Actually a lot of the fish eaten abroad comes from our shores but we don't sell it here because if it isn't cod we don't eat it!!!!
Very little cod, compared to 10/15 years ago, is eaten here any more.
Most fishfingers, fish fillets and the like aren't made up of cod due to the price and sustainability of it. It's all Pollock, Whiting, Coley, Pangasius and the like.
I'm sure a lot of people that claim they'll only eat cod are, in fact, eating many varieties of white fish due to not reading the labels of the processed rubbish that they do eat.
English sparkling wine only works if you are ready to believe that it tastes as good as a non-vintage champagne from one of the big houses such as Moet. That sounds like a tough sell (laughable, to some) but after serving English bubbly up at Christmas the last 3 years I started to become convinced. The argument is that the soil structure and climate in Kent and Sussex is very similar to Champagne. You will not get a special offer of English bubbly for £15 in Tesco because none of the vineyards produce big enough volume, and for the same reason, they don't export yet. But Hugo Johnson seems convinced, if those types convince you.
Anyway I got a case from that enterprising young lady, and am going to hold a small party with a blind taste against some NV champagne.
I like this myth that the Europeans do their shopping at local markets and shun the supermarkets and only buy local produce. The French had huge hypermarkets in the 1970's and so does the rest of Europe now and I don't think they are empty of people. Maybe the UK people have evolved into people who don't want spend hours trudging around a village market carry a multitude of bags buying carrots with mud on. Also it isn't fun in our nice damp climate.
.....and get charged the earth just to park at your local high street.
Parking restrictions, and local councils cosying up to supermarkets (including the god awful 'Local', smaller, ones) have impacted local shops greatly.
I still, whenever possible, eat seasonal produce and use a butcher that knows exactly where his shops meat has come from.
The fruit in supermarkets is terrible and I don't understand why people buy it. Maybe taste buds have been abused for so long that poor produce is seen as being the norm.
We produce some of the best food in the world. Just look at our ever expanding restaurant culture, so the produce is out there if people are serious about buying British.
All of that rings true in my limited Eltham based experience except for the last point. I keep hearing about our wonderful restaurants, but have problems tracking them down. At least when starting out from Eltham. It's always, this or that Indian, maybe an Italian, maybe a Thai, maybe a Greek.Where is the little place offering English recipes from locally sourced food, for maybe £15 per head? Never seen such a place mentioned on the restaurant thread. Some pubs offer the recipes, but it isn't prepared on the premises, but in a factory. Whereas you can find such a place in neighbourhood Paris or Brussels in a blink of an eye. Maybe not in Berlin, admittedly. The English restaurant scene seems to be all about wonderful sounding recipes for £50/head which actually taste all a bit meh. And I have heard that opinion from several Euro friends who come over on biz or leisure.
I like this myth that the Europeans do their shopping at local markets and shun the supermarkets and only buy local produce. The French had huge hypermarkets in the 1970's and so does the rest of Europe now and I don't think they are empty of people. Maybe the UK people have evolved into people who don't want spend hours trudging around a village market carry a multitude of bags buying carrots with mud on. Also it isn't fun in our nice damp climate.
.....and get charged the earth just to park at your local high street.
Parking restrictions, and local councils cosying up to supermarkets (including the god awful 'Local', smaller, ones) have impacted local shops greatly.
I still, whenever possible, eat seasonal produce and use a butcher that knows exactly where his shops meat has come from.
The fruit in supermarkets is terrible and I don't understand why people buy it. Maybe taste buds have been abused for so long that poor produce is seen as being the norm.
We produce some of the best food in the world. Just look at our ever expanding restaurant culture, so the produce is out there if people are serious about buying British.
All of that rings true in my limited Eltham based experience except for the last point. I keep hearing about our wonderful restaurants, but have problems tracking them down. At least when starting out from Eltham. It's always, this or that Indian, maybe an Italian, maybe a Thai, maybe a Greek.Where is the little place offering English recipes from locally sourced food, for maybe £15 per head? Never seen such a place mentioned on the restaurant thread. Some pubs offer the recipes, but it isn't prepared on the premises, but in a factory. Whereas you can find such a place in neighbourhood Paris or Brussels in a blink of an eye. Maybe not in Berlin, admittedly. The English restaurant scene seems to be all about wonderful sounding recipes for £50/head which actually taste all a bit meh. And I have heard that opinion from several Euro friends who come over on biz or leisure.
There's a world out there beyond Eltham.
Get yourself in to Central London. Some of the finest restaurants in the world.
It doesn't have to be all Harvesters, Beafeaters and Toby Carvery's.
I tell you what is a treat - the shellfish stall at the Anchor and Hope pub. I love my matchday whelks washed down with a pint and some chips if I'm feeling indulgent!
I tell you what is a treat - the shellfish stall at the Anchor and Hope pub. I love my matchday whelks washed down with a pint and some chips if I'm feeling indulgent!
I'm no gourmand, unlike @Big_Bad_World, but I'd imagine if you're washing down anything with some chips that someone's doing them wrong.
I like this myth that the Europeans do their shopping at local markets and shun the supermarkets and only buy local produce. The French had huge hypermarkets in the 1970's and so does the rest of Europe now and I don't think they are empty of people. Maybe the UK people have evolved into people who don't want spend hours trudging around a village market carry a multitude of bags buying carrots with mud on. Also it isn't fun in our nice damp climate.
.....and get charged the earth just to park at your local high street.
Parking restrictions, and local councils cosying up to supermarkets (including the god awful 'Local', smaller, ones) have impacted local shops greatly.
I still, whenever possible, eat seasonal produce and use a butcher that knows exactly where his shops meat has come from.
The fruit in supermarkets is terrible and I don't understand why people buy it. Maybe taste buds have been abused for so long that poor produce is seen as being the norm.
We produce some of the best food in the world. Just look at our ever expanding restaurant culture, so the produce is out there if people are serious about buying British.
All of that rings true in my limited Eltham based experience except for the last point. I keep hearing about our wonderful restaurants, but have problems tracking them down. At least when starting out from Eltham. It's always, this or that Indian, maybe an Italian, maybe a Thai, maybe a Greek.Where is the little place offering English recipes from locally sourced food, for maybe £15 per head? Never seen such a place mentioned on the restaurant thread. Some pubs offer the recipes, but it isn't prepared on the premises, but in a factory. Whereas you can find such a place in neighbourhood Paris or Brussels in a blink of an eye. Maybe not in Berlin, admittedly. The English restaurant scene seems to be all about wonderful sounding recipes for £50/head which actually taste all a bit meh. And I have heard that opinion from several Euro friends who come over on biz or leisure.
