is an absolute institution.

[@Tax_Collector01]

@@dynasty0019 Noted, thanks for sharing.

[@Midget881]

@@dynasty0019pub fish n chips are horrible

[@martinscott-reed5379]

If you truly want the best fish & chips in the UK don't go to any inland chippy. The freshest cod and haddock will always be found in coastal chippies. The best I have ever tasted has been in Whitby at The Magpie Cafe. Fish & chips from a pub will always be sub par in comparison.

[@Tax_Collector01]

@@martinscott-reed5379 I see, that makes sense…fish loses freshness the further the distance is required to transport them. Thanks for the recommendations.

[@Midget881]

I’m British I have never ever seen or heard of a toast sandwich

[@yourbestpallshawn4139]

I love how this is the only problem y’all got with the video lmao eat your bean bread

[@-Blackberry]

Why do people think chicken tikka masala is THE british national dish? Who decided this, when and why? Sure it's a popular dish and invented supposedly in the UK but why is it given precedence over British dishes and other indian origin dishes for that matter.

[@neiltrott6461]

I consider myself a massive "foodie" and have been fortunate to eat in many Michelin starred restaurants including 3 stars) and eaten in many of the world's best food destinations (Thailand, India, France, Spain, Italy and Greece being my pick). It's helped me get a good understanding of quality food and cookery. I cook all sorts of cuisines at home. I love cooking and eating British food as much as food from any of those places. On a dish vs dish comparison, the best of British is as tasty as the best of anywhere. I still struggle to think of a final meal i'd sooner have than a British roast dinner with "all the trimmings". It's truly wonderful food that also lets quality ingredients (if you choose them) actually be the stars of the show. What British food lacks in comparison to many top food countries, is variety of choice. We just haven't retained many dishes that are still made in the home of restaurants. Even regional dishes like Sussex Pond Pudding, scouse and Lancashire Hotpot are seldom seen on regional menus, let alone garner the national recognition they deserve. Dishes like Ham and pease pudding, faggots, panackelt rag pudding and potted shrimp are just amazing things to eat that most Brits have probably never even tried. If we actually started eat more of our own traditional dishes, maybe the world would start to realise that there is a wider and brilliant cuisine there and the ropey reputation will wane. We will never have a food culture as strong as india, Spain, Thailand or Italy but then, nor do many places. It can be so much better appreciated than the ill-deserved rep it has, though. Incidentally, when it comes to desserts (puddings), I genuinely think there are only a couple of countries (Italy and France) that can beat the British. Where we lack variety in our main courses, we more than make up for in that area. The world-class British desserts are something that seem to go ignored when discussing our supposedly awful cuisine.

[@Lixmage]

Finally some sanity - these five paragraphs contain more wisdom than Mr Li's ENTIRE video!

[@ajaxtelamonian5134]

With Roasts though there are a lot of shit ones as someone born in Sussex who's actually from Sussex I've made pond pudding and that was really good.

[@martinsanchez4827]

Someone having a nuance opinion on British food, I can't believe it.

[@blxxdcxrmxny]

nobody... NOBODY is eating a toast sandwich

[@shanicestella2226]

But their Pie Culture is amazing

[@michael3088]

finally! pie gets a mention!!!!!!

[@haruzanfuucha]

British food is overhated. Chinese, Mexican, and Indian are undervalued. Japanese and French are overrated. Peruvian and Ethiopian are underrated.

[@PaulLemars01]

I'm a 69 year old brit living in Washington State. Last night I served my fairly authentic Beef Miso Ramen for my family. I make my own noodles on my Kenwood mixer with it's noodle attachment and they came out really well. A bit of bite and just that right level of springyness. I feel really accomplished as a global cook and then I see this video and all I crave is baked beans on toast with a fried egg that's crispy around the edges but the yolk is still runny on top. Dammit! the brit can leave the country but his childhood food never leaves him.

[@ramiro535]

This is my favorite niche youtube content creator. Thank you!

