this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2024
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[–] [email protected] 62 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (12 children)

I'm British and I see it's wrong because it simply isn't true... We have a ton of spicy foods. The stereotype that we only eat comfort foods like in the meme is old and worn out. Maybe that's all you eat, but that's on you.

[–] Redacted 37 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Yeah never got this. The nation's favourite dish is curry. My favourite dish is curry. Isn't it a running joke amongst Indians how much the Brits love curry?

Things like beans on toast and fish finger sandwiches are cheap and easy lunch snacks for students but not our actual diet.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Yep, just seems disingenuous to act like the history of the spice trade hasn't affected our food culture when it clearly has massively. Hell, even curry in Japan is popular not because of India but because of British influence. The reason "Katsu Curry" is called Katsu is because of the English word "Cuts" referring to the cuts of meat in the curry, which is Japanese sounds like 'katsu'.

[–] kamenlady 12 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Subscribed

to Spice-Facts

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

We also gave currywurst to the Germans

[–] thawed_caveman 17 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

But that's just the thing, all the best food in the UK comes from India, France, or Italy.

[–] Redacted 26 points 2 months ago (10 children)

Stops carving the Sunday roast and holds off putting the apple crumble in the oven...

But we are one of the most multicultural societies in the world and have long since adopted everyone else's cuisines.

By this logic the Japanese don't have curries and the Americans don't have pizza, or any other food for that matter.

[–] Zeshade 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Exactly.

And India doesn't have chillies add Italy doesn't have tomatoes... Where do we stop?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

chillies is neither a dish nor a cuisine, so we do stop there

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[–] gmtom 5 points 2 months ago

Except all the most popular curries in the UK aren't Indian, they're British, and infact pretty much any curry outside of southern Asia was introduced by the British (or occasionally Portuguese) like Japanese curry for example.

[–] EnderMB 4 points 2 months ago

Eh, to some extent, but we've got the foresight to accept these dishes as being British when you consider that the foods we eat aren't authentic to those areas. Spag Bol isn't being eaten in Italy, nor is Chicken Vindaloo in India.

We've got a long enough history that we can trace back when the Normans and Saxons came here, alongside the culture changes of Indian settlers, Jamaican workers, Irish, etc. That acceptance is not only why there're a lot of distinctly British versions of different cultures' food, but why many cities in the UK also serve decidedly authentic food at some of the best restaurants in the world - and that doesn't even factor in how some cultures have fused over time.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Good luck getting a decent fry-up in any of those hellholes.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago (2 children)

But why don't your comfort foods have spices?

[–] gmtom 8 points 2 months ago (8 children)

Yep because no British person ever eats curry as a comfort food.....

[–] EnderMB 3 points 2 months ago

Or a Kebab, absolutely fucking loaded with enough spice to blow your insides out the morning after.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (6 children)

In this context I think it's comfort food because it's kiddy food. Something simple and familiar that reminds you of being younger. In England, children's menus will usually contain basic things like chicken nuggets and fish fingers that aren't (heavily) spiced.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

What in hell is comforting about that picture?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

yea personally I feel quite distressed

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

As you say, lots of spicy food options. Our National Dish is actually a curry - chicken masala and Phall, the hottest curry, was invented in Birmingham.

Also - in the picture are baked beans. They're invented in the USA. We adopted them, but they're not ours.

[–] Skullgrid -4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Did an ethnically British person invent the chicken tikka masala and phall, or was it an immigrant from the Indian subcontinent or one of their kids/grandchildren?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

“No, where are you really from?”

[–] Skullgrid 0 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Bruh I'm a British Turk.

I get mad when Germans try to bullshit they invented the döner kebab. The roots of those curries are based on recipes from the Indian subcontinent.

John Curry did not invent the tikka masala in Kent, the same way the döner kebab was not invented by Hans Döner in Stuttgart

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Yeah yeah, we know y'all love Tikka masala over there.

Brb, gonna go have hamburgers and french fries for breakfast and shoot my guns for lunch.

[–] EnderMB 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The perception of Britain that most Americans have is that of the 40's and 50's. It's hardly surprising that it's completely fucking wrong.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

I think it's just Baby Boomers perpetuating the same old ideas in their echo chambers.

We've all been struggling to move onward for like 40 years.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I see nothing wrong because buttered bread, fish fingers and beans is a banger of a meal

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[–] halferect 4 points 2 months ago

Just like when British people assume all America is Texas

[–] MadBigote 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

What examples can you give of British food?

[–] demizerone 2 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

God, finally someone else is saying it. I feel like a stick in the mud whenever this comes up.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

Lol, thx actually. I finally upgraded my perspective.

The only people I know are polish relatives who live in scotland and well, do have their own custom and creative dishes

[–] [email protected] -4 points 2 months ago

Oh my god no one cares, Clive!