[QUOTE] [QUOTE] There are a few basic meals I think would fit the bill. Toad in the hole with onion gravy. Steak and ale pie, with fresh vegetables. A ham[1] sandwich with english mustard. Full english breakfast. [1] Continental ham rarely tastes the same as a British ham carved off the bone. Not that I dislike either. [/QUOTE] Dijon mustard (only Maille [1]) is the dog's bits IMHO, with wholegrain coming a close second.[/QUOTE] I have several jars of Maille whole grain mustard in the cupboard. It is a good mild accompaniment to many dishes.[QUOTE] I do like strong English cheeses, cheddar, Stilton and the like, though. As for the candidate usually cited in discussions on English 'cuisine' (sic), roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, it's amusing that the English overcook a thin slice of beef until it looks and tastes like leather, and then call that 'good' food.[/QUOTE] I've never seen that happen for many years and I don't eat out the top restaurants any more. Roast Beef 'English style' according to the French is very rare. The problem I've found in top ( or not ) French restaurants is they don't know how to hang beef correctly. You end up with a chewy bit of semi warm raw meat. The Germans are just as bad. If it was in a field yesterday and on the plate today it must be fresh and taste good (not). When I lived in northern Germany I and several fellow Brits would eat at a restaurant called Ams Klauser in the Schnoor quarter of Bremen. The owner was Dutch and his wife was German[1]. The Germans at work wouldn't eat there as he kept his meat in a cold room and not a freezer.I once ordered a second steak there as it was so good. After that when I would eat there I would get 'double rations' of steak served on my plate. [1] she would throw out 50% of the Americans from work because they were too noisy and were disturbing *her* clientele.