I think part of the problem is that as we are English we tend eat English food every day of the week at home, there is only so much spotted dick you can get down your neck. When we do go to a restaurant we crave something what we think is a little exotic hence our love affair with the good old British curry, (Indians must laugh at us). You mentioned 4 different nationalities of food and probably could name many more, if you go to Paris you tend to have to eat French. If you come to London you can eat French but also virtually every other type of food on the planet. Far better in my opinion but I'm sure the French will tell you its better in Paris. I work with people from all around the world and after speaking to them about English food,(a conversation that happens regularly), they leave me in no doubt what they think of our traditional dishes. That might be why there is very little in way of English restaurants on our high streets, even us indigenous people don't really like it.
I like this myth that the Europeans do their shopping at local markets and shun the supermarkets and only buy local produce. The French had huge hypermarkets in the 1970's and so does the rest of Europe now and I don't think they are empty of people. Maybe the UK people have evolved into people who don't want spend hours trudging around a village market carry a multitude of bags buying carrots with mud on. Also it isn't fun in our nice damp climate.
.....and get charged the earth just to park at your local high street.
Parking restrictions, and local councils cosying up to supermarkets (including the god awful 'Local', smaller, ones) have impacted local shops greatly.
I still, whenever possible, eat seasonal produce and use a butcher that knows exactly where his shops meat has come from.
The fruit in supermarkets is terrible and I don't understand why people buy it. Maybe taste buds have been abused for so long that poor produce is seen as being the norm.
We produce some of the best food in the world. Just look at our ever expanding restaurant culture, so the produce is out there if people are serious about buying British.
All of that rings true in my limited Eltham based experience except for the last point. I keep hearing about our wonderful restaurants, but have problems tracking them down. At least when starting out from Eltham. It's always, this or that Indian, maybe an Italian, maybe a Thai, maybe a Greek.Where is the little place offering English recipes from locally sourced food, for maybe £15 per head? Never seen such a place mentioned on the restaurant thread. Some pubs offer the recipes, but it isn't prepared on the premises, but in a factory. Whereas you can find such a place in neighbourhood Paris or Brussels in a blink of an eye. Maybe not in Berlin, admittedly. The English restaurant scene seems to be all about wonderful sounding recipes for £50/head which actually taste all a bit meh. And I have heard that opinion from several Euro friends who come over on biz or leisure.
I think part of the problem is that as we are English we tend eat English food every day of the week at home, there is only so much spotted dick you can get down your neck. When we do go to a restaurant we crave something what we think is a little exotic hence our love affair with the good old British curry, (Indians must laugh at us). You mentioned 4 different nationalities of food and probably could name many more, if you go to Paris you tend to have to eat French. If you come to London you can eat French but also virtually every other type of food on the planet. Far better in my opinion but I'm sure the French will tell you its better in Paris. I work with people from all around the world and after speaking to them about English food,(a conversation that happens regularly), they leave me in no doubt what they think of our traditional dishes. That might be why there is very little in way of English restaurants on our high streets, even us indigenous people don't really like it.
Our breakfasts are the best - and a proper British roast dinner is fantastic, as is fish and chips in my opinion. And you are correct, we have much more variety here. But we are also, I think, as a nation less fussy if that makes sense.
I was in France before Christmas and they were selling After Eights. The stand showed Big Ben and the Britishness of After-Eights was celebrated (even if Nestle now own them but that relates to another point). Anyway, they were selling Orange and Lemon After Eights. It felt odd that you can't seem to buy these in England! It is the same with custard - or English cream as the French and Italians call it. We just do custard, they do CUSTARD! We are getting more adventurous, but I would love to see that increase.
I am going to be controversial here, but in my belief the worst culinary nation is the Irish. They just boil everything The Scottish are not too far behind them - Haggis!!!!!!
I like this myth that the Europeans do their shopping at local markets and shun the supermarkets and only buy local produce. The French had huge hypermarkets in the 1970's and so does the rest of Europe now and I don't think they are empty of people. Maybe the UK people have evolved into people who don't want spend hours trudging around a village market carry a multitude of bags buying carrots with mud on. Also it isn't fun in our nice damp climate.
.....and get charged the earth just to park at your local high street.
Parking restrictions, and local councils cosying up to supermarkets (including the god awful 'Local', smaller, ones) have impacted local shops greatly.
I still, whenever possible, eat seasonal produce and use a butcher that knows exactly where his shops meat has come from.
The fruit in supermarkets is terrible and I don't understand why people buy it. Maybe taste buds have been abused for so long that poor produce is seen as being the norm.
We produce some of the best food in the world. Just look at our ever expanding restaurant culture, so the produce is out there if people are serious about buying British.
All of that rings true in my limited Eltham based experience except for the last point. I keep hearing about our wonderful restaurants, but have problems tracking them down. At least when starting out from Eltham. It's always, this or that Indian, maybe an Italian, maybe a Thai, maybe a Greek.Where is the little place offering English recipes from locally sourced food, for maybe £15 per head? Never seen such a place mentioned on the restaurant thread. Some pubs offer the recipes, but it isn't prepared on the premises, but in a factory. Whereas you can find such a place in neighbourhood Paris or Brussels in a blink of an eye. Maybe not in Berlin, admittedly. The English restaurant scene seems to be all about wonderful sounding recipes for £50/head which actually taste all a bit meh. And I have heard that opinion from several Euro friends who come over on biz or leisure.
I think part of the problem is that as we are English we tend eat English food every day of the week at home, there is only so much spotted dick you can get down your neck. When we do go to a restaurant we crave something what we think is a little exotic hence our love affair with the good old British curry, (Indians must laugh at us). You mentioned 4 different nationalities of food and probably could name many more, if you go to Paris you tend to have to eat French. If you come to London you can eat French but also virtually every other type of food on the planet. Far better in my opinion but I'm sure the French will tell you its better in Paris. I work with people from all around the world and after speaking to them about English food,(a conversation that happens regularly), they leave me in no doubt what they think of our traditional dishes. That might be why there is very little in way of English restaurants on our high streets, even us indigenous people don't really like it.
What is French food? What is English food? One man's Boeuf Bourguignon is another man's beef stew.
It's not that English food is poor, it's that most English people stick to half a dozen recipes. But I'll bet a pound to a penny that most typical French families probably stick to half a dozen or so when cooking at home.
I could list 50+ English cheeses that are a match with any list of French or Italian cheeses - but most people eat cheddar!!
I like this myth that the Europeans do their shopping at local markets and shun the supermarkets and only buy local produce. The French had huge hypermarkets in the 1970's and so does the rest of Europe now and I don't think they are empty of people. Maybe the UK people have evolved into people who don't want spend hours trudging around a village market carry a multitude of bags buying carrots with mud on. Also it isn't fun in our nice damp climate.
.....and get charged the earth just to park at your local high street.
