So not to mar the St Georges day thread, but more generally... Can you name something overtly British that doesn't in reality have it's roots elsewhere?
HP sauce - to all you lovers of the traditional brown sauce - take a look at the bottle - it is now made in Holland - so I don't buy it anymore but have the cheapo brown sauce from Aldi (German retailer!!) which is made is UK.
Maybe so, but where are it's origins? It's a bit tasty for a uk invention I reckon, too spicy. My guess is adapted from somewhere far to the East. The main spice, tamarind is from a hardwood tree native to India, Pakistan and Africa. Hard to imagine a pickling grocer just happened to have a pile but what do I know?
Fish and chips, Claimed to have been invented in nearby Mossley, however its not the only claimant, a bit like our other national dish, chicken tikka masalla. Also railways.
Nah , designed by iggniosomi or someone like that - Italian anyway .. I'll nominate the spitfire Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
Harris Tweed fabric Barbour jackets South Shields many beers e.g Samual Smiths - Maris otter malt and UK hops and yeast
I put 2 and 2 together from the spice and got 4 or possibly 5. lol I just find it hard to pin down truly British things. Whinging? Aussies think so - whinging poms.
I have a sneaking suspicion that might have crossed the pond from the USA. We gave them apple pie, they gave us everlasting mush in a plastic bag? Sounds about right!
Good one. I got a shock in Cairo train station trying to buy a ticket. A scrum 10 deep. there were 2 people at the front who were the only people the ticket staff dealt with. They took a cut. Then there were their go-betweens who they heavily favoured. Pay 2 bribes or fight to the front and pay one. lol Even using that system it took hours. You want a ticket? Buy it the day before. Anywhere sort of official or government-ish was like this, everywhere else was extremely polite. Massive contrast.