[@woltews]

1- England traditionally had access to more meat than continual Europe did and so needed to do fewer showy things with vegetables 2- England had more rain and a cooler climate, so warm hearty foods were more important than a salad or fruit dish 3- England welcomed in a lot of other cultures the fish and chips is actually from Jewish refuges , the Indian and Asian foods the Caribbean foods from its vast empire. And unlike say the French that made a big deal about trying to preserve native foods the English embraced the best of many cultures, for example there is no commite to protect the English language . 4-As you go farther north preserving food becomes more important and thats why English , Scottish , German , Scandinavian , Polish foods have more preserved foods . This is because you cant just go out to the garden and get whatever is fresh because for part of the year there is nothing fresh and the preserved foods are not as vibrant and colourful as the fresh stuff 5-English women moved out into the work force before a lot of other nations and that ment no one was home to cook an elaborate meal , so they needed simple things that could be prepared quickly when both people got back from work

[@itsthequeenfatima]

I really admire this series! I am learning a lot! Keep it up!

[@Lixmage]

Shame the video is ill-informed, distorted and basically wrong.

[@hanifleylabi8071]

British food is great when cooked well using great british produce. The problem is that good quality food isn't valued like it is in say Italy or Thailand. Many brits eat to live rather than living to eat so it's not uncommon for people to be pretty bad cooks. But if you look at our lamb, cheese, jams, chutneys, pies etc we have some amazing produce and recipes.

[@markh4507]

As for British food is was far healthier before the arrival of certain US chains. Whilst the UK has a lot of very good local produce and is home to the largest lobster, crab, and shell fish ports in Europe. Similarly the UK is home to good quality fruit and veg, as well as fresh water fish such as salmon and some of the. Best quality meat and cattle to be found anywhere. The U.K. Is also Ho,e to numerous fine dining and Michellin starred restaurants, as well as an abundance of 5 star hotels.

[@pastedsmiley]

Lived in London for a bit as a poor student. Beans on toast with some scrambled eggs on the side, boom. Cheap and filling.

[@jr_8292]

As a British person, I have never heard of a "toast sandwich"

[@AaronOne-ch6op]

He obviously got confused with cheese toasty lol

[@DevonRex116]

You could always just try Google. It was a recipe in the Book of Household Management by Mrs Beeton. It was essentially a cheap way of getting calories into people - particularly invalids.

[@EZXSniperZzz]

We probably work less than peasants. A lot of work in terms of maintaining the house, getting firewood, open fire cooking, preserving food, taking care of animals, and even more basic stuff like clothes isn't counted by the book/study that popularized that idea. It was so much work, large families were needed (aside from the likelihood of death.) No joke, the washing machine was considered one of the great liberators of women because household chores ate a lot of time. That doesn't even account for them making/repairing clothes back in those days too. Heck farming for your own food isn't counted. The work that was counted in that study was the work required to exist on that land, aka, the rent work from your lord. None of what I mentioned may not sound like work, until you do it the old fashion way. And other studies suggest the amount of days worked for the lord is comparable. That study also forgets how lords treated the peasants. If it was nice, and there was way less work back then, they probably would not have rebelled as often as they did.

[@nullakjg767]

probably eat worse than peasants too. at least they cooked their own beans.

[@martinscott-reed5379]

You did not butter that toast sandwich. You waved the butter over it to tease it, then took it away. I'm 58 and have never heard of a toast sandwich.

[@carltaylor6452]

I've heard of a toasted sandwich, but never a toast sandwich. Brits will put pretty much anything between two slices of bread - for good reason - and even have fried bread for breakfast, or bread pudding for dessert, but putting toasted bread between bread sounds like someone is pulling your leg! 🙃

[@ElDerpy]

It was a thing in some areas due to poverty in the 1800s. Usually bread fried in beef dripping (you've had fried bread, right?). Until the foodbanks thing, I doubt anybody but students and stoners bothered with it in the last 60+ years.

