Recipes for The Nation's Favourite Food [antikvár]

Introduction We have witnessed a food revolution in Britain over the Last lialf century: what we eat and how we eat it has significantly changed. Where once we knew it was Monday because it was cold meat for dinner, or Friday because it was fish, today things are not as simple. Our lifestyles have changed and so have our eating habits. The growth of supermarkets, with more and more choices of food from around the world, has had an impact on what we eat. Having become more affluent as a nation, able to afford more foreign holidays, we have broadened our interest in food from different cultures. Our multi-ethnic society has also contributed greatly to a more informed British palate. Indeed, today, with the increased availability of such cuisines as Chinese, Indian, Italian, Thai, Greek, Mexican. Turkish, Japanese and Australasian, it is now entirely feasible to prepare a meal from a different part of the world every night of the week. In order to discover the Nation s Favourite Food, we commissioned an online poll. A detailed questionnaire was linked to the BBC Food website asking people a wide range of questions about their eating habits and the foods they would eat if they could choose their all-time favourites. To allow people without access to the Web to take part, a postal questionnaire was also made available. Based on a sample of 2,000 people, from Liskeard to Loch Ness, from Belfast to the Brecon Beacons, we wanted the survey to reflect the favourites of the nation. The results are very much the peoples choice - a definitive guide to Great British favourite food, as voted by the Brits. How, then, do you attempt to chronicle all the favourites? As well as individual tastes, different people like the same food but for different meals. Instead of coming up with just one favourite dish, we combined everyday or weekly mealtimes with special occasions and culinary events to give us themes - breakfast, lunch, dinner, food of love, take-away or convenience food, outdoor food, comfort food, afternoon tea, party food and festive food. Everyone was asked to vote for their favourite food in each category. We also asked for some personal details so that we could examine whether there were differences between men and women, between the young and not so young and between the regions and 'nations' that make up Britain. In this way we were able to see, for instance, that roast chicken was four times more popular for lunch in Northern Ireland [where 54 per cent voted it their favourite lunch dish) than it was in Wales, and that those aged 35 or under are much more likely to turn to chocolate for comfort than those over 35. But what you eat during the week is not always the same as what you have at the weekend. Many said that you make do with just a coffee or tea and toast for breakfast during the week, but like to celebrate the beginning of the weekend and indulge in the 'full Monty' fry-up when you 11