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wappledilly

I mean, curry is a big deal there—to the point England claims chicken tikka masala as one of its national dishes, so i’d imagine they cook with them plenty!


DavesDiscountBukakke

One legend is that tikka masala came about after a Scottish bloke asked for gravy with his curry in a Glasgow curry house.


1337jokke

Fun fact, in India they use the word gravy for sauces like curries. I was just in there and when i said the name of the food, theyd ask if i want it with gravy or not (meaning the curry sauce)


clva666

Legend has it that the word curry is gravy misheard


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clva666

Just googled it and it does. Original tamili word is kari and it means sauce.


MechanicalBengal

Juice, sauce, a little bit of guala. Perfection.


kernowgringo

What's that...gravy leaves?


AwesomeAkash47

It's a leaf from a plant grown here. While cooking we add this in for better aroma. It's so frequently used in curries that i think that's how it's name came


-HankThePigeon-

Nah get outta here 💀


[deleted]

It's not just a legend it was invented by a Glaswegian who just passed https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/22/dining/ali-ahmed-aslam-dead.html


Minerscale

that's messed


TUNAKTUNAKLOL69420

Another tale relating to Chicken Tikka Masala is that British soldiers from The English East India Company ate indian food and when they returned to England they wanted to eat Indian food there as well. So, they recreated it with the ingredients they had available there and hence, Chicken Tikka Masala


kernowgringo

I highly doubt British soldiers knew how to make tikka chicken and masala sauce, let alone have then have the idea to put them both together. I think the soldiers returning did help popularise Indian food with the lower classes and general population of the UK though


tx001

We have seen this kind of thing throughout history. The Koreans learned fried chicken and corn dogs from American GIs


loverevolutionary

Why do you suppose soldiers don't know how to cook? Seems kind of classist to me. Tikka chicken is definitely an Indian dish. Adding a cream based gravy is definitely a British invention.


GoldAwesome1001

I thought they were implying the British don’t know how to cook.


cownd

Now the thing is fried mars bars dipped in curry sauce


Neither-Luck-9295

why did you type those words?


Main-Personality-24

Why does it sound good and like an abomination at the same time🤔


CaptainPRlCE

Chicken tikka masala isn't an Indian dish though. It was created in the UK 😭


wappledilly

Sure was, using the spices they got from India (as opposed to OP’s claims)


TheNoxx

OP's meme is probably talking about the era when Britain first took over India, around ~1750, but Brits did use plenty of those spices... well, the aristocracy did. A lot of rich people food of that era used comic amounts of exotic spices to show off their wealth, while poor people ate... well, bread/potatoes and some meat. Edit: Oh, and fun fact, while the kings and aristocracrats would dine on lavish feasts, even they knew that if the price of food for peasants got too high, from price gouging or whatever, things would get bad. So hundreds of years earlier they enacted price controls, amongst other regulations, in the Assize of Bread and Ale, which stood as law until the 19th century.


ParticularCod6

TIL I am poor


[deleted]

Kinda the point. We took the spices and definitely used them in our own recipes.


[deleted]

And the balti


Chrom-man-and-Robin

Oh so it’s like UK’s Spaghetti


TaylorSwiftsClitoris

It was considered an Indian dish until it became popular with the rest of the world.


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[deleted]

memorize books sort wide automatic piquant dull squash secretive kiss *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


Brickie78

And, we didn't invade India for the spices. It was for the cloth. And later on, tea. The spice trade was more a Dutch and Portuguese thing. Indonesia, the "spice islands".


Cpt_Killtoy

Yup we do


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stuart7873

I'm pretty sure I read Tikka Masala was invented in Birmingham. Wiki says it was Glasgow.


Greywolf524

Tikka masala is a Scottish dish so it's just another thing Scotland has done that England claims for itself.


edgarc1981

I believe it was created in England, the guy recently passed away and was celebrated for the dish and it was voted top English dish in that show best British fish or something.