[@inegom1735]

I think one of our problems for perpetuation of the steretype is we have a lot of poor chain restaurants and food outlets which cater more to convenience than taste. I have had fantastic street food and small diner food across the world and you tend not to get that quality and love in the food here unless you find a gem or go to a good restaurant. Brits tend not to eat out anything near as much as the US or many other countries, so the real quality british food is cooked at home with recipes passed down through generations. Sadly this means most visitors don't get to encounter our wonderful foods. (There is also a whole other discussion on losing our cooking skills as a nation and losing these great foods, which i believe is also common across much of the western world). Seasoning wise, traditional british food uses local herbs and seasoning. These tend to be more subtle, earthy and peppery, rather than punchy and spicy by the nature of our climate. Good meat is also key. Britain had high quality meat in abundance during the rise of our nation, so we largely let the meat speak for its self with some herbal accents tis meant a lack of a need to develop interesting sauces etc to support the foods taste. Unfortunately meat has lost quality in mass production and we still season the same, so this can be why our food is sometimes on the blander side. But with a good leg of lamb, some rosemary and garlic; some carrots, onion and potatoes roast with sage and thyme... you have an amazing dish worthy of praise.

[@MikeSamuelsII-ve8gp]

BTW, baked beans are not baked beens with sauce added, they both are combined before baking.

[@MikeSamuelsII-ve8gp]

I grew up in the UK in the early 70's and the food was absolute filth. Its improved with more immigrants bringing their food to the country but its still generally awful. Its so bad that when it was finally discovered that there was horsemen in their lasagna no-one noticed. Also, mad cow disease .

[@Eldiran1]

British cuisine evolve like that but some other european country like France and Italy still protect their cuisine to this day. I've really glad, and to be honest a little proud that , as a french, we are able to do it. Food is still an important part of my culture and i know foreigner (at least the one i meet) that is weird that we can spend hours to eat at a restaurant or at a family diner. But that's what make France what it is i think. Also some say that we are weird to speak a lot about food when we eat, i dunno if it's true but you tell me.

[@avruvimtu2204]

I noticed here and people who talk about "British" cuisine actually refer to English cuisine not British cuisine because British cuisine as a whole is even RICHER. English cuisine though is Jagged Hared, Roast Beef, Jellied Eels (yeah they are pretty good with lots of chili vinegar and an acquired taste), Shepherd's Pie, Stargazey Pie, Toad-in-the-Hole (not like it but some ppl might), Banger n' Mash, Beef Wellington, Steak and Kidney Pudding, Fish and Chips (contrary to the emerging belief now it wasn't invented by Sephardic Jews, the English people eat those seperately on regular occasions, the Sephardics just added them next to each other and did essentually nothing), Windsor Soup, Bubble and Squeek, Lancashire Hotpot, Pork Pie etc. The English cuisine is not poor.

[@Eldiran1]

​@@avruvimtu2204 Every french know that roast beef is from england, this food is basicaly the nickname of english people since Napoleon! (As a teenager, i was surprise that englishman didn't eat roast beef more often) For the other names, i'm kinda confused. I didn't even know half of them.Why is it named "Toad in the hole" if they aren't any toad in this meal ? Anyways, a question still stand. Why aren't more english restaurant or even more young british who are proud of their cuisine like in france and italy ? I'm not sure i would like some of these meal but to be honest i didn't even know they existed before now, so maybe i shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. Maybe it's like what a german guy once said to me. Here we like your meal but when we go out, we want to try something new. We don't want to eat at the restaurant what we can already have at home.

[@neiltrott6461]

@@Eldiran1 There are no toads. It's made with sausages and a Yorkshire pudding batter, normally some fresh thyme or rosemary and sometimes red onion with the sausages. You then bake it so the pudding has risen and the sausages cooked. You'd serve it with steamed veg and a red wine, onion or ale gravy. Not sure on the etymology and why a sausage became "toad".

[@timothyhill5150]

I’m British and have never heard of a toast sandwich.

