Top 10 Things to Eat in London: Best British Food | SAM THE

[mark111757 Profile]

Talk about food porn and food orgasm


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIes8pQWSFQ

[Alexandria Profile]

Mark,

Interesting video ..

And the photography of the city was truly exemplary ..

Thank you for posting ..

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Well, that’s a lot better (i.e. more accurate)than most of these things. I recognised most of the locations, he stuck round the edges of the City mainly

A few points
1. That’s not exactly British food, it is quite specifically London food, you’d get most of it elsewhere, but with variations

2. The Hawksmoor full English breakfast is not at all typical, although bubble and squeak contained beef 200 years ago these days it is usually a vegetable side dish of potatoes and greens fried up. If you want a typical full English you’d do better in a transport cafe (truck stop) you won’t get bacon chops there, though you will get bacon. The full English in its current format only appeared since rationing stopped post WW2 although some of the elements are ancient, it’s not an ancient tradition

3. You might well find jellied eels in an East End pie and mash shop but the classic is stewed eels, also served with mash, and the parsley liquor should be made with the eel stock - these days it usually isn’t as eels are scarce and expensive (I think that was Manze’s on Broadway Market)

4. Personally I’d have gone into Tayyab’s restaurant, not far from where he got the curry, and had a better one served in classic London curry house style, though the street one didn’t look bad at all, I liked the little sail of crisp poppadom

He might want to do a little research on clotted cream - the Moosewood cook book suggests mascarpone as the best substitute available in a US grocery store, which sounds odd but is probably right - they served it with scones

Ism now nostalgic for Tubby Isaacs seafood stall in Petticoat Lane, an East End institution and the first place I ever had jellied eels nearly a half century ago (I prefer my eels smoked)

[Uschi Profile]

As I cannot get my hands on clotted cream here I use mascarpone, too.
Mind you, there is a non-soured version of Schmandt (creme fraiche) available in the area where my mother comes from and that is even better, but like clotted cream it is a very regional variant and hard to come by.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

There is Turkish clotted cream, Kaymak, which I think is made in Germany, but no idea if it would be available in Wuppertal. Unlikely to be available in regular US grocery stores though.

[Uschi Profile]

Ooooh, thanks for that, Sue. I shall look out for it in our Turkish shops. Some are quite big and I may be able to get it. It's an easily remembered name, too.

[Lusciouslush Profile]

It's mostly that accent...………..……..what the F&%K...…………?!?!


either be or don't be...…………..….

[jeral Profile]

Talk about food porn and food orgasm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIes8pQWSFQ

Hi mark111757. Thanks for the link.
Do you see any of the 10 items as being "crazy good" enough to make you want to try (or make) now that the cold weather is setting in? Your item(s) would have to be as well as the sticky toffee pudding which I'm guessing might be already on your list

One difference I recognise (from TV) and that Sam (the eater and presenter) did too is how few ingredients there are in good ol' comfort food dishes here, quote: "It's just beef", as opposed to layers of all but the kitchen sink as in some US dishes and sandwiches. Is that the norm, or only for monied city folks who can afford a dozen items for one sandwich?

There was a revival in London of pie, mash with parsley liquor two or three years back, although not enough of one to make a big dent in the food offerings overall, probably because they are so diverse multiculturally now.

Lusciouslush, you have to admit that Sam, despite caricaturing the vernacular, was nevertheless very flattering even saying some food was better than his version at home. There are some who unmistakably damn by faint praise by comparison. I bet he's had a go at making those delicious Scotch eggs back home too.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Well in all my years in London, I NEVER, EVER, EVER had a bacon chop served for breakfast. So that´s not traditional.
And NEVER,EVER, EVER was I offered a dead bone with marrow in it.
So that´s not traditional either.
And come to think of it, I was never offered black pudding. My best mate from Durham said " That´s a northern thing".
A full English was bacon, sausages, grilled tomato, grilled mushrooms, baked beans and fried bread.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I agree that Hawksmoor was a bizarre choice for breakfast, totally non-standard

