Yesterday on one TV news programme an article 'revealed' that Britain is returning to traditional dishes - cottage pie etc - that had supposedly gone out of fashion. Setting aside fashion in food - vanilla infusion anyone? coffee foam? - this was introduced as being linked to the recession. The suggestion was that until the banks lost everybody's money we had all been dining on caviar, venison and wild sea-bass. Maybe in Kensington.
Actually what has probably happened over the years is that as we advanced economically some of the nastier cheapo filler dishes have been dropped - no recent sightings of gruel - but the good ones retained. And we have added foods and dishes from cuisines from around the world, so Indian and Thai curries, Chinese, Italian and Spanish things appear regularly on the tables of those who actually do cook (and I suppose those who buy ready-meals too).
Last night we had sausages (nice herby ones), mushrooms, mash made 50/50 parsnips (cheap 'basic' bag i.e. not standard EU size - topic for a other post I think) and potatoes (our home-grown), and onion gravy. Cost for lashings for three of us about £4.25. Though I say so myself the gravy was sweet and delicious. There's nothing wrong with good plain British cooking, though there would be if you closed your eyes to other options. Tonight then a chick-pea curry, made with freshly ground spices. Which has become good plain British cooking too.
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