Cuisine in England - Research Paper Example

e English diet is fundamentally characterized by salty and sweet snacks that include but are not limited to potato chips, chocolate bars, pizzas, burgers and ice-cream cakes. If there was one term to describe most of the English foods, it would be “processed foods”. Nevertheless, the English do have a whole range of traditional foods that have been part of the English culture for centuries. “Englands rich cultural mix has brought about a huge range of food options and today the British are happily exposing their taste buds to flavours and experiences from many far-flung corners of the world” (“Cuisine In England”).

This paper would primarily discuss the traditional English foods. There are numerous regional and national varieties within the British cuisine. England is located in the northern side of Europe. To its North is Scotland and to its West is Wales. In fact, the term Great Britain is used collectively for the three of them and when England, Scotland, Wales are also accompanied with Ireland, it becomes the United Kingdom (UK). “England has a coastline of 3,246 km along the Irish, Celtic and North Seas and the English Channel and a relatively diverse terrain for such a small land mass from rolling plains which stretch from the central area (east of Wales) to her southern extremities excellent for the growing of crops and grazing of livestock” (“English Cuisine and Recipes”).

The transition between the old (traditional) and the contemporary (processed foods) British cuisine can fundamentally be attributed to the decline in the areas of forested woodland due to the industrial revolution and urbanization. Today, forested woodland makes no more than 8 per cent of the total land of UK. Nevertheless, the temperate climate combined with the number of rivers and streams in UK are together sufficient to produce a variety a foods to be consumed by the English people. British cuisine is actually used as an umbrella term for several cuisines include