One fun part of traveling is experiencing new foods. It can be daunting and overwhelming to get used to differences, trying new things can be a fun experience.
Personally, we have certain food related habits or expectations when we return to places we love. When we go anywhere in the United Kingdom, we absolutely love castles that have cafes attached, and little local to village or city cafes where everything is homemade and the people are friendly. We eat a lot of soups and drink a lot of coffee, and that is a fun food habit when we travel there now.
As a family, we have a variety of foods that we look forward to eating when visiting in various area of the United Kingdom. We do not always find these things every where, but when we are in an area that they can be found, we are often ready to try.
- Fish and Chips – No fish and chips compare here in the states to the deliciousness that is fish and chips in the UK. Haddock is a delectable fish, and local to the area, and makes for the best fried fish. A lot of places hand cut the chips themselves, and the combination is amazing. Add some curry sauce to chips, and they get even better.
- Bangers and Mash – This is more of an English food that we enjoy in pubs more often than naught. This is mashed potatoes topped with sausage links and gravy. This tastes like comfort food.
- Tablet – Believe it or not, we did not try tablet until our most recent trip to Scotland last year. Tablet is a very sweet candy made in Scotland. The closest thing I can think it resembles is fudge, but even that is not a good description. You take small bites, and it completely melts in your mouth.
- Pies – Delectable, savory pies are a staple in the United Kingdom. We have tried so many, and all are delicious. Some of our favorite kinds of pies are curry pie, macaroni pie, and steak pie. Each pie has a flaky crust filled with pie filling of choice and sauce for most pies aside from macaroni pie.
- Bacon Roll – We tried bacon rolls on our last trip to Scotland. They are called something different in different parts of the country, but it is basically a specific type of bread roll filled with British bacon. It is so simple, but tastes amazing and is very filling.
You cannot go anywhere in the United Kingdom and not have a traditional breakfast. The breakfast varies slightly based on where you are at in the country, but is basically the same everywhere. Breakfast consists of egg, british bacon (which is different than American bacon), sausage lorne or link (also different than American sausage), tattie scone, beans, black pudding, tomato, and mushrooms. It is filling, and something we always look forward to when we visit.
My children have a couple drinks they look forward to when going to the United Kingdom. Their first trip over they got to experience Fruit Shoot, which is a kids juice type drink. Silas became addicted, and we even have a picture of him at the airport coming home in 2017 mourning his last fruit shoot! The other drink is the traditional Scottish drink Irn Bru. They think it tastes amazing. We can get it here, but it costs three times as much as in Scotland, so they love to drink them there.
Our last thing that we look forward to eating when in the United Kingdom is Indian food. This is going to sound crazy, but we never had Indian food until our very first trip in 2013. We were apprehensive when we went to eat with some friends, but it was amazing. Every trip back, we make sure to eat Indian food multiple times. Indian food is delicious, but there is definitely a difference in Indian food in the United Kingdom than here in the US. Our favorite thing to eat is chicken korma.
Food is a fun part of every trip, and we are always getting the chance to experience new foods and treats even in the places we have visited repeatedly. If you find yourself in the United Kingdom and have not tried any of these things, we highly recommend them.
What are your favorite things to eat when in the United Kingdom?
-Shannon
#stellhorntravel
