English Cuisine

English cuisine is shaped by the country's temperate climate, its geography, and its history. The latter includes interactions with other European countries, and the importing of ingredients and ideas from places such as North America, China, and India during the time of the British Empire and as a result of post-war immigration.
Since the Early Modern Period the food of England has historically been characterised by its simplicity of approach and a reliance on the high quality of natural produce. This, in no small part influenced by England's Puritan heritage, has resulted in a traditional cuisine which tended to veer from strong flavours, such as garlic, and an avoidance of complex sauces which were commonly associated with Catholic Continental political affiliation.

Traditional meals have ancient origins, such as bread and cheese, roasted and stewed meats, meat and game pies, boiled vegetables and broths, and freshwater and saltwater fish. The 14th century English cookbook, the Forme of Cury, contains recipes for these, and dates from the royal court of Richard II.
Other meals, such as fish and chips, which were once urban street food eaten from newspaper with salt and malt vinegar, and pies and sausages with mashed potatoes, onions, and gravy, are now matched in popularity by curries from India and Bangladesh, and stir-fries based on Chinese and Thai cooking. French cuisine and Italian cuisine are also now widely adapted. Britain was also quick to adopt the innovation of fast food from the United States, and continues to absorb culinary ideas from all over the world while at the same time rediscovering its roots in sustainable rural agriculture.

We do have a wide and varied cuisine in Britain today, no more do we suffer under the image of grey boiled meat! After years of disparagement by various countries (especially the French) Britain now has an enviable culinary reputation. In fact some of the great chefs now come from Britain, I kid you not!
However Britain's culinary expertise is not new! In the past British cooking was amongst the best in the world. Mrs Beeton is still one of the renowned writers of cookery books, her creations have now gained international popularity, years after her death.
Traditional British cuisine is substantial, yet simple and wholesome. We have long believed in four meals a day. Our fare has been influenced by the traditions and tastes from different parts of the British empire: teas from Ceylon and chutney, kedgeree, and mulligatawny soup from India.

Important Characteristics Of English Cooking

The English idea each animal, when served, to be characterized by its own proper flavour, which is on no account to be masked or disguised by others, which are adventitious. Delicate additions tending to heighten the natural flavour, or agreeably subordinated to it, shall alone be admitted. It is a principle which can be successfully followed only where these meats exist in high perfection: where meat is inferior or insipid, an opposite treatment is the better one. And I do not hesitate to claim for the intelligent English consumer, that it has long been essentially his aim to cultivate the best meat and game in the world, and to enjoy its intrinsic qualities for their own sake, unalloyed by any of those additions in the form of finely flavoured sauce, which are so valuable for improving materials which do not possess their own distinctive fine qualities and flavours; while his proximity to the seashore and numerous streams enables him to enjoy fish of all kinds absolutely fresh and in the finest condition.

Lunchbox muffin mix

Ingredients

· 225g self raising flour (or mix half wholemeal and half white flour for a healthier version).

· 1 tsp baking powder.

· 75g melted butter

· 175 ml semi skimmed milk

· 1 egg

· Approx 200g fresh fruit or vegetables chopped

· For fruit muffins also add 100g soft brown sugar.

Directions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200º C/Gas mark 6.

2 . Place all the ingredients into a bowl and mix to get rid of most of the lumps.

3. Mix in the fruit or vegetables of your choice, split between 12 muffin cases and bake for 15 - 20 minutos until golden brown.

Butternut squash muffins with a frosty top

Ingredients

For the muffins
· 400g butternut squash, skin on, deseeded and roughly chopped
· 350g light soft brown sugar
· 4 large free-range or organic eggs
· Sea salt
· 300g plain flour, unsifted
· 2 heaped teaspoons of baking powder
· A handful of walnuts
· 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
· 175ml of extra virgin olive oil

For the frosted cream topping
· Zest of 1 clementine
· Zest of 1 lemon and juice of ½ a lemon
· 140ml of soured cream
· 2 heaped tablespoons of icing sugar, sifted
· 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped out
Optional: lavender flowers or rose petals