“The” place for breakfast in London is supposed to be the Wolseley on Piccadilly their full English is

The English £18.75
Choice of Fried, Poached or Scrambled Eggs with Bacon, Sausage, Baked Beans, Tomato, Black Pudding, and Mushroom

I always have black pudding, don’t know why you never saw any, pretty usual round here but bubble & squeak and fried bread both seem to be fading. Don’t miss the fried bread but the bubble is a shame

[Linnet Profile]

Both the fried bread and bubble & squeak seem to have been replaced by hash browns in a lot of places.

[Suffs Profile]

Not at all keen on hash browns .... and when did baked beans become a traditional part of an English breakfast ........... it was never part of ours or any of our other traditional farming friends' breakfasts until quite recently ... but black pudding was always there ... and sometimes some lamb's kidney too

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Baked beans have been part of my traditional English for at least 60 years. I also remember snaffling them down at George´s, in the Oxford Market, just before exam week, in 1970.

[Uschi Profile]

Baked beans and bangers were something I could never get used to.
I do have a fried egg between two slices of brown toast every morning, though. It lasts me quite well.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Both the fried bread and bubble & squeak seem to have been replaced by hash browns in a lot of places.

Good point

I think fried bread has gone partly due to taste, but also because although easy to make in a frying pan, hash browns are less of s faff on a flat top
Bubble went when caffs stopped selling all lunches with spuds and three veg

[Amyw Profile]

Fried bread is something I hardly ever have ,but done well it’s a beautiful thing . I do like a hash brown though . One of our local cafes has a homemade potato rosti as part of their “slimming world” breakfasts which is nice.

I’m not massively keen on baked beans anyway and much prefer grilled tomatoes , or even tinned if they don’t have too much juice . I think a lot of cafes use really cheap beans as well , which make the whole thing taste sweet and too much bean juice

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Thanks for the vid, Mark.
I don't know the presenter, but he seems to like his food minced. Quite a few things there I'd walk past. Sausages, pies. Bacon s'OK, I guess.
All the things he ate, would leave me thirsty for a day.
Never eat a full english, I tuck into the yoghurt and fruits.

The chicken tikka m. wasn't orange enough A bit shredded/ pulled. I prefer skewer chunks.

Very funny they bleep out the sh-word. But leave in the f-word. Ha! very British.

I've just been to London, and was surprised how much food there is easy to eat in the street.
Loads of it, and good quality by the looks of it. Everywhere! Queues forrit.
My town has a few places, but nothing so enticing.

The food's great in London.
I went to the Whole Foods in Kensington to bring back something for our tea after our journey home, and was too overwhelmed by it. Came out with a super bread loaf, for only £1.35.

What I did like the look of on the vid was the vinegar soaked chillies.
I'm going to get some and prep it for Boxing Day. Tony will love it - he adores vinegar on most things.

It looked like an authentic enough walk round tho.

[mark111757 Profile]

I would take anything on the list. Including the sticky toffee pudding. The Bacon chops attracted me. With the bone, a meat lolly. For sure on the chunky chicken tikka masala. I cheated and used Sherwood's and it always tasted good to me (cook in sauce is great for one).

Black pudding in on the list too. Somewhere I had Gino d'acampo's recipe for Mac and cheese and it has bp in it.

Now I am hungry.......

[karadekoolaid Profile]

All in all, I think our presenter did pretty well. I loved the pie and mash bit - even though I´d never have thunk of it!
The tikka masala - well... he said he loved all the "vegetables" in it.
Mine only uses onion, garlic, chiles and tomatoes - with yoghurt, but everyone to his own.
The chish and fips were great; my son went to Poppy´s for a serving and came away thoroughly pleased.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Never heard of Poppy's, but there are so many institutions in London.
We've got the UK winner of the National fish n chips award here in Cheltenham (2nd in 2018 tho).
My arty friends love it in there.

(I've not had f n c for over 2 decades)