food

     The course I am teaching is about globalization, from cultural, economic, historical, and political perspectives, with food in Britain and the U.S. as the example. While I have learned a fair amount from books about British foodways, especially in the historical context of the American Colonies and the Raj in India, I’m enjoying exploring the contemporary food scene as part of my thinking about this course. I don’t consider myself a foodie, but the course is a good excuse to head off to markets and restaurants and pubs.  So, this topic is likely to have multiple installments. Stay tuned.

     Like the U.S., Britain--and it seems very apparent in Oxford—is undergoing a significant locovore (eat local food) movement. Our first meal In England was at the Jam Factory, a lovely restaurant and art gallery around the corner, which featured a special on pheasant—shot locally that morning. We had just arrived, feeling a bit worn out, so we settled for something less. But it was a great introduction to the food scene.

     Over the past week, we have been having lunch in pubs and sampling what might be considered traditional English fare:

Fish and chips with mushy peas at St Aldate’s Tavern. Fine pub on a busy street, but not remarkable.  Fish and chips may be quintessentially English (at least in the past century) and it is offered at each pub we've visited so far, but the fish-n-chip shop and as a street food it seems to have pretty much disappeared--I'll admit that's a assertion that really needs further review.

    Bangers and mash (with sweet potatoes chips on top) and a turkey casserole at Turf Tavern. Food was very good. The gravy for the sausage and potatoes was from stout and mustard—yum--going to have to try to duplicate that at some point.

The Turf Tavern (yes, that's grass on the roof) is a fun place that claims to be the oldest pub in Oxford, and it feel like it could be. A bunch of small rooms and low ceilings. It was a mix of locals and tourists. Good cask ales and a couple of ciders on tap. They also had Goose Island IPA—this is the second American craft brewery offering we have come across. We also saw a sign in front of a pub for Devil’s Backbone, which is a brewery by Wintergreen Resort in Virginia (we didn’t go in—not traveling across the Atlantic to drink our local brew).


     A Sunday beef roast with sausage and mashed potatoes in the background, at Eagle and Child: 

This is the place where the Inkings—C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein and other Oxford writers hung out. Lots of small rooms, with plenty of charm and pictures of the literary lions all over. The beef roast was a disappointment, but after seeing signs at almost every pub and restaurant that morning for Sunday roasts, I felt it was a must for my exploring British food traditions. Again, the sauce with the sausages was excellent; may be that one can’t go wrong with bangers and mash. We will continue to test that. 

       Steak and mushroom pie and brie and cranberry sandwich:

     Today we got out of the rain and warmed by a fire at Kings Arms. A great pub, with a mix of large open spaces and small rooms. We sat on a couch by the fireplace (the fire glows in the background in the picture).  After the tough beef roast and the tough steak pie, I may have had my fill of cow in Britain. Kate loved her sandwich however. Youngs on tap; only ok bitter (roughly a pale ale in the US) and special (vaguely similar to Amber Ale).

     There are ethnic restaurants all around but so far we have been at the pubs or eating at home, and we haven’t really ventured out of the city centre yet where more ethnic restaurants await.  We haven’t even had Chicken Tikka Masala, now the most common dish in Britain—and a British, not Indian, invention. More on that at some other time after we’ve had some here.

     There is a farmers’ market the first Thursday of the month. We missed the January one, but look forward to February. There is also a weekly Wednesday market, but it is more flea than farmers' market.  We plan to get to the Cotswolds the first Saturday of February for a local food festival. And there are a number of “real food” markets in London that we will need to explore before the class begins.  So much to do.