[@davehoward22]

Most british stereotypes (food,teeth) are from gis coming over in ww2...I was born in the 60s,and all my grandparents and everyone i knew over 40 years old lived through the war,we ate loads of rabbit,ive ate horse,lots of offal,(steak and kidney pies,stews,tripe,kippers etc) didnt mind it at all..But things have changed massively,(some of the most famous chefs are british) Baked beans are that popular,that sales in the uk are more than the next 10 countries combined 11:56 most curries,(hot ones anyway) were invented in the uk

[@normanosborn1277]

Which country has blander blood, Colombia or the UK?

[@ericktellez7632]

The Netherlands

[@ditta7865]

I have some old English country cooking books and I have cooked stuff for my foreign friends that keep shitting on English food then I say did you like your British food? Which they are shocked to find this out and I must show them the old books. The old dinner meals mixed of poor and upper class is good. You must find the ones that have never left or stood the test of time in a country kitchen. Find a good old English country book and cook something you might something you like. I am also getting sick of everyone being like we do not have to be kind to people because of the past. Really that would count the whole world in that bucket, and I think this generation is depressed enough as it is and falling into a blackhole is not a good idea. We need to move on. Remember the past, but do not blame it or it will be a black cloud over your head. I know this from my grandparents going through World War II and telling me some stories which had a lot of death of all around them. they also told me not to hate because you hate yourself and everyone around you then it makes your world darker. I am not trying to be meant, but I find this happening a lot now days and it is sad.

[@markh4507]

I would suggest you look at the facts regarding some of the stats you use. In terms of British public transport the vast majority is related to heavy regional rail and not light rail,, whilst I would also examine the OECD functional area status as opposed to actual cities.

[@augth]

The industrial revolution and its consequences...

[@ichibanmanekineko]

British food it's not bad and at this point it's lazy to say it is.......

[@yourlastfoe]

Yes, it is. I visited there a month ago and for the second time. Traditional food is the only thing I don't like about Britain. For some reason even the Chinese food there doesn't taste like it does in the U.S. The only food that was amazing there was a chicken shawarma from some small Arab place. It was actually the best one I ever had.

[@yedead1]

@@yourlastfoe All those places have something that britain natively doesn't and the reason why they have more flavour and colour and thats herbs and spices, the only real herbs that natively grow here are things like wild mint, fennel, garlic, onion and horseradish. Spices come from from hot countries which is why asian and middle eastern cuisine incorporate it, if spices weren't there then their cuisine would be just as bland as ours.

[@TrevM0nkey]

@@yourlastfoe you say 'for some reason even the Chinese food there doesn't taste like it does in the US'. That's because it's not supposed to. Chinese food in the US and the UK, won't taste like it does in China. When the Chinese settled in a country and started to open restaurants, they had to modify the taste to that of the locals otherwise they'd have gone bankrupt. You may prefer US Chinese food and that's because it's been aimed towards your tastebuds, but it may not actually be nicer, it's nicer to Americans. It's the same with Indian food; in the UK we have BIR which is British Indian Restaurant, and again it's aimed at our tastebuds compared to Desi which is the traditional way of cooking. That probably goes for the traditional British food as well, it's not necessarily that it's bad, but it's not to your taste from the food you're used to eating. Americans find it strange that we have beans on a breakfast whereas I find it strange Americans have pancakes with bacon and egg; is one wrong or are they both different and aimed at different tastes.

[@93seronica]

@@yourlastfoeI agree, I had a shawarma from a small place called Taza and it was delicious!

[@yourlastfoe]

@@TrevM0nkey I've been to China, the food taste exactly like it does here (for the most part, there's street food there I wouldn't touch). And if you think most Americans eat pancakes, eggs and bacon for breakfast, then you're VERY wrong. For Indian food from anywhere, no thanks. I've also been to South America, the food taste exactly the same as South American restaurants here. Your theory is off. Traditional British food is simply not good to the overwhelming majority of people not from there.

