It was never fashionable to praise our food here in the UK but 'times
they are a changing'. Back in the 1960s and 70s the food in our
shops was pretty poor. Cheap food was what was aimed for and we were
reputed to spend a smaller percentage of our income on food than
elswhere in western Europe. But that is certainly no longer the case
as has been brought home to my wife and me during the past three
weeks. 30-40 years ago we all complained that tomatoes no longer had
any taste, our bread was dreadful and the only cheeses we made were
varieties of cheddar (although I admit that it was pretty good cheddar
mostly).

Like many Brits. my wife and I are at our happiest when holidaying in
France - in fact, we get 'withdrawal symptoms' if away from France for
too long. We have just returned from a three week trip during which
time we rented a house right down in the south. This gave us the
chance to use the markets.

And I have to say that using bread, cheese, and tomatoes as a
yardstick, we in the UK came out pretty well. Bread in the UK is now
superb with enormous variety available even in our small village here
in the south of England. Whilst France probably leads the world in
its variety of cheeses it is often the case that only a limited range
is available in each area. But here at home we can buy a huge variety
of French, British and Irish cheese - and certainly no longer just the
hard cheese of yesteryear.

But it was the tomatoes that were the clincher. Wherever we bought
tomatoes in France they weren't a patch on what we have been buying
from our local store at home. Whilst ours are full of flavour the
tomatoes in France were all pretty tasteless things - and that was on
a journey from the very north to just short of the Spanish border.

So subscribers to this group will, I hope, forgive me for blowing the
British food trumpet for a change. I can't speak for elsewhere in the
UK but certainly where we live food quality is now paramount and our
recent trip has confirmed this. As a country we still don't have the
wonderful markets one encounters in France that we gaze on in
wonderment. But we found that 'all that glisters certainly wasn't
gold' - and I say that as a totally confirmed Francophile!

1. main Difference between France and Britain is that Britain is more
open to selling products from other countries, you will not find that
many non French cheeses for sale here, or non French wine. It is
changing but very slowly.

2. Bought Tomatoes here in France are generally not that wonderfull
unless you go to a small local market where growers are selling. My tip
is actually to buy Organic ones where possible as whilst I am not
bothered by use of pesticides etc, at least they have some taste

Steve

PS Garden Grown is of course best but this year, thanks to mildew and
hail, our total of 18 plants produced a total of 15 tomatoes !

On Wed, 26 Sep 2007 07:34:22 -0700, DCBeverstone >
wrote:
<snip>

>So subscribers to this group will, I hope, forgive me for blowing the
>British food trumpet for a change.
<snip>

I have been travelling to the UK for nigh on a baker's dozen years now
and have found what you say to be absolutely true, right from the very
first trip. I live in Sacramento, Northern California, north central
valley (I know that's confusing!), and had always bought the party
line prior to my travels: no finer produce anywhere. My first trip to
England was a real eye-opener. Not only was the produce better and
more varied than what I could get at home, but as you say, the variety
of gorgeous cheeses and artisanal breads (even in small villages) was
mind boggling. Restaurant meals varied in quality as they do here,
but I would say by and large, they were far BETTER than what I find
here in comparable establishments. I would say pretty much the same
for my travels in Germany, although I wasn't as impressed by the
quality of vegetables in the market.

TammyM

On Wed, 26 Sep 2007 07:34:22 -0700, DCBeverstone >
wrote:

>It was never fashionable to praise our food here in the UK but 'times
>they are a changing'.

I was there summer of '06 for two weeks (three if you consider Dublin
part of the UK) and I can say that I had wonderful meals without
breaking the bank. I NEVER went to what we tourists would call an
expensive establishment (in fact, my mission was to sample as much pub
food as possible) and I didn't have a bad meal. I learned a lot about
British/UK food along the way. For instance, I learned I don't like
British breakfast sausage and I won't even dream of finding colcannon
on a menu in Dublin.


--

History is a vast early warning system
Norman Cousins

sf wrote:
> On Wed, 26 Sep 2007 07:34:22 -0700, DCBeverstone >
> wrote:
>
>> It was never fashionable to praise our food here in the UK but 'times
>> they are a changing'.
>
> I was there summer of '06 for two weeks (three if you consider Dublin
> part of the UK) and I can say that I had wonderful meals without
> breaking the bank. I NEVER went to what we tourists would call an
> expensive establishment (in fact, my mission was to sample as much pub
> food as possible) and I didn't have a bad meal. I learned a lot about
> British/UK food along the way. For instance, I learned I don't like
> British breakfast sausage and I won't even dream of finding colcannon
> on a menu in Dublin.

I all depends on what you are used to)) But is so nice to hear some
people have actually experienced Brit food. Some people just put it down
so badly and it is such a shame. I suppose they have only heard about the
food we had just after the war. Yes, it was bad then, but there was a very
good reason for that. We did the best we could with the little we had to
keep our families fed.

Thanks for sharing that sf and Tammy. I am very pleased you enjoyed the
fine food in our islands