Traditional English foods third part

In this post we will talk about more traditional English dishes, there are so many that  a lot of posts in the blog will be about this. Discovering English foods and traditional recipes are a way to learn their culture and some of them are surprinsigly really good and tasty. Usually England is not very well known for its cooking, but in fact it has a long tradition of recipes. 

Fish pie: Fish pie or Fishermen´s pie is one of the most traditional English´s pie made with pieces of white fish or salmon or mixed both with salmon and white fish , sometimes adding some schrimps as well, and topped with mashed potatoes and cheese. It is similar to the Cottage Pie, just that this is made with fish instead of meat. Usually is done with haddock, pollock, cod and salmon. However, it can be done with any type of fish or seafood you like. The fish is boiled first, when it is ready it has to be mixed in cheese sauce or white sauce, possible some vegetables and finally the top is done by adding mashed potatoes and cheese. Fish pie dates back to the 12th century and it said to be originated in Scotland.

Oat porrigde: The origin of porrigde dates back to Africa, however oat porrigde is very common in England and in North European countries. It is usually eaten for breakfast or even at dinner time. The oats can be boiled in milk or water, after that it can be added, sugar, syrop, honey, salt, fruits in order to make it sweeter.Even if its origin is not exatcly English, you can commonly expect it to see it in the UK. Oats are one of the most healthy and benefitial food for our organism cointaining a high level of fibre.  Porrigde is especially typical in Scotland, where porrigde oats have been cultivated for a long time and where they claim that it should be cooked only with water and a pinch of salt. Other versions say that it should be make with milk. One Scottish traditon states that porridge should be eaten on wooden bowls.

Scrambled eggs: eggs are a popular dish all around the world and eaten in many manners. However I decided to include them here as they part of the English culture, each country or culture can have a different way of making eggs, so the English have also as well of eating eggs and in this case, they love their scrambled eggs. Scrambled eggs are made with butter, milk and eggs mixed together and adding salt and pepper. Usually in England they eat it with toast for breakfast or as a light meal, or for tea time.. They are also eaten in the traditonal English breakfast.  Uusally they have a fine and smooth texture or they can be done more runny according to each own taste.  However, to achieve a good texture is not easily done and many recipes proclaim themselves to know how to make the perfect scrambled eggs.A good recipe for scrambled eggs is included in the book of Jesse Dunford Wood "Modern British food: Recipes from Parlour". I would like to recommend this book if you are interested in knowing more about English recipes and cooking. 

Horseradish sauce:  Horseradish is a white sauce commonly used in English cusine that goes with meats and fish as well. As it names means it is made with horseradish, white vinegar and mustard and cream. The horseradish has to be peeled and grated to be used for the sauce. This vegetable it is from the family of the mustard vegetable and is usually used as a spice, however this vegetable is not easy to find in all supermarkets or markets. Ther are two types of horseradish, the red one and the white one, usually for this sauce it is used the white variety.

Brown sauce: Brown sauce is a sauce that is common in UK and Ireland. It has invented in Notthigham by Frederick Gibson Garter and he gave it the name HP, which refers to the Houses of the Parliament. He has heard that they served this sauce in the House of Parliment and that´s why he decided to give it that name. This sauce it is a typical English sauce that it is usually bought in the supermakerts. One of the most famous brands doing it is HP Brown Sauce, claiming to be original brown sauce in England. As it names indicates, it is brown and it is made using very different ingredients such as tomatoes, vinegar, some types of spicies, molasses, dates, apples and  different types of flours.

This sauce can be eaten with all types of foods such as bacon, breakfasts, meats, baked beans, etc. It is quite popular to add it to meat dishes such as pork or beef.  Nowadays this sauce it has spread to a lot of English speaking countries such as New Zealand, Canada and Australia. 

Lemon curd: This is a Victorian classic dessert, dating back to the 1800s. A curd is a type of cream made with the zest of any type of fruit, however the most popular is the lemon since it adds a lot of flavour and fragance. Curds are used to top up cakes, muffins and in many bakery recipes, but they can be eaten on their own.  A  popular recipe in England is a lemon curd tart where you can find the link for the recipe here: http://www.joyofbaking.com/LemonCurdTart.html. A curd tart is basically a cake using lemon curd. Lemon curd is done by adding sugar, butter, the zest of lemons and eggs and combing it together in hte righ portions.  In UK we can also find lemon curd bottled at supermarkets to eat with toasts or biscuits instead of using jam or honey or any other sweetener. 

Photo source: https://www.news24.com/You/Archive/lemon-curd-on-toast-20170728-2

Lemon curd tarts 

Lemon curd tarts are a classic and they are enjoyed as a snack or at tea time.