[@drcynth]

Back home, I go to a restaurant, pay for food, I expect tasty food and I get tasty food 9 out of 10. In the UK, I slowly learned to have no expectations on the quality of the food, be it from a restaurant or a local friend. I told myself to just stuff my mouth and swallow, and be grateful that my tummy is filled.

[@wessexdruid7598]

"It's July and it's cold!" Americans never seem to understand that the UK is at the same latitudes as Newfoundland and Alaska. That is why we need comfort food.

[@ThisWontEndWell]

Grew up on stews, roasts, shepherds pie, mince and onion, chicken and leek pie, sausage and mash fish and chips are the perfect foods for a cold wet island, beans on toast is a quick snack you make to get yourself through till dinner Americans obsess about it on KZbin it's the Brit equivalent of how Americans would use Kraft Mac and Cheese.

[@deec6535]

I have family in the UK, but only as an adult have visited. I’ve literally only had one bad meal in the UK. It was pho that I got in Bristol. And that wasn’t BAD, per se. It just tasted nothing like pho. If you’d told me it was sukiyaki yasai with rice noodles, I would have thought “ok. Not the best, but acceptable.”

[@Concreteowl]

The myth that British food is bad began in WW2 when there was rationing and people had to make do. This continued until the early 60s where Western cuisine in general suffered food technology like dehydrated food and processed food. Traditional British food is pretty amazing and the influx of people from around the world made the cuisine even better.

[@Concreteowl]

Some of the wartime recipes are beloved classics like fruit crumble (made to save on rationed goods but still popular) carrot cake mafe because sugar was heavily rationed and fruit was limited but still popular.

[@Concreteowl]

Toast sandwich was meant to be a medicinal snack given to servants (because it's cheap).

[@Concreteowl]

Nobody eats it BTW.

[@Concreteowl]

Another period that spoiled the reputation of English cuisine, specifically London cuisine was the Restoration. In Medieval Times only nobles ate meat. Vegetables were seen as coming from the soil and therefore dirty. So poor people ate veg and the occasional fish. When the monarchy was reestablished it was seen as royalist and patriotic to eat like a king so London food became brown and beige (with pie crusts). The middle classes ended up with the same ailments as Henry 8th. In rural places people still ate their greens. By Victorian times you got the first cook books outside of Noble kitchens. The Indian and vegetarian restaurants began to appear. Vegetables became an important part of the Sunday Roast. But the damage was done and the roast beef image was cemented on the continent.

[@old.not.too.grumpy.]

It stems from thousands of US troops came over durring WWII. Food was rationed and very limited. The spices the British traditionally cooked with came from overseas. Durring the war imports of spices where holted so the food was bland and the reputation stuck. Since Roman times spices have always been part of British food but as they were expensive they were only used by the rich or on special occationds such as Christmas. Poor people only used spices in things such as mustards or chutneys that add flavour to after the food has been cocked. Nearly every bland British dish has the correct condiment to go with it,

[@Whinenrages]

Ahh stereotypes like the one about Americans being as thick as two short planks.

[@scoops0406]

That one is definitely not true, they're not that bright.

[@Sharingan5100]

Here's the main things I think can make elements of British food "good" - Homestyle cooking Sunday Roast, yorkshire pudding, minemeat pie, bangers and mash, full english, etc.... are very homestyle. These things actually do taste pretty good overall. Theyre not heavily spiced and in the US we might call that an example of "comfort food" or "homestyle". It's pretty good. - Fried food/ Pub Food Things like fish and chips, scotch eggs, battered sausages, sausage rolls etc.... The things that can sometimes give parts of the US a run for it's money when it comes to fried foods. -Curries The UK has a ton of curry shops, necessarily it obtained these from its days as a colonial power over india/ bangladesh/ pakistan/ Sri Lanka It's fairly good. I think the reason that (american) people make fun of british food comes down to a few main things: -Homestyle food isnt generally exiting. If american food were most known for say thanksgiving turkey and meatloaf we might think differently about it. These things can taste wonderful when done well, but it's not something seen as adventurous or interesting. Homestyle food is less likely to use intense flavors, and can be seen as bland to outsiders - The nomenclature is just bad sometimes. British naming conventions can be unusual to people who didn't grow up with it. "Shit on a shingle", "bangers and mash", "Mushy peas", "Spotted Dick", "Toad in a hole", etc.... these things don't sound appetizing to people even though some of them are good. - Most Americans dont get to try british food frequently. There's not gregs, or nandos, etc.... near their house. Most dont have a pasty shop nearby, and the closest british food they try is probably going to be shepherds pie, or fish and chips, which are perfectly fine, but not as stand out as other types of food. Which leads to people on the internet bringing up "weird" food to make fun of the british