Parking restrictions, and local councils cosying up to supermarkets (including the god awful 'Local', smaller, ones) have impacted local shops greatly.
I still, whenever possible, eat seasonal produce and use a butcher that knows exactly where his shops meat has come from.
The fruit in supermarkets is terrible and I don't understand why people buy it. Maybe taste buds have been abused for so long that poor produce is seen as being the norm.
We produce some of the best food in the world. Just look at our ever expanding restaurant culture, so the produce is out there if people are serious about buying British.
All of that rings true in my limited Eltham based experience except for the last point. I keep hearing about our wonderful restaurants, but have problems tracking them down. At least when starting out from Eltham. It's always, this or that Indian, maybe an Italian, maybe a Thai, maybe a Greek.Where is the little place offering English recipes from locally sourced food, for maybe £15 per head? Never seen such a place mentioned on the restaurant thread. Some pubs offer the recipes, but it isn't prepared on the premises, but in a factory. Whereas you can find such a place in neighbourhood Paris or Brussels in a blink of an eye. Maybe not in Berlin, admittedly. The English restaurant scene seems to be all about wonderful sounding recipes for £50/head which actually taste all a bit meh. And I have heard that opinion from several Euro friends who come over on biz or leisure.
I think part of the problem is that as we are English we tend eat English food every day of the week at home, there is only so much spotted dick you can get down your neck. When we do go to a restaurant we crave something what we think is a little exotic hence our love affair with the good old British curry, (Indians must laugh at us). You mentioned 4 different nationalities of food and probably could name many more, if you go to Paris you tend to have to eat French. If you come to London you can eat French but also virtually every other type of food on the planet. Far better in my opinion but I'm sure the French will tell you its better in Paris. I work with people from all around the world and after speaking to them about English food,(a conversation that happens regularly), they leave me in no doubt what they think of our traditional dishes. That might be why there is very little in way of English restaurants on our high streets, even us indigenous people don't really like it.
What is French food? What is English food? One man's Boeuf Bourguignon is another man's beef stew.
It's not that English food is poor, it's that most English people stick to half a dozen recipes. But I'll bet a pound to a penny that most typical French families probably stick to half a dozen or so when cooking at home.
I could list 50+ English cheeses that are a match with any list of French or Italian cheeses - but most people eat cheddar!!
Good point - where as the French and Italian will eat a bigger variety in terms of cheeses.
I like this myth that the Europeans do their shopping at local markets and shun the supermarkets and only buy local produce. The French had huge hypermarkets in the 1970's and so does the rest of Europe now and I don't think they are empty of people. Maybe the UK people have evolved into people who don't want spend hours trudging around a village market carry a multitude of bags buying carrots with mud on. Also it isn't fun in our nice damp climate.
.....and get charged the earth just to park at your local high street.
Parking restrictions, and local councils cosying up to supermarkets (including the god awful 'Local', smaller, ones) have impacted local shops greatly.
I still, whenever possible, eat seasonal produce and use a butcher that knows exactly where his shops meat has come from.
The fruit in supermarkets is terrible and I don't understand why people buy it. Maybe taste buds have been abused for so long that poor produce is seen as being the norm.
We produce some of the best food in the world. Just look at our ever expanding restaurant culture, so the produce is out there if people are serious about buying British.
All of that rings true in my limited Eltham based experience except for the last point. I keep hearing about our wonderful restaurants, but have problems tracking them down. At least when starting out from Eltham. It's always, this or that Indian, maybe an Italian, maybe a Thai, maybe a Greek.Where is the little place offering English recipes from locally sourced food, for maybe £15 per head? Never seen such a place mentioned on the restaurant thread. Some pubs offer the recipes, but it isn't prepared on the premises, but in a factory. Whereas you can find such a place in neighbourhood Paris or Brussels in a blink of an eye. Maybe not in Berlin, admittedly. The English restaurant scene seems to be all about wonderful sounding recipes for £50/head which actually taste all a bit meh. And I have heard that opinion from several Euro friends who come over on biz or leisure.
I think part of the problem is that as we are English we tend eat English food every day of the week at home, there is only so much spotted dick you can get down your neck. When we do go to a restaurant we crave something what we think is a little exotic hence our love affair with the good old British curry, (Indians must laugh at us). You mentioned 4 different nationalities of food and probably could name many more, if you go to Paris you tend to have to eat French. If you come to London you can eat French but also virtually every other type of food on the planet. Far better in my opinion but I'm sure the French will tell you its better in Paris. I work with people from all around the world and after speaking to them about English food,(a conversation that happens regularly), they leave me in no doubt what they think of our traditional dishes. That might be why there is very little in way of English restaurants on our high streets, even us indigenous people don't really like it.
What is French food? What is English food? One man's Boeuf Bourguignon is another man's beef stew.
It's not that English food is poor, it's that most English people stick to half a dozen recipes. But I'll bet a pound to a penny that most typical French families probably stick to half a dozen or so when cooking at home.
I could list 50+ English cheeses that are a match with any list of French or Italian cheeses - but most people eat cheddar!!
I like this myth that the Europeans do their shopping at local markets and shun the supermarkets and only buy local produce. The French had huge hypermarkets in the 1970's and so does the rest of Europe now and I don't think they are empty of people. Maybe the UK people have evolved into people who don't want spend hours trudging around a village market carry a multitude of bags buying carrots with mud on. Also it isn't fun in our nice damp climate.
.....and get charged the earth just to park at your local high street.
Parking restrictions, and local councils cosying up to supermarkets (including the god awful 'Local', smaller, ones) have impacted local shops greatly.
I still, whenever possible, eat seasonal produce and use a butcher that knows exactly where his shops meat has come from.
The fruit in supermarkets is terrible and I don't understand why people buy it. Maybe taste buds have been abused for so long that poor produce is seen as being the norm.
We produce some of the best food in the world. Just look at our ever expanding restaurant culture, so the produce is out there if people are serious about buying British.
All of that rings true in my limited Eltham based experience except for the last point. I keep hearing about our wonderful restaurants, but have problems tracking them down. At least when starting out from Eltham. It's always, this or that Indian, maybe an Italian, maybe a Thai, maybe a Greek.Where is the little place offering English recipes from locally sourced food, for maybe £15 per head? Never seen such a place mentioned on the restaurant thread. Some pubs offer the recipes, but it isn't prepared on the premises, but in a factory. Whereas you can find such a place in neighbourhood Paris or Brussels in a blink of an eye. Maybe not in Berlin, admittedly. The English restaurant scene seems to be all about wonderful sounding recipes for £50/head which actually taste all a bit meh. And I have heard that opinion from several Euro friends who come over on biz or leisure.