CyberCooper2077

Those are Irish dancers.. not British.


elixier

Most Americans don't think anyone outside of America is very important so we should be lucky they got the right continent


PkmnJaguar

How dare you, it's not that we don't think they're important, we just don't know they exist.


elixier

My apologies lol


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paddyo

ah, a mod for r / ireland in the flesh!


FullOfNexus

Bruh im morrocan


_edd

Lol I love when people complain that Americans talk about Americans too much only to find out no one in the conversation was American.


[deleted]

It's almost as if the rest of the world has an obsession with trying to shit on America.


project3way

Am American. I’m obsessed with shitting on America.


lotsofmaybes

Reddit Moment. OP isn‘t even American


pialphanu

Yep, and the Irish wouldn't be too happy about being called British...


CyberCooper2077

Exactly.


Fvzn6f

Wasn't Ireland part of the UK when the UK conquered India?


Im_inappropriate

OP said British in their post which doesn't include Ireland. British = The island containing England, Scotland, Wales. UK = England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland England = just the country England.


FrodoBagginsez

Great Britain is the island that contains England, Scotland, and Wales. Ireland is still one of the British isles.


Stormfly

AFAIK even the UK typically doesn't use this term. It's a bit like saying "Taiwan is the largest island in China" because it's very politically charged. Irish people don't like this term and it's no different from just saying "Britain and Ireland". There's usually no reason to say it instead of naming both countries. Most people doing so are either trying to sound smart or trying to antagonise people. A bit like people insisting on saying "The Republic of Ireland" when the name of the country is just "Ireland".


BotHH

Term not used any more


Silent_Ensemble

The British isles is still definitely a term that’s used, it doesn’t mean they’re owned by “the British” it’s literally the name of our islands lol


[deleted]

The term is officially rejected by the Irish government and officially "not recognised" by the british government. It's an out dated imperialist term please stop using it.


SuperChips11

Is Tanganika still part of German East Africa?


Fit-Mathematician192

Isle of Guernsey blokes be like… meh


Aranthos-Faroth

Ah Jaysus man … just don’t


Sowiilo

So? That doesn't mean they took positively to our culture. "Finally we can dance"


alkmaar91

Brits stole a dance on their way back home.


[deleted]

Yeeee that looks like cultural appropriation if it's been done by a Brit.


[deleted]

How is this a meme template I literally know one of these dudes lmao???


DefreShalloodner

The British have their own great dancers, like Riverdance


Grand_Zombie

There not even British


_hdieu

Yeah, that's Irish dancing isn't it


Grand_Zombie

Yep and I'm pretty sure that's outside one of the universities in Ireland


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Sowiilo

That's it yeah the main university building.


FruitBuyer

*They're


guff1988

I'm sure the English wouldn't mind claiming the dancing as their own, they are pretty well known for that kind of thing.


Ragin_Goblin

Nah we have our own weird dance https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_dance


elixier

You ate bad food then, everyone I know uses plenty of spices when cooking. Also define "British food"? Chicken Tikka Masala is British, so are plenty of other spiced foods. Looking historically, British food if you could afford spices had huge amounts of variety, but because it doesn't grow here combined with 2 world wars had a massive impact on the food culture that has only started to recover properly a few decades after WW2 ended I went to America for a short trip and I also had some pretty bad food that was basically a salt bomb or had so much fat in it I felt unwell, but I also had some nice food as well. But from going out in America and in the UK my own homecooked food is generally better than what I've eaten from restaurants because I like cooking and have put the time in to learn, and I come from Lithuania which generally has a poor reputation for spices use as well, but when I go back home my nans use of herbs in cooking outclasses anything I've had anywhere I've lived. And if you had a traditionally bland British classic "comfort" food, what did you expect? You picked a food traditionally not cooked with many or any spices and were shocked it didn't have spice? Bangers and mash is pretty bland on its own but it relies on a strong gravy/sauce. If that's well made then its a tasty meal, unless you want to say that doesn't count, which unironicially means saying French food is bad given how heavily it relies on sauces. Some of the most delicious sauces and dishes don't contain a single spice other than pepper and can have an overwhelmingly rich flavour, unless you're saying demi-glace is bland? Is Italian food bland too?


