The average Brit can make ten dishes from scratch without consulting a recipe book
British classics overtaken by foreign dishes when it comes to home cooking
Spaghetti Bolognese named as the single most popular recipe we know by heart
The average Brit can cook ten dishes without resorting to the aid of a cookbook or online recipe - that's the verdict of a new study into the nation's culinary habits which suggests that many of us are more comfortable cooking foreign dishes than standard British classics when it comes to dining at home.
The "Great British Home-Cooked Menu Survey' commissioned by UKTV Food to mark the return of Market Kitchen (weeknights at 7pm), asked 3,000 respondents to reveal the staple dishes which they can prepare without the aid of a cookbook or online recipe. The research defined a recipe as a main course dish containing four or more ingredients and the results provide a fascinating insight into the culinary habits of multi-cultural Britain in 2009.
The study crowned Spaghetti Bolognese as Britain's most popular and best known dish to cook without a recipe. Six in ten (65%) of us are able to rustle up the dish unaided and regularly tuck in to the Italian staple at home (48% eat this dish at least once per month). The rich tomato based meat sauce base which originally hails from Bologna in Italy, has now become the best known recipe in Great Britain.
Steaming into second place was the perennial British classic - the roast dinner, a dish which is confidently cooked by just over half of the population (54%). The survey revealed that three in ten of us (38%) prepare a roast every week and a further 20% at least once per month. Chilli Con Carne from Mexico won third place in our culinary hearts with 42% of the vote narrowly beating another Italian favourite; Lasagne with 41%. The top five dishes the nation can cook unaided is completed by Cottage or Shepherd's Pie (38%), which contains meat, gravy and mashed potato and originated as a way of using up leftover roasted meat.
The top ten dishes that Brits can make unaided:
1. Spaghetti Bolognese (65%)
2. Roast Dinner (54%)
3. Chilli Con Carne (42%)
4. Lasagne (41%)
5. Cottage or Shepherd's Pie (38%)
6. Meat or Fish stir fry (38%)
7. Beef casserole (34%)
8. Macaroni Cheese (32%)
9. Toad in the hole (30%)
10. Meat, Fish or Vegetable curry (26%)
In sixth place is Meat or Fish stir fry (38%), a dish of Asian origin, followed by British favourite Beef Casserole (34%) and Macaroni Cheese (32%), which heralds from Italy, before becoming popular in America after it was introduced by Italian immigrants. The top ten is completed by Toad in the hole (30%), a British dish that comprises of sausages in a Yorkshire pudding batter most commonly served with onion gravy, and Meat, Fish or Vegetable curry (26%) which comes from sub continental Asia. Chicken Tikka Masala (23%), Spaghetti Carbonara (23%) and Risotto (19%) just failed to make the top ten.
The study revealed that as a nation we own an average of five recipe books each - however a whopping four in ten admit that the books tend to languish on shelves unused while one in three of the respondents consult their books once a week.
The research found that the decline of the recipe book as a practical tool is reflected by the fact that aspiring British cooks are increasingly turning to television and the internet for inspiration and culinary advice. A huge 85% of us admit to regularly watching food or cookery programmes on TV, such as Market Ktichen, while eight in ten of us
( 80%) have downloaded recipes from the internet beating the 70% who leaf through a recipe book.
The increased culinary confidence is also reflected in the fact that men and women would now appear to be on almost equal terms when it comes to home cooking - women can make 11 dishes unaided, compared with men who can make nine, representing a seismic shift in the traditional male/female roles over the course of a generation.
Those surveyed admit that they make an average of just four home cooked meals per week, with a paltry one in six (16%) of those aged under 25 cooking every day compared with 45% of those aged 56 and over.
Respondents in the South East (85%) and Scotland (83%) are the most likely to be cooking with a recipe book - compared with the North East and West Midlands where a quarter (25%) had never used a recipe book before. Foodies in the South East are also the most likely to be watching food or cookery programmes on TV (90%) with half (47%) tuning in at least once per week. Respondents in London are using the internet to find recipes most regularly - 48% are downloading recipes more than once per week.
Clever cooks in the South East claim they can make an average of 12 recipes without needing to consult the recipe, compared with respondents in Northern Ireland who can make eight. Londoners and respondents from Scotland can make the most puddings unaided - six on average - compared with those in Yorkshire who can make four.
The research also asked respondents which sweet dishes they can prepare without the help of a recipe. The older generation is more likely to make puddings from scratch regularly - 65% compared with 46%.
The top five puddings that Brits can make unaided remain resolutely British:
1. Pancakes (37%)
2. Apple Crumble (36%)
3. Apple pie (27%)
4. Victoria Sponge Cake (24%)
5. Trifle (23%)
Matthew Fort, presenter of Market Kitchen, says; "The results provide a good snapshot of what Brits are eating week in, week out, because if you cook something regularly enough you will remember the recipe. It is disappointing that the cuisine of other cultures dominates the top ten. It suggests a cultural inferiority complex around British cuisine which we hope to address in the new series of Market Kitchen when we will be celebrating traditional British dishes."
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