I think part of the problem is that as we are English we tend eat English food every day of the week at home, there is only so much spotted dick you can get down your neck. When we do go to a restaurant we crave something what we think is a little exotic hence our love affair with the good old British curry, (Indians must laugh at us). You mentioned 4 different nationalities of food and probably could name many more, if you go to Paris you tend to have to eat French. If you come to London you can eat French but also virtually every other type of food on the planet. Far better in my opinion but I'm sure the French will tell you its better in Paris. I work with people from all around the world and after speaking to them about English food,(a conversation that happens regularly), they leave me in no doubt what they think of our traditional dishes. That might be why there is very little in way of English restaurants on our high streets, even us indigenous people don't really like it.
What is French food? What is English food? One man's Boeuf Bourguignon is another man's beef stew.
It's not that English food is poor, it's that most English people stick to half a dozen recipes. But I'll bet a pound to a penny that most typical French families probably stick to half a dozen or so when cooking at home.
I could list 50+ English cheeses that are a match with any list of French or Italian cheeses - but most people eat cheddar!!
Name that list ;0)
Blue Cheeses
Bath Blue Barkham Blue – Beenleigh Blue Birdwood Blue Heaven Blacksticks Blue Blissful Blue Buffalo Blue Monday – Blue Murder Brighton Blue Buxton Blue Cheshire Blue Cornish Blue Devon Blue Dorset Blue Vinney Dovedale Dunsyre Blue Exmoor Blue Harbourne Blue Isle of Wight Blue Kentish Blue Lanark Blue Lymeswold Oxford Blue Perl Las Ribblesdale Blue Goat Radden Blue Shropshire Blue Stichelton Stilton Strathdon Blue Blue Wensleydale
Hard Cheeses
Ashdown Foresters Caerphilly Cheddar Cheshire Duddleswell Dunlop cheese Hereford Hop Lancashire Beacon Fell Traditional Lancashire Cheese Bowland Lincolnshire Poacher Red Dragon Red Leicester Rothbury Red Staffordshire Swaledale Teviotdale Y Fenni
I like this myth that the Europeans do their shopping at local markets and shun the supermarkets and only buy local produce. The French had huge hypermarkets in the 1970's and so does the rest of Europe now and I don't think they are empty of people. Maybe the UK people have evolved into people who don't want spend hours trudging around a village market carry a multitude of bags buying carrots with mud on. Also it isn't fun in our nice damp climate.
.....and get charged the earth just to park at your local high street.
Parking restrictions, and local councils cosying up to supermarkets (including the god awful 'Local', smaller, ones) have impacted local shops greatly.
I still, whenever possible, eat seasonal produce and use a butcher that knows exactly where his shops meat has come from.
The fruit in supermarkets is terrible and I don't understand why people buy it. Maybe taste buds have been abused for so long that poor produce is seen as being the norm.
We produce some of the best food in the world. Just look at our ever expanding restaurant culture, so the produce is out there if people are serious about buying British.
All of that rings true in my limited Eltham based experience except for the last point. I keep hearing about our wonderful restaurants, but have problems tracking them down. At least when starting out from Eltham. It's always, this or that Indian, maybe an Italian, maybe a Thai, maybe a Greek.Where is the little place offering English recipes from locally sourced food, for maybe £15 per head? Never seen such a place mentioned on the restaurant thread. Some pubs offer the recipes, but it isn't prepared on the premises, but in a factory. Whereas you can find such a place in neighbourhood Paris or Brussels in a blink of an eye. Maybe not in Berlin, admittedly. The English restaurant scene seems to be all about wonderful sounding recipes for £50/head which actually taste all a bit meh. And I have heard that opinion from several Euro friends who come over on biz or leisure.
I think part of the problem is that as we are English we tend eat English food every day of the week at home, there is only so much spotted dick you can get down your neck. When we do go to a restaurant we crave something what we think is a little exotic hence our love affair with the good old British curry, (Indians must laugh at us). You mentioned 4 different nationalities of food and probably could name many more, if you go to Paris you tend to have to eat French. If you come to London you can eat French but also virtually every other type of food on the planet. Far better in my opinion but I'm sure the French will tell you its better in Paris. I work with people from all around the world and after speaking to them about English food,(a conversation that happens regularly), they leave me in no doubt what they think of our traditional dishes. That might be why there is very little in way of English restaurants on our high streets, even us indigenous people don't really like it.
What is French food? What is English food? One man's Boeuf Bourguignon is another man's beef stew.
It's not that English food is poor, it's that most English people stick to half a dozen recipes. But I'll bet a pound to a penny that most typical French families probably stick to half a dozen or so when cooking at home.
I could list 50+ English cheeses that are a match with any list of French or Italian cheeses - but most people eat cheddar!!
Name that list ;0)
Blue Cheeses
Bath Blue Barkham Blue – Beenleigh Blue Birdwood Blue Heaven Blacksticks Blue Blissful Blue Buffalo Blue Monday – Blue Murder Brighton Blue Buxton Blue Cheshire Blue Cornish Blue Devon Blue Dorset Blue Vinney Dovedale Dunsyre Blue Exmoor Blue Harbourne Blue Isle of Wight Blue Kentish Blue Lanark Blue Lymeswold Oxford Blue Perl Las Ribblesdale Blue Goat Radden Blue Shropshire Blue Stichelton Stilton Strathdon Blue Blue Wensleydale
Hard Cheeses
Ashdown Foresters Caerphilly Cheddar Cheshire Duddleswell Dunlop cheese Hereford Hop Lancashire Beacon Fell Traditional Lancashire Cheese Bowland Lincolnshire Poacher Red Dragon Red Leicester Rothbury Red Staffordshire Swaledale Teviotdale Y Fenni
OK - I admit I needed a bit of help from google!!
Mind you, a lot of the excellent cheeses now available are varieties of existing styles (many French).
Have they moved all the Doc Martens production back to the UK then? Cos they were definitely made abroad a while ago.
2% of their production is in the UK (Made in England brand) - the other 98% are made in Thailand.
This for me is the biggest problem with any notion of buying British. Businesses move their operations freely around the world chasing the cheapest land, labour and tax. National assets are sold off to foreign investors so that huge chunks (perhaps even the bulk) of our national infrastructure has overseas ownership - often through complex ownership chains so that it is difficult to see who really owns what. Whilst the big boys in industry and finance move their assets around spending and investing where it suits them, ordinary people are encouraged to compartmentalise their spending, favouritising those who live in close proximity to them. We live in an increasingly interconnected world where those with lots of money and power are free to do what they like where they like and yet there's tacit pressure on me to purchase goods made in Birmingham over those made in Bangladesh. Please forgive me but I'm going to spend my meagre income ensuring that I get the best value for money for me and my family, not out of preference to a business based on the fact that it's only a couple of hundred and not a couple of thousand miles away. I may factor ethical considerations into my purchases, but I'm afraid that buying for nationalistic reasons comes a long way down behind environmental, animal welfare and human rights concerns.