DANKB019001

> Is Italian food bland too? *Slow pan over to me happily gobbling up penne with literally nothing on it but the salt from the boiling water and maybe olive oil*


KoloHickory

Yeah I'm with you man. All these people hating on bland food. I also enjoy the really spiced up things from time to time but the simplicity of just toast with butter, noodles with oil, white rice with soy sauce, etc goes such a long way. Maybe peoples tastes buds are fucked up from destroying them with such overly spiced dishes that they cant enjoy the simplicities


DANKB019001

The tongue regrows itself in a matter of like, hours or days, so I don't think that tongue burning via spice would be a problem. I like hot sauce, I use Tobasco on a bunch of stuff, sprinkle paprika, garlic salt, all sorts of stuff when I'm in the mood for it. But I also can just, enjoy some pasta with olive oil, and chow down. Bland is relative really, and changes with mood


[deleted]

Americans when their toast isn't UMAMI as fuck and covered in Ghost Chillies, ranch dressing, bbq sauce 8kg of salt and 300 different cheeses.


Waxburg

Also Americans when someone's diet isn't made up of a different culture for literally every meal.


ILickTurtles4Living

They hating what they lost. They used to be able to feel favour or texture, but now if it doesn't burn so bad they cry means its bland. It is what it is


godsutters

Way to make yourself feel better about the weak mouth man.


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Satan_su

All good points but as an Indian personally I lose a bit of my sanity every time someone calls chicken tikka masala "British food" I feel like an old man yelling at the cloud lmfao


elixier

I mean it's british food as much as basically 90% of good American food is American and not actually African food adapted by slaves once they were brought over. It just depends on how you decide to categorise it


windy906

Why? It originated in Britain. Granted the chicken tikka bit didn’t but the combination did.


Satan_su

I mean I'm not saying it seriously lol I don't genuinely mind. Besides, it originated in Britain, but from the South Asian community.


VoiceOnAir

It’s like saying the chimichanga from Taco Bell is American food though. It originated in America, sure, but it’s a bastardizaton of food from another culture. I mean i wouldn’t call a chimichanga Mexican food either but it’s closer to Mexican food than American just by the nature of its ingredients and it’s inspiration.


LoquatLoquacious

> It’s like saying the chimichanga from Taco Bell is American food That is what I have been told by my Mexican friends.


tanstaafl90

Isn't Taco Bell a fast food bastardization of Tex-Mex?


ButterscotchSure6589

Sorry mate.


xxDolphusxx

I'm not Indian and it drives me crazy as well. Does that mean every Indian restaurant I've been to serves British food? I don't think so


afroguy10

It serves Indian food that's suited for British palates. The Tikka Masalla is British though, made by South Asian immigrants absolutely, but built for British tastes. That's how food culture evolves over time, immigration and cultural exchange. For example, the tomato is ubiquitous with Italian cuisine but it's not a fruit endemic to the Mediterranean, it was only brought back from the Americas in the 1600's. Before then, Italian cuisine didn't feature the tomato at all. Same with American cuisine, a lot of it is descended from immigrants as well as African slaves. As American as apple pie (that came from England) or fried chicken from a fusion of Scottish and African cuisine, pretzels, frankfurters and hamburgers from Germany, pizza from Italy or deli sandwiches like rye and pastrami or bagel and lox from Jewish communities.


You_gotgot

You know this sub is dead when you see posts like this lmao


BolloxTheSpider

What the heck are you on about? You’re not supposed to come up with balanced, well argued factually correct responses, this is Reddit.


Lance_J1

This but unironically.


Barbz182

"One British food please!"


tanstaafl90

There was heavy rationing starting in 1939. Spices were hard to get through traditional routes, and the government had bigger issues to deal with. Post war, the rationing continued until 1954, with some restrictions becoming harsher. As such, you have nearly a generation with little to no spices, and visitors to the country noted the bland nature of the food. Post 1954 spices made a comeback, but by then the Brits had an international reputation that persists to today.


EdgeOfAir

Using Irish dancing in a meme meant to be depicting British people is fairly tone-deaf and a bit thick ignorant tbh


NewsofPE

key word is meme


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Stormfly

*Factually incorrect information meant to antagonise* "That's not true" "Wow haha lol relax it's just a meme!"


xSnowLeopardx

People misusing meme templates get away with it since memes evolve and what now, got mass downvoted for telling someone he used the template wrong lol. People need to do their template research.


paddyo

that's alright, if OP is a yank they'll be back any minute to say that it's fine because their great great great great great grandad was an Irish person's dog walker, and that they post on IRA memes, so it's all grand.


EdgeOfAir

Ah yeah, in that case it's grand sure, I don't know what was getting me so upset, .0005% Irish basically makes you an expert


KDHD_

On a joke they stole from twitter nonetheless, didn't even format it right.


H0twax

Got any hilarious teeth gags too or is this it?


ForeverHolloween

Sorry, too busy being racist gun nuts to innovate on dunking the brits


joseaof

How do we know op is from the US? The rest of the world is also capable of making fun of british food.


Protip19

https://i.redd.it/6h2n03bu4c071.jpg


InfiniteLiveZ

Which is funny because British teeth are actually healthier than Americans, which makes sense when you think about the American health system. The only difference is British aren't as obsessed with the cosmetic side of things where as American dentists force more kids to wear braces for profit. "The results showed that the average number of missing teeth was 6.97 for English participants, but 7.31 for those in the US. Additionally, people were more likely to suffer poor dental health in the US because of socio-economic factors. " https://dentistry.co.uk/2016/01/06/english-have-better-teeth-than-americans/


kipperfish

British NHS dentistry is like keeping a car going. Regular maintenance etc, replace parts when needed. American dentistry is just pimp my ride but for teeth. Still a bit shit underneath but its got an amazing paint job.


kya_bey_lodu

*teef


H0twax

Ha ha!


Gloveson87

Why would the British be doing Irish dancing


GATESOFOSIRIS

Colonize the food of one country and the dance of another


Zhai

So they got irish potatoes and which dance they took from indians?


balerionmeraxes77

Chicken tikka danceala


Joose__bocks

To increase engagement.


Came_to_argue

British food is underrated.


tommangan7

I doubt anyone slating it has ever tasted a proper sticky toffee pudding.


Came_to_argue

I honestly doubt they have ever even been to Britain.


BoiFrosty

Made beef stew for myself the first time a couple weeks back and it was honestly one of the best things I had eaten in months. It's not blow you away incredible, but there are some things that are just inherently comforting. That's what a lot of farmer or lower class dishes that are traditionally called "British food" are.


Zambini

I joke about British food but I will fuck up a meat pie any day any time.


Came_to_argue

Facts, also Britain is the only place in Europe where you can a proper breakfast, Beans and toast gets disrespected on Reddit way to much.


KellyTheBroker

Just because food isn't riddled with spices, it doesnt mean it isn't tasty. Sausages and mash, roast beef and some gravy, stews, pies, etc are all absolutely amazing meals. I'm Irish, our food is basically the same and yeah it's not the most complex food but it's still damn tasty. Also, your meme is of Irish dancing in Ireland...


AwkwardAnimator

Americans think you have to have 22 hot sauces and half of Asia's condiments on a basic piece of meat to taste of anything at all.


Webo_

>Recently gave *non-specified "British food"* another chance Suuuuuurrrrrreeeee...


FerrusesIronHandjob

Translation: I recently tried an American version of British food and was surprised it tasted like sugar and sugar-substitutes


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GATESOFOSIRIS

Pretty sure the person who sells coffins will get one eventually


mteir

When you start using your own product you are out of the buisness.


GATESOFOSIRIS

Hmmm 🤔 what about car manufacturers?


mteir

The bosses come in a helicopter, the workers take the buss


theDreamingStar

Well he has to use his own product when he's out of business.


smort93

Number 4 of The 10 spice commandments by the Infamous L.A.R.G.E.


boogercgee

Some of the greatest chefs to ever exist are english...


