The Relation of Colonization to British Food

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The Relation of Colonization to British Food.

Great Britain was one of the great empires during the period of discovery from the sixteenth century through the nineteenth century and the empire's colonies impacted the culture and cuisine in Great Britain.

The British colony invaded, conquered and colonized some countries, the eastern seaboard of North America and all of Canada, many islands of the Caribbean, parts of India and Southeast Asia, much of the south and eastern Africa, Australia, New Zealand and many Islands in the South Pacific with this vast source of resources, as well as numerous instances of soldiers and aristocrats travelling to these lands and returning home with stories, food and servants. It is no wonder that the cuisine in Britain was impacted. (Macveigh, 2009, p.149)





Most important food contributions from colonial lands included: 
  • Indigenous products from America such as potato, tomatoes and turkey
  • Asia - curries, teas, sugar and spices.
  • India (1858-1947) foods were imported from India and became part of the culinary repertoire. The curry (Macveigh, 2009, p.149).

Impacts of Potatoes, Tomatoes and Turkey on Present British Cuisine

Can you imagine Irish stew without potatoes or Christmas party without turkey? In this post, you will discover how potatoes, tomato and turkey found their way to the British cuisine and their impacts on today’s British cuisine.


In the period of discovery(1600-1900) the British empire invaded, conquered and colonized North America, all of Canada and many highlands of the Caribbean. Thus, Indigenous products such as potatoes, tomatoes and turkey were taken to Britain by soldiers and aristocrats(Macveigh, 2009).


On 28th July 1586, Sir Thomas Harriot introduced potatoes to Britain he brought from Roanoke Island in modern-day North Carolina (Wonning, 2015). In 1960 and earlier potato was eaten by the majority of the family almost every day- ‘meat and two veges’ the usual combination. Today the picture is quite different with people eating fewer potatoes and more starchy foods such as rice and pasta (Riley., 2010).

Tomatoes are mainly consumed as an ingredient in many dishes, sauces, salads, and drinks.


On the other hand, according to Riley(2010), there has been a substantial rise in the consumption of poultry. Lane and Duffy (2007) further revealed to BBC news that half of the flesh consumed in the UK is Poultry, and Turkey accounts for 6%. In the 20th century turkey has been consumed in a different form; turkey steaks, turkey hams for sandwiches, nuggets and marinated fillet.

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