AGAs are always-on stoves and ovens. An AGA cooks food by using the type of radiant-heat that was used throughout most of history for cooking, before modern direct heat burners came along. Some models of the stove can also provide hot water and heat for the house.
British Food
Agnes Bertha Marshall
Agnes Bertha Marshall was a celebrity London cook in the mid 1800s, and the author of four cookbooks. She was one of the first people to serve ice cream in edible cones.
Ainsley Harriott
Ainsley Harriott is an English TV celebrity chef and a best-selling cookbook author who has also been known from time-to-time for his comedic and singing talents. He is the son of a famous jazz pianist.
Alabaster
There are two dishes called alabaster: one is English and one is American. Both are very simple dishes. The American version of alabaster is a simple, savoury Shaker dish made from boiled and mashed potatoes, turnip, and cream. The two root vegetables are cooked separately, to avoid the turnip flavour overwhelming the potato, they are…
Alexis Benoit Soyer: Chef and Food Writer
Alexis Benoit Soyer was a famous French chef and food author whose career actually mostly took place in England.
Angel Delight
Angel Delight © Denzil Green Angel Delight is an instant dessert, much like Jello® Instant Pudding in North America, but it whips up lighter with more air in it. To prepare it, to 1 package of the powder you add ½ UK pint (300 ml) of cold milk, and whip it for about 2 minutes…
Antony Worrall Thompson
Antony Worrall Thompson is an English celebrity cook. He has published many books, has owned and run several restaurants and been on food programmes on TV.
Arbroath Smokies
Arbroath Smokies are Scottish hot smoked golden-brown haddock sold in pairs. They are a European PGI food product. The fish is dry outside; inside it is creamy-white, moist and flaky. It is slightly salty, with a mild fish and mild smoke taste. The smoky aroma is stronger than the actual taste of the smoke. Each…
Arctic Char
Arctic char is a fish related to salmon that lives in the cold waters around Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Siberia. It is also found in the Lake District of England, in the deeper lakes, probably left behind after the Ice Age. It has silver skin with shades of blue and green and whitish-orange…
Aylesbury Duck
English foodies swear the by the meat of Aylesbury Duck, preferring it over that of meat from any other duck. The meat is pale and tender, with a faintly gamey, rich, sweet flavour, that overall is milder than other duck meat. Most ducks have yellowish skin, but Aylesbury Ducks have white skin, sometimes pinkish. The…
Bacon
American-Style Bacon © Denzil Green Bacon is made from cuts of meat from the side, back or belly of a pig. The meat is cured, and sometimes smoked after that. It is almost always sold raw, though now some pre-cooked, highly-packaged options are available. In North America, pieces of bacon are referred to as slices;…
Bakewell Puddings
Bakewell puddings are actually pies with a soft, creamy filling with a soft brown crust on top. They are made in Derbyshire, England. You make a deep-yellow coloured puff pastry from a fat such as butter or half butter and hard lard with twice as much flour, a dash of salt, and enough water to…
Banbury Cakes
Banbury Cakes are small puff pastries with a mincemeat-type filling inside them.
Bartlett Pears
Bartlett Pears © Denzil GreenBartlett pears (aka Williams pears) have the shape that everyone thinks of when they think “pear” — even if they don’t know what a Bartlett is. Bartlett pear trees are self-pollinating (which means you don’t need two trees.) In fact, Bartlett is often used to cross-pollinate many other types of pear…
Bath Buns
Bath Buns are large buns made from a yeast-risen yellowish dough formed into balls, brushed with beaten egg yolk and baked. The dough has candied peel with currants or raisins in it, which poke out of the bun in many places. The top is sprinkled with crushed lump sugar. Some versions of Bath Buns can…
Bath Olivers
Bath Olivers are bland flavoured, thin, crisp, ivory-coloured biscuits with tiny holes poked in them. They are made from fat (butter, oil and beef fat), flour, milk and yeast, and sold in a white paper cylinder. They are good with cheese. Bath Olivers are relatively expensive, about twice the price of water biscuits. History Notes…
Beef Brawn
Beef brown is like pork brawn, except cow parts are used instead of pig parts. It can be made from the head of a calf or a cow. It is often made instead of pork brawn in Scotland and the northern parts of England.
Beef Wellington
Beef Wellington is a savoury dish, consisting of a fillet of beef tenderloin cooked wrapped in puff pastry. Inside, there will be the additional element of either a mushroom mixture, or a meat “paste.” It can be made as one large one, providing a show-piece food on the table, or it can be made in…
Black Tomatoes
Black Tomatoes are not actually black, just deep, purplish-red. There are many versions of “Black Tomato” seeds available to the home gardener, some which produce tomatoes which are purplish-brown, others that produce tomatoes that inside seem grey, about the colour of overcooked liver. Neither of which are actually appealing once you see them. A new…
Black Treacle
Black treacle is a dark syrup, similar to molasses, but with a slightly more burnt, bitter taste. It is made from sugar cane molasses that has been further refined.
Blissful Buffalo Mozzarella
Blissful Buffalo Mozzarella is a British version of Italian buffalo-milk Mozzarella. It is made entirely from buffalo milk at Belland Farm in Tetcott, Holsworthy, Devon. The maker, Mike Greenaway, has a herd of 150 water buffalo (as of 2004.) It is sold in farmers’ markets. It is firm, and slices well. Use as you would…
Bloaters
A bloater is basically a kipper that hasn’t been cleaned inside, It is a cold-smoked herring that is not gutted at all, but rather left completely whole, with the head and tail still on. They have a mild, gamy, smoky taste, and pale, soft, tender flesh. They are much milder than red herrings. To make…
Blood (aka Black) Pudding Sausage
Black Pudding Sausage © Denzil Green Blood (aka Black) Pudding is an English blood sausage sold already cooked. A deep purple colour, it is served reheated, usually in slices. The slices turn a much deeper purple, almost black when fried or grilled — thus another name for this, Black Pudding. It is made from blood,…
Boiled Dressing
Today, we don’t think twice about making salad dressings or mayonnaise based on oil. Up until the end of the 1800s, though, if you didn’t live in Southern Europe with its ready access to olive oil, you might have been stumped. There were no vegetable oils yet available to you. The plethora of bottled vegetable…