Agree with this, it's complicated.
The theory of competitive advantage determines how to optimise creation of individual wealth by specialisation, leaving market forces to control supply and demand. It means we get potatoes from Egypt and clothes made in China and more money in our pocket to pay to go to football.
It also means we get cheap soya products and other cash crops from the third world who by giving up their land to cash crops can't grow enough to feed themselves as they once could.
It means we don't have to pay high wages for doing dirty unskilled jobs, we can use poor immigrants. We do it because it leads to more money to spend on luxuries and more leisure time to enjoy them. But it ignores the human/ecological impact and makes no concession as to when government/corporates should intervene to modify the undesirable impact of free market activity on some parts of society.
That is the debate around the inequality gap problem which is just starting to gain traction, how do you modify the free market without discarding the core benefits. If we start to modify the market and give up the benefits of comparative advantages by defining exploitation and banning it, like we did slavery, we would have to forsake or pay more for certain goods or services being produced less efficiently in order to preserve standards of living, rather than increase them at the expense of the less well off and the third world.
Part of the problem is the blind pursuance of comparative advantage at the expense of all other considerations. If anyone hopes the answer to solving poverty in the third world is governments collecting more taxes from global corporate hiding in tax havens, they will be hoping for a long time yet. Any money raised will pay off government debt, not used to meaningfully redistribute wealth. Taxes do not create wealth unless invested, in which case government is simply investing the same money that would have been invested by the private sector. The answer is nations having more control over the wealth they create and how it is applied, rather than driven by the economics dictated by multi nationals.
The inequality gap and those who are benefitting, including you and me, are a symptom of the problem. Will we vote to pay workers more for doing dirty unskilled jobs and pay more for the resulting goods and services? Will governments vote to outlaw commercial exploitation in the third world at the expense of profits that generate taxes for those governments and cheap consumer goods and food for their citizens?
Don't have any solutions I'm afraid, but, it's unlikely to be buying British, and can't see that the multi nationals and the governments they sponsor, will be the turkeys who vote for Xmas, so the alternative to reliance on comparative advantage dictated by the multi nationals would need to be greater local accountability of commerce, bespoke to each nation's particularly needs and challenges. I think the need for some locally driven alternative, while not being articulated, is felt sub consciously and is driving an almost irrational clamour for political change around the globe that has resonances of nationalism.
I like this myth that the Europeans do their shopping at local markets and shun the supermarkets and only buy local produce. The French had huge hypermarkets in the 1970's and so does the rest of Europe now and I don't think they are empty of people. Maybe the UK people have evolved into people who don't want spend hours trudging around a village market carry a multitude of bags buying carrots with mud on. Also it isn't fun in our nice damp climate.
.....and get charged the earth just to park at your local high street.
Parking restrictions, and local councils cosying up to supermarkets (including the god awful 'Local', smaller, ones) have impacted local shops greatly.
I still, whenever possible, eat seasonal produce and use a butcher that knows exactly where his shops meat has come from.
The fruit in supermarkets is terrible and I don't understand why people buy it. Maybe taste buds have been abused for so long that poor produce is seen as being the norm.
We produce some of the best food in the world. Just look at our ever expanding restaurant culture, so the produce is out there if people are serious about buying British.
All of that rings true in my limited Eltham based experience except for the last point. I keep hearing about our wonderful restaurants, but have problems tracking them down. At least when starting out from Eltham. It's always, this or that Indian, maybe an Italian, maybe a Thai, maybe a Greek.Where is the little place offering English recipes from locally sourced food, for maybe £15 per head? Never seen such a place mentioned on the restaurant thread. Some pubs offer the recipes, but it isn't prepared on the premises, but in a factory. Whereas you can find such a place in neighbourhood Paris or Brussels in a blink of an eye. Maybe not in Berlin, admittedly. The English restaurant scene seems to be all about wonderful sounding recipes for £50/head which actually taste all a bit meh. And I have heard that opinion from several Euro friends who come over on biz or leisure.
I think part of the problem is that as we are English we tend eat English food every day of the week at home, there is only so much spotted dick you can get down your neck. When we do go to a restaurant we crave something what we think is a little exotic hence our love affair with the good old British curry, (Indians must laugh at us). You mentioned 4 different nationalities of food and probably could name many more, if you go to Paris you tend to have to eat French. If you come to London you can eat French but also virtually every other type of food on the planet. Far better in my opinion but I'm sure the French will tell you its better in Paris. I work with people from all around the world and after speaking to them about English food,(a conversation that happens regularly), they leave me in no doubt what they think of our traditional dishes. That might be why there is very little in way of English restaurants on our high streets, even us indigenous people don't really like it.
Our breakfasts are the best - and a proper British roast dinner is fantastic, as is fish and chips in my opinion. And you are correct, we have much more variety here. But we are also, I think, as a nation less fussy if that makes sense.
I was in France before Christmas and they were selling After Eights. The stand showed Big Ben and the Britishness of After-Eights was celebrated (even if Nestle now own them but that relates to another point). Anyway, they were selling Orange and Lemon After Eights. It felt odd that you can't seem to buy these in England! It is the same with custard - or English cream as the French and Italians call it. We just do custard, they do CUSTARD! We are getting more adventurous, but I would love to see that increase.
I am going to be controversial here, but in my belief the worst culinary nation is the Irish. They just boil everything The Scottish are not too far behind them - Haggis!!!!!!
I don't know if that smiley thing will help you...
Controversial my arse, that's fighting talk, that is (so those that frequent the Makro car park tell me)!!!!!!!!
To say nothing of being wrong.
There's at least three things that we fry...
I'm afraid to say, I disagree about the breakfast thing, you haven't lived (admittedly with severe coronary disease) unless you've had an Ulster Fry. Though it is probable that every culture that rears pigs will suggest that their breakfast is the best.
However, we are all rapidly approaching a homogenised culinary existence, where cultural appropriation ensures that every nation will claim every popular dish as its own. Fish and chips being a prime example (the Belgians claim chips, along with Roland Duchatelet, as their gift to the World: while frying fish is, I believe, a distinctly Iberian/Mediterranean thing - it is said to have been a Jewish practice, and I'd hazard a guess therefore that it may even have originated in the Middle East).
I live in a town once dubbed the crisp capital of Ireland (a proud boast for a native Irish delicacy - well, we are apparently responsible for the flavoured crisp) by a food writer in the Irish Times bemoaning the poor standard of restaurants available here, and even I admit they're still mostly shite to average. However, there are plenty of excellent places to eat and food producers across the whole of Ireland, and not just in areas beloved by tourists.
