Do typical English/British meals include gravy or other sauces frequently?

Question

I am of strictly English descent, and I love gravy on everything. My friends tease me and say that I am probably from Canadia, since the Canadians love it so much. (Yes, I know it's really Canada...)

Answer 1

No! English meals are probably about the most varied in the world. Apart from Fish, Chips and Mushy Peas, we also like our egg, bacon, sausage, mushroom, tomato, black pudding, beans and fried bread breakfast. Sandwiches are a common meal and we like meat pies as well as cheese pasties. The most common food is the potato. We like our chips, roast potatoes, mashed spud, boiled potatoes, baked potatoes, fried potato and crisps. Other common foods include bread, pies (both savoury and fruit), vegetables, beef, chicken, salads and cheese. The list is too long as the UK has developed it's food around the immigrants over the past 100 years or more. We love Chinese food, Italian food, Indian food, African food etc. and have adapted recipes to suit our tastes. However, one thing to remember is that the "burger" was not invented by the Yanks. The "burger" originates from Germany (Hamburg) and the Yanks stole the idea as their own. The "dog" in the US is a "hot dog" in the UK and we love them but they also originated in Germany (Frankfurt). A lot of modern Indian food has actually originated in the UK. The Tikka Masala and the Phal are two examples. My family likes Paella made with Basmati Rice, tuna, sardines, prawns, sweetcorn and pineapple. Now most people believe that Paella is a "Spanish" dish and that is false. Paella actually originates in China. How could the Spanish have invented Paella when they can't grow the rice?LOL Anyway, to end your question with a good answer, you cannot be a typical Englishman if you love gravy on everything as a typical Englishman eats anything and everything, except French horses, Spanish cockroaches and Australian witchery grubs.

Answer 2

My British (Manx in my case) almost always include gravy and / or sauces.

Yesterday evening I cooked roast lamb. Gravy with that of course. But also creamy onion sauce. And mint sauce on the side too. By the way, I find that the onion sauce also gets a good reception if I do loin of pork.

Tomorrow night it will be poached salmon. Parsley sauce with that ... unless I do a Hollandaise. But I generally prefer Parsley. Parsley sauce is also great with ham.

Some time over the weekend I'll be cooking some steaks on the grill. Those will be getting a creamy peppercorn sauce.

And so on.

But, back to gravy. Think Yorkshire Pudding. Then think Yorkshire Pudding without Gravy. Ridiculous!