That being said, the only UK foods I've had were made by expats here in the states. None of it was bland, with the exception of breakfast beans, "because they're meant to be mild to start your day" as I was told by a lovely liverpudlian.

She would do fish and chips, and the batter was well seasoned. Not heavily seasoned, but some pepper, a little paprika, and a bit of onion powder to give it some aromatic kick. Well balanced, and imo, as good as any of the southern fried fish recipes I've had.

The chips were obviously just salted and vinegar used per person.

But when we did pot luck at work, she would bring in what she called "good english food", which included some curry a few times.

But her shepherd's pie? Holy hell, that was some great stuff. She said it was really cottage pie because it was beef usually. But it had the usual pepper, onion, garlic, and herbs.

And the other expats I ate with were similar. Maybe different amounts of a given herb or spice, but it was in there.

I think the UK food thing is a meme in itself, and likely arose the way things usually do, with the majority of cooks just being bad cooks, rather than representative of a cuisine or the way things are done properly in that country.

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