[@caffeinerequired3136]

Haggis bites is whisky sauce, cottage pie, macaroni pies sausage rolls steak bakes, beans on toast with chedder cheese, mice round with mash and gravy, haggis pizza, Britten loves donner wraps too, Sunday roast, jumbo sausage, sausage and mash with onions and gravy peas on the side

[@dan1579]

I said it once I’ll say it again, you are an insanely underrated Creator! The quality of your content and the level of insight you bring with your research. Your storytelling. It’s second to none. You will go far in the content space. I can’t wait to see you blow up the next few years. Sending this to my boi Brad in the UK right now.

[@Lixmage]

This whole video is utter crap...

[@lordhawke7]

Roast beef and yorkies, Cornish pasties, Cumberland sausages, Stilton cheese, Lancashire hotpot, Devonshire clotted cream, shepherd’s pie, pork pies, haggis, Eton mess… need I go on? Even chicken tikka masala is a dish invented in

[@Narnendil]

The statistics used to say Britain has worse public transportation than the US is pretty weird since it only shows if the countries have trams, metro or urban light rail. Any of the different countries showed there might have excellent buses for example, but would still rank low there. And it only shows cities with a population above 250 000 people, which means Denmark only needs to have Copenhagen and Aarhus with trams etc, and Britain needs like 27 cities with it. It's just easier to achieve 100% with fewer cities than when there are more cities and more of the cities in some countries might have focused on buses instead. I mean, the public transportation in Britain might still be bad, but this doesn't seem like the proper statistics to use to show it. Depends on how the buses are. Finally, I've really enjoyed British food when I've visited. Sunday roast especially. And afternoon tea :)

[@clashwithmoi8926]

Henry Hienz basically finessed the British department store. He knew people would ridicule him here in the states.

[@glazersout4272]

Heinz Beans on the thumbnail, as though tinned crap is representative of UK food? Really? Obviously never tried some real fish and chips, fresh caught down at the coast...

[@capeverdeanprincess4444]

In terms of cooked food, British aren’t the best (prefer American, Brazilian, Jamaican, Cuban cooked food) However, British have the best desserts and chocolate I have ever had, in my opinion better than France.

[@kwanman5146]

Wouldn't say Brits don't know what good food is. I would say Brits are generally well traveled, certainly more proportionately than our Stateside cousins. Exposure to good food around the world will raise standards at home as people demand through choice to eat better food.

[@An-Account_1]

British Food is over-hated

[@chickenpotato3791]

Went to a restaurant that served authentic british food, tried Haggis and Fish & Chips. I would say it was not that bad, I actually liked it. This is coming from me, an Asian who grew up with full spiced cuisine.

[@nowhere529]

I much prefer British food to the various types over spiced slop of dubious origin that seems so popular these days.

[@rogermoore27]

I grew up eating beans on toast when I lived in London as a child. I still eat it even though I have lived in Trinidad and Tobago since 1980

[@ah7389]

I'm Scottish and I've never heard of toast on toast or cobblers (although that pivture makes me think it might just be another name for crumbles, which are delicious)

[@magpiestudent9357]

Cobbler is basically a pie with only the top on it, so you eat it more like a pudding. UK cobbler is a thing but we make it with dumpling batter, whereas the US makes it with a scone-like pastry. Crumble is a lot more popular in the UK. I... really want crumble now.

