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The Queen's Jubilee has me in a nostalgic mood. I spent four months of my college life enmeshed in British culture, taking in West End shows at discounted student prices, free museum admissions, and long walks through the impeccably manicured gardens that dot the city of London.
No cultural exploration is complete without a proper meal, therefore I spent much time finding ways to eat like I imagined royalty would, but on a budget more in line with a pauper.
It did not take long in my culinary adventures to realize that though Americans and British may share a common language, when it comes to food, words were not always what they seemed.
For instance “chips,” often served alongside fillets of fried fish, were not of the Lays variety but rather are thick chunks of deep fried potatoes, what we Yankees would call French fries. “Pudding” I quickly found out had little to do with Jello, but everything to do with dessert. Broadly, Brits refer to everything from sticky toffee cake to traditional milk based chocolate custard as pudding. Eyeing “Spotted Dick” on a menu was good for a chuckle, but once I got past third grade humor I found it is yet another form of pudding, this one a steamed cake studded with currants or raisins, hence the “spots.”
Should you be headed to London this summer to see the Olympics, celebrate the Queen, or simply for a holiday (British for “vacation”), you might find a few other food translations helpful when navigating the culinary field. Bangers and mash, a pub favorite, is a hearty plate of sausage and mashed potatoes (Gluten warning: bangers are made of ground meat mixed with wheat flour filler called rusk).
Pudding is dessert except for when it is black. Buyer beware: if you order black pudding expecting a rich chocolaty dessert you will have something else coming. This pudding refers to sausage made from pigs blood.
If you weren’t confused enough already--pudding is dessert, unless it is black then it is dinner--along comes pie, another British favorite. If images of Mom’s berry lattice and Thanksgiving pecan come to mind, banish them immediately. Pie in merry old England is a catchall for a range of pastries mostly filled with meat, the common man’s lunch.
Just when you think you have wrapped your head around British cuisine consider this: the most loved food in Britain is not English at all, but a remnant from colonial times. Not unlike salsa overtaking ketchup as the most consumed condiment in the United States, curry, an Indian import, is currently the favorite food in Britain.
As a poor exchange student I quickly wearied of the heavy pies and ubiquitous puddings and found myself instead gravitating toward curries. I would often pass by the grocery store on my commute home from class and pick up a biryani to reheat. For a night out, nothing filled up with more flavor than a saag paneer and a basket of garlic naan. Curry would even find its way into late night student drinking habits, a group of us frequenting a stand that served cones of “chips” doused in curry sauce to tame angry bellies after a few too many pints.
I got a lot out of those four months in London, from an appreciation of Harold Pinter to a respect for the British support of the arts. Steak and kidney pies may not have come back with me as key part of my diet but one food did: curry. Even now, when I’m looking for a quick and cheap meal worthy of student days, I reach for my spice cabinet, pull out a can of chickpeas and some frozen spinach. In the time it takes to walk from Hyde Park Corner to Big Ben, I have a hearty plate of curry to whisk me back to memories of cheery British days.
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
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Pies, Pudding and Curry: A Jubilee of British Food
The Queen's Jubilee has me in a nostalgic mood. I spent four months of my college life enmeshed in British culture, taking in West End shows at discounted student prices, free museum admissions, and long walks through the impeccably manicured gardens that dot the city of London.
No cultural exploration is complete without a proper meal, therefore I spent much time finding ways to eat like I imagined royalty would, but on a budget more in line with a pauper.
It did not take long in my culinary adventures to realize that though Americans and British may share a common language, when it comes to food, words were not always what they seemed.
For instance “chips,” often served alongside fillets of fried fish, were not of the Lays variety but rather are thick chunks of deep fried potatoes, what we Yankees would call French fries. “Pudding” I quickly found out had little to do with Jello, but everything to do with dessert. Broadly, Brits refer to everything from sticky toffee cake to traditional milk based chocolate custard as pudding. Eyeing “Spotted Dick” on a menu was good for a chuckle, but once I got past third grade humor I found it is yet another form of pudding, this one a steamed cake studded with currants or raisins, hence the “spots.”
Should you be headed to London this summer to see the Olympics, celebrate the Queen, or simply for a holiday (British for “vacation”), you might find a few other food translations helpful when navigating the culinary field. Bangers and mash, a pub favorite, is a hearty plate of sausage and mashed potatoes (Gluten warning: bangers are made of ground meat mixed with wheat flour filler called rusk).
Pudding is dessert except for when it is black. Buyer beware: if you order black pudding expecting a rich chocolaty dessert you will have something else coming. This pudding refers to sausage made from pigs blood.
If you weren’t confused enough already--pudding is dessert, unless it is black then it is dinner--along comes pie, another British favorite. If images of Mom’s berry lattice and Thanksgiving pecan come to mind, banish them immediately. Pie in merry old England is a catchall for a range of pastries mostly filled with meat, the common man’s lunch.
Just when you think you have wrapped your head around British cuisine consider this: the most loved food in Britain is not English at all, but a remnant from colonial times. Not unlike salsa overtaking ketchup as the most consumed condiment in the United States, curry, an Indian import, is currently the favorite food in Britain.
As a poor exchange student I quickly wearied of the heavy pies and ubiquitous puddings and found myself instead gravitating toward curries. I would often pass by the grocery store on my commute home from class and pick up a biryani to reheat. For a night out, nothing filled up with more flavor than a saag paneer and a basket of garlic naan. Curry would even find its way into late night student drinking habits, a group of us frequenting a stand that served cones of “chips” doused in curry sauce to tame angry bellies after a few too many pints.
I got a lot out of those four months in London, from an appreciation of Harold Pinter to a respect for the British support of the arts. Steak and kidney pies may not have come back with me as key part of my diet but one food did: curry. Even now, when I’m looking for a quick and cheap meal worthy of student days, I reach for my spice cabinet, pull out a can of chickpeas and some frozen spinach. In the time it takes to walk from Hyde Park Corner to Big Ben, I have a hearty plate of curry to whisk me back to memories of cheery British days.
Coriander Chickpeas with Spinach and Peas
Made with chicken broth, vegetable broth or water, frozen peas, vegetable oil, onion, garlic, ground coriander, garam masala, red chili flakes, chickpeas, frozen spinach
Made with chicken broth, vegetable broth or water, frozen peas, vegetable oil, onion, garlic, ground coriander, garam masala, red chili flakes, chickpeas, frozen spinach
Serves/Makes: 2
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 medium onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1 can (15 ounce size) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 1/2 cup frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
- 1/3 cup frozen peas, defrosted
- 1 cup chicken broth, vegetable broth or water
- salt and black pepper
Heat oil over medium high in a wok or large skillet. Chop onion and garlic. Add to oil and saute for 3 minutes until slightly caramelized.
Stir in coriander, garam masala and chili flakes. Saute for 30 seconds until aromatic. Add chickpeas, spinach, peas, and broth or water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Put a lid on the pan and let simmer for ten minutes to let the flavors marry.
Remove lid. Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another minute or two if still too liquid. Mixture should be moist but not soupy. Serve with rice.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/1265-british-food/