50 Fun Facts About British Food

Who is credited as the first television celebrity chef, in Britain?

Fanny Cradock followed him onto 1950s screens.

Which British chef was the youngest in the world to win three Michelin stars?

His book White Heat was later called possibly the most influential recipe book in 20 years.

How many Michelin stars had Gordon Ramsay's restaurants earned in total by 2024?

At that point it was the most for any British chef and third-highest in the world.

Which drink did Julius Caesar record the Celtic Britons making from apples?

Cheese-making in Britain goes back to about 3,800 BC.

Oysters from which English town were prized as a delicacy in ancient Rome?

The Romans also planted vineyards as far north as Lincolnshire.

Which people introduced bacon to Britain?

The Vikings contributed techniques for smoking and drying fish.

English words like beef, pork and gravy come from the language of which conquerors?

Gravy, jelly and mustard are Old French imports too.

The 14th-century cookbook the Forme of Cury came from the court of which king?

Its recipes include gingerbread and sweet-and-sour sauces.

Which nursery rhyme refers to live birds hidden under a pie crust at banquets?

Four and twenty blackbirds began to sing when the pie was opened.

Shortbread was refined into its modern form during whose reign?

It had been known in some form since the 12th century.

Europe's oldest continually serving coffee house, opened in 1654, is in which city?

Queen's Lane Coffee House is still open.

In which year did the Royal Navy stop issuing a daily rum ration?

Grog, rum diluted with water, had been a staple since the capture of Jamaica in 1655.

Whose 1747 book contains the first known English recipe for curry?

Franklin, Jefferson and Washington all owned copies of The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy.

What did a 1747 cookbook call the dish now known as the burger?

The same book first mentioned Yorkshire pudding and piccalilli.

The Earl of Sandwich reputedly ordered meat between bread so he could keep doing what?

It could be eaten without cutlery during late-night sessions at the tables.

The pasty was a portable lunch for tin miners in which county?

A 2021 survey found 90% of Britons had eaten one.

Welsh rarebit is toast topped with a sauce of cheese, mustard and what?

It developed as a tavern dish in the 18th century.

The French nickname "les Rosbifs" for the English refers to which dish?

Roast beef became tied to the Sunday roast in the late 18th century.

Toad in the hole originally used beef and which bird instead of sausages?

Poor households stretched their meat by baking it in batter.

The stew scouse gave its name to the people of which city?

The name comes from lobscouse, a sailors' dish.

The first British ketchup recipe was based on which main ingredient?

Eliza Smith's version also used anchovies and horseradish.

The Scots created modern marmalade by adapting a paste of which fruit?

They swapped in bitter oranges and made it spreadable.

Eccles cakes are small flaky pastries filled with what?

They remain popular in Manchester and Lancashire.

How often did Queen Victoria order curry, on average?

Her taste spread through the aristocracy and then the country.

Which lady-in-waiting is credited with starting afternoon tea?

The Duchess of Bedford asked for tea, bread and cake in her room between lunch and a late dinner.

Who opened the first fish and chip shop?

He was an Eastern European Jewish immigrant in London.

About how many sausage rolls does Greggs sell each year?

The sausage roll only became widely available in the 19th century.

Worcestershire sauce is made primarily from vinegar, tamarind, spices and what?

Chemists John Lea and William Perrins developed it in the early 19th century.

HP Sauce is named after what?

It is made from tomatoes, molasses, vinegar and spices.

Which English writer published the world's first recipe for an ice cream cone?

Her cone was made of baked almonds.

Which pink-and-yellow chequered bake is said to mark an 1884 royal wedding?

Princess Victoria married Prince Louis of Battenberg that year.

Fry's, Rowntree's and Cadbury's were all founded by members of which religious group?

They promoted chocolate as an ethical alternative to alcohol.

Which company's 1927 marketing push made beans on toast a national snack?

Britons now eat more baked beans than the rest of the world combined.

Which popular dish was never rationed during the Second World War?

It was judged too important for morale, though fish prices rose as trawlers were requisitioned.

In which year was rationing finally abolished in Britain?

Restrictions had actually been tightened in 1947, after the war.

Coronation chicken was created for whose coronation?

It mixes chicken with a curry of cumin, turmeric, cream and dried fruit.

Chicken tikka masala was likely created in the early 1960s by chefs from where?

It makes up about 15% of orders in British Indian restaurants.

The British balti was developed in 1977 in which city?

It is stir-fried in vegetable oil rather than simmered in ghee.

A 2016 YouGov poll found which curry was Britain's favourite?

18% picked it; tikka masala came second.

The term "gastropub" was coined in 1991 at which London pub?

David Eyre and Mike Belben took it over; Merriam-Webster added the word in 2012.

Which cheese did George Orwell call "the best cheese of its type in the world"?

He named Wensleydale a close second.

Which cheese's creamery was saved from ruin by Wallace & Gromit?

The cartoon's popularity sent demand soaring.

In a Cornish cream tea, what goes on the scone first?

Devon does it the other way round, cream first.

Despite its name, West Country squab pie contains which meat?

Squab is a young pigeon, but the pie is mutton and apples.

What is distinctive about stargazy pie?

The fish look as though they are gazing at the stars.

Cornish Yarg cheese is wrapped in what to form its rind?

Cornwall produces more than 60 varieties of cheese.

The Dorset Knob biscuit was reputedly a favourite of which author?

It is softened by dunking in sweet tea and eaten with Blue Vinney cheese.

Which cheese is the prize at the Cooper's Hill cheese-rolling race?

Competitors chase the wheel down a steep Gloucestershire hillside.

Stinking Bishop cheese is washed in what?

The perry is made from the Stinking Bishop pear.

In a 2021 survey, 18% of Britons thought which pudding was imaginary?

20% thought toad in the hole was made up, and 10% doubted black pudding.