Colonization and Food History

The impacts of colonization continue to linger around us leaving footprints on every aspect of our lives including the foods we eat. These consequences span through generations affecting both the colonies and the colonial master. In this blog, we will explore colonization and to what extent the impacts of colonization on British cuisine can be recognised in the 21st century. Which colonial food made its recognition in British Culture and how colonization has influenced British food habits?


To conduct this research, Britain's food culture has been investigated by reviewing the past and present food habits and has been reviewed by conducting a quantitative questionnaire with Britishers.

What is Colonization?

Colonization is associated with the occupation of a foreign land, with its being brought under cultivation, with the settlement of colonists (Ferro, 2005).
According to (Ferro, 2005), colonialism is a dynamic intercommunication in the context in which the colonial empires and individual colonies massively influenced the historical development of their European mother countries and vice-versa. The post-colonial effects directly or indirectly influence the culture and food habits of both the mother and the colonial countries.
The reason behind the colonization as mentioned by Ferro,2005

1. Expansion – The major reason behind colonization is the expansion of the country to achieve capitalism development and become powerful.
2. Financial development - Another reason refers to industrialization revolution and financial capitalism.

Between the 16th and 18th century, Britain established itself as a bigger colonial power in the world. There Are Only 22 Countries in the World that the British hasn't invaded. Of the almost 200 current member states (and one observer state) of the United Nations, the British have, at some point in history, invaded and established a military presence in 171 of them” (Soniak, 2012). The expansion of Britain around the globe led to the description of Britain as “the empire on which the sun never sets” (Jackson & Ashley, 2013). There were many factors behind colonization besides expansion and power. However, the most important of them were manufacturing goods, minerals, raw minerals, cheaper sources of food and the colonist countries were the supplier of these primary products.

What were the pre-colonial foods in Britain?

The pre-colonization history of Britain has played a large part in its traditions, its culture – and its food.

“The Romans brought us cherries, stinging nettles ( to be used as a salad vegetable), cabbages and peas, as well as improving the cultivation of crops such as corn. And they brought us wine! The Romans were prolific road builders, these roads allowing for the first time the easy transportation of products throughout the country “(Johnson, 2017).

The Anglo - Saxons had a great influence on the countryside, where they introduced new farming methods and founded thousands of villages which formed the basis of English society for the next 1000 year (O’Driscoll, 2009). Anglo Saxons were vegetarians who used to cultivate their food. They were excellent farmers who cultivated a wide variety of herbs which were used in ancient times as bulk to pad out stew, and nowadays as flavour (Johnson, 2017).

“According to Julius Caesar, the Germans were pastoralists, and the bulk of their foodstuffs—milk, cheese, and meat—came from their flocks and herds. Some farming was also carried out, the main crops being grain, root crops, and vegetables.” (Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.)

The Viking age began in the 9th Century and lasted for just over 200 years. They were also known as Danes. They introduced the smoking and drying fish techniques. 

Normans encouraged drinking wine and also introduced mutton and beef. They also ate by hunting growing their crops.

During Tudor’s era three-quarters (75%) of the rich Tudor diet was made up of meat such as oxen, deer, calves, pigs, badger or wild boar. Birds were also eaten, such as chicken, pigeons, sparrows, heron, crane, pheasant, woodcock, partridge, blackbirds and peacocks (Barrows, 2013). Besides meat, there were grains to make rye bread, fish, fruits, vegetables and honey and wine as food. Food was eaten with fingers, hands and spoons. Food for poor people was a herb-flavoured soup called pottage served with bread (Barrows, 2013).