British cooking has suffered more from caricature than any other European culinary tradition — dismissed by its European neighbours for centuries as boiled, bland, and unimaginative. The caricature has two origins: genuine poverty in working-class British cooking during the Industrial Revolution (when overcooking was a safety measure with questionable meat and a reflection of coal-fire limitations), and the deliberate denigration by French cultural chauvinism of a tradition it considered beneath notice. The reality: Britain has one of the world's great culinary traditions — a livestock and dairy culture of extraordinary quality (Aberdeen Angus beef, Herdwick lamb, Cornish cream, Montgomery Cheddar), a wild food culture that parallels Scandinavia in its depth, a pastry tradition (raised pies, suet puddings, British tarts) of European significance, and a game culture that is among the most developed in the world.
The British culinary foundation — what it actually is.
BRITISH ISLES + GERMAN/CENTRAL EUROPEAN + PACIFIC ISLAND