Proper British cookery is unknown

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

economics (and the class system by extension) drives culinary
excellence as well.

Granted.

I seem to recall the gentry described as having
hired luxury trappings such as French chefs abd
(I really don't know if this is a joke) rent-a-
hermits along with the assorted gamekeepers and
vassals and such. This being in the 18th, 19th
centuries.

But the poor in France and Italy managed to eat tasty things (or at
least things made tasty by their efforts.)

And China and India and so on. Garlic helps a
whole lot. If you're not idle enough to have to
impress your assignatees with sweet breath, it's
one of those few good things with no downside.

I think that the general level of eating in
the Isles is mostly reflective of their
general agricultural backwardness, which is
more climate-driven

You raise a good point. A lot of Scandinavian (or more properly
Nordic) dishes are pretty dereft of taste, although not calories,
especially Iceland's and Greenland's.

You eat what you got, and you may luck out in that
department, or not as the case may be. I shudder to
imagine what would I would have become if brought up
on potatoes and salted fish.

I have discovered lately, as a result of that collection of
Lithuanian recipes I downloaded, that the Baltic States share a lot
of food similarities with the Nordic countries, which makes sense
given their common climate, terrain and proximity to each other and
the Herring Sea.

You can grow some pretty dour people on
pickled flotsam and rye bread.

"what about Cheddar?"
Turns out that a large percentage of Cheddar eaten
in Britain comes from the Republic of Ireland

A lot of Cheddar is made all over the world. And a lot of different
Cheddars. It's not a protected name or process. And it's too late
for the town of Cheddar or the Shire of Somerset to take action at
this point. They have recently though come up with the PDO of "West
Country Farmhouse Cheddar" for Cheddar produced from local milk
within Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall counties and made using traditional methods. I have had some once and it's very good but it
$60/kg in Yellowknife, so I will continue buying Canadian.

Cheddarian Cheddar can be quite good, but so can many
other kinds, including $4 New York and Australian.

This strikes me as a desperation dish for someone who must eat way
too many potatoes
Title: Lithuanian Red Sauce for Boiled Potatoes
1/2 l Fermented beet juice
2 tb Flour
1 Finely grated onion
Salt and pepper to taste

If fermented beet juice is anything like
wine, they may been onto something there.

... What I don't like about office parties; looking for a job the next day

While in graduate school I worked in a hospital, and
though I declined an invitation (several of them in
fact) to the Christmas party, I did see the effect,
mostly people slinking around Monday morning not
making eye contact with anyone.

Matelote of Eel Mariniÿre
categories: French, literary
Serves: 6 to 8

h - For the bouquet garni
a few leaves of sage
a few sprigs of thyme
1/2 sprig rosemary
1 bay leaf
h - For the croutons
1/2 baguette
butter
salt
h - or the soup
1 eel, filleted, head reserved
2 catfish, filleted, head reserved
1 bass, filleted, head reserved
s, p
1 white onion, in segments
4 cloves garlic
1 bottle white wine, preferably Sancerre
2 1/2 c water
20 to 30 little cipollini onions
8 Tb butter
1/4 c flour
s, p

Tie the bouquet garmi in piece of cheesecloth.

Slice the baguette and fry the slices in butter
till crispy, salting liberally.

Make a fish stock. Put the fish heads and the
head of the eel, the onions, the garlic, the
wine, and the water in a large pot. Bring to
a boil, then simmer for 20 min and strain.

Brown the onions in the butter on medium-low
heat until theyÿre very soft, about 30 min.

Prepare the fish. I followed Dumas.s directions
and cut my fish as steaks, but they were bony
and difficult to eat. In this recipe, I suggest
using fillets.

Dry the fillets and season them thoroughly.
Fry skin side down in 2 Tb butter until the
skin is crisp.

Prepare the beurre maniÿ. Mash the remaining
butter with the flour until it forms a smooth
paste. Make the paste into teaspoon-size balls.
These will be used to thicken the soup.

Reheat the fish stock to a simmer, add the
onions and fillets, and simmer until the fish
is cooked through.

Add the beurre maniÿ balls and continue to
simmer until the balls have dispersed and
the sauce has thickened. Season. Serve g
arnished with croutons.

after Valerie Stivers, Paris Review, March 16, 2018 after Alexandre Dumas
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