Introduction

New British Classics is a book of culinary stories and recipes feeding us with information of the past, carrying many flavours that have survived, with many others re-born. British cookery, as most of you know, is a long-held passion of mine. While other cuisines have had a large influence on its development, its worldwide culinary reputation has always been less esteemed than that of France and Italy. I have never quite understood how and why this was until I started to research this book. Yes, I had heard various views and held many of my own, but the origins and progress of cookery in the UK is more complicated and fascinating than one imagines, and deserves exploration. In each chapter I have outlined the history of the recipes included. I have also interspersed the chapters with features on ingredients, foods and food occasions (afternoon tea, for instance) that I think are particularly, sometimes even uniquely, British.