Greatness of British Cooking. This is The Onion, right?
There are literally hundreds of Michelin starred restaurants in the UK, Virginia is a wasteland in comparison, lol.
In my 76 years on earth and in America, I've never heard a piece of bread with a fried egg in a central stoma, if you will, called "toad in the hole." It's a "bullseye." But what do I know?
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Firstly, no one from Northern Ireland, Wales, England or Scotland would ever call themselves a “Brit”. And secondly, only post Second World War children who were duped by parents stretching the midweek Pound would ever call “Toad-in-the-hole” edible. Please stop this nonsense at once.
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@CRH Yeah, I wonder when "Brit" started and why. I don't remember it before the early 90's. It annoyed me then and it hasn't gotten better with age. I was married to an Englishwoman at the time and she occasionally (in a mostly joking way) referred to herself as a Briton. My guess is some Americans couldn't be bothered to say that, and dropped the "on"
@Joe Vallor
It may be that many Americans, especially southerners, don't enjoy being called "Yanks" by Brits. Every country uses nicknames, some less than complimentary, to describe those who are Other. That's the way of the world, for better or worse.
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As a Brit from England, I can assure you that you’re completely wrong.
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A slice of bread and an egg fried in the middle of it is an “egg-in-a-hole.”
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I love toad in the hole, but sorry. You need proper sausages in there.
Also, my British spouse demands that it be served with mashed potatoes, which takes the whole thing into a carb heaven.
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Your British spouse is absolutely correct. And yes to proper sausages too.
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Impossible for me to read about Toad in the Hole and not forever think of Danny the Champion of the World, eating it with his father.
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T’is indeed a loverly dish.
Also amongst my favourites are:
Bubble and Squeak - Leftover cabbage and potatoes of a roast beef dinner and often served with bacon and eggs
Spotted Dick - Suet pudding containing currents
Cullen Skink - Scottish soup made of smoked haddock, potatoes and onions.
Singing Hinnies - Current Cake
Lancashire Hotpot - A rancid smelling lamb stew
Engelsk Fisk og chips - A Norwegian version of English fish and chips
Pie and Mash with parsley liquor - The name says it all
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@J L S No sticky toffee pudding?
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@Annie
No mushy peas?
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@J L S
Lancashire cheese and onion pie...
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British cooking prior to 1939 was excellent and well spiced. It was only after two World Wars, when unable to get fresh products and the spices from the Empire that it went down the tubes.
America got it love of roast meat and gravy from our British (and German) homeland.
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I have to agree with the hilarious doubters. There's a reason we don't see many British restaurants. I didn't see many when I lived in England, either. Even my English friends went to Indian or Italian restaurants for a night out. I like toad in the hole, but no one is going to convince me that it forms part of a superior national cuisine. And FYI, bubble and squeak is basically whatever is leftover from Christmas dinner fried together.
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I laughed at the title.
I am an American of British heritage and after visiting the UK now know why they became a seafaring nation- they were in search of some decent food.
British food is not good- matters not which part of the Isles you go. Remember that the original Hard Rock Cafe (thank you Isaac Tigrett & Peter Morton) was started in London by people needing a decent bar & grill.
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What a great looking restaurant design.
Equally cool: chef realized that HK actually has decent produce.
For many years my husband sang the praises of his Scottish mother's shepherd's pie. A friend invited us to lunch one day where she surprised him with one she had gotten from an English specialty foods shop. He said he realized as he cut into it that after years of being married to an Italian he wished it were manicotti.
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@theresa you reminded me of the time my Mother, an excellent cook finally stopped my Father extolling in raptures about his Mother's cooking, especially her bread pudding by baking him one.
The six of us children thought it just dreadul, and thankfully his face upon the first bite held the same opinion, and thus exposed he sheepishly said, 'now I remember how awful it was!'
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Easy to prepare and cook and delicious.
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This has to be irony right! I can't wait for the updated modern take ....deconstructed 'Toad-in the Hole' with lashings of shaved truffle a la Wind -in the Willows style.
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Every Sunday(just as my Brit mother and grand mother did) I cook a meal with a pork, lamb or beef roast, scalloped sweet potatoes, baked or mashed potatoes, cauliflower and sometimes Yorkshire Pudding. Its a great meal if friends drop in at dinner time because it can be stretched so easily. Friends often drop by. The gravy is what they comment on the most. They would rather have extra gravy and mashed potatoes than dessert.
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I think British cuisine caught a bad rap for so long because British restaurants were simply dreadful for so long. But the British home cooking I've had, from families of all ethnicities, has always uniformly been fantastic. Dreaming of a Sunday roast with those perfectly craggy, crisp potatoes on a brisk day like today.
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"well-cooked meat, crisp pancake and velvety gravy" have turned Mr. Ottolenghi into a culinary Anglophile.
De gustibus non disputandem est, but one could not forget the English meat boiled together with vegetables, eggs fried in pork fat, ambient-temperature beer, and dilute tea.
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@Tuvw Xyz - Don't forget baked beans on fried bread!!
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@Tuvw Xyz eggs fried in pork fat are amazing. I’ve also had it several times in the south so it must have been good enough to be exported.
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@Tuvw Xyz
Don’t forget spaghetti on toast
And speaking of spaghetti, I’ve always loved the name spagbol for spaghetti bolongnese
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