Traditional English Recipes
Tasty English Food for You to Cook

Most traditional English recipes have a long and eventful history. Some were passed down through generations of cooks, others were chance inventions that were so well liked that many cooks took them up and made them classics.

Today they remind us of times gone by: of grand banquets, feasts and royal coronations, of hunting breakfasts and farmers' lunches, of the good times and the hard.

No matter if you're looking for ideas for a leisurely breakfast with your family, lunch with your friends, a teatime treat or an unusual pudding to round off a picnic or birthday dinner - you're likely to find something on these pages.

I'm an avid recipe collector.

Dinner at a friend's house, an uncommonly good pub lunch or a chance discovery at the local baker's all induce me to find out how it's made and try it at home.

I also have more cookery books than is considered decent for my waistline, but that's all part of the fun. And at the very least they help me make these pages as helpful as possible.

Use the quick links in the table below to move right to the section you're interested in ... or browse at leisure through this tasty selection of traditional English recipes.

Kedgeree and devilled kidneys, along with kippers, brown trout, ham, scrambled eggs and crumpets, hark back to the days of big country house breakfasts and shooting parties at the turn of the century. The very substantial English Breakfast served in those days was ample preparation for a day's hiking or hunting.

These days, if you don't cook them yourself, kedgeree, devilled kidneys and scrambled eggs with smoked salmon are most likely to be found on hotel breakfast menus, though crumpets are now widely available from most supermarkets.

Try the following traditional English recipes for a true English breakfast treat:

Salads can also change their face to please the cook. Cold meats make substantial salads, leaves more delicate ones. And Constance Spry's famous Coronation Chicken Salad was even judged fit to be served to Her Majesty.

Since the Earl of Sandwiches man came up with the idea of a tasty filling between two slices of bread, sandwiches have gone from strength to strength. They're lunch on the run or part of a traditional English Afternoon Tea, just as fancy dictates.

Dinner and Supper

Every English family has their own traditional recipes for steamed puddings, roasts, casseroles and pies.

Some are warming winter fare, while others make delicate starters for a dinner party or a light mid-week lunch or supper.

Casseroles, puddings and pies have always been the thrifty cook's means of stretching ingredients to feed a few more hungry mouths.

Roast potatoes, crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle, are a typical English side dish, while the famous Yorkshire Pudding can double up as a main course dish at lunchtime.

Stuck for a dinner party starter or mid-week supper? Try these traditional English recipes:

Puddings and Desserts

The English are rightfully famous for their puddings and no selection of traditional English recipes would be complete without some of them.

Many puddings like Spotted Dick, Sussex Pond Pudding or apple pie are substantial ends to a meal, others like Summer Pudding or a traditional trifle can be delicate enough for a summer afternoon's picnic on the lawn.

Or try the recipes below for a traditional treat at home:

England's love affair with chocolate has been going since about 1650 - when the first coffee shop selling hot chocolate opened in Oxford - and it's showing no sign of stopping.

Vast quantities of chocolates are bought, eaten and given away daily all over the country: from champagne truffles to violet creams, chocolate is everywhere.

But the English love for sweets goes further. We also love jellies, fudge, caramel and lemon drops. Not to mention gob stoppers, Sherbet Lemons, Bulls Eyes, Coconut Ice and Pontefract Cake.

Here is where my German upbringing really shows through: I have no idea what half these things are, how they taste or how you can make them.

But fear not... I'm going to find out!

So if you always wanted to make your own traditional sweets, bookmark this page and keep an eye on this section. I'm sure I'm soon back with some traditional English recipes for home-made sweets.

For the first time this year I tried my hand at making proper English Marmalade. My husband declared the product such a success, that I'll probably have to take a few days off next February to make a quantity that will last longer than 8 weeks.

I regularly make jam and - every once in a while - Lemon Curd. And during late summer and autumn, pickles and chutneys are bubbling away frequently, filling the whole house with a wonderful spicy scent.

Try the traditional English recipes below and see what you think: