We all like Figgy Pudding. Right?
Things My Current Self Would Tell My Younger Self Before Moving To The UK:
• The winters, they’re brutal. Cold. Wet. And so freaking dark.
• Never convert the price of your home from GBP to USD and then look to see how much house you could buy in Minnesota. Trust me, don’t do it. It’s too painful.
• Fall in love with paperwork bc those visa forms won’t fill themselves out.
• Be careful using the following words in public: pants, muff, nosh, facial, double-fisting. They do not mean what you think they mean.
• Never make an off-colour joke about David Attenborough if you value your life.
• Absolutely nothing gets done in August.
• You will eat so well.
While all of these are 100% facts of life here in Tunbridge Wells, it’s this last point that I’d really like to talk about, because it’s honestly the most surprising. And satisfying!
It’s no secret that the UK doesn’t have the greatest reputation when it comes to delicious international cuisine and if you asked the average American* to list some English fare, they’d likely name an assortment of dishes from Christmas carols, Middle-earth, Narnia, anything by Dickens, or the Wizarding World. The list would likely look something like this:
British Food - Official Master List
• Gruel
• Figgy pudding
• Spotted Dick
• Butter Beer
• Elevensies
• Sponge
• Goose
• Turkish Delight
• Liver
I’m not joking. You see, in America we don’t have British restaurants. Not really, anyway. Sure, we have an Irish bar in almost every small town and city, but British restaurants are scarce. That being said, Minneapolis is home to Brit's Pub, a jolly Union Jack spectacle with rooftop lawn bowling and a sweets counter full of imported chocolate bars that even Roald Dahl would love. Brit’s also serves a light-hearted British menu in portions only an American can stomach and it includes exotic delicacies like scotch eggs, bangers and mash, and sticky toffee pudding alongside not-such-exotic delicacies, including chicken fingers, artichoke and spinach dip, and mac & cheese. Brit’s is always a lot of fun but even though I know for certain that I’ve 100% definitely eaten there, I honestly can’t remember a gosh-darn thing about the food. And when I moved to the UK in 2012, I was expecting most of the meals in my new homeland to be similarly unmemorable.
Now, before I go any further, I’d like to make it absolutely clear that I’m not a monster. I didn’t come here thinking all the food in the UK was garbage. Good food is served in some of the world’s most remote and surprising places, and I came with a long list of restaurants– mostly curated by Anthony Bourdain and a photographer I followed on tumblr– that I wanted to visit in London. But the not-so-glamorous and in-between places that one visits for day-to-day digestive necessity? I didn’t have high hopes. And boy was I in for a surprise.
Eating and drinking in England is a joy. Thanks to British exports like the Great British Baking Show (LOL isn’t that an appalling name change? Sorry, America!), Americans are learning that British food isn’t all Gordon Ramsay’s ego and fish and chips, but rather a full-on history lesson that tells the story of class, imperialism, resources, and trade. Not only is the UK home to some of the best restaurants in the world, we also have access to some of the greatest ingredients and can easily find them at greengrocers, markets, specialty shops, and importers that serve a diverse nation of adventurous eaters. Almost every American who comes to stay comments on how surprisingly delicious they find the meals that we share and I’ve had more than one confess that they were expecting to lose weight in the UK because of its gastronomic reputation, only to find that they gained it because hello, food here is bomb.com.
But it’s not all about restaurants. Like most of us on this enormous island, I can’t afford to eat out very often, so I cook delicious food at home instead. And let me tell you, the offering is fantastic! Here in Tunbridge Wells, food is affordable, accessible, and ethical (if you care about that kind of thing– which I very much do).
We spent this past Christmas back in Minneapolis with my family and my British husband (let’s call him David, because that’s his name) insisted on making a goose for our Christmas Day meal. Minnesota is home to over 10,000 lakes and god-knows-how-many ponds and if you look out a window, there’s a 79% chance that you’ll see a goose. And yet finding a butcher shop to order a goose** was nearly impossible in the entire metro area of the Twin Cities.
Here in Tunbridge Wells, I have four butcher shops with an amazing selection of basically everything right at my fingertips. And out of those four, three of them can tell me the exact local farm where they source their meat. I also have two (preferred) greengrocers within easy walking distance, five specialty/ethnic food shops, a banging bakery, countless A++ coffee shops, two terrific wine shops, and a boatload*** of grocery stores in case I need something simple, like tinned toms. And that doesn’t even include the markets!
As an American, this blows my mind. And as an American in Tunbridge Wells, I have no intention of moving back.
Kate’s 5 Picks For Food Shopping in TW
• Locality delivers a veg box to my house almost every Tuesday and receiving it is often the highlight of my day. So fresh and so green green!
• It’s actually not safe for me to go in Fromage and French because I walk out with armfuls of everything. Mustard! Saucissons! Walnut bread! Wine! French pickled things! That pork stuff that comes in a pot and tastes like heaven! Côte d’Or chocolates! I’m telling you, it’s lethal (to my bank account).
• The Bicycle Bakery. I was so lucky to be out of the country for Christmas bc I totally would’ve bought an army of their Gingerbread (Wo)Men. AND THEN EATEN THEM ALL.
• Chegworth Farm Shop. It’s a little inconsistent (why is King Kong Kimchi not always on the shelf, guys?!) but it’s full of treasures.
• Now, I’m not gonna lie to you: the basement in The Spice Shop smells interesting but if you stay down there long enough you’ll get used to it. And once you get used to it, you can really start treasure hunting! I find I always walk outta there with at least two things that I’m not 100% sure of – in that I literally don’t know what they are or how they’re used but bought them because they looked enticing. My motto: buy and google it later. So far it’s totally paying off.
• BONUS: The Best Health Food Shop just opened near my house aaaaand I love it! Not only do they sell a number of health food brands that I know and adore, they also sell bulk goods (BYOP**** folks!) including nuts and Ecover cleaning supplies. Plus they have a loyalty card. YES PLS.
*Remember, they prefer to carry guns over passports, so please be careful when questioning them about international politics, relations and/or cuisine.
** We got this goose from the most hipster butcher shop I hope to ever step into (butchers should not be hip, they should be good at what they do, accessible, and down to earth) and let me tell you, British goose is waaaay better. And that has nothing to do with how David cooked it.
*** Official measurement
**** Bring Your Own Packaging
Kate Sims has lived in the UK since 2012. She gets stuff done, drinks too much wine, and hangs with her WI right here in Tunbridge Wells.
