Eating In England

[chefbeck]

My husband will be traveling to Huntingdon, England (about 40 minutes outside of London)for a business trip. This will be his first trip so he is not familiar with the area. Does anyone have any advice, recommendations, or experience with British cuisine? He is trying to avoid eating British beef and we have been told that there are some great vegetarian and Indian restaurants.

[hhcowgirl]

I lived in England for awhile (about 4 hours north of London) and am a vegetarian--it is not nearly as difficult as one might think in this shepherd's pie-obsessed country to find great vegetarian options. First of all, every single pub (one of which is on almost every street corner) will serve "jacket potatoes," which are simply baked potatoes that you can put stuff in, such as cheese, cottage cheese, and even tuna. Also, good, authentic pizza restaurants abound. Finally, I would highly recommend the hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurants; they are usually owned by an Indian family/individual and are quite authentic and tasty. Order Naan bread with lots of different toppings such as cucumber raita sauce. Yum--this is making me nostalgic!

[mb]

we may also be spending some time in london, and i nearly forgot about mad cow disease. when we are there, i will be about 5 months pregnant, and even more cautious about the safety of my food.

does anyone know where i can find info on the safety of beef in the UK? or should we just avoid it completely?

Thanks!

[hhcowgirl]

I'm sure people will disagree, but I would avoid it completely. That tiny chance just seems too risky to me, plus I know that some of their cooking/storage methods over there are different from ours and may take some getting used to. Just my opinion.

[chefbeck]

Thank you for the responses! My husband is not an alarmist at all but he does a lot of work with geneticists and research scientists who have convinced him that the risk is more significant than we may think. They have now found evidence of mad cow in Germany and other parts of Europe. To me, eating beef is not worth the risk. I cut beef (but not all meat) out of my diet about two years ago and I don't miss it.

[56grapeape]

i lived in Wales for 2 1/2yrs (i was 12 yrs) and i assume we ate beef (maybe we bought it at the military store???) we're americans, so we ate mostly american food that my mom prepared for us, so of course my mom must have fixed something w/beef! lol i cant remember.
anyway this past yr i wanted to donate blood (my dh did) and i couldnt casue i had lived there with in the past 15-20 yrs (is that what the time frame is??)

Anyway, i dont think we have the disease (how would you know???).


I cant recall too many things we ate that were British, except at school we'd walk dow to the little store where they's make "fish and chips" only I dont like fish, so Id get just the chips vinegar, or curried chips! MMMM! i want some now! lol

I also remember loving a thing that was like a pastry pocket, it had meat filling w/potatoes and such.
In school we also made (i forget the names!) something with a boiled egg in the center, and wrapped in a coating and baked. Maybe it had meat in it?? It's been so long! lol But i have seen this recipe in cookbooks since.

Anyway, not alot of ideas here, just wanted to share that tid bit! lo

rachelle ~:0)

ps, it is beautiful there, i wish i could go back (take dh) and show him the Castles! The weather isnt very noce though! lol cold and rainy! I sure picked up on the accent very quick too! Took it back to Hawaii with us! lol

[sneezles]

We lived in Scotland for two years and have been back three times and I know we ate beef every visit and when we lived there. However, we also ate tons of fish, chicken, pork and lamb. Most pubs have wonderful menus with choices other than beef. You can also eat at many of the hotels that do lunches or tea (supper). It shouldn't be difficult to eat regardless of the madcow factor, after all, the British seem to be surviving despite all the scarey info!

[ginny177]

Last time I was there, I didn't eat beef once and wasn't even avoiding it. They just offer a lot more fish, chicken,lamb and more lamb .... and fabulous vegetarian meals.
The cities all have reataurants with ehtnic cuisine due to the large population of Indians, Africans, etc who live in England.
As mentioned, pub food is usually great.
Hope he enjoys England as much as I do!

[DeniseB]

My daughter is just finishing a short report on Mad Cow Disease. It is scary. They are finding more of it in Ireland and Europe. I would definately encourage your husband ot forego beef on his visit. We traveled around England a few years back and I know we ate beef at least once. It worries me.
As for good restaurants, we were very pleasantly surprised by the variety of good food we found in England. And I am very picky. Pubs can be great and there are many ethnic restaurants. We had Indian and Chinese food in London. We ate at some friendly pubs and little fish and chip shops. The best way to find these places is to ask the locals what is good. That was what we did and we were very pleased. If he is there on business, he should ask the people he is working with about places to eat.

[Grace]

My husband and I go to Germany every year to visit our family and friends, and other than what I'd seen on Oprah, I didn't hear much about Mad Cow Disease. But a few weeks ago I was talking to my girlfriend from Germany on the phone. I was making dinner, and she asked what I was making. It was something with ground beef, and she got all alarmed..."You still eat ground beef???!!!!" At first I didn't understand why she was so incredulous and excited. Then I realized she must be thinking of Mad Cow Disease, and I told her we don't really have a problem with it in the States. She said the problem there was bad, and no one ate it anymore that she knew of. But really, we were just there in March (10 months ago), and didn't hear a word about it. So it must have gotten especially bad in those last 10 months. I guess, based on her reaction, I would/will avoid beef altogether the next time we're in Europe - it's really not worth taking the chance, IMO. There's still chicken, turkey, pork, fish, etc. etc....

[LGBurns]

I just heard a piece on National Public Radio about Mad Cow. Apparently, it is really becoming serious all over Europe. I should actually say that they are really finally starting to take it seriously, since, according to the report, it actually has been serious for some time but was not dealt with. Anyway, I also would discourage anyone visiting Europe from eating beef.