[@paulhorgan6152]

Mate you as an American really need.as an American education being a country that doesn't believe there are no other ❤😢

[@Piratesaregay12322]

I went to the UK and I thought the food there was pretty good actually.

[@herngong]

It sounds awful when you say the word Britain in a pseudo British way. Either speak American or speak English. Mixing them seems a bit gimmicky to me.

[@Nero.H]

I went to tesco once, they had a wider selection of readymeals than vegies😂.😂

[@magpiestudent9357]

I have never in my entire life heard of a toast sandwich. But there is such a thing as a crisp sandwich, which consists of soft buttered bread with potato chips inside. It's more of a kid's snack or student meal though! And I think British desserts are some of the best in the world.

[@purpleom9649]

Really bad research on this video

[@robwalsh9843]

Sometimes I wonder if the bigger problem isn't English food being bland but more that people's tastes have been oversaturated by things like spicy ingredients, MSG, etc. so that they cannot appreciate more subtle flavors. I obviously wouldn't want to eat English food 24/7 but it most certainly has its place and a proper English breakfast is a great hangover killer.

[@artirony410]

10:42 "we have less time off than medieval peasants" I feel like this often repeated statement ignores that peasants did grueling physical labor and that their "time off" was still work to guarantee their survival

[@yetidodger6650]

'Nando's is over rated'. Nando's ain't British ffs.

[@reeseprince8]

It's like saying pizza isn't American

[@Tigerdriver91Academy]

Brits don't have any good food. That's why they're always claiming nandos and Indian food as their food.

[@TrevM0nkey]

have a read on the Nando's website... under their About Us: Food, section is says "Born in South Africa with a blend of Portuguese and British culture."

[@AndyBHome]

Totally uninformed opinion here: I would have guessed that Victorian era industrialism was the driving force behind British people losing their interest in food in general. People's focus shifted from enjoying life at home to focusing on the workplace, science, technology, and industry. Additionally the Victorian era emphasis on standardization made consistency a higher priority than flavor, or even enjoyment. I do think that British food is underrated, but I also think there are a lot of British people, as there are a lot of Americans, who have absolutely abominable taste in food. More precisely, I think they have very poor food sense or knowledge. They can't cook. French, Italians, Spanish all typically have very good knowledge of how to cook, what to do with ingredients, what things make good combinations and what don't. It's very common for British people to want to put things together that people from those other countries are appalled by. Ultimately i think the British culinary deficit is a product of a lack of knowledge. Why that is I can only guess, but ultimately I think it's literally most education and experience, or the lack thereof.

[@karlclarke]

ok i have never heard of a toast sandwich in my life, and i was born in London 53 years ago, asked my mum who is 80 never heard of it either. 2nd correct the war did effect are eating due to rations. Also I have worked as a Chef now for 30 years and the food in the Uk is one of the best as its diverse with so many different cultures, but also the traditional dishes are beautifully made these days since the old 2nd world war restrictions are well over

[@minitanksandchairs]

In the last two weeks, I have made and eaten: Bouef bourguignon Chicken curry Carbonara Lasagne Pizza Chicken Souvlaki Stroganoff Sunday Roast I'm British, I made it, it's British food. It was all very nice and everyone enjoyed it. 😂

[@TheJohnboyhunter]

"Nando's is overrated" Nando's is South African, not British.

[@TrevM0nkey]

Tell Nando's that. Their website says "Born in South Africa with a blend of Portuguese and British culture."

[@milliedragon4418]

I would say they definitely do have a good history of food. I guess it's just kind of the current time that their foods are more bland but there's a channel I watch sometimes that talks about like Victorian British food history and it was very beautiful, even visually to look at. But again, that was mostly like rich and royal, and that man translated to like the commoner that often.

[@Boogie3D]

Yep, UK eats like the Germans are still flying overhead. And also it is one of the two nations (the other is Netherlands) which sold spices to the rest of the world, but forgotten to bring it to their own.

