One of the things I was sad to leave behind at home was the food. British food frequently gets a bad rap; when I was teaching in Paris, I asked some of my students what they already knew about the UK and the food in particular - the answer was almost universally 'pudding'. What does 'pudding' even mean by itself anyway? It either needs the word Yorkshire in front of or some kind of sweet treat, e.g. chocolate pudding.
This leads me nicely on to what I proudly consider, as an adopted Yorkshirewoman, to be one of the gems of the British culinary world - the aforementioned Yorkshire pudding.
Glorious gravy bowls made of batter - traditionally with roast beef and loads of veg, but just as good when you're paying music festival prices, but get a foot-wide Yorkshire filled with sausages, mash and gravy. And people say British cuisine sucks. Nom.
I will admit, however, that British food in the strictest sense - i.e. of British origin - isn't exactly varied. Roast dinners, sandwiches, meat and two veg, and, erm, that's about it. But what we do do, extremely well might I add, is embrace other countries' cuisine and make it our own. There is no better example of this than curry.
Basically, if you haven't had a good curry before, you haven't lived. Curry is actually considered a high-risk food for nut allergy sufferers, so the fact I still go to balti houses back home on a regular basis should tell you something about how good it is. Standard side dish requirements are pilau rice and naan bread.
I am going to get on to American food in a second, but let me just say one more word in support of British cuisine: Cadbury's. Enough said.
Now American food also gets a bad rap from us Brits and I'm going to be honest and say I agree with a lot of it. Fresh fruit and veg is very expensive in supermarkets - when a red pepper is $1.20 for one or you can get a burger, fries and a drink from Maccy D's for around $2.50, you can see why there is a weight problem in America. A lot of the food is very processed and frequently fried. When I lived here in 2008 I put on a stone over 6 months, because it was easier (and cheaper) to just eat fast food the whole time.
But (and this is a big but) - if you know where to go for what you want, you can get some truly awesome food over here. In the midst of all the fried crap, American salads are unbeatable anywhere. I had a chinese chicken salad from Earl of Sandwich today that was out of this world. All the ingredients are always really fresh and the dressings are delicious - just ask for them on the side, otherwise those nice ingredients might get drowned.
In addition, I must make room for the humble steak. It is blasphemy for a carnivore to visit the United States and not have a steak. As it happens, I had a steak last week that made it into the Top 2 of my 'best steaks ever' list. It was at California Grill, which is the restaurant on the 15th floor of Disney's Contemporary resort and overlooks the Magic Kingdom. I had the filet steak with loaded mash potato and broccolini and it. was. DIVINE. (image below is similar but not exactly what we had)
Lastly, there's the variety. British food also has great variety and is certainly healthier in terms of what you can get on the go, but the sheer availability in the States is mind-boggling. Many places are open past midnight, up to 4 or 5 in the morning, or even 24 hours (post-dancing pancakes at IHOP at 4am anyone?). Steak, chili, Mexican, Chinese, roast beef sandwiches, and yes, McDonalds et al.
However, for me, UK still wins on this one, and it's not just because I'm biased. There is one irrefutable reason why British food is better than American food.
Only one city in the entire United States has a Nandos.
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