Bratain the country and its people: an intruduction for learners of english James O’Driscoll Oxford Contents

20 FOOD AND DRINK

Britain and good food are two things which are not commonly associated. Visitors to Britain have widely varying opinions about all sorts of aspects of the country, but most of them seem to agree that the food is terrible. Why? One reason could simply be that British tastes are different from everybody else’s. However, the most common complaint is not so much that British food has a strange, unpleasant taste, but rather that it has very little taste at all. The vegetables, for example, are overcooked. It is all too bland.

Another explanation may be that most visitors to Britain do not get the opportunity to sample home cooking. They either eat the food cooked in an institution, such as a university canteen, or they ‘eat out’ a lot, usually in rather cheap restaurants and cafes. These places are definitely not where to find good British food. Typical British cooking, which involves a lot of roasting, does not suit the larger scale production or the quick preparation which is required in such places. For one thing, food should, according to British people, be eaten hot, which is difficult to arrange when feeding large numbers of people. In addition, the British have not got into the habit of preparing sauces with grilled food in order to make it tastier.

Attitudes to food

The explanations above can only serve as a partial excuse for the unfortunate reputation of British cuisine. Even in fast food restaurants and everyday cafes, the quality seems to be lower than it is in equivalent places in other countries. It seems that British people simply don’t care enough to bother.

The country has neither a widespread ‘restaurant culture’ nor a ‘café society’. In the middle of the day, people just want to eat up quickly and are not interested much in quality (the lunch break is an hour at most). Young people and families with children who eat at fast food places are similarly not interested in quality. Little effort is made to make the hamburgers tasty because nobody expects them to be. The coffee is horrible not because British people prefer it that wav but because they don’t go to a café for a delicious, slow cup of coffee - they go there because they need the caffeine.

Even at home, food and drink is given relatively little attention. The coffee is often just as bad as it is in the cafes. British supermarkets sell far more instant coffee than what the few people who drink it often call ‘real’ coffee. Instant coffee is less trouble. Meals tend to be eaten quickly and the table cleared. Parties and celebrations are not normally centred around food. For example, if a British person expresses a liking for barbecues, this does not necessarily mean that he or she likes barbecued food — it is understood to mean that he or she enjoys the typical barbecue atmosphere.

When the British do pay attention to food, it is most frequently not to appreciate it but to notice what they don’t like about it. Food hits the headlines only in the context of its dangers: for example in 199 3, when it was discovered that 100 tonnes of six-year-old beef had been allowed to go on sale; or when a government minister announced that the country’s eggs were infected with salmonella. In the early 1990s, everybody in the country knew about ‘mad cow disease’ (a disease affecting the brains of infected cattle). There are quite a large number of vegetarians in Britain and an even larger number who are aware of the implications for their health of what they eat. ‘Health food shops’ are as abundant in the country’s high streets as delicatessens.

British people have been mostly urban, having little contact with The land’, for longer than the people of other countries. Perhaps this is why the range of plants and animals which they will eat is rather narrow. There are plenty of enthusiastic British carnivores who feel quite sick at the thought of eating horsemeat. To most people, the idea of going out to pick wild plants for the table is exotic. It is perhaps significant that when the British want to refer to the people of another country insultingly, they often allude to their eating habits. Because of the strange things they do with cabbage, for example, the Germans are ‘krauts’. Because of their outrageous taste for frog’s legs, the French are ‘frogs’.

However, the picture is not entirely negative. While the British are conservative about ingredients, they are no longer conservative about the way they are served. In the 1960s, it was reported that the first British package tourists in Spain not only insisted on eating (traditionally British) fish and chips all the time but also on having them, as was traditional, wrapped up in specially imported British newspaper! By now, however, the British are extremely open to the cuisine of other countries. The country’s supermarket shelves are full of the spices and sauces needed for cooking dishes from all over the world (the increasingly multicultural nature of the population has helped in this respect). In addition, there is increasing interest in the pure enjoyment of eating and drinking.

► What British people eat

Although it is far less unusual than it used to be, going to a restaurant is still a comparatively rare event for most British people. Regular restaurant-going is confined mostly to the richest section of society. Partly for this reason, there is an element of snobbery associated with it. Merely being in an expensive restaurant sometimes seems to be more important to people than the food eaten in it. For example, in 1992a survey by experts found that most of the caviar in top London restaurants was not what it claimed to be (the most prized beluga variety) and was often stale or going bad. The experts commented that restaurants used the mystique of caviar to hide the low quality of what they served because ‘the majority of people ... don’t really know what they’re eating.’