I like this myth that the Europeans do their shopping at local markets and shun the supermarkets and only buy local produce. The French had huge hypermarkets in the 1970's and so does the rest of Europe now and I don't think they are empty of people. Maybe the UK people have evolved into people who don't want spend hours trudging around a village market carry a multitude of bags buying carrots with mud on. Also it isn't fun in our nice damp climate.
.....and get charged the earth just to park at your local high street.
Parking restrictions, and local councils cosying up to supermarkets (including the god awful 'Local', smaller, ones) have impacted local shops greatly.
I still, whenever possible, eat seasonal produce and use a butcher that knows exactly where his shops meat has come from.
The fruit in supermarkets is terrible and I don't understand why people buy it. Maybe taste buds have been abused for so long that poor produce is seen as being the norm.
We produce some of the best food in the world. Just look at our ever expanding restaurant culture, so the produce is out there if people are serious about buying British.
I'm not convinced you are a Millwall fan at heart...
I like this myth that the Europeans do their shopping at local markets and shun the supermarkets and only buy local produce. The French had huge hypermarkets in the 1970's and so does the rest of Europe now and I don't think they are empty of people. Maybe the UK people have evolved into people who don't want spend hours trudging around a village market carry a multitude of bags buying carrots with mud on. Also it isn't fun in our nice damp climate.
.....and get charged the earth just to park at your local high street.
Parking restrictions, and local councils cosying up to supermarkets (including the god awful 'Local', smaller, ones) have impacted local shops greatly.
I still, whenever possible, eat seasonal produce and use a butcher that knows exactly where his shops meat has come from.
The fruit in supermarkets is terrible and I don't understand why people buy it. Maybe taste buds have been abused for so long that poor produce is seen as being the norm.
We produce some of the best food in the world. Just look at our ever expanding restaurant culture, so the produce is out there if people are serious about buying British.
I'm not convinced you are a Millwall fan at heart...
I'm actually the editor in chief of Breitbart and master circulator of misinformation about the quality of the British food and restaurant industry. Particularly in Eltham which has only the Yak and Yeti to shout (well, whisper loudly) about
I like this myth that the Europeans do their shopping at local markets and shun the supermarkets and only buy local produce. The French had huge hypermarkets in the 1970's and so does the rest of Europe now and I don't think they are empty of people. Maybe the UK people have evolved into people who don't want spend hours trudging around a village market carry a multitude of bags buying carrots with mud on. Also it isn't fun in our nice damp climate.
.....and get charged the earth just to park at your local high street.
Parking restrictions, and local councils cosying up to supermarkets (including the god awful 'Local', smaller, ones) have impacted local shops greatly.
I still, whenever possible, eat seasonal produce and use a butcher that knows exactly where his shops meat has come from.
The fruit in supermarkets is terrible and I don't understand why people buy it. Maybe taste buds have been abused for so long that poor produce is seen as being the norm.
We produce some of the best food in the world. Just look at our ever expanding restaurant culture, so the produce is out there if people are serious about buying British.
All of that rings true in my limited Eltham based experience except for the last point. I keep hearing about our wonderful restaurants, but have problems tracking them down. At least when starting out from Eltham. It's always, this or that Indian, maybe an Italian, maybe a Thai, maybe a Greek.Where is the little place offering English recipes from locally sourced food, for maybe £15 per head? Never seen such a place mentioned on the restaurant thread. Some pubs offer the recipes, but it isn't prepared on the premises, but in a factory. Whereas you can find such a place in neighbourhood Paris or Brussels in a blink of an eye. Maybe not in Berlin, admittedly. The English restaurant scene seems to be all about wonderful sounding recipes for £50/head which actually taste all a bit meh. And I have heard that opinion from several Euro friends who come over on biz or leisure.
There's a world out there beyond Eltham.
Get yourself in to Central London. Some of the finest restaurants in the world.
It doesn't have to be all Harvesters, Beafeaters and Toby Carvery's.
I am sure there are, but there always have been. And in my previous life I enjoyed a lot of them, sometimes at my own expense. However, today. The restaurants you are thinking of. What price per head, two courses, bottle of wine and coffee? It's going to be high isn't it, because nowadays Central London is full of people so well off that they simply don't look at the bill. Don't know about you, but that ain't me. And certainly not my family. Thats why by default we usually end up at the Yak and Yeti. My Mum is nearly 90, and none of them want to travel too far just for dinner.
The type of place I miss is like this place in Liege which the Standard Socios took me to. Traditional service, traditional Belgian recipes, top end prices for Liege, Belgium's equivalent to Middlesbrough, but about what we'd pay in the Yak, or the Tudor Barn. Absolutely heaving on a Sunday night and everything delicious. And most of it locally sourced, according to my hosts. They eat a level higher there, no matter how well off or not they are as individuals, because it is important to them. So here's a question.In the near future, Jacques from Standard wants to come and visit us at the Valley. Where the hell will we take him that is the equivalent of this place without paying double the price?
I like this myth that the Europeans do their shopping at local markets and shun the supermarkets and only buy local produce. The French had huge hypermarkets in the 1970's and so does the rest of Europe now and I don't think they are empty of people. Maybe the UK people have evolved into people who don't want spend hours trudging around a village market carry a multitude of bags buying carrots with mud on. Also it isn't fun in our nice damp climate.
.....and get charged the earth just to park at your local high street.
Parking restrictions, and local councils cosying up to supermarkets (including the god awful 'Local', smaller, ones) have impacted local shops greatly.
I still, whenever possible, eat seasonal produce and use a butcher that knows exactly where his shops meat has come from.
The fruit in supermarkets is terrible and I don't understand why people buy it. Maybe taste buds have been abused for so long that poor produce is seen as being the norm.
We produce some of the best food in the world. Just look at our ever expanding restaurant culture, so the produce is out there if people are serious about buying British.
All of that rings true in my limited Eltham based experience except for the last point. I keep hearing about our wonderful restaurants, but have problems tracking them down. At least when starting out from Eltham. It's always, this or that Indian, maybe an Italian, maybe a Thai, maybe a Greek.Where is the little place offering English recipes from locally sourced food, for maybe £15 per head? Never seen such a place mentioned on the restaurant thread. Some pubs offer the recipes, but it isn't prepared on the premises, but in a factory. Whereas you can find such a place in neighbourhood Paris or Brussels in a blink of an eye. Maybe not in Berlin, admittedly. The English restaurant scene seems to be all about wonderful sounding recipes for £50/head which actually taste all a bit meh. And I have heard that opinion from several Euro friends who come over on biz or leisure.
There's a world out there beyond Eltham.
Get yourself in to Central London. Some of the finest restaurants in the world.
It doesn't have to be all Harvesters, Beafeaters and Toby Carvery's.
