New British food discoveries

Travel is always an opportunity to get closer to new recipes and food habits. During my last trip to England and Wales, I discovered a few new traditional recipes and fruits. 

I am always excited to taste new fruits and flavours that I cannot find easily in Germany. There it is also an exquisite selection of quality fruits. Such as, the seedless Egyptian grapes. Grapes are in Egypt the second fruit crops after citrus. Due to the religious restrictions, there are no world known brands of Egyptian wines. There are several table grapes available, but the one I tried were a ruby seedless type, very delicious, with a balanced taste: not too sweet but not too sour either. A delicious choice for ending up in a healthy way a summer meal. It also confers a very good hydration.

I have a lot to learn about food and types of food and thus, no wonder that I was not familiar with fish and chips. Berlin has currywurst and the States the hamburger, and the Brits do like the fish and chips. As in all cases, this fast food meal was the result of the rapid industrialization being aimed to offer to the developing middle classes a fast meal between shifts. In entered the British world in the 19th century and remains a popular food whose preparation can go beyond the simple and fast recipes. Compared with similar 'fast foods', it require a bit of style, especially the battered fish. A little bit of vinegar, added to the water and flour mix of the batter brings more savoury to the fish. Creating the delicate slices of potatoes also requires a lot of patience and exercise. A delicious healthy tomato salad is a fresh add to a rich meal. 

If asked one month ago what the name ''Pukka' suggests, I would immediately mention a very boring computer game I used once to play for the sake of filling my time while thinking at something else. I was completely ignorant about what Pukka pies mean and how much they are part of the British eating vocabulary. The company created in 1963 produced nowadays around 60 millions pies pro year. The company has its onsite beef butchery, and the pies are free of hydrogenated fats, preservatives or artificial flavourings. The most frequent recipes include: steak and kidneys, beef and onion, potato cheese and onion, chicken and mushroom. A successful business and branding story.