MAIN INGREDIENTS
Bath bun is a traditional sweet bread roll originating from Bath. The buns are circular, with nib sugar and caraway seeds on top of their highly glazed exterior. The texture is dense and close, while the flavor is lightly spiced and sweetened, with lump sugar underneath.
The milk-based yeasted dough for Bath buns is usually based on plain brioche dough or rich egg and butter dough with caraway seeds. Although there are disputes about the origins of these buns, the ones made from a recipe dating back to 1679 are still available in the town of Bath.
MOST ICONIC Bath bun
Most Brits would agree that there is nothing more British than fish and chips. This comforting, widely loved national dish consists of a freshly fried, hot, white fish fillet and large, sliced and fried potatoes. Cod, haddock, and flounder are the most common types of fish that is fried for the dish, and the customers can choose which type of fish they want, with cod being the most popular choice.
The fillets get dipped in a batter made from eggs, milk, and flour, and are then fried in oil, lard, or beef drippings along with the potatoes. The origins of this dish go back to the 17th century, when potatoes were fried as a substitute for fish in the winter months, while fried fish was introduced into the country by Jewish refugees.
MOST ICONIC Fish and chips
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Christmas pudding is a staple dessert at every British Christmas dinner ever since its introduction by Prince Albert. Early versions contained meat such as beef or mutton, along with wine, onions, dried fruits, and warming spices. Today, Christmas pudding does not contain meat, but fruits, eggs, suet, molasses, and spices instead of it, and every family has their own recipe for this steamed treat.
MOST ICONIC Christmas pudding
Steamed pudding is a variety of English pudding with a long tradition in the British cuisine, basically consisting of a combination of ingredients that are steamed inside either a special pudding basin or another similar vessel suitable for steaming.
This quintessential treat comes in both savory and sweet versions, and it is further divided into two categories, namely suet puddings, and sponge puddings. Christmas puddings belong to the first category, which uses suet as its main ingredient, whereas the latter calls for a mixture of eggs, flour, and butter.
VARIATIONS OF Steamed pudding
MOST ICONIC Steamed pudding
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Victoria sponge is an English layer cake filled with fruit jam (and sometimes, whipped cream). It was invented by Queen Victoria's cooks in the 19th century, when it was one of the main stars at the Queen's tea parties, along with sandwiches and scones.
The jam used in Victoria sponge is usually raspberry or strawberry jam, although modern variations are sometimes filled with apricot and greengage jam. Whipped cream is a 20th-century addition to the filling, and some purists, such as the official Women's Institute, claim that a true Victoria sponge can only have a jam filling.
MOST ICONIC Victoria sponge
Fish and chips is a traditional dish consisting of freshly fried fish fillets and sliced fried potatoes. The fish is dipped in a batter of eggs, flour, and milk, and it’s then fried in oil, lard, or beef drippings. The most common types of fish used are cod, haddock, skate, and pollock, but cod is the most popular choice, with 60% of all fish and chips meals using it as the preferred fish.
Pollock, on the other hand, is often used as an inexpensive, eco-friendly alternative to cod. The flesh is also soft and succulent, just as cod, but the texture is a bit more flaky, while the flavors are slightly sweet. Due to the fact that pollock is a robust fish, it’s easily battered and fried before it’s enjoyed with a heap of chips on the side.
MOST ICONIC Pollock fish and chips
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Banoffee pie is an English dessert made with cream, bananas, and toffee on top of a pastry shell or on top of a base made with crumbled biscuits. The name of the dish is a combination of the words banana and toffee. The sweet pie was invented in the 1970s by Nigel Mackenzie and Ian Dowding at The Hungry Monk restaurant in East Sussex.
It became extremely popular when the customers started to check regularly if the dessert was still on the menu. Today, banoffee pie is so popular throughout the world that it even has its own place in the dictionary, denoting "a tart or pie made with cream, bananas, and toffee", while the recipe for the pie can often be found on tins of Nestlé's condensed milk.