I am sure there are, but there always have been. And in my previous life I enjoyed a lot of them, sometimes at my own expense. However, today. The restaurants you are thinking of. What price per head, two courses, bottle of wine and coffee? It's going to be high isn't it, because nowadays Central London is full of people so well off that they simply don't look at the bill. Don't know about you, but that ain't me. And certainly not my family. Thats why by default we usually end up at the Yak and Yeti. My Mum is nearly 90, and none of them want to travel too far just for dinner.
The type of place I miss is like this place in Liege which the Standard Socios took me to. Traditional service, traditional Belgian recipes, top end prices for Liege, Belgium's equivalent to Middlesbrough, but about what we'd pay in the Yak, or the Tudor Barn. Absolutely heaving on a Sunday night and everything delicious. And most of it locally sourced, according to my hosts. They eat a level higher there, no matter how well off or not they are as individuals, because it is important to them. So here's a question.In the near future, Jacques from Standard wants to come and visit us at the Valley. Where the hell will we take him that is the equivalent of this place without paying double the price?
I like this myth that the Europeans do their shopping at local markets and shun the supermarkets and only buy local produce. The French had huge hypermarkets in the 1970's and so does the rest of Europe now and I don't think they are empty of people. Maybe the UK people have evolved into people who don't want spend hours trudging around a village market carry a multitude of bags buying carrots with mud on. Also it isn't fun in our nice damp climate.
.....and get charged the earth just to park at your local high street.
Parking restrictions, and local councils cosying up to supermarkets (including the god awful 'Local', smaller, ones) have impacted local shops greatly.
I still, whenever possible, eat seasonal produce and use a butcher that knows exactly where his shops meat has come from.
The fruit in supermarkets is terrible and I don't understand why people buy it. Maybe taste buds have been abused for so long that poor produce is seen as being the norm.
We produce some of the best food in the world. Just look at our ever expanding restaurant culture, so the produce is out there if people are serious about buying British.
All of that rings true in my limited Eltham based experience except for the last point. I keep hearing about our wonderful restaurants, but have problems tracking them down. At least when starting out from Eltham. It's always, this or that Indian, maybe an Italian, maybe a Thai, maybe a Greek.Where is the little place offering English recipes from locally sourced food, for maybe £15 per head? Never seen such a place mentioned on the restaurant thread. Some pubs offer the recipes, but it isn't prepared on the premises, but in a factory. Whereas you can find such a place in neighbourhood Paris or Brussels in a blink of an eye. Maybe not in Berlin, admittedly. The English restaurant scene seems to be all about wonderful sounding recipes for £50/head which actually taste all a bit meh. And I have heard that opinion from several Euro friends who come over on biz or leisure.
There's a world out there beyond Eltham.
Get yourself in to Central London. Some of the finest restaurants in the world.
It doesn't have to be all Harvesters, Beafeaters and Toby Carvery's.
I am sure there are, but there always have been. And in my previous life I enjoyed a lot of them, sometimes at my own expense. However, today. The restaurants you are thinking of. What price per head, two courses, bottle of wine and coffee? It's going to be high isn't it, because nowadays Central London is full of people so well off that they simply don't look at the bill. Don't know about you, but that ain't me. And certainly not my family. Thats why by default we usually end up at the Yak and Yeti. My Mum is nearly 90, and none of them want to travel too far just for dinner.
The type of place I miss is like this place in Liege which the Standard Socios took me to. Traditional service, traditional Belgian recipes, top end prices for Liege, Belgium's equivalent to Middlesbrough, but about what we'd pay in the Yak, or the Tudor Barn. Absolutely heaving on a Sunday night and everything delicious. And most of it locally sourced, according to my hosts. They eat a level higher there, no matter how well off or not they are as individuals, because it is important to them. So here's a question.In the near future, Jacques from Standard wants to come and visit us at the Valley. Where the hell will we take him that is the equivalent of this place without paying double the price?
I've heard that Azzurro is meant to be pretty good, for Eltham anyway.
When I watched us play pre-season in StTruiden I bought a sausage (hot dog type thing) and chips outside the ground. The chips were excellent - much better than the ones we tend to get ihere and the sausage was nice but they served it without a bread roll which I found very disapointing. In Italy I watched Cesena v Torino and the Piadina and Parma ham was fantastic. My son has been to Germany recently and said the Bratwurst in the Dortmund ground was brilliant. I'd love to see British football food catch up a bit. I can tell you that fans in any of those countries would complain if they got served what we get served, but we are just happy to pay through the nose for it. Well, pre boycott I was anyway. My biggest hate is the dried onions some kiosks pour boiling water over! I would still eat them though - and not complain!!!!
@PragueAddick, have you been to Locale in Blackheath?
No, mate, I haven't, what kind of cuisine is it?
( I think it came up in the restaurant thread, though. We better be careful not to reprise that)
It's down as an Italian but, as with most world foods that are introduced over here, menus tend to morph into Anglo-whatever as that's what we're good at.
They also do a not unreasonably priced carvery on a Sunday as well.
@PragueAddick, have you been to Locale in Blackheath?
No, mate, I haven't, what kind of cuisine is it?
( I think it came up in the restaurant thread, though. We better be careful not to reprise that)
It's down as an Italian but, as with most world foods that are introduced over here, menus tend to morph into Anglo-whatever as that's what we're good at.
They also do a not unreasonably priced carvery on a Sunday as well.
It's not bad there although they have unfortunately stopped doing the sushi/sashimi dishes they used to do.
@PragueAddick, have you been to Locale in Blackheath?
No, mate, I haven't, what kind of cuisine is it?
( I think it came up in the restaurant thread, though. We better be careful not to reprise that)
It's down as an Italian but, as with most world foods that are introduced over here, menus tend to morph into Anglo-whatever as that's what we're good at.
They also do a not unreasonably priced carvery on a Sunday as well.
It's not bad there although they have unfortunately stopped doing the sushi/sashimi dishes they used to do.
Agreed. The pork belly or lobster is the way to go now.
Comments
Most fishfingers, fish fillets and the like aren't made up of cod due to the price and sustainability of it. It's all Pollock, Whiting, Coley, Pangasius and the like.
I'm sure a lot of people that claim they'll only eat cod are, in fact, eating many varieties of white fish due to not reading the labels of the processed rubbish that they do eat.
English sparkling wine only works if you are ready to believe that it tastes as good as a non-vintage champagne from one of the big houses such as Moet. That sounds like a tough sell (laughable, to some) but after serving English bubbly up at Christmas the last 3 years I started to become convinced. The argument is that the soil structure and climate in Kent and Sussex is very similar to Champagne. You will not get a special offer of English bubbly for £15 in Tesco because none of the vineyards produce big enough volume, and for the same reason, they don't export yet. But Hugo Johnson seems convinced, if those types convince you.
