The Final of Great British Menu.I was pleased with the general results most of the dishes had a feel of these islands and weren’t frenchified clones of UK food. It will be interesting to see how “star gazey pie” goes down with our Gallic cousins. I am a little sad Atul Kochhar didn’t win anything; I fear that this might be hidden racism amongst the foody classes. I half felt he should be asked to do his fish course as an appetiser but this would be patronising. There was a hint of Daily Express “England as thatched cottages and suet puddings” about his exclusion; I’d hoped that he might corner the Britano-asian vote, sadly not.
The rob
ustness of dishes is heart warming (all puns intended) I see it as triumph for us downcast Saxons, Celts and other assorted migrants against our oppressive Norman foody overlords (see most food pages) it’s a 941 year old year battle but one we might win. When we do, Beer will be as honoured as wine (Is there a regular beer review in the broad sheets?) cheddar will be as praised as parmesan, the heat and tang of a well made curry as lauded as an “authentic” Daube and the singular beauty of a well made slightly caramelised Eccles cake as championed as a chewy and bland Nata. It will mean editors and writers have to go to Tadcaster and Lough instead of Florence and Aix-en Provenance for their jollies but that’ll be good for the environment too.past posts on GBM
