Traditional Food in English-Speaking Countries

How much do you know about international food? We have probably all tried at least one dish that doesn't belong to our home country, and in most cases we ended up liking it, wondering whether there was going to be anything else we might like to eat from around the world.

As you might be aware, Kaplan has over 45 schools in 7 countries worldwide. Thanks to the input of natives, we have collected examples of some traditional food found in daily life from those countries where our schools are based.  Of course, we could write an encyclopedia on these countries'  food but we will keep it short by mentioning just few classic ones for each place.

UK

Yorkshire Pudding

As well as being part of the most famous Sunday roast, the Yorkshire pudding can also be served separately before the main dish. Its ingredients are very simple: milk, flour and eggs. Cooking it is a little bit more complicated, but once done, it's delicious.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Although the name might lead you to think this is not a traditional English dish, it was in fact born in the UK. Extremely popular, it is characterized by roasted pieces of chicken cooked in an orange-colored creamy sauce. Rumor has it Chicken Tikka Masala is among the most popular dishes in the UK.

Australia

Tim Tams

Classified as cookies or biscuits, they're made of two layers of chocolate-malted biscuit with a layer of light chocolate between them. The whole biscuit is obviously covered in chocolate!

Vegemite

It comes as a dark colored paste, which can be spread on toast or anything you want. The paste is made from yeast extract and it is a real must down-under!

USA

Mac & Cheese

The word Mac is the abbreviation for Macaroni, the type of pasta used for this dish. As you can guess, the dish consists of pasta and cheese. It's not just any cheese we are talking about, traditional recipes use cheddar and parmesan  as the most popular cheeses in use. Delicious as a main, snack or side dish!

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich

Exactly what is says on the tin! The best way to make it is to take 2 slices of bread, spread a layer of peanut butter on the first slice and a second layer of either jelly or jam on top of it, then cover it all with the second slice.  Of course there are many variants, but traditionalists like to keep it simple.

New Zealand

Hāngi

This is a traditional Maori method of cooking. A pit is dug in the ground and it gets filled with stones heated by fire. The food gets laid on top of this fire and the whole thing is then covered and left for several hours. This method is still commonly used in New Zealand.

Lamb

New Zealand is the country with the highest density of sheep per unit area. It doesn't come as a surprise then that lamb became one of the country's most common foods. Apparently lamb is not just a Kiwi favorite, as it is also one of the country's top export meats.

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Ireland

Soda Bread

Extremely common in the Irish cuisine. The 'soda' part is because the bread doesn't have yeast, but baking soda as a leavening agent. Some of our Irish fellows told us it wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day without Soda Bread!

Colcannon

Classified as Irish comfort food, this is a traditional dish made of potatoes and cabbage or kale. The dish is so common that there's even a song about it. Some of the other ingredients include milk, butter and seasoning.

Canada

Maple Syrup

The maple tree not only produces this amazing and commonly used syrup but it is also featured in the emblems of the country. In fact, the maple leaf is featured in the Canadian flag. The perfect combination is pouring the maple syrup on top of a pancake, waffle or a simple piece of toast.

Poutine

Definitely one of the most popular dishes of this country. The recipe is quite simple: a layer of french fries covered in gravy and cheese curds. Although the dish is originally from Quebec, it is nowadays quite common in the rest of the country and also across the border in the USA.