Garlic is unknown in British cookery proper.

Proper British cookery is unknown

It was always a victim of the class system. The wealthy ate well

Victim of, in some ways, but also one has to
admit that economics (and the class system by
extension) drives culinary excellence as well.
I think that the general level of eating in
the Isles is mostly reflective of their
general agricultural backwardness, which is
more climate-driven than owing to any innate
laziness or lack of taste buds of the population.
Just to add a touch of idle speculation, one has
to wonder what will happen to British tables
after March 29 (given no deal). It's not just the
fear-mongering Left (which I distrust far less
than their opposite) who claim that food prices
will skyrocket and availability plummet; the
official House of Lords report says the same
thing, and that body is, shall we say, not
inclined to take the side of the masses.

(most had French chefs) and the landed farmers ate simple, hearty
but wholesome, fresh, tasty stuff (albeit underseasoned). The diet
of my Yorkshire coal mining paternal grandfather was much different
than that of my Cornish land owning maternal grandfather.

There are advantages to be at the top of the
heap, opposed to down in the mines.

In expensive restaurants the cookery is almost always Imitation
French

Right after WWII (when rationing was still going on) George Orwell
sent an essay to the British Council entitled British Cookery
in which he criticized the national cuisine. I mined it for a bunch
of one liners. The original comment was, "Cheap restaurants in
Britain are almost invariably bad, while in expensive restaurants
the cookery is almost always French, or imitation French".

An interesting essay, and thanks for referring
it to me. On the other hand, its generalizations,
sometimes mean ones (and often strangely classist),
make me agree with the original "po-faced" British
Council's rejection of the article. Here's another
gem from it - "The fish fried in oil to which the
British working classes are especially addicted is
definitely nasty ..." .

Here's another interesting snippet, which requires
(doesn't "beg") the question "what about Cheddar?"
and resonates mightily with the headlines of the day.

If the midday meal ends with cheese, that cheese
will probably be foreign. Some of the cheeses
native to Britain are very good, but they are not
produced in large quantities and are mostly
consumed locally. The best of them is Stilton, a
cheese rather the same kind as Roquefort or
Gorgonzola, but stronger-tasting and closer in
the grain. Wensleydale, a similar but milder
cheese, is also very good.

Turns out that a large percentage of Cheddar eaten
in Britain comes from the Republic of Ireland, and
Brexit is going to put a crimp in that.

And why should it not be? Though imitation
Chinese and Japanese is rapidly catching up

Not mention to imitation Italian. When you come right down to it
North America is the ultimate in fusion cooking.

I'm not sure what upscale imitation Italian is but
French. Pizza doesn't count, as it's vulgar plebs
(a Latin word) food. Okay, there's Todd English
and Chris Bianco, but they'd prefer to consider
themselves Italian Italian (the Wiki article on the
former seems to be self-written and claims his Figs
restaurant makes "authentic" pizza; Bianco at least
went to Naples to study pizza making).

Hobbit seed cake
cat: literary, dessert, caraway
yield: 1

1 c all-purpose flour
1 pn salt
1/2 ts baking powder
1/4 c butter, softened
1/2 c caster (superfine) sugar
3 eggs
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
2 Tb milk
1 ts vanilla extract
1 1/2 Tb orange or lemon zest
1 1/2 Tb caraway seeds
- (I don't like caraway seeds so I used poppy. Same dealio.)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until the
mixture is a pale color. Add the eggs one at a time and mix
to combine. Add applesauce, milk, vanilla extract, and zest.
Mix well.

Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Fold seeds into batter.

Fill lined or greased cake or muffin tins 3/4 of the way
with batter. Bake for 20-25 min.

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