Traditional British food can have a lot of complex flavours, but the issue is that most people don’t use the ones we have. Exotic spices became the norm and the wealth of British herbs in particular started falling out of favour. Wild onion, garlic, and Angelica, not to mention the famous parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. These were a lot of the basis of British cooking but with the decline of the herb garden and easier access to different spices from elsewhere they aren’t given a lot of the spotlight they deserve
They didn't just fall out of favor. In the song parsely used to be "savory" as in "summer savory." No idea what the hell that is? I didn't know either. Capitalism, urbanization, and industrialization robbed British people of many of the spices they used for well over a thousand years. It wasn't just herb gardens - most people who mostly lived in the countryside would eat many of the "weeds" that would grow in their fields and these sorts of plants formed the basis of British seasoning. Now most of us don't have land, most of those who do own very little, and foraging on land you don't own is illegal since Thatcher starved out the striking coal miners.
In some ways the world wars started to bring back the old spices as people foraged out of desperation. But I think a lot of people just simply didn't season when they couldn't acquire what they were used to. The great depression didn't help. And then their kids who grew up in that environment didn't have the knowledge passed down and found strong seasonings overwhelming anyway.
I agree though we should bring the old spices back. I season with sage, rosemary, and thyme nearly every time I cook red meat. (I genuinely keep forgetting to try to get savoury.) It really is just a recipe it's absolutely very nice. Also oregano. I also like paprika and garlic powder and of course black pepper so I quite enjoy foreign spices, but there's nothing at all wrong with the traditional ones. Everything but the paprika I mentioned makes a fantastic sunday roast with some salt.
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u/TeddyBugbear 22d ago
Traditional British food can have a lot of complex flavours, but the issue is that most people don’t use the ones we have. Exotic spices became the norm and the wealth of British herbs in particular started falling out of favour. Wild onion, garlic, and Angelica, not to mention the famous parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. These were a lot of the basis of British cooking but with the decline of the herb garden and easier access to different spices from elsewhere they aren’t given a lot of the spotlight they deserve