Sui banchi di scuola, ci hanno sempre insegnato, che le abitudini alimentari degli inglesi così come le tradizione del Regno Unito, sono differenti dalle nostre.
English Eating Habits
English eating habits include a full and hearty breakfast in the morning; a quick lunch at noon; tea-time in the mid-afternoon, followed by a frugal and not late dinner. This is the basic pattern which, to be honest, is influenced by globalization and the strong foreign presence in Great Britain, reflecting the growing multiculturalism of the country.
Breakfast is breakfast: the English breakfast
Anyway, in a traditional English family, in the morning, “breakfast is breakfast”: alongside tea and other hot drinks, corn flakes appear (cereal flakes to be enjoyed with milk), toasted bread with orange marmalade and curls of butter, porridge (a barley and oat mush), scrambled eggs with bacon (smoked bacon) and the ever-present sausages (sausages). In some areas (especially countryside, tourist spots, or seaside…), the more robust stomachs even enjoy split and smoked herring (skipper) and a delicious finnan haddock, smoked cod.
The English lunch: lunch
Lunch is generally eaten around 1 pm and is conceived as a simple and quick snack, often based on sandwiches (sandwiches) with ham or roast beef, slices of pizza in the ubiquitous Pizza Hut or salads. In larger cities with generous green spaces, such as London, it is also customary during the nice season to have lunch in the park, making the break more pleasant. This habit reflects cultural differences in the way lunch breaks are conceived compared to other countries.
Tea time: the culture of tea
A true institution is tea time, every afternoon around 4:30-5 pm, when around steaming kettles the ritual of English tea takes place, accompanied by tiny pastries and mini scones called scones. This tea culture is one of the most iconic aspects of British culinary traditions.
Dinner: dinner
Around 7 pm, dinner is served, which, in good restaurants, is generally very carefully prepared, both in the table setting and the dishes. It can start with white vermouth or sherry as an aperitif; continue with an appetizer of shrimp, salmon, smoked trout; a main course, the main dish, based on meat (e.g., Scottish beef fillet, grilled meat, smoked ham, lamb or pork chops, with boiled potatoes and traditional spicy sauces…; roast beef or veal leg or loin). Also typically English is the steak and kidney pie, stewed beef with kidneys wrapped in puff pastry, and Yorkshire pudding, a traditional accompaniment for roast. Dessert can be based on sweets or cheese.
