Several days ago I was asked by a friend back home whether English food is as nasty as they say. I scanned my brain for any recent gagging episodes and came up empty. “No, it’s not,” I had to say.
Actually the question surprised me — it seemed a little out of sync. I don’t pretend to know anything about food, but the food scene here is one of the most exciting of all the places I’ve been to. Sure, there’s plenty of cheap, crappy food to be had, and the traditional stuff here still consists of some pie of kidney and liver or a scone that’s as untasty as it is dry and crumbly.
But everywhere in London you can find nourishment that embodies a movement toward healthy, fast, and fresh. Whereas back home organic has become the badge of distinction for conscientious eaters, here organic is old news — standard fare.
Instead the vanguard of food seems to lie in the anti-McDonalds establishments, like Pret a Manger and EAT., where you can pick up freshly made food (healthy too — and they don’t forget to tell you this) on the go for not much more than a Big Mac.
For all the fuss and litigation in the States over unhealthy food, the problem, as I see it, is that it remains more economical (time- and money-wise) than healthy food. So many people make the economically rational decision to eat unhealthily, and long-term health becomes an externality. Eating well is too inconvenient.
They’ve gone a long way toward solving that problem here. Mini-supermarkets everywhere sell ready-to-eat, fresh salads, sandwiches, and other meals, as well as boxes of mixed fruit. Snacks like cereal bars make it a point to say there’s “nothing dodgy” inside. Here, everyone is Whole Foods.
Today, to make up for last night’s dinner of sausage and mash, I ate at Leon, at classy take on fast food that makes the term “fast food” seem grossly inappropriate. I had their Original Superfood Salad, “a family of supers: broccoli, alfalfa, peas, strips of cucumber, avocado, quinoa, toasted seeds, …” — you get the point.
Superfoods are that special band of foods that are said to impart on eaters long, cancer-free, happy lives. The fact that Leon’s menu has a section called “superfood salads” tells you what kind of place it is. Their chicken is local and “free-range” and their mackerel, as well as being “taste-rich,” is “omega-rich.”
It’s probably bizarre to say, but I’m going to miss London’s food when I leave.
I think when people think English food, they think the standards too. I’ve never been too fond of their traditional English breakfast because baked beans in the morning have never sat too well with me.
What I’m more interested in is whether there are any Mexican restaurants. I remember having a conversation with an English man about their lack of Mexican food.
It’s true, Mexican food seems generally hard to find in the Old World. One of the perks of living in the New World, I guess.
I remember when I was studying abroad in Japan, the only Mexican food we had was legends and hearsay about a Taco Bell that used to exist but eventually closed. Trading those stories was like dining on taco aromas.
I think there are Mexican restaurants in London; I’m sure of it. I just haven’t eaten at one. In fact, I’m pretty sure even Warsaw has them.