Anyway I got a case from that enterprising young lady, and am going to hold a small party with a blind taste against some NV champagne.
Get yourself in to Central London. Some of the finest restaurants in the world.
It doesn't have to be all Harvesters, Beafeaters and Toby Carvery's.
You mentioned 4 different nationalities of food and probably could name many more, if you go to Paris you tend to have to eat French. If you come to London you can eat French but also virtually every other type of food on the planet. Far better in my opinion but I'm sure the French will tell you its better in Paris.
I work with people from all around the world and after speaking to them about English food,(a conversation that happens regularly), they leave me in no doubt what they think of our traditional dishes. That might be why there is very little in way of English restaurants on our high streets, even us indigenous people don't really like it.
I was in France before Christmas and they were selling After Eights. The stand showed Big Ben and the Britishness of After-Eights was celebrated (even if Nestle now own them but that relates to another point). Anyway, they were selling Orange and Lemon After Eights. It felt odd that you can't seem to buy these in England! It is the same with custard - or English cream as the French and Italians call it. We just do custard, they do CUSTARD! We are getting more adventurous, but I would love to see that increase.
I am going to be controversial here, but in my belief the worst culinary nation is the Irish. They just boil everything
It's not that English food is poor, it's that most English people stick to half a dozen recipes. But I'll bet a pound to a penny that most typical French families probably stick to half a dozen or so when cooking at home.
I could list 50+ English cheeses that are a match with any list of French or Italian cheeses - but most people eat cheddar!!
Blue Cheeses
Bath Blue
Barkham Blue –
Beenleigh Blue
Birdwood Blue Heaven
Blacksticks Blue
Blissful Blue Buffalo
Blue Monday –
Blue Murder
Brighton Blue
Buxton Blue
Cheshire Blue
Cornish Blue
Devon Blue
Dorset Blue Vinney
Dovedale
Dunsyre Blue
Exmoor Blue
Harbourne Blue
Isle of Wight Blue
Kentish Blue
Lanark Blue
Lymeswold
Oxford Blue
Perl Las
Ribblesdale Blue Goat
Radden Blue
Shropshire Blue
Stichelton
Stilton
Strathdon Blue
Blue Wensleydale
Hard Cheeses
Ashdown Foresters
Caerphilly
Cheddar
Cheshire
Duddleswell
Dunlop cheese
Hereford Hop
Lancashire
Beacon Fell Traditional Lancashire Cheese
Bowland
Lincolnshire Poacher
Red Dragon
Red Leicester
Rothbury Red
Staffordshire
Swaledale
Teviotdale
Y Fenni
OK - I admit I needed a bit of help from google!!
The theory of competitive advantage determines how to optimise creation of individual wealth by specialisation, leaving market forces to control supply and demand. It means we get potatoes from Egypt and clothes made in China and more money in our pocket to pay to go to football.
It also means we get cheap soya products and other cash crops from the third world who by giving up their land to cash crops can't grow enough to feed themselves as they once could.
It means we don't have to pay high wages for doing dirty unskilled jobs, we can use poor immigrants. We do it because it leads to more money to spend on luxuries and more leisure time to enjoy them. But it ignores the human/ecological impact and makes no concession as to when government/corporates should intervene to modify the undesirable impact of free market activity on some parts of society.
That is the debate around the inequality gap problem which is just starting to gain traction, how do you modify the free market without discarding the core benefits. If we start to modify the market and give up the benefits of comparative advantages by defining exploitation and banning it, like we did slavery, we would have to forsake or pay more for certain goods or services being produced less efficiently in order to preserve standards of living, rather than increase them at the expense of the less well off and the third world.
Part of the problem is the blind pursuance of comparative advantage at the expense of all other considerations. If anyone hopes the answer to solving poverty in the third world is governments collecting more taxes from global corporate hiding in tax havens, they will be hoping for a long time yet. Any money raised will pay off government debt, not used to meaningfully redistribute wealth. Taxes do not create wealth unless invested, in which case government is simply investing the same money that would have been invested by the private sector. The answer is nations having more control over the wealth they create and how it is applied, rather than driven by the economics dictated by multi nationals.
The inequality gap and those who are benefitting, including you and me, are a symptom of the problem. Will we vote to pay workers more for doing dirty unskilled jobs and pay more for the resulting goods and services? Will governments vote to outlaw commercial exploitation in the third world at the expense of profits that generate taxes for those governments and cheap consumer goods and food for their citizens?
Don't have any solutions I'm afraid, but, it's unlikely to be buying British, and can't see that the multi nationals and the governments they sponsor, will be the turkeys who vote for Xmas, so the alternative to reliance on comparative advantage dictated by the multi nationals would need to be greater local accountability of commerce, bespoke to each nation's particularly needs and challenges. I think the need for some locally driven alternative, while not being articulated, is felt sub consciously and is driving an almost irrational clamour for political change around the globe that has resonances of nationalism.
Controversial my arse, that's fighting talk, that is (so those that frequent the Makro car park tell me)!!!!!!!!
To say nothing of being wrong.
There's at least three things that we fry...
I'm afraid to say, I disagree about the breakfast thing, you haven't lived (admittedly with severe coronary disease) unless you've had an Ulster Fry. Though it is probable that every culture that rears pigs will suggest that their breakfast is the best.
However, we are all rapidly approaching a homogenised culinary existence, where cultural appropriation ensures that every nation will claim every popular dish as its own. Fish and chips being a prime example (the Belgians claim chips, along with Roland Duchatelet, as their gift to the World: while frying fish is, I believe, a distinctly Iberian/Mediterranean thing - it is said to have been a Jewish practice, and I'd hazard a guess therefore that it may even have originated in the Middle East).
I live in a town once dubbed the crisp capital of Ireland (a proud boast for a native Irish delicacy - well, we are apparently responsible for the flavoured crisp) by a food writer in the Irish Times bemoaning the poor standard of restaurants available here, and even I admit they're still mostly shite to average. However, there are plenty of excellent places to eat and food producers across the whole of Ireland, and not just in areas beloved by tourists.
The type of place I miss is like this place in Liege which the Standard Socios took me to. Traditional service, traditional Belgian recipes, top end prices for Liege, Belgium's equivalent to Middlesbrough, but about what we'd pay in the Yak, or the Tudor Barn. Absolutely heaving on a Sunday night and everything delicious. And most of it locally sourced, according to my hosts. They eat a level higher there, no matter how well off or not they are as individuals, because it is important to them. So here's a question.In the near future, Jacques from Standard wants to come and visit us at the Valley. Where the hell will we take him that is the equivalent of this place without paying double the price?
( I think it came up in the restaurant thread, though. We better be careful not to reprise that)
They also do a not unreasonably priced carvery on a Sunday as well.