The British Cookbook
SynopsisPlot
In The British Cookbook, author and food historian Ben Mervis takes readers on a mouth-watering culinary tour across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, revealing a cuisine as diverse as the landscape from which it originates. Part cookbook, part cultural history, this deeply researched collection of 550 authentic recipes encompasses home-cooked classics, such as Shepherd's Pie, Welsh Rarebit, Scottish Crumpets, and Victoria Sponge; lesser-known and regional recipes, such as Bonfire Night Black Peas and Dublin Bay Prawns; dishes deeply steeped in British history, such as Haggis and Devils on Horseback; and iconic dishes with roots outside of the United Kingdom, such as Chicken Tikka Masala, Curry Goat, and Sesame Prawn Toast.
Story
About this book
The British Cookbook by Ben Mervis is a collection of 550 recipes drawn from across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Mervis, a food historian, presents the book as both a practical kitchen reference and a record of how British food developed. The recipes range from home classics such as Shepherd's Pie, Welsh Rarebit, and Victoria Sponge to regional dishes far less familiar outside their areas of origin, such as Bonfire Night Black Peas and Scottish Crumpets.
A notable thread running through the collection is the inclusion of dishes whose roots lie outside the United Kingdom but which have become firmly established in British cooking. Chicken Tikka Masala, Curry Goat, and Sesame Prawn Toast each appear alongside older recipes like Haggis and Devils on Horseback. By placing these side by side, the book presents British food as something shaped by migration, trade, and everyday adaptation rather than a fixed national tradition.
Some titles carry geography or the calendar with them, as with Dublin Bay Prawns, tying a dish to one stretch of water. Mervis gives each nation and region separate attention, linking recipes to nearby ingredients and to the occasions on which people cooked them.
