Thursday, July 14, 2011

Scotch eggs and tea

Britain continues to be on the brain, though it's nice to know that we're often on their brains as well, as evidenced by this article which ran in the Independent in May:

Are we winning Americans over to traditional British fare?

It's interesting to see the UK concerned with creating a positive food image amongst Americans who lack the more celebrated food connoisseurship of Italians or Spaniards (we'll chalk up the absence of concern over French impressions of their food to the historical icyness between these two nations). Even I admit to taking a stab at the perceived drearyness of British cuisine.

The way in which patrons of the stall readily embraced British food after trying just one or two things makes me think that reforming one's national food image need not require a sustained, intensive, glossy campaign. Rather, some initial good eating experiences might be enough to overcome prejudices, freeing people to generate their own momentum in embracing food from that culture. Once people stop automatically equating British food with blech, they'll be more open to trying the variety of foods encompassed under the Union Jack. Like tea:

(NSFW on account of some hilarious potty-mouths)

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