this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2024
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Memes

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[–] Egg_Egg@lemm.ee 63 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (13 children)

I'm British and I see it's wrong because it simply isn't true... We have a ton of spicy foods. The stereotype that we only eat comfort foods like in the meme is old and worn out. Maybe that's all you eat, but that's on you.

[–] Redacted@lemmy.world 37 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Yeah never got this. The nation's favourite dish is curry. My favourite dish is curry. Isn't it a running joke amongst Indians how much the Brits love curry?

Things like beans on toast and fish finger sandwiches are cheap and easy lunch snacks for students but not our actual diet.

[–] Egg_Egg@lemm.ee 28 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Yep, just seems disingenuous to act like the history of the spice trade hasn't affected our food culture when it clearly has massively. Hell, even curry in Japan is popular not because of India but because of British influence. The reason "Katsu Curry" is called Katsu is because of the English word "Cuts" referring to the cuts of meat in the curry, which is Japanese sounds like 'katsu'.

[–] kamenlady@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Subscribed

to Spice-Facts

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[–] thawed_caveman@lemmy.world 15 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

But that's just the thing, all the best food in the UK comes from India, France, or Italy.

[–] Redacted@lemmy.world 26 points 2 months ago (10 children)

Stops carving the Sunday roast and holds off putting the apple crumble in the oven...

But we are one of the most multicultural societies in the world and have long since adopted everyone else's cuisines.

By this logic the Japanese don't have curries and the Americans don't have pizza, or any other food for that matter.

[–] Zeshade@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Exactly.

And India doesn't have chillies add Italy doesn't have tomatoes... Where do we stop?

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[–] gmtom@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

Except all the most popular curries in the UK aren't Indian, they're British, and infact pretty much any curry outside of southern Asia was introduced by the British (or occasionally Portuguese) like Japanese curry for example.

[–] EnderMB@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

Eh, to some extent, but we've got the foresight to accept these dishes as being British when you consider that the foods we eat aren't authentic to those areas. Spag Bol isn't being eaten in Italy, nor is Chicken Vindaloo in India.

We've got a long enough history that we can trace back when the Normans and Saxons came here, alongside the culture changes of Indian settlers, Jamaican workers, Irish, etc. That acceptance is not only why there're a lot of distinctly British versions of different cultures' food, but why many cities in the UK also serve decidedly authentic food at some of the best restaurants in the world - and that doesn't even factor in how some cultures have fused over time.

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[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 18 points 2 months ago (2 children)

But why don't your comfort foods have spices?

[–] gmtom@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago (8 children)

Yep because no British person ever eats curry as a comfort food.....

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[–] GiveOver@feddit.uk 7 points 2 months ago (6 children)

In this context I think it's comfort food because it's kiddy food. Something simple and familiar that reminds you of being younger. In England, children's menus will usually contain basic things like chicken nuggets and fish fingers that aren't (heavily) spiced.

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[–] elucubra@sopuli.xyz 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

What in hell is comforting about that picture?

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[–] digdilem@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 months ago (3 children)

As you say, lots of spicy food options. Our National Dish is actually a curry - chicken masala and Phall, the hottest curry, was invented in Birmingham.

Also - in the picture are baked beans. They're invented in the USA. We adopted them, but they're not ours.

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[–] majestictechie@lemmy.fosshost.com 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I see nothing wrong because buttered bread, fish fingers and beans is a banger of a meal

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[–] EnderMB@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The perception of Britain that most Americans have is that of the 40's and 50's. It's hardly surprising that it's completely fucking wrong.

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[–] altima_neo@lemmy.zip 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Yeah yeah, we know y'all love Tikka masala over there.

Brb, gonna go have hamburgers and french fries for breakfast and shoot my guns for lunch.

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[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 52 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Popular misconception that they invaded for spices. They were actually looking for someone to play cricket with.

[–] anachronist@midwest.social 22 points 2 months ago (2 children)

They conquered the whole planet in search of someone they could beat at cricket.

[–] roguetrick@lemmy.world 14 points 2 months ago (1 children)

England is good at inventing games that they then lose at. In America we just try to make sure no populous countries play them. Canada is just being magnanimous by letting others win sometimes.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

This is why Scotland invented Curling, a sport that no-one else wants to play.

[–] yeather@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 months ago

Except the canucks

[–] Zementid@feddit.nl 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Better than cricket conquering the universe....

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[–] atomicorange@lemmy.world 39 points 2 months ago (2 children)
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[–] loaExMachina@sh.itjust.works 24 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Tbf, wouldn't coffee, tea, chocolate and sugar cane have been considered spices by then's definition?

[–] LEDZeppelin@lemmy.world 18 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)
[–] loaExMachina@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Poppy seeds are definetely also a spice tho. And coca is an herb, which I guess can also be used as a spice... Use of coca by native populations seems to have been mostly medicinal... But then again, that's also how many spices were used until the 19th century.

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[–] hOrni@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Shhh. That's the secret ingredient.

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[–] peto@lemm.ee 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] loaExMachina@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 months ago (3 children)

"Herb" and "spice" aren't mutually exclusive tho.

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[–] Monzcarro@feddit.uk 17 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Not only "spices" but paprika and white pepper too!

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[–] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 8 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Battered fish uses tumeric to get the yellow colour (fish and chips)

They’re also the curry capital of the world

[–] Chainweasel@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

The taste of their food and the beauty of their women made them the best sailors in the world.

[–] chumbalumber@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

What do you think is in the beans??

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[–] Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 5 points 2 months ago

I was there. 3000 years ago, when they murdered an entire culinary culture.

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