Eating and Drinking Habits in the UKThe usual meals in Britain are: breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.
ENGLAND Traditional English breakfast is generally a bigger meal than they have on the Continent. Usual English breakfast is porridge or cornflakes with milk or cream and sugar, bacon and eg British traditional food is roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, cheddar Some kinds of food are connected with traditional holidays. For example on Christmas after church many return to homes fragrant with the smell of turkey roasting in the oven. Old and young wait while the cook makes his or her last-minute preparations and stirs the gravy, which is rich with the pan juices of the turkey. The table is laid with the best table linen and china or pottery. While Christmas is primarily a family occasion with relatives travelling long distances to be together, friends or acquaintances with no family of their own may be invited to join the gathering. The meal may begin with something light such as melon, smoked salmon with lemon or celery, or Stilton soup under a thin pastry ‘hat’. Roast turkey is the most popular main dish today, though roast goose is a strong contender. The turkey is accompanied by one or two stuffings, such as chestnut and bacon stuffing or sausage-meat stuffing, chipolata sausages and bacon rolls. A sauce made from cranberries cooked with a port and orange flavoured syrup contrasts well with the rich turkey meat. Home-made bread sauce is traditional and is flavoured with cloves and nutmeg. Brussels sprouts are at their best at Christmas and are sometimes mixed with chestnuts or other nuts, or with breadcrumbs fried in butter. Delicious roast vegetables such as crunchy potatoes and caramelized parsnips add hugely to the delight. Mince pies continue to be popular at Christmas time in Britain. The picture of the Christmas pudding being brought to the table flaming with brandy is a traditional image of the British Christmas lunch. England has stable tea traditions. Nowadays 20 million cups of tea are sipped in England a day. People drink tea in the morning, at eleven o’clock at work, at lunch, in the afternoon and before going to bed. English tea is normally with milk. The tradition of the afternoon tea associated with the upper classes appeared around the beginning of the 19th Century, when the Duchess of Bedford, complaining of a 'sinking feeling' late in the afternoons began inviting friends around for an 'extra' meal. The meal was based on the European tea service format where small cakes, sandwiches, assorted finger sweets and tea were served. Until this point, Great Britain had only two meals in a day. Breakfast was served much later in the day than it is now and consisted of beef, bread, and ale. Dinner, served late in the evening, was a massive meal. The Duchess' meals became so popular amongst her friends that soon virtually everyone was hosting afternoon tea in order to appear socially acceptable. The tea was kept warm by sitting on a small stand positioned over a candle flame. Tea cuisine consisted of thin crustless sandwiches spread with butter, fish pates, toasts with jam and regional pastries such as scones or crumpets. Two distinct forms of tea service evolved: High and Low. Low tea was served in the low part of the afternoon in the homes of wealthy aristocrats. Low tea featured gourmet tidbits rather than solid meals, with the emphasis on presentation and conversation. High tea was the main (or high) meal of the day. It was the major meal of the lower and middle classes, consisting of full dinner items such as roast beef, potatoes, peas and tea. Debated much more than it seems it should be is: "What is the official time for afternoon tea?" Now it is 4:00 PM. As important as time is atmosphere. If you want to serve tea in English style, use doilies under your plates, fine bowls, cups, a particularly nice tablecloth, some attractive napkins. Also, choosing pleasant music fills the air in ways smells and sights cannot.
WALES The food of Wales developed to satisfy the appetites of hard-working farm labourers, coal miners, quarrymen and fishermen. From the mining valleys of the south to the rugged upland farms of the north, the Welsh landscape produces food of freshness, quality and variety and, in turn, the Welsh people cooked dishes that were hearty and filling. Traditional Welsh foods include bacon, cheeses, crempog (pancakes spread with salty Welsh butter), Bara Brith (a rich tea loaf, sometimes known as 'speckled bread') and cawl - a rich stew made with bacon, scraps of Welsh lamb and vegetables including Wales' emblem, the leek. Although Welsh lamb is one of the country's most famous exports today, it would have been considered a rare treat not long ago, with pork being far more common for the mid-week meal. Welsh black beef has almost overtaken Welsh lamb in its fame and along the coast, of course, fishing remains an important industry with great shoals of herring and mackerel caught off the west coast often just fried in bacon fat for a simple supper. L averbread (seaweed) is a Welsh speciality usually sold by the quarter, rolled with fine Welsh oatmeal into little cakes and fried into crisp patties with eggs, bacon and cockles for a traditional Welsh breakfast. Welsh cakes are a bit like a flat scone, baked on a griddle and with a distinctive flavour and texture, usually served hot spread with butter. Welsh organic dairy based in Aberystwyth whose products can be found everywhere - many Welsh producers are now supplying large supermarkets and food halls. Welsh cheeses (especially goats' cheese), mineral water and even Welsh wines are readily available across the country. There is a wide variety of cheeses including Castle Meadows, Caerphilly, St David's, Pantysgawn farm goats' cheese, Tintern, Harlech, Y-Fenni and St. Illtyd. Llanerch Vineyards produce Cariad (a term of endearment meaning "sweetheart") wines plus cider and elderflower drinks. Graig Farm is an award-winning organic meat mail order service. Much of the recent success of Welsh producers is thanks to an accreditation scheme called A Taste of Wales (Blas ar Gymru). It was launched a few years ago and promotes the use of Welsh produce on the menus of hotels, restaurants, guesthouses, pubs and cafes throughout Wales. The first ever Wales Food and Drink Awards were also launched in 2002. Gwynedd Confectioners, based in Bala, is a supplier of exclusive gift confectionery to the retail industry. The range includes Welsh fudge, mint humbugs, coconut ice, nougat, Welsh style shortbread biscuits and toffee.
