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The average Brit can cook ten dishes without resorting to the aid of a
cookbook or online recipe - that’s the verdict of a new study into
the nation’s culinary habits which suggests that many of us are more
comfortable cooking foreign dishes than standard British classics
when it comes to dining at home.
The 'Great
British Home-Cooked Menu Survey’ commissioned by UKTV Food to
mark the return of Market Kitchen (weeknights at 7pm), asked
3,000 respondents to reveal the staple dishes which they can prepare
without the aid of a cookbook or online recipe. The research defined
a recipe as a main course dish containing four or more ingredients
and the results provide a fascinating insight into the culinary
habits of multi-cultural Britain in 2009.
The study crowned Spaghetti
Bolognese as Britain’s most popular and best known dish to cook
without a recipe. Six in ten (65%) of us are able to rustle up the
dish unaided and regularly tuck in to the Italian staple at home
(48% eat this dish at least once per month). The rich tomato based
meat sauce base which originally hails from Bologna in Italy, has
now become the best known recipe in Great Britain.
The top ten dishes that Brits can
make unaided:
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Spaghetti Bolognese (65%)
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Roast Dinner (54%)
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Chilli Con Carne (42%)
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Lasagne (41%)
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Cottage or Shepherd’s Pie
(38%)
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Meat or Fish stir fry (38%)
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Beef casserole (34%)
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Macaroni Cheese (32%)
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Toad in the hole (30%)
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Meat, Fish or Vegetable
curry (26%)
Chicken Tikka Masala (23%),
Spaghetti Carbonara (23%) and Risotto (19%) just failed to make the
top ten.
The study revealed that as a nation
we own an average of five recipe books each – however a whopping
four in ten admit that the books tend to languish on shelves unused
while one in three of the respondents consult their books once a
week.
The research found that the decline
of the recipe book as a practical tool is reflected by the fact that
aspiring British cooks are increasingly turning to television and
the internet for inspiration and culinary advice. A huge 85% of us
admit to regularly watching food or cookery programmes on TV, such
as Market Ktichen, while eight in ten of us ( 80%) have downloaded
recipes from the internet beating the 70% who leaf through a recipe
book.
The increased culinary confidence is
also reflected in the fact that men and women would now appear to be
on almost equal terms when it comes to home cooking – women can make
11 dishes unaided, compared with men who can make nine, representing
a seismic shift in the traditional male/female roles over the course
of a generation.
Those surveyed admit that they make
an average of just four home cooked meals per week, with a paltry
one in six (16%) of those aged under 25 cooking every day compared
with 45% of those aged 56 and over.
Respondents in the South East (85%)
and Scotland (83%) are the most likely to be cooking with a recipe
book – compared with the North East and West Midlands where a
quarter (25%) had never used a recipe book before. Foodies in the
South East are also the most likely to be watching food or cookery
programmes on TV (90%) with half (47%) tuning in at least once per
week. Respondents in London are using the internet to find recipes
most regularly – 48% are downloading recipes more than once per
week.
Clever cooks in the South East claim
they can make an average of 12 recipes without needing to consult
the recipe, compared with respondents in Northern Ireland who can
make eight. Londoners and respondents from Scotland can make the
most puddings unaided – six on average – compared with those in
Yorkshire who can make four.
The research also asked respondents
which sweet dishes they can prepare without the help of a recipe.
The older generation is more likely to make puddings from scratch
regularly – 65% compared with 46%.
The top five puddings that Brits can
make unaided remain resolutely British:
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Pancakes (37%)
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Apple Crumble (36%)
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Apple pie (27%)
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Victoria Sponge Cake (24%)
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Trifle (23%)
Matthew Fort, presenter of Market
Kitchen, says; “The results provide a good snapshot of what Brits
are eating week in, week out, because if you cook something
regularly enough you will remember the recipe. It is disappointing
that the cuisine of other cultures dominates the top ten. It
suggests a cultural inferiority complex around British cuisine which
we hope to address in the new series of Market Kitchen when we will
be celebrating traditional British dishes.”
April 2009 -
Peterborough UK Community Website
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