Food and Drink

It has been brought to my attention that I have been derelict in commenting on the food over here!  So here are my thoughts to date.

Pubs: This is probably the most common type of restaurant here -- maybe akin to a sports bar.  My succinct opinion is that the beer is good but the food is bad.  When it comes to beer I'm not very adventuresome; I like a lager, not a dark beer and have been happy with what I've drunk.  Orders for food and drink are taken and paid for at the bar.  The patron brings the beer back to the table and waits (and sometimes waits) for the food to be brought to the table.  Offerings at the pubs are the usual fish and chips (french fries), hamburger and chips, various wraps and sandwiches, bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potatoes), beef pies, and maybe a chicken curry dish like chicken tikka masala.  Fish and chips tastes the same here as it does in the States.  Hamburgers are to be avoided.  The beef is dry and gristly.  Sausage is good but Germany's is better.  Chicken is not a bad option and I've even had a beef stew at a pub that was good. We went to the Eagle Pub in Cambridge that is mentioned in the guide books.  It's famous because that is where Watson and Crick ate and worked on their DNA research.  It's always been crowded with tourists and since this is the place I was served "mushy peas," I'm not fond of it.

Restaurants:  There is one restaurant we have eaten at in Cambridge that I like very much.  I can't remember what I had to eat both times other than it was good and showed a bit of creativity.  Bread is served with the meal only if requested and paid for.  Neither is water offered automatically.  Portions are not large.  Desserts tend to be "sticky pudding" or ice cream.  We also ate at a (very noisy) Jamie Oliver restaurant here in Cambridge and had a good meal of lamb stuffed ravioli.

Every restaurant advertises its "Sunday Roast"--roast beef with potatoes, vegetables, and Yorkshire pudding.  One English woman told me it was like Thanksgiving every Sunday.  Having seen (but not eaten) what the meal looks like, I disagree with that comparison but it certainly is a tradition.

College Dinners: A special dinner is offered at one of the college dining rooms for every workshop at the Isaac Newton Institute.  This means we're able to actually be in a fancy--or not so fancy--dining hall at a college which is usually off limits to outsiders.  I've been to three such dinners and the last one was the best.  We started with Egg Florentine, pretty good except that the egg was a bit overcooked; then moved on to the entre of medallions of venison (tasty and not tough like the duck was at a previous dinner) which were accompanied by dauphinoise potatoes and vegetables.  Never let it be said that the British do not eat their vegetables! Every meal has at least two steamed or boiled vegetables.  I have never seen so much broccoli, cauliflower, or carrots put before me! There is no special seasoning for these vegetables let alone a novel preparation but that's just the way it is.  Perhaps it is a very healthy diet.

St. Paul's Centre:  This church centre serves meals several times a week and I've been volunteering with them on Thursdays and Fridays for a month now serving lunches and recently cooking as well.  It's very much of a social occasion for the people who come, some of whom have slight mental disabilities and some of whom are just elderly.  The menus follow a pretty rigid pattern: meat and potatoes with 2 vegetables.  And lots of gravy to cover everything.  Once (before my time) the cooks tried to branch out and serve lasagna.  One lady asked for gravy to go with her lasagna.  She was given more sauce.  She said "That's not gravy!  Gravy is brown!"  So as long as the centre serves this generation, there won't be an incentive to change.

Home Cooking:  My own cooking has been limited by the tiny variety of cookware I have plus the desire to limit how many items I will buy, use partially, and have to get rid of before we leave.  Menus that I could rely on at home -- spaghetti, chili, meatloaf -- are inedible here due to the ground beef.  Fish from the grocery store is good, if expensive, and chicken wings are cheap like they used to be at home. Ham slices are called "Gammon steaks" and come from Denmark where, the advertising says, farmers know how to take care of their pigs.  There are several parts of the British diet that I do like very much and will miss when I go back.  First is "digestives."  The name just sounds like it has to be good for a person, right??  The closest thing we have to a digestive is a graham cracker but digestives are a little heartier.  They satisfy my sweet tooth without being overly sweet.  There are some with a chocolate topping but I like the plain ones best.  The other part of the British diet that I like is the cream, be it custard or clotted (in very small doses).  At St. Paul's I've seen--and eaten--pie served with cream or warm custard poured over it.  Divine!!!  Even "single" cream is deliciously rich.  Good thing I walk about 4-5 miles everyday.