British food forgettable? Think again
Gastro pubs taking flavour seriously
Former French president Jacques Chirac once commented on British food with supreme Gallic haughtiness: “One cannot trust people whose cuisine is so bad.” He may perhaps have been thinking of the stereotype of pub grub — greasy fish and chips, leathery scotch eggs and vegetables boiled into mushy submission.
When he said it in 2005, it was likely already outdated, and is even more so now.
In more than two years of living in London, I discovered that British food in general is top notch and the pub fare is often as fine as that found in so-called fine restaurants.
The French-based bible of gastronomy, the Michelin Guide, has awarded stars to no fewer than 13 pubs. One, The Hand and Flowers, received two stars.
“We’re catching up on a great British tradition of food,” chef and co-owner Tom Kerridge said.
We took the hour’s journey by train west from London to the picturesque village of Marlow to sample his work. With low ceilings and thick walls, the Hand and Flowers has all the appearance of the traditional watering hole. Until you read the menu. A scotch egg was on the list of appetizers. But it was a “smoked mackerel, parsley and garlic scotch egg with white onion soubise and charred English onion.” The texture was more velvet than leather, the taste a subtle pleasure.
My main was the pub’s top-seller: A slow-cooked duck breast with peas, duck fat chips and gravy. Yes, chips made out of duck fat. They will never make it onto any Weight Watchers plan, but they did delightfully fill my stomach.
Kerridge said the Brits’ bad food reputation emanated from the postwar years, grim times of shortages and rationing when everyone learned to get by on simple foods out of a can. The next stage was elitist, when all the best restaurants were French or Italian.
“We didn’t look at what we had at home, which was actually fantastic British produce,” said Kerridge.
In the last two decades, the British have learned to appreciate the foods sourced on their own island and pubs have tapped into the desire to eat well, but in a casual setting.
“I’m much more comfortable in a pub than a posh Mayfair restaurant,” said Kerridge.
The Hand and Flowers menu and the other Michelin pubs all celebrate British food: Pork from Wiltshire, lamb from Essex, beef from Lancashire.
The Harwood Arms is the only Michelin-starred pub in London. Its menu featured a starter of Cheltenham beetroot salad and a dessert of Yorkshire rhubarb with parkin (a traditional northern English soft cake made of oatmeal) and honey.
I visited with two friends who also happen to be food professionals, asking them for their expert opinions. Visit Britain picked up our tab.
Roxane Shymkiw, a chef from Calgary, raved that the whole lunch was “familiar and inspired at the same time.”
She went for the short rib of beef with smoked bone marrow.
“The flavours were uncomplicated and each ingredient spoke on its own.”
Shymkiw was also impressed that the chef was able to tell her whether the rhubarb in her dessert was forced or grown outside. (Answer: It was in season, grown outside.)
Carolyn Cope is a food blogger from New Jersey, a vegetarian who likes her meals unprocessed and local. She said she had come to London planning to politely ignore pub food, but has grown to admire the offerings at gastro pubs.
“Our meal at the Harwood Arms was the real deal — sourced, prepared and served to let vibrant ingredients shine with just the right amount of help from a talented chef,” she said after savouring a roasted root vegetable salad with a perfectly paired wine.
Kerridge says his success has left him “really humbled, but also embarrassed.”
Embarrassed because he wants his place to be accessible. It is if you go for a weekday lunch. But Saturday night tables were booked up fully eight months in advance.