Today's food question: Why do the English still cook like it's the
1800s and they don't have electricity?

Good question. A related question is Why are there no English restaurants outside of the UK except for imitation pubs?

There's a totally authentic English restaurant in Edmonton. It's
called Deepak's Chicken Tikki Masala Palace. [g]

Good one. Although there might be noted that one can
fuss infinitely long about what constitutes authenticity
or indeed Englishness. Chicken tikka is an Indian thing,
of course, but dumping it into tomato cream gravy and
calling it chicken tikka masala, that's a British thing,
some say Indian, others Bangladeshi, Scots, or English.
But (whispered) it's really the same as a carelessly made
butter chicken, which is generally considered really Indian,
invented by Indians in India using Indian techniques and
Indian ingredients - not traditional, having been developed
into its current state during my lifetime, but authentic
all the same.

There is traditional British food, too, though, along with
the very similar German food, it's pretty much the baseline
to our everyday fare over here. Spuds and suds, you might
say, just like across the Channel, eaten by people who are
similarly ruddy, robust, and racist.

Title: Zarina's Chicken Tikka

That looks almost palatable, with the usual caveats.
Mostly that it's underspiced. Speaking of underspiced -

Heston Blumenthal's roast potatoes
categories: English, celebrity, starch
yield: 1 batch

1 1/4 kg large Maris Piper potatoes
1 hd garlic, split into cloves and
- bashed with the flat of a knife (opt)
30 g rosemary sprigs (opt)
olive oil
salt

Olive oil works really well or you can use goose fat or
beef dripping, but they will give a different flavour.
The garlic and rosemary are optional. You can either add
them to the water when boiling the potatoes or to the
roasting tray 5 min before the end of the cooking time.

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4 (360F).

Wash and peel the potatoes and cut into quarters. Put
them in a bowl under running water for 5 min to wash the
starch off. Cover the potatoes with water in a large
saucepan then add the garlic and rosemary, if using, and
bring to the boil. Cook 25 to 30 min or until potatoes
are very soft and almost breaking apart. Drain carefully
and leave to cool in the colander.

Meanwhile, pour 5 mm olive oil into a roasting tray
large enough to hold the potatoes in one layer. Place
the tray in the oven for 15 min to preheat the oil.

Add the potatoes to the pan and coat them in the hot oil.
Place the tray back in the oven for at least 75 min,
turning the potatoes gently every 20 min, until the
potatoes are golden brown and crispy all over.

Drain on kitchen paper and season with salt.

Heston Blumenthal via sbs.com.au
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Quoting Michael Loo to Jim Weller <=-

one can fuss infinitely long about what constitutes
authenticity

One can simultaneously acknowledge a dish's roots while embracing
derivatives that evolve over time or are created in its diaspora and
even willful inventions by talented and imaginative cooks.
Consider pizza then and now, here and there. Or the many variations
made to Chinese dishes internationally.

chicken tikka masala ...
some say Indian, others Bangladeshi, Scots, or English.

Some British politician once tried to get it EU PDO status,

Heston Blumenthal's roast potatoes

1 1/4 kg large Maris Piper potatoes
1 hd garlic, split into cloves and
- bashed with the flat of a knife (opt)
30 g rosemary sprigs (opt)
olive oil
salt

The garlic and rosemary are optional. You can either add
them to the water when boiling the potatoes or to the
roasting tray 5 min before the end of the cooking time.

I hate to disagree with a guy with his reputation but I would do it
a bit differently. I salt the boiling water and reserve the garlic
and rosemary for the oil in the oven phase, at which point 1 head of
garlic is more than enough and a full ounce of rosemary is too much.
When I oven roast potato wedges I grind 1 tsp of dried rosemary, 2
tops, to sprinkle over a pound of potatoes. And I'd use a tsp or two
of garlic powder rather than use fresh garlic for this.

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4 (360F).
Place the tray back in the oven for at least 75 min,
turning the potatoes gently every 20 min

I do 25 minutes at 425 turning just once (if I remember).



Cheers

Jim


... Heston is the other British chef who does not swear constantly on TV.

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