Better Than Its Reputation - British Food (August Break 2014)

I have decided to join in Susannah Conway's August Break again, but a little differently. She has offered an entire list of prompts that we can use or not. I will try to work along those prompts although this might not work for every day. And other than she supposed, I will not take a photo each day but use most of these prompts as an inspiration for telling you more about my trip to Europe.

Today's prompt is "lunch" - so let's talk about British food! We're not starting with lunch but with breakfast.
This is a Scottish breakfast that we had in Edinburgh - with haggis, black pudding, sausage, bacon and fried egg. It was pretty good, I liked both the haggis and the black pudding (blood sausage).

The breakfast in our farmhouse bed and breakfast in the Cotswolds looked like this - fried egg, sausage and bacon like in Scotland, but also baked beans and mushrooms, plus grilled tomatoes (the tomatoes in Scotland weren't grilled).

Both to go with tea, of course, served in a beautiful pot. Oh, that is tea with milk - the only way I can stomach tea (I am not a tea drinker - except on the British Isles).

While in England we often skipped lunch and had a real cream tea instead - sinfully rich! Scones with clotted cream and jam - heavenly!

If you don't like tea there's always the option to have a latte instead.

Which leaves us with dinner. Most of the time we had our dinner in a pub since we really like pub food. You can have traditional fish and chips,

served with beer of course (this is a pint of bitter).

In Scotland the Geek tried Haggis which is so much better than you would think. Haggis is a savory pudding containing sheep's pluck; minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased  in the animal's stomach and simmered for approx. three hours. As you can easily see, we had a different version, but it was still Haggis, and most people cringe when they hear of it - probably because they've never tried it. This was the first time that I tried Haggis as well, and I thought it was pretty tasty.

Kaefer had bangers and mash.

while I ordered the Shepherd's Pie.

In England we enjoyed food like steak pie

and seafood platter,

all accompanied by a pint of bitter.

To The Last Drop

I've always enjoyed the pubs in England. They're some special places, often in very old buildings. You order your drink at the bar that is usually crowded, and you either stay there, standing with your beer in your hand and talking to the other folks. Or you walk over to a table and sit there, talking with your friends. 

Perhaps you even enjoy some pub food. The food in the pubs is way better than its reputation and you can get a really decent meal there. Some pubs pride themselves with their excellent food. They're cheaper than a fancy restaurant and have definitely more atmosphere. They are noisier as well, but that belongs to the special charm an evening at the pub offers.

Some pubs are open all day. Nowadays there are pubs that serve breakfast. I am not sure whether the "last order" is still called shortly before 11:00 pm, I haven't stayed that long in one this time. When I visited England often in the eighties and nineties it sure was so, except for a few days in the year like Christmas Eve, when the pubs were FULL and the mood was merry. They usually were open longer on those days.

The pub is a great place to meet up with your friends, go there for a drink before or after going to the theater, movies etc. You can go to the pub to have your pre-dinner drink and then walk on to the restaurant you chose for the evening. Pubs are loud and noisy, there are no TVs (thank the Lord) and it's easy to get in touch with perfect strangers. I've met many people there and spent some jolly hours in good company.

Most pubs have their own sign - from traditional to modern and everything in between. I just love to walk along the streets in the villages, towns and cities and look for those signs. There is almost always one Red Lion pub to find - I think it's the most common name for a pub. Here, I loved "The Last Drop Inn" and "The Yorkshire Terrier". Or what about that "Roman Bath" where they serve you John Smith's brews?

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Writing in your journal is a great pastime while sitting in a pub.

You can get mini journals in my Etsy shop that fit into any purse.