SCOTLAND Scotland is renowned for the quality of its natural produce. Fresh Scottish salmon, heather-fed venison, fresh tender lamb and well-hung prime beef all feature in Scottish menu. For vegetarians there is a varied selection of dishes from home-made nut rissoles to fresh papardelle pasta. Porridge used to be typical of Scotland and then spread all over UK. Haggis is the most traditional of all Scottish dishes, eaten on Burns Night (25th January; the birthday of Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns, 1759-1796) and at Hogmanay (New Year's Eve), accompanied by the traditional Black Bun and Shortbread. Haggis is really a large round sausage; the skin being a sheep's paunch. The finest haggis of all is made with deer liver, served to the skirl of the pipes, cut open with a traditional knife and accompanied by small glasses of neat Scotch whisky. Scotch whisky is nicknamed ‘water of life’ and ‘mountain dew’. It is a large industry. The distilling, blending, bottling, transporting and selling of Scotch whisky employs more than 20,000 people. There are about 112 malt distillers in Scotland. The aristocrat of whiskies is the single malt, or unblended whisky. The basic ingredient of whisky is malted barley. Ale brewing in Scotland predates whisky distillation. There is Heather Ale, made to a 4,000 year old Pictish recipe. It is a pale golden beer, with a refreshing fruit aroma, fruity wheat flavour and crisp finish. Recommended with, light foods, pastas and salads. Brewed in Scotland since 2000 B.C. heather ale is probably the oldest style of ale still produced in the world. From an ancient Gaelic recipe for "leann fraoich" (heather ale) it has been revived and reintroduced to the Scottish culture. Introduced by the Vikings, spruce and pine ales were very popular in the Scottish Highlands until the end of the 19th century. It is a light amber ale with floral peaty aroma, full malt character, a spicy herbal flavour and dry wine like finish. Many early explorers, including Captain Cook, used spruce ale during long sea voyages since it prevented scurvy and ill health.
IRELAND Traditional Irish foods are: boxty (raw and cooked potato mashed with butter, buttermilk, flour, and then baked ), champ (potato boiled and mashed with butter, milk, scallion, salt), colcannon (champ and cabbage), Dublin coddle (bacon, ham-bone, onion, potato, sausage ), Irish stew (mutton, carrot, leek and potato), Black pudding ( a kind of thick dark-coloured sausage made of animal blood and fat, and grain). Black pudding is also popular in the North of England. The traditional drinks in Ireland are Guinness beer and Irish whiskey. St James's Gate in the heart of Dublin was where Arthur Guinness set up in business in 1759. He began to produce stout beer, and now it is one of flourishing businesses in Ireland. The best known kinds of Irish whiskey are: Bushmills and Jameson.
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gs, marmalade made from oranges with buttered toasts and tea or coffee. But in our days British areresponding to recent medical advice and are cutting down on fatty food and at breakfast time they usually have cereal and toast or rolls with butter and jam instead of the "traditional English breakfast". This is because of health consideration, the time needed for preparation and the cost.
cheese, clotted cream (thick cream from Cornwall) and fish and chips, Shepherd’s Pie ( meat covered with potato). The main family meal of the week tends to be on Sunday lunch at which, typically, a roast joint of meat will be served with several vegetables and Yorkshire pudding (a round baked food made from flour, eggs and milk). You may also be served a pudding such as apple pie with cream. This is an occasion for the family to get together to talk and relax in a comfortable, friendly atmosphere.
