EATING AWAY

Der Mensch ist, was er ißt – “Man is what he eats” - pronounced the sage German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach, observing no doubt that an excess of Bratwurst and beer did his compatriots no favours when it came to bodily beauty, healthy exercise or coherent speech. I believe there is a wider context, that of the nation itself, which is defined by what it eats. In looking for the reason why people and nations behave as they do, I reckon we can discard the usual suspects – forget about Cherchez la Femme – and focus our attention instead on Cherchez la Légume!

An excess of Bratwurst and Beer?

   

Let us look at Scotland. A generally beautiful area on the wrong (i.e. North) side of Hadrian’s Wall, Scotland struggled to prosper compared to larger, well-populated England. Working the unyielding land was the fate of many and a strong rural strain is apparent in many Scots, most of whom are 3 generations from the kailyard. They like humble fare, even though surrounded by incomparable beef, fish and sea-food – scotch broth, lamb, haggis, oatcakes, barley, leeks etc., - winter warmers all!

Nourishing Scotch Broth

 

It is not altogether surprising that many frozen Scots have a pinched look, impervious to the world’s daily beauties but responsive to raucous merrymaking as a kind of Promethean safety-valve. We see this enigmatic aspect in performers like Billy Connolly, who takes native hardships to hilarious extremes, or in the pronouncements of humourless Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish first minister, who is oh-so deadly serious. She well represents the heavy oats-and-tatties (and, alas, deep-fried Mars bars) world-view of her Lumpen-SNP-constituents, overpowering the charming and competent professional class and the thrusting middle classes and peddling her peculiar brand of visceral Anglophobia at every opportunity.

Moving South to balmy England, we are in a diverse nation, within living memory one of the most powerful in the world. It has a rich and often triumphant history, a confident Establishment and an outward-looking attitude to the world. Its stereotype is the well-upholstered figure of John Bull, acute and genial, and its staple diet, toothsome roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.

John Bull

His favourite Roast Beef and Yorkshire Puddiong

  

The English are by no means saints and the industrial revolution took a heavy toll. There is much unspoken resentment of the gap between the haves and the have-nots; yet the tenor of the people is broadly tolerant, compromising and civilized. The favourite dishes of the English constitute a wide range, fish and chips, steak and kidney pie, Eccles cakes, pickled eggs and Eton mess (presumably loved by Boris!) – cholesterol-clogging butter and sugar much in evidence.

To digress, I believe there to be a mathematical correlation between the decline of the British Empire and the decline of Soup Drinking. The great soups of Scotland – Scotch Broth, Cock-a-leekie and my favourite Cullen Skink (based on smoked haddock) – and those of England – Oxtail, Ham and Pea and Mulligatawny once comforted millions of Brits but had to be made slowly, with tender loving care. I blame the suffragette / feminists who wanted to protect 1920s flappers from kitchen boredom and foolishly undermined a foundation liquid of the Empire, and fobbed us off with processed tinned rubbish and, oh horrors, with soup in hydrated packets!

The French are more enigmatic and difficult to analyse. Very distinct regional variations exist and the difference between the expansive, gourmandising denizen of the Midi and the thin-lipped, logical citizen of the Nord is very marked. De Gaulle, Macron and Barnier fall into the latter category, hostile to their neighbours, self-regarding and preening like peacocks in many estimations. To be sure, their food is superb but it is often eaten in grim solemnity – blanquette de veau, boeuf bourguignon, escargots, lobster thermidor, camembert cheese and the finest wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy, topped off by a frivolous soufflé. I always suspect a thin Frenchman (even Bonaparte had a cosy pot-belly) and would dine with Macron with a very long spoon indeed.

Blanquette de Veau a l'ancienne

                                       

Other nations are easier to categorise. The Germans consume huge quantities of tasty pork, enjoy sauerkraut and excellent beer but their cuisine is rather heavy and perhaps lacking in inspiration. Don’t we see the same qualities in their politicians? “Mutti” Merkel is a reassuring figure to Germans, homely and unfashionable, but surely she too is rather stolid and bland.

The Belgians delight us with their delicate cuisine, combining the quantity of Germany with the quality of France, wolfing down waffles, endives and mussels with chips. They also produce matchless chocolates but, alas, they host and embrace the European Union with a fervour that would mystify Hercule Poirot and which seems to many Brits as a tragically wrong choice.

Moules-Frites from Belgium

               

As ever in Europe, the US casts a long shadow. Endowed with every natural nutritional blessing, America has instead created the bulk of the fast foods we greedily consume – hot dogs, burgers, chlorinated chicken – dishes which do not detain the fastidious. They produce delicious beef, slow-cooked brisket and clam chowder to savour. Predictably Donald Trump is a fan of fast food, enjoying McDonalds, KFC, pizza and (OMG!) Mexican tacos while drinking Diet Coke through a straw – he is teetotal. Obesity is doing real damage to the US (and the UK too). Eating too much, going OTT, everything in excess, is a perilous national propensity.

America in Denial

The Western nations are a disparate group and it is not surprising they do not easily agree. Their food preferences tell us much about their characteristics. Add in some rogue element like paprika, Mexican jumping beans or English mustard and international exchanges will become even more spicy. Maybe we should revert to bland infants’ fare in the cause of peace!

SMD

21.08.19

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2019