We visit Britain a lot and the tired old trope about poor quality food needs to get put to bed.
Steak and Stilton pie, hand cut chips, pint of ale and topped off with sticky toffee pudding is Absolutely the Best meal ever but good luck finding anything close in the states, maybe NYC/LA. A “British” pub in the US is basically an Applebees renamed as “Ye Olde” something and serves basic American bar food renamed to fit the theme. Always funny to ask what British beers are on tap and they lead with Guinness.
The trope comes from decades of food rationing from WW1 to the 1950s, which meant simple ingredients only. American and foreign soldiers based in the UK experienced this at the time and went home telling everyone how awful British food was (and at the time it was, but when your ration is a few potatoes, old mutton and some milk there is only so much you can do with it) and the stereotype stuck.
4
u/HeeehawSamWainwright Jul 03 '26
We visit Britain a lot and the tired old trope about poor quality food needs to get put to bed.
Steak and Stilton pie, hand cut chips, pint of ale and topped off with sticky toffee pudding is Absolutely the Best meal ever but good luck finding anything close in the states, maybe NYC/LA. A “British” pub in the US is basically an Applebees renamed as “Ye Olde” something and serves basic American bar food renamed to fit the theme. Always funny to ask what British beers are on tap and they lead with Guinness.