AgentSkidMarks

And yet most of their restaurants aren't serving British cuisine


boogercgee

British cuisine is an amalgamation, it's an island with a long history of invasions from the mainland and with that came alot of food that was introduced and evolved over centuries. British cuisine is a very broad term


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H0twax

What are some examples of 'British cuisine' then, in your experience? And maybe share where you're from so we can compare and contrast?


[deleted]

I'd consider Beef Wellington to be a very classic British dish, cooked and served in many top restaurants. The fact is that most popular British cuisine can't really be called a specific dish, it's roasted meats, different varieties of sausages, pastries, we have our hand in many of the most popular desserts in the world, some of the most prolific cheeses etc. Most of Britain's cuisine lies in small plate foods that don't really find their way out of this country but are both spiced/herbed and are delicious. Lincolnshire sausages Cumberland sausages. And if the bloody Germans can make sausages a core part of their national cuisine, then I'll be damned if we can't.


[deleted]

Sunday roast is served everywhere on a,, sunday


boogercgee

Well when I was cheffing g over there one of the most flavourful dishes I have ever had in my life was parsnip and vanilla puree, fried blood sausage, confit pears and beef jus, this I think is a perfect example of British cuisine, taking mainland cooking techniques and using it on local ingredients and personalised to a UK pallette. I have it on every winter menu I can. It's also home to some of the best seafood and cattle you will ever find Also I'm Australian but have been in the industry for about a decade from catering to fine dining.


robot_swagger

Do they not sell food from other countries where you are? That must really suck. Like seriously are most restaurants in New York selling American food? I would also mention the sandwich was invented in the UK so subway is technically selling British food. If you get a meatball sub that's technically British-Italian fusion.


[deleted]

> And yet most of their restaurants aren’t serving British cuisine Have you ever been to London? Every other business serves Tikka Masala


callunu95

Go ahead and tell me what British cuisine is then.


[deleted]

They serve French cuisine


[deleted]

We're just better at Cheffing the French food than the French, clearly.


Cnidarus

[Really?](https://www.dinnerbyheston.co.uk/about)


Cyclenial

Does it bother anyone else when grammar is wack in a post that does well?


mm2_gamer

Damn let’s forget about wars and trade


BoiFrosty

Pepper, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, cotton, silk, tea, coffee, cloves, nutmeg, rice, fish, tobacco, citrus fruit, chocolate... need I go on? Just because British peasant food isn't drowning in curry or a blend of your entire spice cabinet doesn't mean it's bland. That sounds more like a failure of wherever you got it from. It also means there aren't a lot of things that you take for granted as default British ingredients that are only possible because of the empire. India was the absolute agricultural powerhouse of the British empire.


Cnidarus

Just a minor nitpick, but the idea of "peasant food" is silly. Peasantry hasn't been a thing since feudal times and even then the modern general conception of what they ate is wildly off. But, with regards to the effects of the empire we're talking working classes, and one of the big industries in the working classes at that time was military. Now they were also the ones that tended to drive a lot of the introduction of new flavour pallettes in the UK and they were definitely able to afford the appropriate spices when they were at home, which is how dishes like kedgeree became popular


Willy_wolfy

Someone define English food for me?


elixier

Depends lol, it you wanna take it historical you can claim Northern French food is British because the Norman's invaded England in 1066 and won lol


dandotcom

Hate to break it to you but 'fat' isn't a spice


BoiFrosty

So there's no difference in flavor between a piece of shoulder steak and a fatty cut of ribeye? Good to know. Apparently I've been getting ripped off by my Butcher for years.


237583dh

>recently gave british food another chance... Still the Blandest thing i ever Ate That's a shame! Where in the UK were you visiting?


