Ask any Japanese student returning from a homestay or holiday (US=vacation) in England what they thought about the food there and you’ll invariably get the response “mazui” (tastes bad). Compared to food in their own country English food understandably seems basic, lacking the variety of ingredients and cooking styles that sets Japanese cuisine apart from that of most nations.

This is because recipes – and indeed general attitudes towards food – are traditionally much more functional in England, focusing more on the need to fill one’s stomach than on the desire to savour the flavour, texture, smell and combination of ingredients that plays such a big part of the Japanese appreciation of food. Perhaps this functionality is best exemplified by the traditional English meal of ‘meat and two veg’, where the meat is well-done and the veggies are boiled until soft…

While I’m happy to admit that overall Japanese food is superior, there are nonetheless still some types of English food I really miss living in Japan. And some of them I’m sure Japanese people might even enjoy eating too:

Fish and Chips
Deep fried battered cod and chips, seasoned with salt and vinegar.
Probably the most famous English food and one of my favourites. I heard that Harry Ramsden’s (the best known fish and chip restaurant chain in England) had opened a restaurant in Hong Kong so, desperate for my fix, I tracked it down when I went there a couple of years ago. Unfortunately it seems the Chinese have a similarly-dismissive attitude towards English food as the restaurant had gone out of business!

Full English Breakfast
Fried sausages, fried bacon, fried eggs, fried bread, fried mushrooms, fried tomato, black pudding (deep fried pigs blood), baked beans, and buttered (or fried!) toast.
Very unhealthy but very tasty, the ‘Full English’ is not as popular as it once was, due to the time it takes to prepare and eat, and the increased likelihood of having a heart attack before you finish eating one. The best place to have one of these is in the English equivalent of the American diner, the ‘greasy spoon’. Many of these serve the Full English all day, which you can eat while soaking up the unique atmosphere with the locals.

Sunday Roast
Roast beef or lamb, gravy, roasted potatoes, boiled peas and carrots, and Yorkshire pudding. Paxo sage and onion stuffing is optional.
One of the social aspects of UK life I miss most is Sunday afternoon down the pub. Often used as an effective method of getting rid of a hangover, a couple of pints and a Sunday Roast with friends is a nice way to wind down the weekend, although of course a pub Sunday Roast rarely tastes as good as the one your Mum makes.

Kids’ Meals
Fish fingers, sausages or chicken nuggets; mashed potato, chips or potato waffles (nothing like American waffles); baked beans or mushy peas. Served with ketchup (known as ‘red sauce’ or ‘tomato sauce’ in England)
Kids’ meals consisting of these kinds of food can often be found at pubs or family restaurants, but are equally likely to be served at home as TV dinners as they can be cooked quickly and easily from mostly frozen and tinned products.

Mince Pies and Pasties
Minced beef (sometimes with onion) pies; As well as the famous Cornish Pasties, other types include meat and potato, chicken, and curry flavours.
Not really a meal (unless you eat more than five of them), but rather a lunchtime snack or part of a meal. In Manchester or London you notice the proliferation of fast food takeaways serving fried chicken whereas in the North East of England, where immigration has had less of an impact, you find shops selling mince pies and pasties everywhere instead. The most well known chain is North East company Greggs, apparently a favourite of actress Milla Jovovich.

Beans on Toast
Heinz (must be Heinz!) baked beans served on top of buttered toast. Grated cheese sprinkled on top is optional.
An incredibly cheap and filling (and relatively healthy) meal prepared at home. Bearing in mind the convenience and versatility of tinned baked beans, it’s always surprised me that they’re not more popular in other countries, especially Australia and America. Although they’re not officially sold in Japan I did manage to get some through FBC. At ¥500 a tin though, they’re a bit pricey compared to the 49p (¥100) you would pay at Sainsbury’s in England.

Other foods I miss that deserve a quick mention include:

Shepherd’s Pie – a tasty minced beef and mashed potato mix.
Stottie sandwiches – made from Stottie bread (unique to the North East of England), the best filling is ham and pease pudding (paste made from cooked peas, also unique to the North East – similar to chick peas).
Sandwiches – although (thankfully) lacking the ridiculous range of choices you get at an American deli, there’s still much more variety in the sandwiches and sandwich ingredients available in England than the ones in Japan.
Bangers and Mash/Toad in the Hole - two classic sausage dishes.

Of course there are lots of other tasty foods in England, but most of them are of foreign origin. Particularly noteworthy among these are doner kebabs (different from kebabs in other countries), Chinese food (sharing much in common with American Chinese food and very different from Chinese food found in Japan, not to mention China) and Indian curries (Britain’s new ‘national food’, apparently).

Check out these other food and drink related posts: Turbo Shandy, The Sasebo Burger Nazi, the Beer In Japan series, Beer For Kids, Sampling Sake, and Beer and the Mother Tongue.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 6th, 2007 at 12:07 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, Articles in English, Food and Drink, English Language and Western Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.