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line your muffin tins with paper cases.
2. Whiz the squash in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the sugar, and crack in the eggs. Add a pinch of salt, the flour, baking powder, walnuts, cinnamon and olive oil and whiz together until well beaten. You may need to pause the machine at some point to scrape the mix down the sides with a rubber spatula. Try not to overdo it with the mixing - you want to just combine everything and no more.
3. Fill the paper cases with the cake mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Check to see whether they are cooked properly by sticking a wooden skewer or a knife right into one of the cakes - if it comes out clean, they’re done. If it's a bit sticky, pop them back into the oven for a little longer. Remove from the oven and leave the cakes to cool on a wire rack.
4. As soon as the muffins are in the oven, make your runny frosted topping. Place most of the clementine zest, all the lemon zest and the lemon juice in a bowl. Add the soured cream, icing sugar and vanilla seeds and mix well. Taste and have a think about it - adjust the amount of lemon juice or icing sugar to balance the sweet and sour. Put into the fridge until your cakes have cooled down, then spoon the topping on to the cakes. Serve on a lovely plate (on a cake stand if you're feeling elegant, or on a rustic slab if you're more of a hunter-gatherer type!), with the rest of the clementine zest sprinkled over. For an interesting flavour and look, a few dried lavender flowers or rose petals are fantastics.

Vanilla bean and white chocolate pannacotta

Ingredients

· 500ml soya cream
· 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
· 50g white vanilla chocolate, broken up
· 3 sheets leaf gelatine

Directions

1. Heat the soya cream in a pan over a medium heat. When it just begins to boil, reduce the heat and stir in the vanilla paste and chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate has melted, then remove from the heat.

2. Soak the gelatine in cold water to soften, then squeeze dry. Put 4 tablespoons of boiling water in a bowl, add the gelatine and stir to melt. Add to the soya cream mixture, mix and pour equal amounts into 4 x 150ml moulds. Chill overnight.
3. Dip the moulds in hot water and invert onto plates. Decorate with fresh berries.

Orange double chocolate cheesecakes

Ingredients

· 25g butter
· 40g orange-flavoured plain chocolate
· 125g digestive biscuits, crushed
· 150g good white chocolate
· 250g tub mascarpone
· Finely grated zest of 1 orange, plus 1 tsp orange juice
· 142ml carton double cream
· 3 tbsp good strawberry jam, warmed and sieved
· 100g summer fruits (cherries, strawberries, redcurrants, raspberries or peaches)

Directions

1. Line a 6-hole muffin tin with muffin cases. Put the butter and plain chocolate into a pan and heat gently until melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the crushed biscuits. Divide the mixture between the muffin cases and press down lightly with the back of a teaspoon to make even layers. Chill.
2. Break the white chocolate into a heatproof bowl and rest over a pan of simmering water. Remove from the heat and stir until melted. Cool slightly.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the mascarpone with the orange zest, until softened. In another bowl, whip the cream into soft peaks. Mix the white chocolate into the mascarpone, then gently fold in the cream. Spoon the mixture evenly into the muffin cases and chill for 11/2-2 hours or until just firm.
4. To serve, carefully peel the muffin cases away from the cheesecakes and transfer to a plate. Mix the orange juice into the jam. Decorate the cheesecakes with the summer fruits and drizzle with a little of the warmed jam glaze.

Chocolate fudge pots with blueberries in cassis

Ingredients

· 200g plain chocolate (up to 50% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
· 100g unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
· 4 medium eggs, separated
· 150g blueberries
· 150ml cassis (blackcurrant) liqueur
· 6 tbsp Greek yogurt, crème fraîche or fromage frais, to serve

Directions

1. Put the chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl. Melt in a 900-watt microwave on medium for 30 second bursts, until melted. Stir well to combine.
2. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, then add the yolks to the chocolate mixture and mix together until smooth and glossy. Then gently fold in the whisked egg whites. Carefully spoon the mixture into pots and chill for at least 1 hour.
3. Put the blueberries into a pan with the cassis liqueur. Just bring to the boil to soften, then remove the fruit with a slotted spoon and put in a bowl. Boil the cassis for 2-3 minutes, until reduced and syrupy. Pour over the blueberries and cool.
4. To serve, top each chocolate fudge pot with a dollop of Greek yogurt, crème fraîche or fromage frais. Crown with blueberries and cassis syrup.