Wednesday, September 03, 2014

Hold the lamb and serve that whining moneybags Barzun some fish pie and bitter.

Roast beef with gravy, cabbage, vegetables and Yorkshire pudding at the Dartmoor Inn in Merrivale, Devon. Kindly note ale - not whine.

Louisvillian Matthew Barzun's thoughts on English food are so crucially important that even Terry Boyd has found time to temporarily refrain from fluffing local gods of bizness to comment on the situation: Honey, it's the diplomatic gaffe!

Seems the ambassador let slip that he's tired of being served lamb. In photos, he appears rather well-fed, and so the undiplomatic bits of this newest non-scandal have less to do with limey grub than (a) all the folks in the world lacking daily sustenance with whom Barzun does not come into contact, and (b) the unmitigated cheek of any person hailing from the home city of Yum Brands to criticize any meal, ever.

My last visit to the UK came in July of 2013, and I was quite happy with the results of foraging in Devon and Cornwall.

Queue the Elgar, and consider this partial list of foodstuffs joyfully consumed during my holiday, including both local “English” fare and widely available culinary options borrowed from elsewhere.

Anchovies fillets (fresh)
Bacon
Baked beans
Bangers and mash
Black pudding (i.e., blood sausage)
Cornish pasties
Crab sandwiches
Egg rolls
Falafel
Fish pie (not Stargazy pie, alas)
Gajrati (regional vegetarian Indian)
Haddock and chips
Pie, mash, eel and liquor (the latter is gravy)
Pizza (loaded)
Smoked salmon
Spanish tapas
Steak & kidney pie
Thai red curry
Yorkshire pudding

Maybe Barzun needs to visit a pub. Cask ale helps with the digestion, after all.

How dare anyone criticise British food? Indigestible dinners made this country great, by Stuart Heritage (The Guardian)

... Oh, sure, the foodies will tell you that the restaurant scene in this country has never been so vibrant; that the UK now plays host to some of the world’s most exciting chefs; that television cookery has changed how we all feed ourselves. And they might have a case, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good thing. On the contrary, I’d be willing to argue that horrible food is precisely what made this country great.

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