I’ve been to lots, many of which definitely had recognizably Irish food. But others are gimmicky.
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I agree. Some are very generic, and then there are places like Slainte in Oakland, which is run by a woman from Ireland and has really great fish & chips (though kind of poncey mushy peas).
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I remember Arthur Treacher’s fish and chips and the jingle! “The meal you can not make at home!”.
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We’ve been known to (and have been seen) patronize “Irish pubs” in the States. For us, it’s really for the sense of craic in the atmosphere (the Aisling Bea TV series Trivia comes to mind) more than the consumables, though a well-drawn Guinness and an appetizing plate of fish and chips were always expected and welcomed.
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Just as the British have Indian food, the Dutch have Indonesian food to perk things up.
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Both countries have Indian/Indonesian food because of their colonial past. And the colonial past for both countries had its roots in the spice trade. Certainly in the UK, the use of South and East Asian spices go back centuries, whereas the immigration is a post World War 2 thing. Nowadays, the only significant use of Asian spices in traditional British dishes is in dessert puddings and baked goods but spices were heavily used in all sorts of savoury dishes back to at least Elizabethean times.
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Food will generally reflect what people can grow/raise in the part of the world. When the geography and climate are similar, so the food will be.
So, for example, I feel very much at home, in food terms, when I visit New England. The general offerings in restaurants will have the same seasonality as in the UK. Similarly, I’ll find similarities of the types of seasonal food being eaten across Northern Europe. You will not see much difference in the essential cuisines of the UK, Ireland, Northern France, the Netherlands and Scandanavia. Different preparations and different emphasis, certainly - but when it comes down to it, we’re all eating fish from the North Sea, with potatoes and root vegetables.
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Interesting! I would think it would be hard to parse that out, but maybe not. I had no interest in visiting England until I came to understand all the influences from the various colonies.
We’ve had to put it off twice but we hope to try again 2022.
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I think that’s partly true, with regard to ingredients. But the British/American/French “meat, starch, vegetable on a plate” model isn’t replicated in India or China or Ethiopia, and I don’t think that’s due to what can be grown where.
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April Bloomfield’s food at the Breslin and The Spotted Pig was a pretty big deal for New English food in NYC for a while. She left the Breslin this past summer. Wonder what she will do next. https://www.google.com/amp/s/ny.eater.com/platform/amp/2021/7/15/22578370/april-bloomfield-leaves-breslin-ace-hotel-nyc
Tea & Sympathy is another place in Manhattan.
Some food in New England seems very British in origin to me.
There’s a Colonial-themed resto in Cambridge, Massachusetts called Loyal 9, and the food could easily be taken for British food. https://www.loyalninecambridge.com/
I’m a bit of a regional British food geek, so I regularly make or seek out some British dishes up here in Canada.
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England has incredible multicultural diversity in its large cities.
It’s easier to find good Non-English baked goods in London than good traditional English baked goods.
Apart from Rules and J Sheekey, in London, most restaurants I’ve visited in London are non- English. All sorts of cuisines I can’t find in Toronto or Montreal .
When I go further afield, to Cornwall, Devon, the Peak District , Newcastle, I seek out the traditional regional dishes that are hard to find in London and other larger cities.
I started this thread a very long time ago!https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.chowhound.com/post/chelsea-buns-chelsea-london-264814/amp
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Other than as a person of Swedish birth or descent? It has the same meaning in the UK.
Rutabagas are pretty much a staple in the American south.
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Nope, that’s the one.
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There are things that translate well, though.
I regularly buy Coleman’s shepherd’s pie seasoning (I buy it at my local Publix) but it’s just so darned tasty.
I have impressed more than a few with roasted lamb with mint sauce (proper sauce rather than lurid sticky-sweet mint jelly)
And I’m routinely asked to bring banoffee pie or trifle to gatherings.
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The scandal cast - and left - a pretty big shadow over her.
She’s at the Mayflower Inn in CT for now it seems.
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Yep.
I was following the stories. So awful.
Thanks for mentioning where she is for now. I was wondering.
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Yes - mentioned above
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British food had always been considered gross here . Subject to media . Greasy and bland. I know different.
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Surely it is. Rice, for example, grows easier in most of India than potatoes. Meat is expensive to raise so you have a food culture of using very little in a dish or not at all.
You are something of an exception in the North American tourist, most of whom seemingly rarely venture out of London and, when they do, it’s to visit Edinburgh. They miss all the bit in between where most of us live.
On the other side of the coin, I am something of an exception in the British tourist visiting North America, most of whom will confine their visit to the theme park areas in Florida or pay a short visit to New York.
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