Another expression of snobbery in the more expensive restaurants is in the menus. In a country where few public notices appear in any language other than English, these are a unique phenomenon — all the dishes have non-English names, most commonly French (reflecting the high regard for French cuisine). It also makes the food sound more exotic and therefore more exciting. Many customers of these restaurants have little idea of what actually goes in to the dish they have chosen. But when, in 199 I, the government suggested that menus should give details of ingredients in dishes, all the country’s chefs and restaurateurs were outraged. They argued this would take the fun out of eating out. The assumption behind this argument is that going to a restaurant is a time to be adventurous. This ‘adventure’ concept is undoubtedly widespread. It helps to explain why so few restaurants in Britain are actually British. Because they do it so rarely, when people go out for a meal in the evening, they want to be served something they don’t usually eat. Every town in the country has at least one Indian restaurant and probably a Chinese one too. Larger towns and cities have restaurants representing cuisine from all over the world.

Eating places which serve British food are used only for more everyday purposes. Apart from pubs, there are two types, both of which are comparatively cheap. One is used during the day, most typically by manual workers, and is therefore sometimes described as a ‘workman’s cafe’ (pronounced ‘caff’). But it is also used by anybody else who wants a filling meal, likes the informal atmosphere and is not over-worried about cleanliness. It offers mostly fried food of the ‘English breakfast’ type (see chapter s) and for this reason it is also sometimes jokingly called a ‘greasy spoon’. Many of them are ‘transport cafes’ at the sides of main roads. In 1991 Prime Minister John Major deliberately and publicly ate at one of these in order to prove that he was ‘a man of the people’. The other type is the fish-and-chip shop, used in the evening for ‘take-away’ meals. Again, the fish is (deep) fried.

Fast food outlets are now more common in Britain than they are in most other countries. Cynics might claim this is because the British have no sense of taste. However, their popularity is probably better explained sociologically. Other types of eating place in Britain tend to have class associations. As a result, large sections of society feel unable to relax in them. But a fast food restaurant does not have such strong associations of this kind. Although there is sometimes local middle-class protest when a new one appears in their area, people from almost any class background can feel comfortable in them.

► When people eat what: meals

‘Elevenses’ is, conventionally, a cup of tea or coffee and some biscuits at around eleven o’clock. In fact, people drink tea or coffee whenever they feel like it. This is usually quite often.

‘Supper’ is the usual word for the evening meal among most people who do not call it ‘tea’.

‘Dinner’ is also sometimes used for the evening meal. It suggests something rather grander and eaten comparatively late (at around eight o’clock). It is associated with relative formality (many people talk about ‘Christmas dinner’, even if they have it in the middle of the day). It is also sometimes used to refer to the midday meal in schools.

Alcohol

The attitude to alcohol in Britain is ambivalent. On the one hand, it is accepted and welcomed as an integral part of British culture. The local pub plays an important role in almost every neighbourhood - and pubs, it should be noted, are predominantly for the drinking of beer and spirits. The nearest pub is commonly referred to as ‘the local’ and people who go there often are known as ‘regulars’. The action in both the country’s most popular television soaps (see chapter I 8) revolves around a pub. Even a certain level of drunkenness is acceptable. Provided this does not lead to violence, there is no shame attached to it.

On the other hand, the puritan tradition has led to the widespread view that drinking is something potentially dangerous which should therefore be restricted, in terms of both who can do it and where it can be done. Most people, including regular drinkers, consider that it would be wrong to give a child even half a glass of beer. When, in 1993, research was published showing that nearly 70% of fifteen- year-old children in the country drank some alcohol in an average week, it was generally agreed that this was a serious ‘social problem’. People cannot be served in pubs until the age of eighteen and they are not even allowed inside one (unless it has a special children’s certificate) until they are fourteen. For many people, drinking is confined to pubs. Wine or beer is not as much a part of home life as it is in some other European countries. Most cafes are not allowed to serve even beer.

For most of the twentieth century, pubs operated under strict laws which limited their opening hours. These have recently been relaxed. Moreover, many more types of shop now sell alcohol than previously. However, this lessening of the negative attitude to alcohol has been balanced by increasing concerns about its impact on health and safety. There are government-sponsored guidelines which state the maximum amount of alcohol it is advisable for people to drink in a week without endangering their health. Although millions of people pay little attention to these, the general feeling that alcohol can be bad for you has increased. Moreover, the laws against drinking and driving have been strengthened and are fairly strictly observed.

Nevertheless, alcohol, especially beer, is an important part of the lives of many people. Notice, for example, the mass rush across the Channel after customs duties were changed in I 992. Beer was much cheaper in France and people were allowed to bring back almost as much as they liked. It was calculated that in that filet year the single European market cost the British government about £2 go million in lost taxes on alcohol.