[@frenchcookerysnob8251]

Dead meme bruv

[@Boogie3D]

@@frenchcookerysnob8251 Maybe the first part, the second one is true, I have lived in both countries.

[@theotherfritz2643]

Wow. What cool and original humour. You must be a very creative and hilarious person to have come up with such novel witticisms.

[@Boogie3D]

@@theotherfritz2643 Wow, what a nice person you are! What a sense of humour! Amazing soft skills! What I've written over here is definitely not novel, but it is just truth.

[@theotherfritz2643]

@@Boogie3D Oh, so you're ignorant as well as unfunny. Good to know.

[@HYPERIONNakayama]

Bro, where are all the views at? These videos are really good 👍

[@muayboran6111]

There are quite a number of french cooking then ends with "anglaise" like "creme anglaise"

[@vickytaylor9155]

Roast dinners can’t be beaten.

[@ledingdong1492]

It's also to do with the large amount of money owed to Britain that will never be paid back

[@guywilletts2804]

I refuse to take lectures in food quality from a nation that thinks that cheese comes in cans.

[@wrux]

I found a place recently in Tokyo selling amazing pies, scotch eggs, pork pies and the guy even made his own picalilli. It was great to see Japanese embracing a cuisine that people love to say is bad

[@Kokkikoulussa]

1985 I traveled first time to London - Visting Windsor and having there my first Pub Lunch, which was "Quite Exp." - Meat was OK, but Vegetables watery, over cooked, tastless... In years to come, more visits and making great friends - They teached me their "best" local "Kitchen" and great Home Cooking - London, Birminham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Balmoral, Manchester and many other - Best Fish & Chips...Had Hagggis, Eal & Mash, Restaurants from the past (Traditionals in London)... British Kitchen is not bold and bland - it is just different... Just old sayings in a Head and Minds are getting echo and voice in belives...

[@zigzaglychee7324]

The hate beans on toast gets makes me sad, of all the foods here that one doesn't deserve it, it's tasty. I hate the gross cheese and onion sandwiches that old people insist on feeding you if you're vegetarian, coleslaw, any of the other beige/white slops.

[@zura7074]

this is mostly english food, not british, you are missing quite a few recipies from wales ireland and scotland here

[@HeatherLandon227]

Beans on Toast is DELICIOUS!

[@hailhummus]

A sunday roast (lots of nice vegan options now too) with a whopping yorkshire pudding, finished off with sticky toffee pudding is the definition of comfort eating

[@ajaxtelamonian5134]

No there aren't. If you don't eat meat in England a lot of people still act as if you've descended from a spaceship.

[@hailhummus]

@@ajaxtelamonian5134 When I lived there I found plenty of places that served vegan sunday roasts, and plenty of restaurants with good vegetarian/vegan options. That's my experience. If you live in a place where that's not true, that's fine, but luckily for me not what I experienced.

[@ajaxtelamonian5134]

@hailhummus To be fair i just despise nut roast its just like sage and onion stuffing most of the time bland, flavourless and dry, and takes three weeks to swallow. With the dreaded ever present mushroom burger just waiting round the corner. So bland and uninspired. Not all places, though tbf Once you get somewhere, the demographic is under 60s it is better.

[@old.not.too.grumpy.]

The food in centreal london is some of the wrost in the UK becuase it main serves tourtist so it doent have to be good as they dont rely on people returning. Ive eaten really bad food in the tourist areas in Spain Italy and Greece countries that are supoosed to have some of the best foods in the world.

[@lindachallinor5154]

I went to the USA in 1982 for the first time and was shocked at how bad your food was. Bread that sweet it could be a dessert, same with gravy, absolutely disgusting pre packaged salad revolting the ham was processed not handcrafted or carved. I grew up with a deli cooking its own chickens and boiling and roasting ham, beef and pork made fresh every day. Was a huge culture shock. Corn dogs oh dear me sweet batter on a hot dog the world had gone mad. Then no curry, none anywhere, cheese in a can or plastic cheese slices oh no where was the real food. Works both ways but more and more vloggers are saying how good the food is.