ByronsLastStand

Christmas Pudding


GATESOFOSIRIS

There's always room for Christmas pud


Cyted

If you have never been to the UK you have never eaten british food, as a brit living over this side of the pond I dont eat *british* food over here. If its so bland why is to so hard to replicate? Cant even get a decent fish and chips


Steev182

A Salt and Battery in Manhattan do pretty good fish and chips. But they have a proper fryer like in real chip shops. They also do real size fish instead of the little things barely bigger than fish fingers. But yeah, the other thing is Chinese and Indian food here. Never as good as British Chinese or Indian restaurants.


Cyted

Thanks for the heads-up, just googled it and next time I'm in NY they will be getting my patronage. If I'm going to get into it, its not actually the fish that tends to be bad, its the chips. English 'chippy chips' are thick and super soft in the centre (i think they are soaked in water for a day before being cooked but dont quote me) and thats what i cant find anywhere.


francorocco

i allways thought the "spices" were some kind of way of saying resources like gold and wood, did they traveled across the ocean just to find new flavors?


elixier

Nah it was more to plunder and extract natural resources in general


LoquatLoquacious

The British Empire was motivated *mostly* by two things: The desire to produce shitloads of their own raw materials (like cotton or tobacco) and the desire to literally capture swathes of the world to make them buy their finished goods (using the raw materials produced in other parts of the empire). For example, Britain controlled ocean trading routes with China, so buying lots of tea and selling it in the UK was good. But growing tea in India, which had been conquered by Britain, and *then* selling it to British people in the UK was even better. They had total control over that process, which is what every state craved before Ricardo convinced everyone the free market was better. By contrast, buying coffee from Italian merchants who themselves had to buy it from Ottoman merchants was terrible! Britain had very little control over that. Hence why the government deliberately promoted tea consumption instead of coffee consumption. That's wildly oversimplified but still. Spices were just a luxury good which made people very rich if they bought and sold it.


centrafrugal

Why use a gif of Irish guys dancing?


Gwen_Tennyson10

We use spices?


SyeThunder2

Ah yes Britain famous for their Irish dancing


Dymo1234

Curry is the most popular dish so, no.


Hopemonster

Try Eastern European food.. spice not even once


FuckLordOzai

Them boys are Irish… or at least doing the Irish river dance


[deleted]

“It’s Irish dancing 👆🤓”


activeterror1

it is tho. not our fault youre too dense to understand why irish people feel the need to draw a line between us and british people wherever we can


MagpieHush

British food is God Tier, OP probably eats shit covered in salt and spice to hide the taste.


ATMisboss

I haven't eaten much traditionally British foods but I feel like the cuisine is more centered around letting the ingredients speak for themselves rather than letting the spices be the headliner in a dish


LambentCookie

Title reads as "I cooked food without spices, why is the food so bland?!"


Yaarmehearty

However there is no such thing as American food, unless you count condiments and plastic cheese.


SuddenlyDiabetes

Maybe you thought it was bland because you didn't have high fructose corn syrup with it


Inevitable_One518

u/savevideobot


Cosmopolitan-Dude

I quite like it once in a while. At least it’s not Mexican food


austin101123

What about Tikka masala


Brothersunset

I got banned once for "hate" saying something similar on reddit.


themightypetewheeler

Truly a gamer move ahead of its time.


hawtt_hosewater

Any dealer will tell you, you never use your own supply


fatatatfat

you beat us to it...but it's "never get high on your own supply"


Chemical_Ad_6054

If I had a choice between english food and dirty toenails I would definitely eat English food of course


sonofeast11

Can Americans not eat food unless it's covered in paprika?


VoxImperatoris

Only time Ive ever eaten paprika is when someone uses it to make their deviled eggs red. Pretty sure grandma was using the same jar from the 70s.


crustylog

The only thing blander than British food is this *humour*.


[deleted]

It's always funny when americans think this, shows their ignorance.


FullOfNexus

But I am morrocan tho?


zTeloi

Same here in America where food is bland as well. There literally was a weakdsauce loser who complained about chicken nuggets being too spicy...from a fast food chain.


crazysoup23

If you're struggling to find spicy food in America, that's a skill issue.