Pubs

The British pub (short for ‘public house’) is unique. This is not just because it is different in character from bars or cafes in other countries. It is also because it is different from any other public place in Britain itself. Without pubs, Britain would be a less sociable country. The pub is the only indoor place where the average person can comfortably meet others, even strangers, and get into prolonged conversation with them. In cafes and fast food restaurants, people are expected to drink their coffee and get out. The atmosphere in other eating places is often rather formal. But pubs, like fast food restaurants, are classless. A pub with forty customers in it is nearly always much noisier than a café or restaurant with the same number of people in it.

As with so many other aspects of British life, pubs have become a bit less distinctive in the last few decades. They used to serve almost nothing but beer and spirits. These Clays, you can get wine, coffee and some hot food at most of them as well. This has helped to widen their appeal. At one time, it was unusual for women to go to pubs. These days, only a few pubs exist where it is surprising for a woman to walk in.

Nevertheless, pubs have retained their special character. One of their notable aspects is that there is no waiter service. If you want something, you have to go and ask for it at the bar. This may not seem very welcoming and a strange way of making people feel comfortable and relaxed. But to British people it is precisely this. To be served at a table is discomforting for many people. It makes them feel they have to be on their best behaviour. But because in pubs you have to go and fetch your drinks yourself, it is more informal. You can get up and walk around whenever you want - it is like being in your own house. This ‘home from home’ atmosphere is enhanced by the relationship between customers and those who work in pubs. Unlike in any other eating or drinking place in Britain, the staff are expected to know the regular customers personally, to know what their usual drink is and to chat with them when they are not serving someone.

It is also helped by the availability of pub games (most typically darts) and, frequently, a television.

Another notable aspect of pubs is their appeal to the idea of tradition. For example, each has its own name, proclaimed on a sign hanging outside, always with old-fashioned associations. Many are called by the name of an aristocrat (for example, ‘The Duke of Cambridge’) or after a monarch; others take their names from some traditional occupation (such as ‘The Bricklayer’s Arms’); they often have rural associations (for example, ‘The Sheep Shearers’ or ‘The Bull’). It would certainly be surprising to see a pub called ‘The Computer Programmers’ or ‘The Ford Escort’. For the same reason, the person who runs a pub is referred to as the ‘landlord’ (he is nearly always a man) — even though he is, in reality, the exact opposite. He is a tenant. Nearly all pubs are owned by a brewery. The ‘landlord’ is simply employed by the brewery as its manager. But the word is used because it evokes earlier times when all pubs were privately owned ‘inns’ where travellers could find a bed for the night. The few pubs that really are privately owned proudly advertise themselves as ‘free houses’. The practical significance of this for the customer is that a much wider variety of beers can usually be found inside.

► The meanings of ‘bar’ in British English

1 The area in a hotel or other public place where alcoholic drinks can be drunk.

2 The different rooms in a pub. Although pubs have always been used by all social classes, there used to be an informal class division. The ‘public bar’ was used by the working class. This is where a dart board and other pub games could be found. The ‘saloon bar’, on the other hand, was used by the middle classes. Here there was a carpet on the floor and the drinks were a little more expensive. Some pubs also had a ‘private bar’, which was even more exclusive. Of course, nobody had to demonstrate class membership before entering this or that bar. These days, most pubs do not bother with the distinction. In some, the walls between the bars have been knocked down and in others the beer costs the same in any of the bars.

►The pub

► How to shut the pub

► Nostalgia

1 In what kind of place (s) are you most likely to find good British cooking?

2 Why are Indian restaurants popular in Britain? Think of as many reasons as you can why British people prefer to eat food from other countries when they go out to eat.

3 What are the differences (if any) between laws relating to the consumption of alcohol in Britain and those in your country? what possible reasons are there for these differences?

4 The text mentions the rush across the channel to buy cheap alcohol in 1992. What effect do you think this started to have on traditional British drinking habits (with respect to both what people drink and where they drink) ? Why were some people (even some of the people rushing across the Channel!) worried about this trend?

5 In what ways are British pubs different from typical cafes and bars in your country?

SUGGESTIONS

• Delia Smith is probably the most popular and well-known cookery writer and broadcaster in Britain. Her Complete Cookery Course for example, published by BBC Books, gives a good idea of the kind of food British people cook (or would like to cook) at home.

• There are lots of hotel, restaurant and pub guides which are published annually and which describe the kind of food and other facilities available at British eating and drinking places. For example, The Good Food Guide published by Which Books and the Good Pub Guide published by Vermilion.