England Things to Do

England‘s food has earned itself a reputation for blandness over the years, but with historic recipes dating back to the Victorian times, inventive use of staple ingredients and some notoriously wacky names (think ‘bubble & squeak’ or ‘spotted dick pudding’), traditional English cuisine has plenty of surprises up its sleeve. Here are six of the nation’s most beloved dishes to get you started.

The things you find when you head out of London on a train! When I ended up in Norwich almost by chance, I had no idea that I was stepping into such an historically important city – or such a lovely one. In the 11th century, Norwich was England‘s largest city after London, and in fact it was massively important until the Industrial Revolution. The Romans settled very close by, then the Anglo-Saxons established Norwich around the 6th century; there was a Viking raid on the city leaving a Nordic influence, then after the Norman conquest in 1066, the city became a royal city and the castle and cathedral were built.

It may seem a long way to go for fish and chips but it’s worth it. This is England’s national dish so when you taste it you might as well taste the best. The little fishing village on the East Suffolk coast called Aldeburgh is your destination. The town stretches alongside a shingle beach looking out at the North Sea and, if you could see that far, The Netherlands. In fact, from here Amsterdam is closer than London! You’re about as far east as you can get in the UK.