Over the past few weeks, my algorithm has thrown me into a vortex of American influencers trying British food. Some of it has been positive. American TikToker Kalani Ghosthunter came to the UK looking for ghosts — but what he found was Greggs. One bite of a sausage roll and his face lit up like he’d found heaven in puff pastry. “Buttery,” he said, in awe. “Unmatched.”
But these led into other videos of influencers attempting to cook “British” food.
One TikToker made tea by boiling milk, water and a teabag together in a saucepan. Another attempted a sausage roll using a Frankfurter sausage and what appeared to be biscuit dough. They try these chaotic food crimes, pull a face like they’ve just licked a battery, and declare with absolute authority: British food is disgusting.
For years the world has thought our food is unseasoned, stodgy, and boring — nothing could be further from the truth. It’s time to set the record straight. Here are the five biggest reasons British food gets a bad rap — and why they’re gloriously wrong.
When TikTok food reviewer Keith Lee visited London and asked for food recommendations, where was he sent? Wetherspoons. Nando’s. A British Chinese takeaway. Fine for a night out — but hardly the showcase of what British food can be. Not St. John. Not The Devonshire. Not even Rules.
Another influencer, @Thee_Lit_One, went on a self-styled “Top Boy food tour,” eating at Chicken Cottage, Morley’s, Greggs and a host of other high street staples. These are undeniably British and he is having a very authentic British experience but as a chef, this is also horrifying.
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I believe that we produce some of the best chefs and ingredients in the world and now the world knows the vast majority eat like our high streets.
2. They invent fake British recipes, then slag them off
I’ve watched Americans make Marmite sandwiches with three-inch-thick layers and say we hate joy. One video showed a “British dinner” of roast chicken, baked beans and cold coleslaw — all served on a paper plate with ketchup.
Another made a “UK curry” with plain boiled chicken, curry powder and mayonnaise. These recipes are as authentic as a three-pound note.
A couple of weeks ago, I was in the queue for Oyster Shack, a traditional seafood stall in the middle of Epping Forest, when a woman in front of me claimed that the British don’t have many seafood dishes, and this wasn’t “actually” British food.
I got instantly defensive. Oyster shacks are as British as it gets. Cockles, whelks and mussels in vinegar, platters of oysters and jellied eels were once the working-class foods of Britain. Even the marginally more refined potted shrimps, dressed crab and slip soles scream British culture, so why do foreigners not know about these refined seminal British foods?
When we talk about escargot, it’s fine dining. Jellied eels? Apparently a joke. The difference is snobbery.
4. They think we’ve always been bland (we haven’t)
One of the most exciting things happening right now is on TikTok, where home cook Jago Rackham — aka The Ecstasy Cookbook — is bringing historic British food to life. Jago is fighting the corner that British food was never meant to be bland, and in fact we have popularised spices since medieval times.
While Colonial Britain and the slave trade represent dark chapters in our history, they also mean we’ve been bringing in global flavors for centuries — this isn’t something new. Historically, the British palate was more like Middle Eastern cuisine, with no separation between sweet and savory. Spices, nuts, dried fruits and herbs have always been part of British cooking.
His medieval-inspired recipes are rich with saffron, rosewater, mace and dried fruits. They’re a reminder that we’ve used spice since before the Americas were even “discovered.”
We can’t just brush off slavery and the British Empire in exchange for some nice recipes — this country has left a clusterf*** of unforgivable things in its wake. But as a British person, I don’t know anything else. Can I loathe what happened while still loving the strong cultural identity multiculturalism has created in our food?
World food is my obsession — it drives me creatively and emotionally. My recipes come from growing up with multicultural neighbors in London, from places my parents lived, from holidays and experiences. I try to do it respectfully, researching properly and speaking to the communities at my fingertips to shape my cooking and writing.
It goes without saying that we have appropriated foods without thought — I know I have. I still wince remembering the time I advertised an event as “Curries (from India)” when the dishes were mostly Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Sri Lankan. South Indian communities rightly kicked off, and I was called out and cancelled. It was mortifying — and deserved.
British food has never been just one thing. Our national dishes are shaped by immigration and diaspora. Our curry houses, jerk chicken shops, Chinese bakeries, and Turkish grills are not side notes — they are British cuisine.
I called my friend Andi Oliver — broadcaster, chef, and one of the most articulate voices in food — and asked: can British cooking exist without multicultural influence?
“Is it possible to be a British cook, if you don’t embrace the vast array of multicultural ingredients and techniques that we are so blessed by?” she said. “It’s barmy to believe multiculturalism isn’t at the cornerstone of the evolution of British food.”
So, where does that leave us?
When I asked my social media what they’d nominate as our national dish, it wasn’t chicken tikka masala. It was fish and chips — on the actual coast — and Sunday roasts. New contenders like “picky bits” made a cheeky appearance too (though let’s be clear: a hunk of cheese, some apple and grapes, a slice of pork pie, piccalilli and chutney with fresh bread and butter is a very British lunch, but a picky tea of M&S deli bits with potato smiley faces and garlic bread is not).
A proper roast is the most British thing I do. I make one nearly every weekend. It’s how I cook for friends. It’s a ritual. I also love places like Ling Lings, the Raglan and Passa Passa who are doing culture clash roasts.
And while we’re at it — go to Mitch Tonks’ Rockfish in Dartmouth or Aldeburgh’s seaside chippy and tell me it’s not world class.
So, whatever our national dish is, what I am entirely confident about — is that British food is anything but boring and bland. It’s a brilliant hodgepodge of our history, diversity, and multiculturalism. It’s like no other food in the world and every single kitchen represents our unity. That’s one thing, at a time of external doom, that we should all be incredibly proud of.
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