In celebration of simple food

Spaghetti with butter, 2 grated cheeses and black pepper.

The food from my native UK gets a pretty bad rap. Once, when round a friend's for dinner, we heard another guest whisper in a panicked voice: "I put garlic in the hummus". Why? Because we are British and she assumed we would hate garlic. Now I'm not sure if this is some Anti French cross she thinks we bear, or whether she genuinely believed that we are not accustomed to eating anything as fully flavoured as garlic. We politely explained that Indian and Chinese food are the most popular choices for take outs or restaurant visits at home and so garlic is as common as chips and she was surprised. Chicken Tikka Masala far outranks fish and chips as the most beloved national dish so this may shock you: British people love strong flavoured food.

It's true in the past that we have endured bland, simple fare such as meat with no seasonings or spices, but this wasn't always true. A cookbook I have entitled 'Shakespeare's Kitchen' highlights the grandeur of food served around the Elizabethan period, while if not particularly equal to today's variety, was anything but bland. Spices were already used liberally, being brought back from the new world and the sumptuousness of the feasts held were impressive and inspiring. Fruit was used with meat commonly and flowers such as violets were used to decorate, as well as colouring certain foods like rice purple.

Somewhere along the line, we lost our way, so that what is now synonymous with British food is tinned meat, fish and chips, roast beef and suet puddings.

As diverse as food can be, sometimes there is nothing better than a plateful of spaghetti, dressed only with butter or cheese or a pile of sandwiches containing only butter and ham. Nigel Slater would agree, but further elaborate to say that the bread, ham and even butter should be the best possible for something so simple to succeed. Neil used packet ham on these above, Mr Slater would not approve. I tut and shake my head but secretly sneak small slices from the fridge when he's not home. Personally, I would add some Dijon, maybe some greens or something to give a little crunch, like potato chips, (you've never tried that? - you must), but Neil prefers a little salt and pepper and is obviously proud of his achievement. I found this photo on the camera and after questioning him, found out that he thought they looked fairly impressive, I have to agree. In his incredible book, 'Real Fast Food, the afore mentioned Nigel Slater devotes an entire page to worship at the ham sandwich altar, offering such delectable variations as dandelion leaves, bottled artichokes and tapenade. My favourite sandwich is cheese, marmite and cucumber, make fun if you like.