On Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:57:11 -0400, Dave Smith
 wrote:

>Mike............ wrote:

>
>> Herbs I cannot. They are there for the picking. It also doesnt explain
>> overcooking. 
>
>In my immediate family beef tended to be overdone, since my parents were 
>squeamish about raw meat, and well cooked beef means better drippings 
>for richer tasting gravy. People I knew from other cultures also cooked 
>their meat well. It was a health thing, they thought <?>.

Overcooking is probably a squemish thing.  It is not an 'English' thing.
My mom, whose family emigrated to England in 1066, likes her steak
medium rare and her roasts rare - whether it be lamb or beef - and that
is how she cooks it.  The squemish can fight over the two end cuts.

Roast beef is always served with mustard and horseradish on the side.
Roast lamb with mint vinegar.

The sides served with roasts will vary, but always 1 starch and 2 veg.  

I have had lots of good English food.  But let's face it most people's
opinion of English food is for the most part based on bar (pub) food.
It is as bad as the belief that American cuisine what you get at
MickyDs and TGIF.

Robert Klute said 

> Roast beef is always served with mustard and horseradish on the side.
> Roast lamb with mint vinegar.
> 
> The sides served with roasts will vary, but always 1 starch and 2 veg.  

dont you think thats a bit dull and unimaginative?
 
> I have had lots of good English food.  

so have I, nowadays.

>But let's face it most people's
> opinion of English food is for the most part based on bar (pub) food.

I find pub food pretty god nowadays (not always of course) its the old
1950s style food I find awful and thats what the world reputation is based
on. 
-- 
Mike .......
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On Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:45:48 +0100, "Mike............"
 wrote:

>Robert Klute said 
>
>> Roast beef is always served with mustard and horseradish on the side.
>> Roast lamb with mint vinegar.
>> 
>> The sides served with roasts will vary, but always 1 starch and 2 veg.  
>
>dont you think thats a bit dull and unimaginative?

She didn't always serve roasts, maybe once a week.  Starches could be
rice, or potatoes - white, sweet, baked, boiled, steamed, mashed, au
gratin, ...  Vegetables could be any green, bean, or root.  She was fond
of peas, turnips, and boiled new potatoes, so one or the other would
show up a bit more often than other items when in season.  She wasn't
fond of Yorkshire pudding.

Robert Klute said 

> I have had lots of good English food.  

so have I, nowadays.

>But let's face it most people's
> opinion of English food is for the most part based on bar (pub) food.

I find pub food pretty god nowadays (not always of course) its the old 
1950s style food I find awful and thats what the world reputation is based 
on.

I shoud have added that before 1965 it was pretty hard to find food in
urban pubs and pretty hit and miss in the country. 10 years after that you
might just get a pie. Nowadays you are more likely to complain that the pub
is more of a restraurant and standing with a pint is the ptoblem area. 
-- 
Mike .......
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Mike wrote:

> I find pub food pretty god nowadays (not always of course) its the old
> 1950s style food I find awful and thats what the world reputation is based
> on.

Into what "style" would you classify Fergus Henderson's food?

Bob

Bob Terwilliger said 

>  find pub food pretty god nowadays (not always of course) its the old
>> 1950s style food I find awful and thats what the world reputation is based
>> on.
> 
> Into what "style" would you classify Fergus Henderson's food?

nose to tail eating? Thats exactly my point, he is creating something good
and we are pretending its been around in our restaurants over the last 50
years. It hasnt.
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Mike .......
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