Okay, we may not be known for our culinary finesse, however, there one or two things that are pretty tasty. A tradition in the UK is to have a Sunday roast, that usually consists of some kind of roasted meat (most commonly chicken, beef or pork – maybe lamb or turkey for special occasions) accompanied with a variety of steamed vegetables such as broccoli, carrot, cabbage or sprouts to give a few examples. Potatoes - either roasted, mashed or boiled - sometimes stuffing, pigs in blankets and Yorkshire pudding and a sauce that we call gravy.
So- you may be thinking to yourself, Yorkshire puddings, pigs in blankets and gravy – what on earth?!
Gravy is a sauce which is comparable to a very thick caldo. It’s made using the juices from the meat you are roasting and mixed with some of the water used to boil the vegetables (for extra flavour), and a little flour to thicken it.
A Yorkshire pudding is made from a batter comparable to that used to make doughnuts. The difference is that it is savory rather than sweet and it is baked rather than fried!
Stuffing is a mixture of pork meat, breadcrumbs, eggs and herbs combined before being baked in the oven to make a delicious accompaniment to chicken, turkey or pork.
Pigs in blankets are sausages wrapped in bacon, most commonly served with turkey as part of Christmas dinner but also sometimes served with a regular roast dinner as a little treat!
While this dish may not be as fine as French cuisine, as healthy as the Mediterranean diet or as exciting as Mexican cuisine, sometimes is exactly what you need on a freezing winters day in the UK. We Brits always say that no one makes a roast quite like our mum, and it’s true! Nothing will ever live up to my mum’s roast dinner!