Why did it not rub off on Britain?
I do not know *exactly*, but have some speculations; (it's probably a combination of these)
1. there never really was a Roman occupancy. The troops stayed for about 100 years, but the aristocracy never settled in.
2. Britain was, until even a few years ago, a country where everyone got out at 6am and back to bed at 10pm. It's cold and favours really heavy breakfast foods, and alcohol at night.
(that's also why mild, slightly cool ales were much more popular than cold beer). Also, not having the mainland's sweltering heat, refrigeration wasn't something your everyday man needed as much.
It's amazing how many brits drink, of social classes where nobody else would. Your typical MOM would go to the pub and get smashed. Elsewhere in europe, alcohol is seen a a vice, even if a mild one, but here it's seem as a common commodity that everyone consumes. Very few people "do not drink", and as such drinking has taken a chunk out of the interest for food. Also, visiting the pub is a social activity for brits, so much so that people will go to the pub at 8am to have coffee and breakfast.
3. Brits "love food" but, as said before, not really in the same way everyone else does. They love curries, and, well, Britain has the same activity around food businesses that other countries do - it's just that "taste of food" isn't really a major concern.
Frankly, i cannot blame them. Think about this, it's as if, i was someone from a country where everyone smokes, and went to Sweden and complained because "oof, nobody smokes".
It turns out that if you simply cram something edible in your mouth, you'll be absolutely fine, and you don't need for food to be delicious to live. But, in the Roman countries, food represents more than just survival. In fact, the european mainland was extremely good at producing food, during ancient times, rivaled only by Egypt (who then produced mostly just wheat), and a major factor in europe becoming so stable and advanced during the bronze age, was just how much fucking food we pumped out. (and yeah, the fact that we had Tin and thus could make bronze, ergo the name Bronze Age).
The mediterranean sea is a calm, warm sea. Our climate is mild and ideal for animals, without terrible cold or exhausting heat. There's water coming out of the ground practically everywhere in europe. Food was something we could be proud of, as a matter of fact, "have you eaten" and "what did you eat" are phrases which enter every conversation a Euro would have. Having good food is the way we keep ourselves happy, so we are very particular about the quality and taste of our food. Here in the UK, you can put of food at your restaurant that would get thrown at your face everywhere else, and nobody will complain. Taste, is not something that they are really concerned with - service is.
I think that what failed the UK is ... i think there are two main factors at play, here.
First, the UK has had nearly 200 years of wealth. The UK was the center of the industrial revolution, and - until about 30 years ago - the average brit had more money than any Euro to spend, they were developing at a furious rate, and they never really needed to find satisfaction in "stuffin'yo face with treats".
Second, i can see the remnants of, while not a great food culture, at least great food. What i think really happened, is the "fast-food-ization" of the UK.
Go anywhere in europe, walk along the street, and you will see tons of privately owned shops. Shops which all have slight variation in what they make / sell.
Here, you can go to any a UK city, and you will have a hard time to tell which city you are in, because all of the UK looks absolutely identical. There are only chain brand stores, selling all the same products.
see the photo posted above of the cornish pasty? that is a pastry from The West Cornwall Pasty Company. They make cornish pastries with the intent of being as profitable as possible. They never were a single-shop owner who has had to contend with other shop owners, and whose tactic to be successful was to "make them better than everybody else's".
Britain has a much cooler climate than the mainland; there is an abundance of game, hogs, pheasant, duck, deer, and the game pie (a salty pie of mixed game animal meats) was extremely popular, and i went to some tiny town in the forgotten north, and had a slice of game pie made by a local butcher, and WANTED TO MOVE THERE.
Good food existed at some point, but it got rendered tasteless by the process where nearly every shop now belongs to a chain. Go to some rural town, and you can still eat well, Euro-style.
TLDR:
food isn't just food, it's happiness. Brits get their happiness from other things.
Facebook
Twitter