British cuisine

British cuisine consists of the cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom, including the regional cuisines of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. British cuisine has its roots in the cooking traditions of the indigenous Celts; however, its diverse culinary offerings have been significantly influenced and shaped by subsequent waves of settlement and conquest, notably those of the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, and the Normans; waves of migration, notably immigrants from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, China, Italy, South Africa, and Eastern Europe, primarily Poland; and exposure to increasingly globalised trade and connections to the Anglosphere, particularly the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Highlights and staples of British cuisine include the roast dinner, the full breakfast, shepherd's pie, toad in the hole, fried chicken and fish and chips; and a variety of both savoury and sweet pies, cakes, tarts, and pastries. Foods influenced by immigrant populations and the British appreciation for spice have led to the invention of new curries. Other traditional desserts include trifle, scones, apple pie, sticky toffee pudding, and Victoria sponge cake. British cuisine also includes a large variety of cheeses, beers, and ciders.

Around the United Kingdom vibrant culinary scenes exist influenced by global cuisine. The modern phenomenon of television celebrity chefs began in the United Kingdom with Philip Harben. Since then, well-known British chefs have wielded considerable influence on modern British and global cuisine, including Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthal, Rick Stein, Nigella Lawson, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and Fanny Cradock.

History

Celtic origins and Roman conquest

British cuisine has its roots in the cooking practices of the indigenous Celts. Celtic agriculture and animal breeding practices produced a wide variety of foodstuffs, such as grain, fruit, vegetables, and cattle. Archaeological evidence of cheese production can be seen as early as 3,800 BC, while bread from cereal grains was being produced as early as 3,700 BC. Ancient Celts fermented apples to produce cider, as recorded by Julius Caesar during his attempted invasions of Britain in 55-54 BC.

Strabo records that Celtic Britons cultivated millet, herbs, and root vegetables, and practised apiculture to produce honey. Trade with Celtic Gauls in what is now modern-day France and the Low Countries, as well as with the Roman Republic following its conquest of Gaul, introduced grains such as wheat, oats, and rye. Barley was grown to produce porridge and malt for beer, while flax was grown for its oil. Broad beans, wild spinach, herbs, and primitive parsnips were the primary sources of vegetables and greens in Celtic Britain.

According to Julius Caesar, Celtic Britons domesticated cattle, which were symbols of status and wealth, sheep and goats for their meat and milk; and, to a lesser extent, pigs for ham. Caesar notes that Celts also domesticated geese, chickens, and hares, but it is unclear whether they were kept for food or for religious rituals due to the association with Celtic deities. Trade with Romans also led to the import of wine.

In 43 AD, the Roman Empire invaded and began its conquest of Britain, eventually encompassing all of modern-day England, Wales, and parts of southern Scotland. The Roman conquest brought a culinary renaissance to the island, importing many foodstuffs which were hitherto unknown to Celtic Britons, including fruits such as figs, medlars, grapes, pears, cherries, plums, damsons, mulberries, dates, olives, vegetable marrows, and cucumbers; vegetables such as carrots, celery, asparagus, endives, turnips, cabbages, leeks, radishes, onions, shallots, and artichokes; nuts, seeds, and pulses such as sweet chestnuts, lentils, peas, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts, and sesame; and herbs and spices such as garlic, basil, parsley, borage, chervil, thyme, common sage, sweet marjoram, summer savory, black pepper, ginger, cinnamon, rosemary, mint, coriander, chives, dill, and fennel. Produced foods such as sausages were also imported, along with new animals, including rabbits, pheasants, peacocks, guinea fowl, and possibly fallow deer.

Roman colonists were able to grow wine in vineyards as far north as Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire, and the longevity of Roman occupation is credited as creating the wine industry in Britain. The importance of seafood to the Roman diet led to its increasing popularity in Britain, particularly shellfish such as oysters. The quality of oysters from Colchester in particular became prized in Rome as a delicacy. After the end of Roman rule in Britain and the subsequent collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the use of more exotic food items lessened. After the Roman period, British cuisine predominately consisted of vegetables, cereals, and meats such as mutton.

The Middle Ages

Shortly after the end of Roman rule in Britain, the Germanic Anglo-Saxons began conquering and colonising the island. The Anglo-Saxons introduced bacon to Britain during this period; rural families had their own recipes for curing and smoking bacon, while urban residents would purchase bacon from butchers who developed their own curing methods. Residents in London had access to a particularly diverse range of bacon products from across Britain. Anglo-Saxons helped to entrench stews, broths, and soups into British cuisine, along with an early form of the crumpet. Bread and butter became common fare, and the English in particular gained a reputation for their liberal use of melted butter as a sauce with meat and vegetables. Ale was a popular drink of choice among the nobility and peasantry alike, and mead production increased around Christian monasteries. Danish and other Scandinavian invaders during the Viking Age introduced techniques for smoking and drying fish.

After the Norman Conquest in 1066, the Normans reintroduced many spices and continental influences that had been lost after the departure of the Romans. Many of the modern English words for foodstuffs, such as beef, pork, mutton, gravy, jelly, mustard, onion, herb, and spice are derived from Old French words introduced by the Normans. Though eating habits and cooking methods remained largely unchanged, pig farming intensified under the Norman dynasty. The Crusades and trade with Arab Muslim empires introduced foods such as oranges and sugarcane to Britain.

It was during the late 14th century that the first cookery books began to emerge, notably the English book the Forme of Cury, containing recipes from the court of Richard II. The recipes it describes are diverse and sophisticated, with a wide variety of ingredients such as capon, pheasant, almonds, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, dates, pine nuts, saffron, mace, nutmeg and sugar. It also describes foods such as gingerbread, and sweet and sour sauces. Elaborate stews such as dillegrout became commonly served at the coronations of English monarchs. It was during the Middle Ages that many staples of British cuisine began to develop, such as the apple pie, an early cheesecake (called sambocade), custard, mince pies, pasties, and various forms of meat pies.

Tudor and Stuart era

The dawn of the Tudor dynasty following the Wars of the Roses coincided with the European discovery of the New World, the initiation of the Columbian exchange, and globalisation of trade, which opened up Britain to a range of new foodstuffs not seen since the Roman conquest. Foods from the New World included grains such as maize; fruits such as avocados, chili peppers chocolate, cranberries, guavas, papayas, pineapples, squashes, and tomatoes; vegetables such as potatoes, cassavas, and sweet potatoes; legumes such as peanuts and haricot beans, spices such as vanilla; and animals, most notably turkeys. The growth of the global spice trade, now dominated by rapidly expanding European empires, led to the re-proliferation of black pepper, nutmeg, cloves, mace, and cinnamon in British cookery.

The late 15th century saw the development of well-known alcoholic beverage Scotch whisky. It was during the early 16th century that cookery books printed using the printing press became more widely available, notably The Boke of Cokery printed at the turn of the century in 1500 by Richard Pynson, and The Good Huswifes Jewell towards the end of the century in 1585 by Thomas Dawson. Under the Tudor dynasty in England and Wales, and the Stuart dynasty in Scotland, British cuisine became more refined and grew more sophisticated. Recipes began to emphasise a balance of sweet and sour flavours, butter became a key ingredient in sauces, reflecting a trend seen in France that continued in subsequent centuries, and herbs such as thyme, used only sparingly in the medieval period, began to replace spices as flavourings.